Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Water Buffalo bow hunt blog

This destination hunt will take place in the hill country of Utopia Texas in Uvalde county and since the plan is to bring all the meat home, I will be making the 21 hour drive from my home in South East Wisconsin. I will meet up with other hunters in Dubuque Iowa on March 28.





This particular ranch encompasses 20,000 acres and is home to many native and African species. The ranch has an excess water Buffalo population that needs to be culled. We will be targeting Water Buffalo cows and perhaps other species (playing it by ear at this point)

Here is the object of this bowhunting adventure.



Fresh on the heels of last week's successful archery hunt for Vancouver bull and Polynesian pig in Hawaii, I'm gearing up for this hunt with some new broadheads. The heads I bought earlier for this hunt that I planed to use on water buffalo suddenly seemed inadequate for the task so I ordered some 250 grain Cutthroat broadheads. Reading and viewing the pictures at the web site below scared me straight.

https://adventurousbowhunter.wordpr...falo-anatomy-shot-placement-part-1/?vm=r

I placed an order for 250 grain, single bevel, Cutthroat heads.



I'm currently making more arrows to replace the once that were damaged or left in the remains of the bull carcass up on mount Mauna Loa on the Big Island of Hawaii. Since we used the gutless method for that bull, I was unable to retrieve some all my arrows form that hunt. I plan to use the same dual walled aluminum arrows that will have a finished weight of 700 Grains. In addition, I plan to boost the draw weight of my Bowtech bow from its current setting of 64 Pounds.

Quick question from a retired bowhunter: Why only a single sharpened edge?

Two blade heads penetrate better than heads with more blades. Using 2 blades allows for the use of a single bevel to impart rotation of the head as it passes through the animal's meat and bone and on a water buffalo you are almost assured of hitting bone due to the rib structure. Single bevel heads are proven to fracture and slit bone rather than wedging into and stopping when hitting bone with a double bevel.



Dr. Ed Ashby did extensive testing with heavy arrows on large Dangerous game and single bevels. About a decade ago I began making my own single bevel heads and testing them on bones. Dr. Ashby and I wrote a companion piece for Traditional Bowhunter magazine which included the picture of my tests with low poundage traditional bows using single bevel heads. This is one such picture of the worst bone we can hit and the splitting power of the single bevel.







Because Its likely I will hit ribs (which on these animals are massive) I'm opting for single bevel to increase penetration potential.

This link shows the sort of bones I'm likely to encounter.

https://adventurousbowhunter.wordpr...falo-anatomy-shot-placement-part-1/?vm=r

Thanks for the answer.

Best of luck.

Tell me, do water buffalo show their disapproval by goring you or stomping you?

One other question: What's the name of the place you're hunting. I've got distant kin in Tow. I might want to make another journey out that way and this looks fun.

If that does not happen, I will report back. If that does happen, I hope to be able to report back. You you don't get an answer, I think its safe to assume.



Record Buck Ranch.

Cool. Let me know when you're going, and I'll shake my rattle your way for protection. It may rain frogs in Laredo, but hey! I tried. As I get older, my aim keeps getting worse.

Thats an impressive split!

And I always like to see those anatomy, showing that far forward is dang near a complete miss of vitals.

BTW your start destination could almost be Racine...

Delafield, Actually.

What are you going to do with the meat?

Eat it.

Kind of north but between Janesville and Racine in a way. Not that far from La Grange WI. LOL

Have good friends in Racine, was my 4th grade teacher here in TX years ago. Went to taxidermy school in Janesville years ago. Very nice area IMHO you are in there!

Good luck on the hunt!

Jeff

Good luck on your hunt.
My experience with single bevel, 315 grain Ashby heads was far from good on African Cape buffalo and some plains game.

Would like to hear the negative of the 315 heads if possible?

After some first hand exposure to Havalon Knives while on my bowhunt in Hawaii, That was the second purchase I made when I got back (right after the Cutthroat broadheads.) I picked up 3 dozen blades to begin with.



The Cutthroat broadheads come sharp but not shaving sharp. I knew this when I bought them. In fact, they website clearly stated the following:

"These broadheads are ground to a burr. You will need to finish sharpening them before they are hunt ready. You can jump right to your fine stones or whatever method you use to finish your sharpening."

Thankfully I created the Stay Sharp Broadhead sharpening guide so I could take these heads to the next level and get them hair popping sharp with ease.



Right out of the package.





My Stay sharp and a few grits to sharpen and then polish the edge.



A mirror finish.



[img]https://i.imgur.com/i6qw3gv.jpg[/img]

A brief video showing just how sharp I got them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtSjWGqj5Zs&feature=youtu.be
Next up is putting them into my broadhead target out to 60 yards.

Paper wheel on a head like that done in 1 minute or less, WAY easier than the angle lock stone type setups...

As a knife maker and broadhead maker and a person that does custom sharpening for folks that owns nearly every sharpening system on the planet, I wholeheartedly disagree. Also, I don't bother with stones. Time is money, I only use diamonds and ceramic as my sharpening media.

Well you might have me on credentials, and I"ve not used your setup but with wheels I can put a razor edge on a chinese knife in less than a minute or two...

and its how I sharpened broadheads for 20 years or so.

And FWIW the wheels have diamond abrasive...

Should have been running a 2 blade on that island bull.

My traveling meat cutting arsenal is ready for the trip should there be a need to disassemble a Water buffalo. We will have access to the skinning shed and walk in cooler .

Ive got a sawzall to split the carcass, Cut resistant glove, Poly griper glove, A belt worn knife scabbard (holster) A variety of knives with different purposes, A boning hook to pull and handle the pieces of meat while cutting, A poly apron and a few sharpening sticks (steel, diamond and ceramic) To sharpen as blades dull during the process.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/p6Qq6pq.jpg?1[/img]

And of course a cooler or seven to transport any meat. The forecast calls for temps in the low 80's.

[img]https://i.imgur.com/NLGHlna.jpg?1[/img]

I wonder if my homemade water buffalo, Bow mounted decoy will result in me getting trampled?