Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game American bison (Buffalo) which rifle would you take?

I’d take whichever rifle you felt most confident with. About 2 inches below and to the rear of the ear will sever the spine where it meets the skull. They will drop like a rock.

I was fortunate enough to be drawn for a once in a lifetime Bison per it on Antelope Island in Utah. The Parks & Rec there require you take an orientation course prior to the hunt and the neck shot is what they recommend.

I used my .300 Weatherby with a 180 Barnes TTX. Worked like a charm from about 100 or so yards. I had rezeroed my rifle to be dead on at 100 yards.

And the recoil shy will always choose the 45-70 over the 375.

Sounds like the perfect coyote rifle

If anyone wants to hunt Bison lemme know, we raise them for meat and harvest on the ranch.

I've seen them killed with everything from a .223 on up to a 375 H&H. when I guide for elk or bison the first question I ask is what kind of rifle is the person using. the bigger it is, usually the bigger the rodeo it's gonna turn into. personally I prefer it when the rifle is a 270, 308 or 30-06. I've seen a double lunged by a 45-70 buffalo stand and pour blood out of it for a couple minutes. and I've seen a 308 through the heart make it slump over in seconds. but the most effective is anything placed just under and behind the ear. it's lights out instantly. Tried to get a video to show it but can't get it to upload

That's sorta how I feel. If I were going I'd not buy anything special and would have no doubts a 30-06 would work. Probably every bit as good as the 375. But if you've got a 375 you might as well use it instead of letting it sit in the safe.

30 CALIBER AND UP.

Guys seem to like to take the 45-70 on Bison hunts because they think they're using the cartridge that decimated the Bison herds. They're not.

Take the rifle you shoot the best!

I remember buying a ticket for a buffalo hunt thirty plus years ago. On the ticket it said 30 cal or larger. Now that was before the days of super bullets and the 9mm cast or 223ai, even the 6.5 Creed.😂

Colorado1135,

Thanks for your experienced response: "I've seen them killed with everything from a .223 on up to a 375 H&H. when I guide for elk or bison the first question I ask is what kind of rifle is the person using. the bigger it is, usually the bigger the rodeo it's gonna turn into. personally I prefer it when the rifle is a 270, 308 or 30-06. I've seen a double lunged by a 45-70 buffalo stand and pour blood out of it for a couple minutes. and I've seen a 308 through the heart make it slump over in seconds. but the most effective is anything placed just under and behind the ear. it's lights out instantly."

My experience on bison is far more limited, but parallels yours. Have seen them heart-lung shot with cartridges from the .270 Winchester to .50-110, and a .270 and a 130-grain TSX killed just as quickly as a 550-grain cast from the .50-110, Both were hit about 1/3 of the way up the chest behind the shoulder, and went about 35-40 yards before falling.

Have also seen a guy with a .458 Lott miss "the shoulder" because he didn't actually know where the shoulder bones are located on a bison-which is somewhat different than on, say, an elk because of the bison's hump. He missed all of the shoulder bones and barely touched the top of the heart-lung cavity, which of course turned into a 3-hour rodeo. Before that he was absolutely convinced that one shot from a .458 Lott would dump the bull right there.

Would also like to ask a question: A buffalo rancher in Wyoming said they die slower in cold winter weather (when of course the hides are prime), due to a slower metabolism. How does that compare to your experience?

That’s just because he was cold John. 🙂

I’ve taken just two meat heifers, about 1000-lb’s each off a western NE ranch. The first was with a double gun in 9.3x74 (loved that rifle and cartridge) and the second with a Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt with hard cast 325’s at ~ 1300 FPS (Buffalo Bores). Granted neither was at long range but the first shot counts especially in the rolling plaines with a lot of ravines.

Great fun. Good healthy meat but not like a marbled beef ribeye.

When growing up in eastern South Dakota farming country during the 70's we had an acquaintance that raised buffalo. After having a couple of rodeos with the buffalo "hunts" and having them take off and crashing through fences. One bull went 5 miles.

He went strictly to the behind the ear shot placement on all of his kills. Preferably in the corral, and not in the 1/4 section pasture.

Size of the hunting area can make a big difference.

Mule deer, who was the rancher? Just curious.

so someone thinks there is a better bullet made than a barnes? LMAO again.

Thanks for the input and discussion!

Went thru my ammo inventory today, and I have 75 rounds of loaded .375 Ruger ammo with 270 gr. Barnes TSX bullets. Last time I used this ammo was in Argentina, on a successful Asian Water Buff hunt.
The only one of these 270 gr. bullets I have ever recovered was from a Nilgai bull, taken at around 200 yards. Bull went down immediately. Anyway, probably a good round for buffalo, and a good excuse to get the .375 out of the gun safe and back hunting again. I considered also taking my .454 Casull handgun on the hunt, but I simply will not have the time to get in the practice necessary to be confident in shot placement.

375’s of about any iteration and the 270-gr TSX are a good combination.

He's shooting Barnes in both calibers.

A friend drew a Utah tag several years back and was advised to drop his bison within yards of a road. It took off after the first round, and it was 3 days of packing to salvage the kill A 270. Regardless of choice, one should be very familiar with the quarry's anatomy.

I shot a huge one this fall on the south fork of the Kuskokwim(Farewell draw tag). Should make book. Used my trusty old 375H&H with 270 gr TSX. It was 60 yards away and about 5ft from the brush and ran in at a the shot. Pretty soon a bison walks out and not knowing if it was the same or different one I didn't shoot again. Then it starting grazing and I knew I made the right decision since it was clearly a different animal though I'd only seen one when I shot. After a few bites of horsetail it fell over dead. I've shot a few big critters up here but I've never seen that before! It sucked to butcher and I've done more than my fair share of moose. Fortunately it was only about a half mile from where a Cub could land so the pack wasn't horrible

The meat is good but over rated as far as I'm concerned.I'll take moose over it any day. At xmas I smoked a bison roast and a moose roast and it confirmed my opinion in a side by side test. The bison seems to be drier and is harder to get to cook rare. Seems to go from raw to medium well while the moose holds its moisture better.

My bud drew a tag several years ago, and head shot a large bull bang flop dead with his Marlin 30-30.