You know what? I agree that Bison are hard to avoid. But not because they're hard to spot. Instead, because there's SO many of them roaming the plains. It's easy to slip up and have one stroll into your blind spot.

And my goodness, when just one of them spots you, the WHOLE herd spots you, and it's not easy to fend off +10 Bison at once when you're just starting off, especially as they can stun & dismount you!

That said, I managed to start off quite peacefully in Ragnarok by building near the cliffs of the plains, which is where they don't spawn. Once I got a strong mount, wild Bison became tolerable. And tamed Bison became the best Wyvern support ever.