Yukon bison more elusive and smarter than ever

The largest mammal in North America could also be the most elusive,at least in the Yukon.

With just one month left in the hunting season, hunters have harvested fewerthan a hundred animals.

TheAishihikherdwas estimated to be around 1,300 in2015and wildlife managersare hoping hunters can bring down the population to a thousand. There were two bison hunting seasons this year, in the fall and winter. Bisonhunting is promotedin Yukonbecause theAishihikherdis larger than desired.

Whitehorse butchers feeling the pinch

Off the Hook butcher shop is usually busy this time of year, making sausage, hamburger and bison roasts for their customers.

"We usually have 30to 35bison hanging in here," says John Pouch, owner. "As you can see right now, the cooler is fairly empty."

Hunters have told Pouchthat they'respotting bison, but there isn't enough snow to travel by snowmobiles. At the same time, there's too much snow forATVs.

"Some people luck out. They get them in the first six to eight hours of their hunt,where a lot of guys have gone for four or five days and haven't seen a thing," he said.

You have to be 'a little bit of a smart hunter'

"There is one fellow, he skis in, he parks his machine and he puts on a set of skis and skis right up to them [bison] and pops one," says HansKolaritschfrom Off the Hook."He is a little bit of a smart hunter."

Conservation officers know how challenging it can be to get a bison.

Thomas Jung, asenior wildlife biologist for the Yukon government, has studied theAishihikherd for over a decade and has seen how they adapted to their surroundings.

"When we started hunting bison it was actually fairly simple," he said. "You could almost Ski-dooup pretty close to them and take one," he said.

"However, they learned about hunting and they have adapted and the bison have a strategy to distance themselvesfrom hunters so they been able to learn how to keep away from hunters."

9,000 square km of roaming grounds

Environment Yukon does aerialsurveys to see where the bison are and to help point hunters in the right direction, but with a warmer winter and less snow than usual,getting close to bison has been a challenge.

Hunters say bison have moved from traditional grazing areas to higher elevations where grass is exposed. Many say trying to get near enough to hunt their 9,000-square km rangeis the biggest challenge.

KarlBlattmann says although he was successful this year, he still has a lot to learn.

"My impression now is that hunting bison is 50 percent luck and 50 percent skill. You need to know were to go, you need to know how to look for them, but you also need the luck to run into them."

Last year hunters harvested 173 bison in Yukon.

The bison were brought to the Yukon, mostly from Alberta, in the early1980s as part of a plan to safeguard the survival of wood bison in Canada. The original herd was 140 animals.