SKS for buffalo? Absolutely

d.bala

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Went out today with Royce for a little Buffalo harvest. a buddy of mine needed to harvest 4 buffalo for sale and we gladly accepted. first one we sat on a field edge and the owner flushed them out to us they were pretty calm. one 70 yrd shot from the SKS wolf 7.62x39 122 grn hp to the cranium and the first folded like a sack.

sksbuffalo.JPG


now they are a little more spooked and after about half an hour of herding them. I was able to shoot the second from a behind position one shot from the Lungman AG42b factory federal 6.5x55 140grn sp to the rear of the cranium just behind the horn about 50 yrds. another large sack although she did tend to kick a little more than the first.

lungmanbuffalo.JPG


well they are really freaked out now and have taken off to the far side of the property. the owner loads the two up on his trailer and takes them to the butcher. Royce and I calmly flush them to a smaller part of the Field (takes about an hour) with no opportunity for a clear shot. the owner returns and we tell him where they are sitting. Royce and I take up positions on different side of the bush. the group starts to come out on my end but they see me and head back in the bush towards Royce. more crashing in the bush and the group suddenly appears in front of me again. I line up the Lungman but their heads are bobbing up and down making the shot difficult. first shot stuns the cow and makes her wobble and shake her head. (my fault a group of 500 lb animals running straight at you is hard on the nerves ) the group starts moving to my left and getting farther away. the stunned cow is loping away and I take an awesome 100yrd shot at her cranium. down she goes for the count.

lungmanbuffalo2.JPG


the group splits up and heads for the bush. the owner says they will try to regroup so we set up on the trail and wait. 15 min later the cows come trotting up the trail and Royce gets his first for the day. nice 60 yrd shot with his Savage 99 (.308) nosler 180grn bt right between the horns and thats all she wrote for that one.

gregbuffalo.JPG


all in all it was a blast and took about 4 hrs of walking and pushing bush. good training for deer season.
 
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d.bala said:
Went out today for a Buffalo harvest. A buddy of mine needed to harvest 4 buffalo for sale and we gladly accepted. ... One 70 yd shot from the SKS to the cranium and the first folded like a sack.

Somehow I thought their skulls were thicker than that!

d.bala said:
Now they are a little more spooked and after about half an hour of herding them. I was able to shoot the second from a behind position one shot from the Lungman AG42b to the rear of the cranium just behind the horn about 50 yrds.

Which bullet?

d.bala said:
I line up the Lungman but their heads are bobbing up and down making the shot difficult. First shot stuns the cow and makes her wobble and shake her head. the group starts moving to my left and getting farther away. The stunned cow is loping away and I take an awesome 100yrd shot at her cranium. Down she goes for the count.

One wounding shot with the 6.5 that needed a much more well-placed killing shot. Not necessarily a good reputation-builder.

d.bala said:
Nice 60 yrd shot with his Ruger 99 (.308) right between the horns and that's all she wrote for that one.

Again, what bullet?
 
maple_leaf_eh said:
Somehow I thought their skulls were thicker than that!

These are basically yearling calves. A big bull would be 2.5X the size.

d.bala: Did you at least get a cooler full of meat for your "troubles"?;)
 
1899 said:
These are basically yearling calves. A big bull would be 2.5X the size.

d.bala: Did you at least get a cooler full of meat for your "troubles"?;)

A big bull is easily 2.5 times the size of those calves, more like three or four times.

This guys name is Grizz and he is over 2000 pounds, I stood near him in the pasture and it was a very humbling experiance.
bobvsgrizz.jpg


Sounds like you guys had fun D.bala, good write up. Hopefully you got some meat out of the deal :D
 
rollingrock said:
their skulls will be thicker than three propane cans and a muffler in a row? man, I don't think so!

They have a very thick layer of incredibly dense hair that the bullet has to pass through before even getting to the skull.

Nice animal crazy_davey!
 
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Nice shootin' and lots of buffalo burgers there.:eek: For the bigger ones I would probably take along a larger caliber.:) I would like to have an opportunity to take a mature buff with 520 grain cast bullets out of my Marlin 45-70.:D
 
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I have a cousin who kills cattle all the time.A well placed shot between the eyes and up a bit with the .22 and they drop like a sack of potatoes.the shots aren't a great distance and he is a superior marksman to.
 
Great post and pics! Thanks!



7mm-08 said:
I have a cousin who kills cattle all the time.A well placed shot between the eyes and up a bit with the .22 and they drop like a sack of potatoes.the shots aren't a great distance and he is a superior marksman to.

That's pretty amazing. I remember when my uncles first taught me to slaughter a cow. From about 20 ft. away I shot it with a .22lr in the temple region and the cow just shrugged it off. Granted they were hollow points, but still.
 
I believe bison are much harder to kill than cows. My friend used to have quite a few of the former on his ranch near Niton Junction. His brother raised them in Drayton Valley. A big bull bison is a TOUGH animal.
 
Looks like you gents had fun :) Here in B.C., if you are hunting wild bison via Limited Entry Hunting (leh draw) the minimum requirement is .284" caliber firing 175gr bullets that retain 2000ftlbs at 100yards. As far as blasting farmed animals, anything goes. A co-worker of mine raises bison locally and uses his .308 Win. He shoots the majority of the butcher animals broadside through the heart with plain vanilla 180gr softpoints and occasionally he puts one down with a shot in the forehead. If you buy a yearling around here, take whatever you want to use and shoot the one they point out to you. Kinda like to get my own hands dirty so to speak, when I fill my freezers ;) :D
 
My buddy shot some B.C. buffalo last year on a farm. Anything over 2 years old is shoe leather. He shot his with his T/C Hawkins .54 muzzle loader. BBQ'd some of his steaks, great!!
 
the guy that usually shoots them for my buddy uses a 22-250 as long as you hit them in the forehead they will drop with almost any center fire. I just thought this would be a good opportunity to use a rifle that I might not otherwise use to hunt with. next week I might use my old 1911 Schmidt Rubin 7.5x55 with hornady 180 sst's. he needs three more done next Fri :D
 
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