The Right Tool: Following up a Wounded Wood Bison bull with a Double Rifle (Article)

Dogleg said:
Somewhere there's three hunters or poachers as the case may be. One of them is saying he hit it perfect but the bullet failed or that more gun would have made a difference, and the other two are calling bull#### and that he made a poor hit. All three believe that the animal running off is proof positive that they are right.

On an unrelated but hopefully interesting note here's a buffalo heart-shot with a .458 Win Mag that worked, even though the damage was more to the power-end than the fluid-end of the pump.
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Missed this, indeed, somewhere in a bar in Northern BC right now that argument is going on... I was pretty astounded to see the 7mm hole in the rib cage with the skin lifted back, in just the right spot, given what I found when I followed him; a walking, very unhappy Bison.

I suspect they've been caught, they were found again and reported, CO's went out after them and I wasn't around to see it. My helicopter blew a bearing way out in the bush and left me stranded in the middle of nowhere with no cell service.
 
Thank-you for sharing. I hope the poachers get nabbed. Thank-you for putting that beautiful beast out of it's misery. It served as a lesson on ethical hunting to my kids today.
 
Bah, not for that animal! I have a 9.3x62 Husqvarna or a Brno 602 .375 I could loan you though ;) That double is so...Africa.

Kidding ;) You had the perfect tool at hand.
 
It was fortunate timing, for an unfortunate event, I don't always travel with a double rifle. Overall very much a sour taste experience though, I really like the Bison and I'm all for legitimate, managed hunting, but what is happening up here is a free for all with little concern for the animals. Overall, feel better that he didn't suffer, longer, and felt a lot better when holding my double and realising I was standard right next to him.

As a side note, I tried to keep it "flat" when telling the story. It's a whole different experience following the blood of something that size when you can't see ten yards a bunch of the time, the bush is the stuff seen in the background of the photos, I know you're familiar with it around your place! The clear area was a blessing as it let me know how far away I was before he went back in the thick.
 
They're amazing animals. Smarter than people think, and they keep a good eye on their backtrail. I used to spend a lot of time watching the Sikanni Herd, when winter pushed them out of the Foothills. I've had a couple interesting encounters with bulls, and they're nothing to fool with. Its interesting watching them devastate the raised piping on abandoned leases, using them for back-scratchers. It doesn't take long.

There are a lot of turds in the bush up here, aye. Too many. I was sincere though...glad you ended it for him, and that you had the right rifle at hand. It will give you that much more confidence in it on your Africa trip too.
 
I've been toying for a few years of booking a guided hunt for a bison. Was thinking of buying a 416 for it.

I can never look at these animals without marveling at the stones it took to run them on horseback and use a lance on them.
 
dan belisle said:
Chased them through the thickets of poplar and birch in the Caribou Mountains some years back now. Phenomenal animals. And if you think getting to them is tough, once they're down the real work begins. - dan
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Been there, nothing like it on the continent certainly no light part to them, best to light a fire as it'll be awhile. Best part is there's snow to wade through during the season. :)
 
MiG25 said:
I've been toying for a few years of booking a guided hunt for a bison. Was thinking of buying a 416 for it.

I can never look at these animals without marveling at the stones it took to run them on horseback and use a lance on them.
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Would be a smart choice, never enough insurance when it's once in a lifetime and you're paying, frankly that's a perfect chambering for the job too by no means overkill. They can actually be extremely aggressive when pressured, Why Not? and some others here are familiar with this as well. There's just so few of them hunted they haven't gained the reputation. I found this bull hairier than Cape Buffalo, and frankly the only real aggression I've borne the brunt of from wildlife has been Bison, the worst instance without any reason except rounding a corner and ending up in his immediate space. This fellow was about ready to come as well, he was pawing the ground there and swinging his head, chain link wouldn't concern him (I'm fenced in there, he's wild). They're the biggest, toughest things here, and they know it. Some excellent videos of them destroying vehicles they found irritating in Yellowstone too. ;)

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Wow that's a huge animal! Im just wondering; how did they use to hunt bison before the availability of such rifle power? I'm pretty sure bow&arrow use to be the tool of choice a few centuries ago..

So really were talking about shot-drop performance?

Btw excuse this young buck, I've never hunted anything bigger than moose.
 
Ardent said:
Would be a smart choice, never enough insurance when it's once in a lifetime and you're paying, frankly that's a perfect chambering for the job too by no means overkill./QUOTE]

Oh, come on now, Ardent! Any small caliber down to .243 should be more than sufficient...maybe even .22 centerfires with perfect shot placement. Bullet diameter, weight, velocity and energy are all overrated...shot placement is key!

TDC and Tac870 said so!
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Slaymoar said:
Wow that's a huge animal! Im just wondering; how did they use to hunt bison before the availability of such rifle power? I'm pretty sure bow&arrow use to be the tool of choice a few centuries ago..

So really were talking about shot-drop performance?

Btw excuse this young buck, I've never hunted anything bigger than moose.
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They stampeded them off cliffs in the few areas that was possible, and areas without such handy features, they just flung everything they had into the herd and picked up what fell behind, given they conveniently group in enormous herds and aren't afraid of much. The ethics of modern hunting, no matter the image of the noble savage (I use this term as a shot at our culture, who created the concept, not at aboriginals) didn't exist, and wounding ten to claim two was fair game. It was pure survival back then. And I wouldn't say it's about shot drop though that is certainly the idea, just cleanly killing them period, I saw this bull with a 7mm Magnum round placed perfectly, that didn't reach the heart and he had gone a very long way, and wasn't done walking potentially for a day or more yet. They can be extraordinarily tough animals.

jjohnwm said:
Oh, come on now, Ardent! Any small caliber down to .243 should be more than sufficient...maybe even .22 centerfires with perfect shot placement. Bullet diameter, weight, velocity and energy are all overrated...shot placement is key!

TDC and Tac870 said so!
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Cheeky. ;)
 
Ardent said:
Been there, nothing like it on the continent certainly no light part to them, best to light a fire as it'll be awhile. Best part is there's snow to wade through during the season. :)
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The last one my lovely wife killed at around 4:20 PM. We were headed back to our camp with three skidoos pulling three freight sleighs full of meat, head, and hide. It was almost 1:00 AM when we got back. Three of us, all very experienced handling big game, worked on that big bull for over seven hours at -25C. Yes, a fire is a good idea.


Put close to 1100 pounds of boned meat in the freezer from that dude. They are big!
Ted
 
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