▁As ▁a ▁result , ▁b ison ▁her ds ▁could ▁delay ▁a ▁train ▁for ▁days . ▁ ▁Com mer cial ▁hunting ▁The ▁main ▁reason ▁for ▁the ▁b ison ' s ▁near - dem ise , ▁much ▁like ▁the ▁actual ▁dem ise ▁of ▁the ▁Pass enger ▁P ige on , ▁was ▁commercial ▁hunting . ▁ ▁B ison ▁sk ins ▁were ▁used ▁for ▁industrial ▁machine ▁bel ts , ▁cl othing ▁such ▁as ▁ro bes , ▁and ▁r ugs . ▁There ▁was ▁a ▁huge ▁export ▁trade ▁to ▁Europe ▁of ▁b ison ▁h ides . ▁Old ▁West ▁b ison ▁hunting ▁was ▁very ▁often ▁a ▁big ▁commercial ▁enter prise , ▁involving ▁organized ▁teams ▁of ▁one ▁or ▁two ▁professional ▁hun ters , ▁back ed ▁by ▁a ▁team ▁of ▁sk inners , ▁gun ▁clean ers , ▁cart ridge ▁reload ers , ▁cook s , ▁wr ang lers , ▁black sm ith s , ▁security ▁gu ards , ▁team sters , ▁and ▁numerous ▁horses ▁and ▁w ag ons . ▁Men ▁were ▁even ▁employed ▁to ▁recover ▁and ▁rec ast ▁lead ▁bul lets ▁taken ▁from ▁the ▁car c ass es . ▁Many ▁of ▁these ▁professional ▁hun ters , ▁such ▁as ▁Buff alo ▁Bill ▁C ody , ▁killed ▁over ▁a ▁hundred ▁animals ▁at ▁a ▁single ▁stand ▁and ▁many ▁thousands ▁in ▁their ▁career . ▁One ▁professional ▁h unter ▁killed ▁over ▁ 2 0 , 0 0 0 ▁by ▁his ▁own ▁count . ▁The ▁average ▁prices ▁paid ▁the ▁buff alo ▁hun ters ▁from ▁ 1 8 8 0 ▁to ▁ 1 8 8 4 ▁was ▁about ▁as