Cookeville Ranch Home To 150 Bison

Did you know some 150 Bison call Cookeville home?

Eddie and Frida Gaw operate the Lazy G Ranch, home to the bison, which are typically thought of a western animals. Frida Gaw said they bought the Ranch’s first few bison in South Dakota 12 years ago.

“We didn’t need to have too many bulls,” Gaw said. “Too many bulls can cause a problem in the herd, so we were thinning down our bulls and they were, probably the biggest one was 950 pounds and down, and those 5 bulls brought us $20,500. So Eddie come home we loaded up all of the cattle and sold them and started going all bison.”

The ranch started with three female bison and now the herd has grown to a sum of 150. Gaw said that bison do not create many problems due to a herd mentality and with wild instincts, there’s not much to do for them.

“They are pretty hearty animals,” Gaw said. “if you see a bison starting to get sick it’s usually too late.”

Gaw said they raise bison to create starter herds or harvest them for meat.

Gaw is also the owner of the Cookeville Boat Dock and Lighthouse Restaurant. The ranch provides bison meat to the restaurant for the bison burger. A lot has changed since the first day they got the bison Gaw said.

“And as far as we know at that time, we were probably the only bison in Tennessee,” Gaw said. “but a lot has changed, and a lot has changed, and now there are quite a few bison people in Tennessee.”

The Lazy G Ranch has a gift shop called The Wallow. Gaw said it’s called The Wallow because bison create wallows to dust themselves off. Tourists can visit the ranch as they offer scheduled tours.

The bison is the national mammal of the United States. They are the largest mammal in North America with males growing to some 2,000 pounds. They can run up to 35mph. Teddy Roosevelt helped saved the bison from extinction.