Yesterday, I spent my day at the 45th annual Custer State Park buffalo roundup. And boy, was it a good ‘un! The video below is my proof.

The grunting, galloping herd of buffalo cooperated beautifully with the park staff and horseback volunteers who carefully guided them across the scenic draw and into their corral destination.

The buffalo roundup is a management event that the park staff uses to make sure the herd number doesn’t outgrow what the grasslands can support. It’s also used for things like sorting, branding, vaccinating, pregnancy-checking, etc. for the animals.

The Custer State Park roundup would (and used to) happen whether the 14,000-some-odd spectators showed up or not. Once safely in the corrals, and allowed some time to rest, the buffalo are examined and treated by staff veterinarians and biologists. Some 300-400 of the buffalo are sorted out and sold at public auction in November. The rest of the 1000-ish animals are released back out into the park within just a couple days of the roundup.

I’ve got oodles of photos from this year’s roundup and will be sharing some of them here in the coming days. For now, check out this short video of the herd thundering by (and yes, that’s a pronghorn buck you’ll see zoom across the screen). Or take a look at the photos on the official Black Hills Facebook page by CLICKING HERE. More to come; stay tuned.