Minimum drawweight???

[187BOWHUNTER]

Cape buffs are just plain badass!

[Gen273]

[amar911]

Mick is correct, of course, as he has seen many buffalo taken by others as well as having shot them himself. I shot mine with a 68#@29.5" Super Shrew Samurai and will be using a 70#@29.5" Super Shrew Safari on my next buff hunt with Mick and Andy in July. I used AD Hammerhead arrows with 2 blade heads for a total weight of about 900 grains. After my buff was dead, I shot it several times to test penetration from various angles. I can tell you that on my huge buffalo (100" horns) penetration was very problematic except on broadside shots directly into the meaty portion of the shoulder behind the leg bone. On a smaller animal I might have been able to split the ribs, and perhaps could have done so on my buff with a 90# bow and 1200 grain arrows, but at my age, with the injuries and subsequent surgery that my shoulder has undergone, 70# is the maximum draw weight I can shoot. That is certainly enough; however, if I could draw more poundage, I definitely would use it.

As others here have said, it is the marginal shots where the extra weight of both the bow and the arrow can make a big difference. Andy Ivy has used both 2 and 3 blade heads with comparable results on broadside shoulder hits. I tend to favor 2 blade heads, but any head has to be super sharp and super strong. I would recommend the 300 grain VPA heads (2 or 3 blade), although I have heard great reports on the Tuffheads too, and heads like the Silver Flame, STOS, ABS Ashby, and Grizzly have had success in the past. I have seen chipping on some of the single bevel heads, like the ones I used, and believe the forces that help twist the head and split bone may also be helping to chip the blades. There may also be some metallurgy issues with various blades. Some heads also tend to break at the front of the ferrule, which is very bad for penetration.

The ribs on my buffalo were about the size of a man's femur, so they are very difficult to penetrate or break, regardless of what some folks may think after reading Ed Ashby's excellent reports (read them carefully). Remember that deer, elk, moose, and most other game animals are in no way comparable to the really big and tough critters like buffalo, rhino, croc, hippo and elephant. For those animals you need equipment of a much heavier, sturdier level unless everything is absolutely perfect -- which it almost never is.

Allan

[tradtusker]

One thing that is seldom mentioned is the actual size of the buffalo. Not all are made equal.

The difference between a BIG Bull like the one Allan shot and a young bull or cow is huge. Not even in the same league.
A young animal or cow is half the Animal a BIG bull is!

Its also worth mentioning there have been some serious issues with some of the high dollar single bevel heads available now breaking and snapping, you have to remember how critical the head is....no matter how good your set-up is...if the broadhead fails..everything fails!

[tishtail]

Hi i have a question for the guides from Australia what the cost for a hunt in your neck of the woods i've always wanted to hunt your country and its on my list just need to plan for it.anyone wanting to email direct can or if you want to trade part of the cost for a wisconsin hunt also let me know. thanks Lawrence

[amar911]

Andy is absolutely correct about the broadheads. There are only a few of them that I would recommend for big buffalo, and some broadheads that are highly touted -- and are expensive -- just won't hold together when trying to penetrate to the vitals. Next month when I go back to Oz, I'm taking three brands I trust, only one of which I took last year. I plan to mainly use new models of broadheads that were not even available last year but seem to be the best ever made. That will hopefully be determined to some degree, and the results will be given. Andy and Mick have been doing more than their share of evaluation with several hunters going after buff this year. I have heard some preliminary reports about the new broadheads I am taking, and they are good. I will tell you that one of my setups will be a 1000 grain arrow that started out as a weight-forward, tapered shaft and then adds 575 grains to the front of the shaft. So, it will be an extreme FOC arrow with a super heavy-duty, newly designed broadhead. More later.

Allan

[calgarychef]

I'd be interested to hear what broadheads-(especially the high dollar ones) are failing and which ones are holding together.  It's no use putting a head on the end of an arrow if it's just goin to fail.

[damascusdave]

I think knowledge of anatomy is every bit as important, or even more important than the equipment factor. I recently hunted with two Finlanders who have both killed hippos with a bow. They apparently need to be shot from an upward angle entering where the skin is the thinnest.

DDave

[Gil Verwey]

I read this thread with great interest, because a dream of mine is cape buffalo with a longbow.

Laurent that buffalo is one I have dreamed about most of my life. What a boss on that bull. Tell your friend congratulations on a beautiful bull.

Marty I enjoyed that video many times. I think you hit on the head when you say it all comes down to that one moment in time and that one arrow. I especially enjoyed the part where you say, "I didn't choke and I can do it, I have seen me do it"! Ha!

Gil

[Mitch H]

The 80# rule in some places for certain game is a poor choice.

80# draw weight will not produce the same in all bows, and much more importantly, 80# draw weight with a 26" draw length produces far less momentum than the same draw and arrow weight pulling it back to 29-30".

[amar911]

Bruce, I agree with your choice for the minimum in trad bow and arrows, but the best shot I found for penetration when experimenting on my dead buff was right through the meat of the shoulder on a direct broadside angle. Andy Ivy and Mick Baker have had the same results after observing many more shots at buffalo than most people would ever see in a lifetime. You are absolutely correct on the toughness of a big buff and the difficulty in getting good penetration.

Ryan, my Super Shrew Safari longbow launches a 1000 grain arrow at about 150 fps, but it is 70# at my 29.5" draw. With an extra 5 pounds of draw weight and a somewhat more aggressive design, I can imagine that your BW could shoot a slightly heavier arrow 15 fps faster, but I will say you got a really fast bow there. It happens. Some of my bows from the same bowyer with specs that are identical to one another shoot at significantly different speeds, but most of my bows are pretty consistent with normally expected speeds. Pat Kelly's Morrison ILF needed 82# of draw weight to just about equal the performance of your 75# BW, and Morrisons are some of the fastest bows made when constructed with foam and carbon limbs like Pat's. The important thing for your situation is that you properly prepared yourself for your hunt, used enough bow and arrow to kill your buff, made an excellent shot, and had a great hunt. That's as good as it gets! Congratulations on a successful "experience of a lifetime."

Allan