Anyone ever successfully hunt a Bison? What caliber did you use?

I have not personally hunted Bison but a few of my buddies have, and filled their tags. One used a 30-06 with Federal 180 Powershocks. Another used a 338WinMag and I believe he loaded Bearclaws but I am not sure. The other guy used his 375H&H and I am quite sure he used 260 Accubonds. One used his bow but I have no idea what specific gear he used on that hunt other than a tree stand.
 
I had a Bison in my field a few years back. It was heading towards the house so shased it back in the bush with my quad. Found out later it had go out from a Bison farm a few miles from my place. Later on, found out owners posted to shot it if on private land. I was told by locals it was taken down but was lost in the bush to be found a few days later spoiled. I know it was previously mentioned on Bison and shooting on private land but never heard anything on the outcome with CO's.
 
dan belisle said:
I watched a documentary once where a guy skinned a deer with flint tools. I was surprised how well they actually worked. Obsidian might even be better. Still, a ton of work on bison. - dan
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Flint can be sharper than steel. The issue is it dulling, but you just give it a whack to flake some off depending on the piece.
 
I can add from a hunt up north, with my buddy and his son. We had 4.5 ft of snow and -35c weather when we come up on a bull, and I basically split the difference in aim between the snow line and top of back. Two good shots and the Buff meandered away into the woods with hardly a care.

Next came two days of following tracks with snowmobile and snowshoe trying to get back on this bull, when we eventually had him narrowed to a 1000m x 1000m grove of pine, I went in on snowshoe to try and get another shot or push him out the other side where Mike and his son was sitting. After 25min bushwhacking on snowshoe I turned the corner on a pine and oh look Mr Bison at 20yards. Luckily by the time I had the gun up he had turned and hightailed in the other direction into Mike.

Now at this point you may be asking yourself, gee what was he shooting at buffalo where the bullets basically bounced off, in all my wisdom prior to the hunt that was planned months in advance I decided to walk past a half dozen Midbore magnums in the gun room and that the Ruger No.1 in 280 and 140g partitions was the buffalo medicine of choice. Now I was in a bit of denial regarding rifle choice as I had become quite attached to the Ruger... right up to the point stalking on snow shoes brought me up on him at 20yards.

Now the 25min of snowshoeing got me roughly halfway through the grove, it took Mr. Bison about 10 seconds to make it out the other side where all I heard was two quick shots a pause then a sled fire up and #### off. So now I have another half hour hike, wondering what the hell was happening while still juiced on adrenaline from the encounter.

When I eventually made it back to the sled and found the boys Mr. Bison was well and truly down although it had taken another 2 finishers. At this point story's were told and celebrations ensued, come to find out where Mike and his son were sitting right next to the tree line they had decided to move on back on a feeling, and where Mr. Bison ended up coming through at full run was right where they had been sitting. Mike, being slightly more intelligent than myself was packing 200g partitions out of a 300 Win Mag and first shot was about 50yards.

At this point its 3pm and coming on Dark so the youngest was sent back to the truck to grab the sleigh and the good knives. Mike and I proceeded to skin and butcher with my little 3'' Knife I carry. After nearly all the skinning was completed the boy showed back up as he had taken a wrong turn on the dark. Mr. Bison was pieced out and loaded into the sleigh where we started back to the truck, and town.

Once we were home had the meat hung in the gradge I was doing some trimming around the shoulder and wouldn't you know it there's two 7mm partitions stuck in the outer shoulder blade, not the thick part by the ball socket but up by the fan. So from 200yards I had managed to penitrate 1.5'' of hide and maybe 6'' of meat to be stopped by the shoulder blade. If i had adequate penitration it would have broke the shoulder then either hit high lung or spine.

So the moral of the story here gentlemen if you have managed to stay with me this far, is shoot them right the first time... and if you question that happening, bring a bigger gun.
 
kjt4wd said:
I can add from a hunt up north, with my buddy and his son. We had 4.5 ft of snow and -35c weather when we come up on a bull, and I basically split the difference in aim between the snow line and top of back. Two good shots and the Buff meandered away into the woods with hardly a care.

