Wyatt Earp’s Buffalo Hunting Approach

Introduction

Successfully operating a business takes skill and knowledge. Understanding the best way to manage the operations and gain the most financial success is imperative. The following paper addresses the management of buffalo hunting operations that took place in the late 1800’s. Wyatt Earp differentiated himself from veteran hunters and proved to be successful by taking a new and improved approach to buffalo hunting.

Discussion Content

Old Timers Buffalo Hunting Approach

Back in the late 1800’s, the Buffalo Hunters tended to travel in larger groups with a number of individuals set aside to help the Buffalo Hunter with the hunt. According to Jacobs (n.d.), the buffalo hunter would travel with five four-horse wagons, with one driver, a stocktender, camp watchman, cook, and four individuals who would skin the buffalo. While they had a number of individuals to help out during the hunt, the buffalo hunter was forced to split his money in multiple different ways and never ended up with an overwhelming amount of money. Aside from employing a number of individuals on the hunt, the veteran buffalo hunters were all accustomed to utilizing the Sharps “Fifty” rifle, a long range weapon that weighed over twenty pounds (Jacobs, n.d.). While the weapon was extremely accurate when conducting single shot shooting, it failed when trying to conduct rapid fire shooting.

Wyatt Earp’s Buffalo Hunting Approach

Wyatt Earp set himself apart from the veteran buffalo hunters in large part because he travelled with minimal gear and staff. According to Jacobs (n.d.), Wyatt travelled with one four-horse wagon, an extra horse to ride, as well as one skinner that would also serve has the driver and cook. Aside from hunting the buffalo, Wyatt would also help skin the buffalo. By conducting operations with minimal staff, Wyatt was able to deduct any operating costs from their profit and then the profit was split evenly between him and the skinner. When it came to the actual hunting of the buffalo, Wyatt did so on foot and within close range utilizing a shotgun. He was able to have an accurate shot and shoot roughly the amount that himself and his skinner could handle before the buffalo smelled the blood and stampeded off into the distance (Jacobs, n.d.)

Wyatt Earp versus Old Timer’s: A comparison

The overall goal of both Wyatt Earp and the veteran skinners was the same: hunt buffalo and make money. The difference was in the actual handling of the buffalo hunting operations. The veteran buffalo hunters made their profit by killing large numbers of buffalo but eventually having to split it with multiple individuals. On the other hand, Wyatt Earp killed a smaller number but did not have to split his profits with so many people. The veteran buffalo hunters relied