Caliber Choice for a "Meat Buffalo" Which of these three????

[Hohn]

Head shots, any of those rifles will do.... along with many other calibers. Aim between the eyeball and earhole with broadside bullet entry. Head shots are HIGHLY reccomended for wild Bison hunts where tracking can be difficult or impossible. If you're capable of shooting a 2" group at 100 yards I suggest you take advantage of head shots with the most accurate >.243 rifle you have. Bison are the ONLY North American animal I suggest hunting with the intention of head shooting.

Lung shots, arrrows kill them more efficiently than most rifles. Slow and expansive is better than fast and piercing, in Bison lvitals. Cows die quicker than bulls when lung shot, I assume due to the volume of blood involved and the rate at which oxygen is depleted in the brain. Do not worry about anchoring a pass-thru bullet into the offside shoulder, look for a full double lung with a clean exit. The extra leakage helps vaccum and flood more lung tissue, keep in mind those lungs are the size of a car door. Expect the animal to take a few steps and look around after impact, if they remain calm they'll bleed out right there. If you're too close when the gun goes off, or the animal is otherwise spooked by its surroundings (herd), it can take a while for them to go down.

Head shots make sense to me for Bison. Heard of lots of guys in ND and WY doing it when I lived out there.

 

[mayor al]

I appreciate the offer. I may be able to make a day trip later this month. Which works better for you weekday or weekend. Are you close to I-65 or I-69??

 

[hornadylnl]

I appreciate the offer. I may be able to make a day trip later this month. Which works better for you weekday or weekend. Are you close to I-65 or I-69??

I workin Lafayette and get off work at 2pm. If you can make that work, I can meet you after work.

 

[mayor al]

Will send some possible dates shortly, Thanks again.

 

[teddy12b]

I will say I question the ethics of some of the replies on here .........

Care to expand on that?

 

[Noble Sniper]

If you go back and carefully read some of the replies you will see some very poor hunter/shooter ethics. Killing cleanly and quickly is a must and not just any ole gun is gonna do it......... makes me wonder how some folks have survived so long.

 

[ViperJock]

The Native Americans did it with spears and arrows. just sayin...

 

[Noble Sniper]

And your point is............ thats pretty well known information. Anyone that would take a 38 to a buffalo is asking to be stomped into a blood puddle.............

 

[teddy12b]

If you go back and carefully read some of the replies you will see some very poor hunter/shooter ethics. Killing cleanly and quickly is a must and not just any ole gun is gonna do it......... makes me wonder how some folks have survived so long.

I reread and maybe I missed something. Every post is numbered in the upper right hand corner, so please point it out to me. Most of the hunters on this forum have pretty good ethics from what I've seen so that's why I was asking about your comment.

 

[hornadylnl]

I reread and maybe I missed something. Every post is numbered in the upper right hand corner, so please point it out to me. Most of the hunters on this forum have pretty good ethics from what I've seen so that's why I was asking about your comment.

Amazing how the "ethics" of hunting have turned completely upside down over the last 100 years or so. With the exception of the elites, hunting used to be about putting food on the table. Now it's become a multi million dollar industry and those who most need the food can no longer afford to do it.

 

[teddy12b]

Amazing how the "ethics" of hunting have turned completely upside down over the last 100 years or so. With the exception of the elites, hunting used to be about putting food on the table. Now it's become a multi million dollar industry and those who most need the food can no longer afford to do it.

I'd agree with that completely. It amazes me how people will get that confused look when you talking about shooting a buck that wasn't a 14pt state record. This year, I'm just hoping for meat. If the meat has antlers growing on it then yippee. If not, I could care less.

 

[Noble Sniper]

Hello Teddy, post #2 and 4.............I cannot imagine the sense of some folks. Im a meat hunter......... always have been. Know folks that are trophy hunters but to be honest those old cagey deer are full of old cagey meat I always believed there is a tool for every job and if you dont have that tool acquire it otherwise things in the job can go bad like a 2200 lb bull stomping you into a blood puddle. Thats what I was going for........... not questioning the ethics of members here but some of the folks that members are writing about......

 

[Jason R. Bruce]

I had posted without reading anything but the original post: Wanted to add, there's some incredible assumptions and/or exaggerations going on here.

Bison aren't that hard to kill, it's just a matter of how long you want to watch them bleed and how far you want to tote them. If you stay away from the front of the skull and the front shoulders (where bone is sometimes 3-6" thick), they're not much different than elk. This crap about rogue bulls taking numerous shots through the lungs and brain is just silly, they aren't bionic machines. They can be killed with rimfires in the right hands. Adrenaline does a lot for an animals will-to-live and it certainly comes into play with Bison. Before and after the shot, every effort should be made to keep the animal calm and clueless.