Next came two days of following tracks with snowmobile and snowshoe trying to get back on this bull, when we eventually had him narrowed to a 1000m x 1000m grove of pine, I went in on snowshoe to try and get another shot or push him out the other side where Mike and his son was sitting. After 25min bushwhacking on snowshoe I turned the corner on a pine and oh look Mr Bison at 20yards. Luckily by the time I had the gun up he had turned and hightailed in the other direction into Mike.

Now at this point you may be asking yourself, gee what was he shooting at buffalo where the bullets basically bounced off, in all my wisdom prior to the hunt that was planned months in advance I decided to walk past a half dozen Midbore magnums in the gun room and that the Ruger No.1 in 280 and 140g partitions was the buffalo medicine of choice. Now I was in a bit of denial regarding rifle choice as I had become quite attached to the Ruger... right up to the point stalking on snow shoes brought me up on him at 20yards.

Now the 25min of snowshoeing got me roughly halfway through the grove, it took Mr. Bison about 10 seconds to make it out the other side where all I heard was two quick shots a pause then a sled fire up and #### off. So now I have another half hour hike, wondering what the hell was happening while still juiced on adrenaline from the encounter.

When I eventually made it back to the sled and found the boys Mr. Bison was well and truly down although it had taken another 2 finishers. At this point story's were told and celebrations ensued, come to find out where Mike and his son were sitting right next to the tree line they had decided to move on back on a feeling, and where Mr. Bison ended up coming through at full run was right where they had been sitting. Mike, being slightly more intelligent than myself was packing 200g partitions out of a 300 Win Mag and first shot was about 50yards.

At this point its 3pm and coming on Dark so the youngest was sent back to the truck to grab the sleigh and the good knives. Mike and I proceeded to skin and butcher with my little 3'' Knife I carry. After nearly all the skinning was completed the boy showed back up as he had taken a wrong turn on the dark. Mr. Bison was pieced out and loaded into the sleigh where we started back to the truck, and town.

Once we were home had the meat hung in the gradge I was doing some trimming around the shoulder and wouldn't you know it there's two 7mm partitions stuck in the outer shoulder blade, not the thick part by the ball socket but up by the fan. So from 200yards I had managed to penitrate 1.5'' of hide and maybe 6'' of meat to be stopped by the shoulder blade. If i had adequate penitration it would have broke the shoulder then either hit high lung or spine.

So the moral of the story here gentlemen if you have managed to stay with me this far, is shoot them right the first time... and if you question that happening, bring a bigger gun.
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great read, you had just enough bullet with the .248 sd, maybe a tad less than enough, just not for front shoulder shooting, and maybe pushing it a little too fast, just needed to pull back of the shoulders into the ribs and would have been a done deal, you needed more sd, or tougher bullet that would retain all the sd it possible for that velocity range, and or slow it down some so it could stay together better to keep as much sd as possible, 160 gr or 175 gr partitions likely would have got far enough with their .287 and .31 starting sd levels with your shot placement choice
 
Northern Shooter said:
A bison hunt is on my bucket list. I'd love to hear from those that have successfully harvested one.

How did it go? Was it free range or one on a ranch? What caliber did you use? Were follow up shots required?

All told, how much meat did you walk away with?
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I never did kill one up North, but have many friends who have, with everything from 30/30 170 grains to 375 H&H and 300 grain bullets.
Others were '06, 300 WSM, 338 Mag, 7mm mag, four use a 308, and two still use the .303 British.
All except for two used factory loads, all animals were within 125 yards and none ( even the 30/30 kills) went more than 50 yards.
Also of note, only three of these hunters would be able to tell you what their initial or impact velocity may have been, and none care about SD, ES, BC, or any other crap. They are hunters and very efficient killers, not gun loonies like most here.
Cat
 
iron cat said:
with everything from 30/30 170 grains...
Cat
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cool example of the lighter end of spectrum

for those who do want a bit more objective viewpoints that's a .256 sd running much slower so it would keep a much higher percentage of it and penetration to 125 yards no problem, as compared to that 7mm high speed 140 gr .248 sd example, likely still want to stay back of the shoulders though with that combo and judging by the comment on the hunters involved they know how to do placement for their chosen setups, placement over displacement always wins the day, need quite a bit more insurance on the sd, bullet construction if want to hit them in the toughest parts at higher speeds and steeper angles

the 7mm 140 example was just so close to being there...just had to move back of the shoulders a bit and slowing it down to 7-08 velocity wouldn't have hurt either
 
