I have shot all my life and put thousands of rounds through a very wide variety of rifles over the last 50+ years. I have shot enough game animals that I can put myself into a state of ZEN where "nerves" don't enter into the picture and I have a whole series of one shot kills. I have shooting ingrained into my muscle memory but I have often thought that it might all go out the window in the sudden adrenal rush of a life and death encounter, when the Reptilian cortex sends it's fight or flight cocktail of hormones into my brain and the ancient body gears up for a physical confrontation. What happens to the fine motor skills? Will I still hit that state of "Zen" were I can shoot well? I don't really want to find out, and one never really knows!
When I shot my first moose with a 358 Norma 12 years ago I was so confident in the power of the rifle that I waited for it to drop. I shot it through the lungs with a load that I had seen create huge cavities in the mud wall of my shooting pit. When he didn't drop I was shocked and disconcerted and sent the next round through one of his antlers because I was a bit shook up from surprise. I needed to settle myself to make the next shot count. In the end the first shot was a killing shot but a moose is big enough to shake off a lot of shock. There is a lot of lung there. If the small shock of seeing the moose seemingly shrug off the 358 through me off, what would the sight of a 1 ton wrecking ball coming to life and leaping at me with bad intentions do?
So take nothing for granted when hunting something that can hunt you back! I am amazed at how fast and agile something as big as a Bison is. It also weighs as much as a compact car and sometimes take a bit of killing especially if an initial marginal shot wakes up it's own adrenal response. These Yukon Bison are truly wild and they are survivors!
I am confident that a 30-06 with good bullets will do the trick, but if you can handle a bigger gun why not? If you get a bigger gun shoot it lot's so it is an extension of you and you handle it automatically. Be cautious on the approach and try to avoid being surprised by thinking of various scenarios that could happen. Nothing wrong with sending another round if you have any doubt. Might as well take the lesson offered from our poor, Yukon comrade who won't be hunting any more.
Last edited by North61; 09/13/20.
