Wild Buffalo Hunt:

Scappoose man succeeds at once-in-a-lifetime chance

By John Brewington

The South County Spotlight, Nov 17, 2009

Submitted Photo / The South County Spotlight

ONCE IN A LIFETIME—Marty Liesegang of Scappoose succeeded in one-time chance to bag an American Bison. He shot the bull in Wyoming in the Bridger Teton National Forest just outside Grant Teton National Park.

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It’s literally a once in a lifetime opportunity and very, very few ever get the chance.

Marty Liesegang of Scappoose had luck on his side this fall when he was one of just 30 that received out-of-state tags to shoot a bull buffalo in Wyoming.

Liesegang, 36, is a hunter. It’s his hobby. “I’ll hunt everything I can figure out how to get a tag for,” he says. He went on his first bird hunt when he was three, riding on his pappy’s shoulder. He bagged his first duck when he was eight or nine he notes.

He’s lived in Scappoose for six years and is the owner of The Roadrunner Gas & Grocery. He and his wife, Marie, have four horses, board six others, and also have a chocolate Labrador retriever that Marty uses for bird hunting.

He applied for a buffalo permit earlier in the year, sending in his $20 just for the chance to get a tag. Over 6,000 applied for the 30 out-of-state tags. (There are an additional 348 in-state bull and cow tags.)

Just getting the tag was lucky, but then there is the $2,500 fee for the tag. Those that get one can never draw one again–at least in Wyoming. There are four other areas–one in Montana, two in Utah, and one in Arizona–where tags are divvied up for buffalo in specific areas.

This is not a penned hunt or on some ranch. It’s in the Bridger Teton National Forest just outside the Grand Teton National Park. It’s been well over a century since buffalo carpeted the plains, and the hunt is not easy or cheap.

Liesegang figures he spent well over $4,000 before it was all said and done.

After arriving in Wyoming, he rented a horse and eventually aired up with another hunter from Wyoming. After five days, both bagged their bulls. He got his with his 7mm Remington Mag at about 255 yards. Liesegang’s dad, Jerry, accompanied him on some days, and he says his wife also went on the trip, but spent her time shopping.

“The weather was just beautiful, cold with some snow, but good weather, not dreary like it can be in Oregon,” Liesegang says.

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