Jett Hitt and his wife Carrie Byron started raising bison in McDonald County four years ago so that Hitt could pursue a career milestone.
Located near the state line is Brush Creek Bison, 350 acres on two farms that are home to roughly 80 bison. Hitt started the bison farm upon returning to the county after 20 years of outfitting in Yellowstone Park.
He grew up on a dairy farm in the county. He attended college at the University of Arkansas and Louisiana State University. He finished his master's degree at East Texas State and earned his doctorate in music composition at the University of Kentucky.
While finishing his dissertation, he began teaching at Idaho State University, which is near Yellowstone. During his time at the university, he also released a CD called "Yellowstone for Violin and Orchestra" that became a top 40 hit on classical radio.
One day a recruiter from the park saw him at the university wearing a cowboy hat and said, "Hey cowboy, you look like you'd like to work in Yellowstone." When the recruiter learned Hitt was a professor at the university, he agreed to give him a job giving trail rides. After a few years, he got to know people, and he was offered the opportunity to apply to start an outfitting company in Yellowstone.
He built the company from the ground up, starting with horses he bought in McDonald County that he had to train completely. He ran the outfitting company for 14 years and ended up being the busiest outfitter in Yellowstone history with 86 horses at its height. McDonald County was his winter base during this time. He would go to Yellowstone in May and come back to McDonald County in mid-October.
When "Yellowstone for Violin and Orchestra" developed a life of its own, Hitt began to realize there was a demand for a second symphony. He decided to shut down and start raising bison and writing another symphony.
"Livestock is what I know, other than music," he said. "The (bison) market is a lot more stable than beef cattle. They belong on the American landscape."
He also noted his wife is a wildlife biologist, which also played into their decision to raise bison.
He said farming is becoming more and more difficult because of climate change. There has been a 500-year flood, two 100-year floods and the two worst droughts of his lifetime in the 10 years that he has owned the farm, which was a horse farm before it was a bison farm. There was a moderate drought this year, and two years ago, the area got 75 inches of rain, while the average is 45 inches, he said.
"It's getting harder all the time," he said.
Bison are a lot more versatile than cattle, he said. They will eat things cattle will not eat. They have a smaller breeding window than cattle, though. They also are more susceptible to parasites, he said.
As for the symphony, Hitt said winter is the best time for writing because of all the responsibilities he has on the farm the rest of the year. He has two movements that are near completion, and there will be four movements when the symphony is finished. He will probably record it next year, he said.
