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“There was no shell casing or anything so we suspect that they just shot right from the vehicle,” Hampton said.

Two moose were also shot and killed illegally in Moonshine Lake Provincial Park, which is located near Blueberry Mountain.

“My gut instinct is that the same nitwits that shot those moose probably a few nights later were driving around and saw an opportunity to shoot a buffalo,” Hampton said.

According to Hampton, the bison cost $5,000 and would have been calving for five-to-10 years with each calf potentially being worth $2,500.

But Hampton said the financial impact was the least of his woes.

“It’s like they broke into our house,” Hampton said. “They didn’t even step on our property but they still vandalized.”

Hampton later posted about the incident on Facebook. As of Oct. 22, the post had around 4,000 reactions and 10,000 shares.

“I didn’t realize how far reaching Facebook was going to take this,” Hampton said.

Despite speculation from some Facebook comments, Hampton said he doesn’t believe hunters are to blame for his dead bison.

“It wasn’t a hunting accident,” he said. “Nobody drove down that road at night and thought that it was a moose. There’s just no way. This was just some idiots out on a lark, right, just shooting for the thrill of shooting something.”

The other bison are foraging for seed, Hampton said, which would make protecting them difficult. He also plans on feeding them hay away from the fences.

“It’s a small operation and we got a highway on two sides of us,” he added. “It’s not like you can run them into a corral any time you want. They’re not a tame animal. They’re still wild.”

Hampton said he hoped his widespread Facebook post will help make the public more aware and perhaps motivate the perpetrators from shooting more animals.

“It’s a waste of meat and it’s totally illegal so I hope they wise up and quit,” he said.