A Day at Bijou Bison Ranch | Stephen Smith Guest Editor Photo Story

Following are a collection of photos and vignettes from OTW Guest Editor, Stephen Smith, depicting a day at Bijou Bison Ranch outside of Denver.

i. Bijou Bison Ranch, located about an hour east of Denver in the Great American Plains, is a place where large mammals ones roamed freely, prior to highways and fences. They fed, aerated the soil with their hooves and left behind nitrogen rich fertilizer for healthy grasses to grow, and that’s just what happens here.

ii. I came on a “sorting” day where the bison were brought into the coral and sorted into different groups for inspection.

iii. The herd being moved towards the coral is a humbling and beautiful sight up close.

iv. I learned quickly that these animals are very different from the cattle I had worked with during a previous ranch job in that they are not nearly as docile in the pins… like many of us.

v. The gentleman of Bijou Ranch.

vi. Bison cow headed into the corral.

vii. Ray Thieman taking a break during the tough job of sorting bison.