Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Caliber's for bison hunting

I am going to hunt bison and I am going to use my 45-110 with BP and paperpatched bullets. The rifle really WAS a buffalo gun. Why change things at this late date??

I shot my bison in SD on an Indian res. many years ago with a 45-70 using a traditional BP load & a tang sight single shot replica buffalo rifle. The most difficult part was obtaining a clear shot in the herd. Cows with calves are the most dangerous. A 75 year lady shot hers with a 220G.30-06 that she had used to take over 35 elk in Oregon with. Plains Buffalo by nature are not wary animals as reading history of buffalo hunters in the 1860's & later will verify. I wore buffalo hunters attire & used wooden shooting sticks. I shoulder mounted the bison in a display feeding on wild wheat & grass. Bison hunting, if you can call it hunting, is interesting & makes for some good low cholesterol meat.

I've seen em shot with a 25/06, 7 RM, 300 Win, 338, 340 300 Wby and a bow and a 45/70.

They had this in common.

The lung shot critters died in about 3 minutes with a rifle and with the bow it took 13 minutes (and yes I did actually time these).

The ones shot in the neck died right pronto if the neck was broken.

IMO and IME it don't matter tons, take the break the neck and it is over. Hit them in the lungs and then pour yourself a cup of coffee and wait till they tip over.

Dober

You are of course entirley correct. I do have to say that after seeing my rifle body slam a moose, I have a bit of confidence in it.

I killed my last 2 bison with the 7mm-08 and 140 grain TSX. This year I'm going with my 9.3x62 and 250 grain Accubond.

Interestingly, the Montana FWP specifies a bullet of no less than 160 grain be used for the hunts outside YNP. No specific minimum caliber.

Most Bison "hunts" are more like drive-by shootings

When the elk don't cooperate it's either that or "hunting" at Costco.

Hunting? I don't "hunt", I just take my rifle for a hike

Kind of like shooting buffs, you take your rifle for a ride....grins

Dober

and by the way, lets get this right, it is buffalo shooting not hunting (for the most part at least)

Unfortunately I've seen far too many Montana elk, deer, and antelope shot the same way.

No question it happens that way, not normally by design however.

But, you're right it does happen.

Dober

Hey! I resemble that remark!

-jeff

You guys just have too many critters. If you had as many as the rest of us, it wouldn't be a problem! :-)

Wolves should help with that... evil laugh...

-jeff

Thats the shot I took with my 460 loaded with 550gn Woodleigh at a little over 2500fps. Never have I felt so guilty after killing an animal.

It is a personal thing.

AGW

Aussie, far be it from me to pass judgment on where other's draw lines. There are more than a few animals I'd never shoot. That's a personal thing and needs no explanation.

To me a buffalo "hunt" is really a "meat shoot" which is why they should be head shot. Saves meat and puts them down dead asap just like a cow. My Grandad had a slaughter house and as a kid, before it was made illegal, we'd use a Sears single shot 22 to put down cows for slaughter. I see Bison exactly as I see cows and definitely don't see them as a game animal per se.

Aussie and Brad great posts!

The older I get the less I want to end it.

Brad, I won't go any further with it- because it's one of those "third rail" issues among hunters- but there are also a LOT of animals I won't shoot...

Isn't that great how they made the feedlots mandatory?

-jeff

The bison I killed was a wild one, I could have hunted one on a ranch anytime but never felt like it. If I did it would be a meat hunt only.
The hunt in Jackson was a good time But still was not what I would call exciting, the fact that My father and Nephew were with me made the hunt.
I saw over 20 shootable bulls on the day I hunted.
Processing the bull my self was a big part of the hunt to me, my dad, nephew and my son helped, it was a lot of work but worth it.
Believe me I have No guilt over shooting him just a lot of respect for the animal and the native Americans that use stone tools to cut them up.

You did it right gotlost.

gotlost, I should have said "most" buffalo hunts are meat shoots. My bad. Yours is an example of the other sort.