Measurements of biron taken in the field included: 



• horn length (HRLN) loutside of curve from hairline at base of 

 horn to tip 



• hornspread (HRSP) : distance between horns from tip to tip 



• base (BASE) : circumference of horn at hairline around base 



• base spread (BASESP) : distance of inner length between bases 

 of horns at hairline 



• head length (HDLN) : distance from base of skull 

 (interparietal bone) to nose (approximately even with pre- 

 maxillary bone) 



• total length (TOTALLEK) : distance of tip of tail to base of 

 skull plus KDLN. 



Lungworra determination was conducted by the Montana 

 Veterinary Molecular Biology Laboratory, Bozeman, MT. , from 

 fecal samples collected in the field. 



Computer software employed in data analysis included 

 DBase, Harvard Graphics, SAS, and StatGraphics . 



RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 



HARVEST AND HUNTER STATISTICS 



A summary of bison harvested in the State of Montana from 

 1974-1989 is presented in Table 1. 



The 569 bison killed during the 1988-89 removal included 

 567 taken from the northern herd, (566 near Gardiner, and one 

 near Cooke City) . Two others were removed from the Mary 

 Mountain Herd near West Yellowstone. Hunters harvested 494 

 bison (87%) while wardens shot 75 (13%). Most of theharvest 

 occurred in January and February of 1989 (Table 2) . A total 

 of 516 adults and 53 calves was killed. Sex ratios were 57% 

 male and 43% female which supported other studies on 

 populations of free-ranging bison showing a majority of adult 

 males (Meagher 1986) . 