Some of the slickest kills I've ever made on Bison were inside 25 yards with a bow. Bulls & cows alike, dropped within 2-4 minutes. The nastiest tracking / dispatching job I ever did was on a bull shot through the lungs 3 or 4 times at 100 yards with a 30-06, it took hours.

 

[teddy12b]

This crap about rogue bulls taking numerous shots through the lungs and brain is just silly, they aren't bionic machines.
Deosn't this first statement contradict the second?

The nastiest tracking / dispatching job I ever did was on a bull shot through the lungs 3 or 4 times at 100 yards with a 30-06, it took hours.

I'm not trying to be a smart arse here, but I'm trying to figure out the difference between what you're saying in the first sentence compared to the last. Did the 30-06 not really hit the lungs?

 

[mayor al]

Guys
I appreciate all the feedback regarding caliber and bullet choice. I am aware that shot placement really is as important as the equipment used.
Hopefully we will get the shot into a vital area and get as quick a kill as possible. I am not a fan of "20 rounds quickly are better than 2 accurate shots" .

 

[Jason R. Bruce]

I'm not trying to be a smart arse here, but I'm trying to figure out the difference between what you're saying in the first sentence compared to the last. Did the 30-06 not really hit the lungs?

No, the situation described in that 30-06 mess was complicated by several factors that we should've controlled better. The bull was worked up on an adrenaline dump, snot running and steam blowing, and looking right at us, before the trigger was touched the first time. That was mistake #1-#2-#3 & #4. Then there was poor shot placement, then numerous loud shots (including misses) at close range which frightened the bull, and ultimately another bull attempting to gore him to death every time he stood still to bleed out. All in the pouring down rain and swirling winds. Bad decisions escellate on an animal this size. A single head shot or even a more discretely placed lung shot would've avoided this... a little luck wouldn't have hurt either. It seemed like everything worked against us. By no means a "typical" scenario, more of a 1/1000.

I've seen the same extremes on rare occasion in whitetails and coyotes, adrenaline is always the culprit when an animal survives far beyond it's expectations.

 

[teddy12b]

No, the situation described in that 30-06 mess was complicated by several factors that we should've controlled better. The bull was worked up on an adrenaline dump, snot running and steam blowing, and looking right at us, before the trigger was touched the first time. That was mistake #1-#2-#3 & #4. Then there was poor shot placement, then numerous loud shots (including misses) at close range which frightened the bull, and ultimately another bull attempting to gore him to death every time he stood still to bleed out. All in the pouring down rain and swirling winds. Bad decisions escellate on an animal this size. A single head shot or even a more discretely placed lung shot would've avoided this... a little luck wouldn't have hurt either. It seemed like everything worked against us. By no means a "typical" scenario, more of a 1/1000.

I've seen the same extremes on rare occasion in whitetails and coyotes, adrenaline is always the culprit when an animal survives far beyond it's expectations.

Ok I understand it better now. I had a similar discussion with a hunter friend of mine and was telling him how far a buck ran after the shoulder was turned into lego's and the heart & lungs were shredded to pieces. The adrenaline is amazing for what it can do for the animals that don't know that they're dead yet.

 

[mayor al]

JAN.2nd, 2014

Let me bring back this thread, as we are just one week away from our Bison Hunt. We have decided to use the Ruger GSR in 308 Win caliber..with 180 SJSP ammo.
I have scored well in the past with the rifle and have confidence in my expertise with it. I have range tested the .338 Win Mag, and given enough training, I could get pretty good with it...BUT I am in my 70's, not as good with recoil as I should be, and frankly, I can't afford to screw up this hunt...So the GSR in 308 will be the primary weapon, with a 44 mag Super Blackhawk in my bandelero.

I hope to share a report here in a couple of weeks.

 

[Expat]

JAN.2nd, 2014

Let me bring back this thread, as we are just one week away from our Bison Hunt. We have decided to use the Ruger GSR in 308 Win caliber..with 180 SJSP ammo.
I have scored well in the past with the rifle and have confidence in my expertise with it. I have range tested the .338 Win Mag, and given enough training, I could get pretty good with it...BUT I am in my 70's, not as good with recoil as I should be, and frankly, I can't afford to screw up this hunt...So the GSR in 308 will be the primary weapon, with a 44 mag Super Blackhawk in my bandelero.

I hope to share a report here in a couple of weeks.

Good luck to you.

 

[teddy12b]

Good luck and take plenty of pictures!