Have woods bison up here, and in my experience a single hit into the lethal area from a 375 H&H is always enough. Loaned a 375 rifle to friend of mine for his first hunt with same result.

My still lovely wife of 56 years, killed a true monster several years ago using her 30-06. She is a very good shot, and two into the lungs at around 150 yards with a 200 gr bonded core put just under 1100 pounds of boneless meat in the freezer from that one animal.

Hcf5TmWl.png


The correct hit for the lungs is in the lower one quarter of the observable body. The spinal processes above the spine are over two feet in length, and there are no vital organs above there, of course. You can see how high the hump is on the animal.

Needless to say, the 9.3X62 with 285 gr or heavier bullets is also a very adequate bison outfit.

Ted
 
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That is an impressive one, I’ve seen the mount in Ted’s entrance and it is massive!!
 
Why not? said:
Have woods bison up here, and in my experience a single hit into the lethal area from a 375 H&H is always enough. Loaned a 375 rifle to friend of mine for his first hunt with same result.

My still lovely wife of 56 years, killed a true monster several years ago using her 30-06. She is a very good shot, and two shots into the lungs at around 150 with a 200 gr bonded core put just under 1100 pounds of boneless meat in the freezer from that one animal.

Hcf5TmWl.png


The correct hit for the lungs is in the lower one quarter of the observable body. The spinal processes above the heart are over two feet in length, and any higher there are no vital organs. You can see how high the hump is on the animal.

Needless to say, the 9.3X62 with 285 gr or heavier bullets is also a very adequate bison outfit.

Ted
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Very lucky man Ted!!
 
In a few bison hunts, never had one go more than 30 or so yards, except one shot too high and far forward numerous times with a 7 Mag I recovered for the CO’s. A single .375 in the right place dropped him and ended his suffering.

Seen the same effect from properly placed .30-06. If shot like a moose, it could become be a very long day. They’re tough but can’t withstand a .30-06 in the right place, even the biggest of them. Vitals are in a very different location than you are used to.
 
Ive shot 6. Used .300 Wby, .375 HH and 50cal black powder.

I have seen a 30/06 ####show before. It is the minimim calibre. It will work of course, but if you have bigger take bigger. Their hide is incredibly thick, sometimes it has frozen mud or poop on it, and a bison in a bad mood, say after being wounded, may decide to stomp you into pudding.
 
I guess it always come back to the same old bullet placement is key, Ted told me that the day his wife killed that bison, there was an other party who shot one too… I don’t recall what he said about caliber it I remember it was bigger than 30-06 and it took a lot more shot to put it down than what Margaret needed with her 30-06!! But I agree that something bigger than 30-06 can be better insurance!
 
DGY said:
I guess it always come back to the same old bullet placement is key, Ted told me that the day his wife killed that bison, there was an other party who shot one too… I don’t recall what he said about caliber it I remember it was bigger than 30-06 and it took a lot more shot to put it down than what Margaret needed with her 30-06!! But I agree that something bigger than 30-06 can be better insurance!
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ah ah that story is the best to hear and i wont tell the name of those involved highly known in our community and bragging a lot about their skills ... they used: a 375 hh, a 350 remington magnum and a 300 magnum and if i do remember it was 8 shots ... i witnessed on another day one bison big bull that needed 5 shots of 375hh and 260 grains accubond (that some nicknamed accubomb) the bullets were in the right part of placement but did not work properly: lack of penetration.
 
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