The first public hunt of Yellowstone National Park buffalo in 15 years opened Nov. 15, 2005 on the borders of North America’s first national park in Montana. Controversy over population control, winter range and the issue of the disease brucellosis surround management of the animals, which the hunt is a result. The Yellowstone herd is said to be the only remaining herd with continuously wild ancestry descended from the once more than 50 million buffalo that roamed the Great Plains.

This essay is part of a long term personal project I’ve been working on since the winter of 1997.