American Bison

[Rick McGowan]

Mark, if he is straight head on to you, you really don't have much of anykind of shot, unless you are using a .375. If he is quartering on, you CAN put an arrow into the chest cavity, by shooting just in front of the onside shoulder. I would never try that on an unwounded animal, but I did finish off a wounded buff that way. Rick

[Doug Campbell]

Yea Mark that'd probably been smarter but that Woodsman sure did a good job. As far as the second arrow you probably should be more concerned with finding a tree or rock or truck or something to get behind. One second thought you better be thinking about that before the first arrow.

The one I shoot this year will be with a knapped Yellowstone agate head. Gotta try it.

I got caught 200 yrds from the truck last year when trying a stalk on antelope. The herd was a half mile away when I left teh truck but the big herd bull decided to investigate I guess. He got between me and the truck and we played cat and mouse for an hour and a half. Believe me my heart was doing some thumping the whole time.

The first thing I did when I got home was go put my .44 mag in the truck. I couldn't imagine how I'd have stopped 1800# of muscle my stick and string but I was sure ready to try.

Doug

[bayoulongbowman]

Doug , Man nevres of steel ...I just didnt realize how wild the buffalo was man!...that got to be cool....Rick Yeah , Quater away shot the right way to go....Imagine being charged by one wow!....out running one , no I dont think so...lol.....cool topic...Mark#78... the biggest thing I had charge me once was a big momma hog with teeth....it will get ur juices flowing ..lol....Mark #78

[Doug Campbell]

Bayou,

It's not necessarily that their wild just very unpridictable, very big, and very fast. There probably isn't a one of ours who isn't wearing scars from "playing" with his buddys.

Don't know about those nerves of steel either, I was plenty scared and those hogs can put the hurts on you quick enough also. I used to love going to TX and chase them, just too far away now.   :(  

Doug

[Roger Norris]

Rick is right. Bison kill/injure more people in Yellowstone/Grand Tetons than anything else. Usually a foriegn tourist who thinks the park is a petting zoo. Many stories that start out with "after placing the young child on top of the buffalo for a picture......" and end with a puddle of grease.

When we were out there, the most impressive animal to me were the buffalo in the wild. Awesome.

[Doug Campbell]

This one died of rock poisoning. 60#BBO, yelowstone agate head and chundooshaft, 18" of penetration. Went between the ribs on entry and stuck in a rib on the far side after passing thru the heart. He was down for the count in 15 seconds.

Doug

 http://community.webshots.com/photo/95671588/98720673rCGXZg

 http://community.webshots.com/photo/95431524/98033434omNkby

[Scott Smith]

Hi gang,
  I recently shot a 6 year old bull buffalo.
 I used a 60"60#@28 checkmate longhorn
 "flatbow". I was shooting a 550 grain
 brested tapered cedar shaft and a 160 grain
 magnus 2 bladed point. It was very affective
 for 32 yards the point slipped between the
 ribs and I was able to get both lungs. It was
 important to me that the two bladed point went
 between the ribs, I don't think the result would
 have been as good with a 3 bladed point..??
 The big guy weighed 1900 pounds and droped like
 a rock after 40 yards. Shoot Straight,4fletch
                       

[Bob Hildenbrand]

Guys...A buddy and I are looking to do bison hunt this coming year. Hopefully late February.

Any suggestions on places?  References?

[Charlie Lamb]

Free range hunt...Henry mountains-Utah

[Rick McGowan]

I've been looking for a free rnage BISON hunt for years. The Henry Mountains are one option, only problem it is one of the Once in a LifeTime" draw hunts. If I put in for 50 more years I do have a chance of getting drawn. There was also the Pink Mountains hunt in BC, but from what I heard it went way down hill after the first couple hunts. I was pushing the Yukon to legalize bowhunting for Woods Bison, but they turned it down again with some ridiculous excuses. At this point anyway they are still cosidered endangered and cannot be imported back into the states. They did however let some big name muzzleloader hunter film his hunt and legalize THAT after the fact. Looks like they just don't like bowhunters in the Yukon. Rick

[Bob Hildenbrand]

Well. We got a cow hunt lined up. S.Dakota the first weekend in March. Actually won it on e-bay. The guy tells us that only half of his bow guys connect and they are wheel bow guys.
He has 5000 acres. We'll see what transpires.

[Glasspoint]

Good luck on your cow hunt    ,I'm jealous as h@#l!

[Brian Halbleib]

I'm heading out with Boob and this will be my first time shooting at bison. I'm working on a life size card board cut out to practice on. What do you recommend for shot placement area? Shoulder crease?

[Scott Smith]

Brian,
 I recommend shooting a little lower than
anything else you hunt. The bison spine is
very low about the middle across their body.
I shot mine behind the front shoulder, his
mane "the woolie hair" is a perfect line that
gives you an idea wear to slide one in. I got
lucky took both lungs, just make sure that you
shoot a little lower than normal.
          Shoot Straight,4fletch  

[Bob Hildenbrand]

Guys, Doug Campbell. I got a couple questions for you guys that have been there and done that.

Do they see color?

Do they have a good sense of smell and will they run into the wind, or don't it matter to them?

There are four of us going. Hunt as a group and stalk/set up ambush?

[Steve M]

Just shot three Bison last Saturday, two bulls and one cow as a part of a herd managment project. As soon as I shot the first bull, the second bull was right on top of him ramming and mauling the bull big time. A second shot put a stop to it right away. We had planned on taking both bulls from the start but didn't excpect to have to do it so quickly! It's natural of Bison to attack a herd member when it is mortally wounded, my best guess is to leave the wound animal behind for the predators in order to protect the rest of the herd.

The cow was an easier hunt but still had a little trouble from a younger bull (4-5 year old).

If you're hunting for meat, you don't want a trophy bull! The best bison to hunt for meat is a cow between 4 to 6 years old.

Have fun and be carefull!
Steve M.

[Doug Campbell]

Have to agree with Steve on the meat aspect although we've eaten lots of 2 to 3 year old bull and it's been great. If you have multiple bulls around they'll almost always "tenderize" anything that goes down. It may be as Steve suggests, makes sense to me, they can get extremely violent and aggitated. Saw a bull punch his horns completely threw a downed cow one time, very impressive and will give you a whole new respect for these critters.

Scott is right also the vitals are very far forward and a little lower than most anything else your going to be shooting in this country. I like to place the arrow tight behind the shoulder and about 3" above the "elbow". This should get you lungs and the heart. I like the heart shot best as they can go a long ways on a lung shot. Especially with a few other bulls harassing them.

Don't hae any idea about seeing color but they can definetly see better than most people lead you to believe. Anything inside 80 yards you better be moving slow. I don't think there is a thing wrong with thier noses either.

Hope you can make some sense of this, and be careful out there.
Doug

[Brian Halbleib]

Thanks for the info. 3 weeks to go and we'll be chasing bison   :D  

-Brian

[johnny show]

Good luck brian and Bob.  Let us know how it turns out.  Who  all are going with you guys?  john

[Jock]

Brian and Boob,

Good luck on your hunt boys.