National Bison Range

Sunday, July 24, 2016

We take a drive north today to visit the National Bison Range which is an 18,000+ acre range which includes herds of elk, pronghorn antelope, deer and bighorn sheep.

Along the way we stop in the community of St. Ignatius where we find this beautiful old Mission.  The Mission was established in 1854 by Jesuit Fathers and Brothers with these log cabin outbuildings being lived in by those first missionaries and the Providence Sisters.

The 1891 brick church is really beautiful inside with 58 dry fresco paintings painted around 1900 by a Brother who was the mission cook, beautiful altar and stained glass windows.  The church is still in use each Sunday.

Turning off the highway, we drive through some beautiful countryside typical of Montana and the Big Sky country until we reach the Visitor Center.

Our Senior Pass gets us into the Range and a 19 mile drive down a dirt and gravel one way road, up and down the steep hills filled with Montana brown grasses, pine trees and a creek.

Up and down we go looking for the elusive animals who call this Range home.  Along the way we spied one antelope, a small herd of buffalo (mostly off in the distance and not close up), bighorn sheep lying under the trees, a couple of deer in the bushes, a large bull elk lying across the creek, and a large reclining buffalo who did not want to face me, but shows me what he considers his better side.

Look carefully for the antelope in front of green shrub.

Elk reclining in the shrubs

Bighorn sheep reclining under a tree

Those little things sticking up in the grass are elk antlers.

Look carefully in the grass for the deer

If you can enlarge the picture,
you will see a large elk antlers and
his body to the left.  He refused to lift his head up.

Back of large buffalo

Signing off until we reach Kalispell.