Hunting the Buffalo

Mike Seeger made a field recording of Driftwood playing it in 1960, under the title “I’m Gonna Go A-Hunting for the Buffalo,” and later recorded his own version as “I’m Gonna Go Huntin’ for the Buffalo” on True Vine (Smithsonian Folkways, 2003). The Fiddler’s Companion also lists recordings by Ramona Jones (Back Porch Fiddling), Norman Blake on Just Gimme Somethin’ I’m Used To (Shanachie, 1991), and the group Helicon on Horizons (1992), whose fiddler learned it from Freyda Epstein of Charlottesville, Virginia. The tune is printed in Beisswenger and McCann’s Ozark Fiddle Music (2008).

More recently, Natalie Padilla, Casey Campbell and Tyler Andal recorded it as “Hunting the Buffalo” for their album Hell Broke Loose, released on 17 February 2023.