Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Wyoming Wild Bison Hunt

Hi all,

I have been pretty quiet since last spring due to construction season and then hunting season but I have tried to keep up with the posts. This year I was lucky to draw a once in a lifetime Wyoming Wild Bull Bison license. It was a tough year, the hunt is running way longer than usual due to a mild winter which has allowed them to hang late on their summer range in Grand Teton National Park instead of migrating to the National Elk Refuge where they can be legally hunted. This is normally an average 3 day hunt with over 90% success ratio. It took me 17 days of hunting since October to finally connect with one in a legal hunt area. To date, no cows have been killed, and mine is the 21st bull taken out of 70 licenses, and the first and only to be taken to date on the National Elk Refuge this season. Usually the hunt is over by the end of December. This year I feel very blessed to have filled my tag at all. The season ends on Jan. 31 and if the buffalo do not migrate it will be one of the lowest harvests since the hunt began.

Sharp eyed members will notice that I used an 1895 Marlin and may wonder why I am posting here. I am a big Savage fan, and I think my 300 Savage would have done the job, but I wanted the extra power and buffalo hunting history of the 45-70, and didn't really want to take a nice vintage rifle out in all the poor weather I have hunted. Also don't forget that Marlin and Savage have a nice historical connection with the 1895 Savage. First two shots were made offhand at 200 yards, next three at 100 yards or so running. The 45-70 makes a nice satisfying "ker-thwack" when it hits. Bison are tough critters and not easy to take down.

Now that slow winter days are setting in, I will post pics of my 2017 acquisitions pretty soon, a nice 1899A, an 1899A with Marlin style pistol grip, and an 1899B.

Here are some buffalo hunt pics.

bison hunt

Very cool!
Sure looks like that thing will take up a lot of room in the freezer! I won't hold it against you for using a Marlin
Thanks for sharing.

Lee

Good job. Nice looking Bull. Good shooting , 3 shots running at a 100 yards. How old was he?

You should be very proud of that accomplishment! What a beautiful animal.

Thanks for posting.

Neat stuff!

Great photos NorthwestHunter! Only ever had domestic bison hamburger which i think is very good. I would guess the wild Bison is excellent table fare, especially the backstraps!

in my gun case if it ain't a Savage, it's a Marlin, and if it ain't a Marlin, it's a Winchester.
Roy accused me of being a lever gun Slut in another thread. i freely admit to that sluttiness (is that a word?)
have had a 1895 of one flavor or the other for years and adore the 45/70 cartridge.
if ever i had a chance at a Bison that is what i would use without hesitation.
nice job and congrats!

Very nice! Seem to remember that Drew did a buffalo hunt and used a Savage in 38-55? Might be misremembering tho.

Would love to do it sometime, never had wild bison steak tho. Let us know how it tastes!

KOOL......Congrats !!!!!!!!!!....WY has Bison hunts ?

Utah has 3-4 units.........PB still runnin ?

Whats fur dinner ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Very nice!

He is probably about a 4 year old. I was wanting to shoot a big old B&C bull in the 8 to 10 year old class, but I was glad to just get on any bison by this point in the season, and he is no slouch for size. Plus he will eat a lot better than an old bull. I am going to get a shoulder mount done, and he should be real pretty with the blonde hump and the prime winter coat.

I did eat some tenderloins Sunday, they were excellent. The rest is aging in my barn for 2 weeks and then I will cut it up. Guesses vary but I am thinking it will be about 400 lbs cut and wrapped.

The draw on these is hard but not as bad as bighorn sheep - I think in 2017 there were 56 bull licenses for residents, with 1958 applicants or about 2.9% odds. There were 14 non resident tags, with 754 applicants 1.8% odds.

We can smell it all over you.

Or that could be the wind blowing our own stench back in our face.

smells like hoppes #9 don't it

that is the way we all felt here on our moose hunts. after 14 12 hour days looking for one it came down to the "first legal bull" dies!!!

Great bull!

How about a picture of that 1899 A with the pistol grip?

Congratulations. That's on my bucket list for sure.

Excellent!!!!

Nice!

I killed my bison with a Marlin too, but mine was an 1895 Guide Gun. You just have to take a bison with a 45-70. It is the only way.

My replica Sharps would be the go to rifle for bison. Things are really weird with the critters this year. Five bull elk came strolling through the neighborhood this afternoon. Will post pics in a new post tomorrow. We've never seen elk around here before. We can't get near them in area 98. It's usually easy to get a cow there. It's the wolves and the weather messing things up in 98. David

Glad you used a classic Marlin 1895 with the 26-inch octagon barrel, the rifle just looks right leaning on the buffalo. Curious if there is enough buffalo hide there to make you a coat?