▁were ▁dressed , ▁prepared , ▁and ▁stack ed ▁on ▁the ▁w ag ons ▁by ▁other ▁members ▁of ▁the ▁organization . ▁ ▁For ▁a ▁de cade ▁after ▁ 1 8 7 3 , ▁there ▁were ▁several ▁hundred , ▁perhaps ▁over ▁a ▁thousand , ▁such ▁commercial ▁hide ▁hunting ▁out f its ▁har vest ing ▁b ison ▁at ▁any ▁one ▁time , ▁vast ly ▁exceed ing ▁the ▁take ▁by ▁American ▁Indians ▁or ▁individual ▁meat ▁hun ters . ▁The ▁commercial ▁take ▁arg u ably ▁was ▁anywhere ▁from ▁ 2 , 0 0 0 ▁to ▁ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁animals ▁per ▁day ▁depending ▁on ▁the ▁season , ▁though ▁there ▁are ▁no ▁statistics ▁available . ▁It ▁was ▁said ▁that ▁the ▁Big ▁. 5 0 s ▁were ▁fired ▁so ▁much ▁that ▁hun ters ▁needed ▁at ▁least ▁two ▁rif les ▁to ▁let ▁the ▁bar rel s ▁cool ▁off ; ▁The ▁F ires ide ▁Book ▁of ▁G uns ▁reports ▁they ▁were ▁sometimes ▁qu en ched ▁in ▁the ▁winter ▁snow . ▁D odge ▁City ▁saw ▁rail road ▁cars ▁sent ▁East ▁filled ▁with ▁stack ed ▁h ides . ▁ ▁The ▁building ▁of ▁the ▁rail ro ads ▁through ▁Colorado ▁and ▁Kansas ▁split ▁the ▁b ison ▁her d ▁in ▁two ▁parts , ▁the ▁southern ▁her d ▁and ▁the ▁northern ▁her d . ▁The ▁last ▁refuge ▁of ▁the ▁southern ▁her d ▁was ▁in ▁the ▁Texas ▁Pan handle . ▁ ▁Disc uss ion ▁of ▁b ison ▁protection ▁As ▁the ▁great ▁her ds ▁began ▁to ▁w ane , ▁propos als ▁to ▁protect ▁the ▁b ison