Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Buffalo cartridge?

Many cartridges are adequate, but should I ever have the chance it simply must be a 45-70 or 90 pushing 400+ grain slugs at a snail's pace.

The only bison I've shot (decent bull) was taken with a 280 AI, 154 Hornady SP. Shot in top of the heart at about 90 yards. It died without incident.

The same day, a friend shot a cow bison with a 270, 150 grain factory ammo of some sort. Same results.

Did they seem to be any harder to kill than say an elk?

Just a Hunter,

A lot of trouble with killing bison is caused by poor shooting--mostly due to not knowing their anatomy. Due to the hump, the heart and lungs are lower in the chest than with many other animals, and the spine ain't where it is in deer and elk either.

Most of the horror stories I've heard about wounded bison were about guys who used some supposedly adequate modern rifle with premium bullets and shot too high, just fringing the top of the lungs. One guy used a .458 Lott and absolutely guaranteed the outfitter the bull would be down and dead with one shot. They ended up chasing it around for half a day in rather thick Texas cover, ending up putting several more holes in the bull before it died. Same thing happened to a Wyoming buffalo rancher I know, except the guy he guided used a .338 Winchester with some sort of premium 250-grain bullets.

If you're going to chest-shoot them, aim NO MORE than 1/3 of the way up the chest, and a foot a bove the bottom of the chest of a mature bull will take out the top of the heart.

I've killed five buffalo and three elk. Three of the buffalo were killed with a 45 2 7/8 Sharps and a 511 grain paper patch bullet, and two were taken with a 45-70 Sharps. With the 45-70, I used a 510 grain paper patch bullet for one and a 480 grain FN greaser for the other.

The first two elk were taken with a 45-70 Sharps using the 510 grain paper patch bullet. The third was taken with a 45 2 7/8 Sharps and a 515 grain paper patched bullet.

Shot in the heart or lungs, both animals seem to die about the same. Given a poor hit, the buffalo is definitely harder to put down. If I were going for either animal again tomorrow, I could carry either the 45-70 or the 45-110. Whichever rifle I chose, it would be shooting a 500 to 515 grain cast lead bullet to insure complete pass through penetration.

I'm no gunwriter and not even a bison hunter, yet, but were I to saddle up and ride out tomorrow i'd use my C Sharps 45-120 firing the 500 gr Jerry Dean flat nosed greaser at 1409 fps with KIK 2F Blackpowder, will be able to report first hand knowledge on the performance of this load for bison this fall.

Gunner

THAT will work!

Hey, there's a man that seen that combo bellow black smoke , I sure think it will Sharpsguy. <G>

Gunner

MD,
I left my .243 (and .25-06) at home and took my .375 Holland anyway. At 53 long paces, the 300 gr Nosler broke the first cervical vertebra just as completely as a 100 gr 6mm bullet would.
At the Western Buffalo processing plant in Rapid City, the butchers used a .22 Mag to cleanly dispatch the beasts.
When you think about it, these big ponderous guns DO break down shoulders and quickly bring the bison to bag, but look at the shameful waste of the best wild meat in North America!

Custer State Park is private land with a private herd on some 80,000 acres. No SoDak license or permit is required; you just gotta get lucky and draw a Custer permit.

Some day I will hunt one with my Bowen 500 Linebaugh using the 440 gr LFN at 1100 fps or so. If I were using a rifle it would probably be one of my open sighted 8x57's with the 200 gr Partition.

Orrrrr,breakin in a new 45/110 with 96 grs of KIK 2F and a big ole trot line sinker! Loaded up a half dozen and took it out on a stump over the hill..after the smoke cleared the stump needs first aid !!

Custer State Park is state land but the park runs the buffalo hunt. Its a draw for a permit. I think last year they issued 8 trophy permits for old bulls and 25 permits for young bulls (15) and cows (10). Usually takes a long time to get a permit.

The minimum caliber is .270 for both trophy bulls and the cull animals.

That sounds like a heck of a load. And then it struck me, thats the same bore, only 10% heavier bullet, and 200fps faster than what I use on little white tails!

thats beautiful

Sweet Jazus that purty Woody, those sombishes arrive with a helluva WHOP dont they? Bet that old stump is awful sore.

Gunner

According to Sharpsguy, if I do my part I could stretch out a big brown bear with this load too.

Gunner

I knocked mine down, one shot, from a 375H&H using a 270grain gran slam.
In hindsight, i didn't need that much rifle. My partner used a 300H&H, one shot, down, another guy used a 338/06.
I can't afford that kind of hunt now but if to do it again probably would default to a lighter caliber and proper shot placement, i.e. right behind the ear if possible.

the other consideration as somebody mentioned, is those big bulls get kind of edgy and are protective. Which calls for someone having big firepower.
I have pictures of a herd chasing a friend in a gator with a cow chained to the back. The herd was not amused.

The 30-06 is just fine (with proper heavy bullets), but for nostalgia, I'd for a Sharps in 45-70.