Buffalo Hunting by Lance J. Kuck

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[Buffalobob]

That was an interesting history of buffalo hunting and how to shoot buffalo.

I didn't understand why you needed a tractor. Don't you just grab'em by the tail and a horn and throw them in the truck?

 

[jwp475]

Nice article.. Buffalo are very tasty IMHO

I took this one several yearsa ago with a 500 Linebaugh Revolver 525 grain WLFN hard cast. One shot was all that was needed. The 50 cal shot completely tharough exiting the animal and blood poured out of the entrance and exit holes.

 

[buffalorancher]

Buffalobob,
How do you get a buffalo in a pickup like that? We use 5 different processors and every one of them would absolutely freak out if we would show up with an animal without the hide. They don't even want them if they are covered up without the hide.

 

[buffalorancher]

jwp475,
That is a very nice bull. A handgun is a good choice for a buffalo as long as it's big enough and it looks like you had that covered. We had a guy come hunt with a 500 S&W and it was way too much gun for him. He shot too high, hit the spine, and the buffalo kind of flopped over the side of this cut bank. I heard him later on the phone with his wife telling her how his new pistol blew this buffalo clear off the hill.

 

[jwp475]

Thanks, Buffalorancher, I hit this one tight behind the shoulder and got the heart. The big guns require a learning curve inorder to shoot them well. The big bore conversions on the Ruger frames are HEAVY kickers to be sure...


Here is a meat buffalo taken also with a revolver

 

[buffalorancher]

I have 454 Casull that I used to shoot quite a bit and at best I was maybe a marginal shot. Now that I don't hardly shoot it at all I am completely inept with it.

 

[jwp475]

This is my 50 Alaskan revolver caught in full recoil. Not me shooting it.

 

[408sr]

I enjoyed the history of the Buffalo

I have heard that the heart of a buffalo is low in the chest? Is this true. I'm hoping to good buffalo hunting for the first time this year.

 

[jwp475]

Yes that is true, also the bone forming the hump above the spine gives a deceiving view as to the center of the chest.

 

[Buffalobob]

To get the buffalo into the truck take two 2X4's cut to the correct length and and drilled to accept a bolt on one end and make an A frame inside the truck. Use some 7/8 inch plywood as a ramps. Attach your com-a-long to the A frame and to the buffalo rear hoof (easier if he is dead). Winch him on up.

Well, the problem with the buffalo hunt in the Henry's is the top of the mountain is cold with snow on the ground and the bottom of the mountain is 90 degree heat. I was alone when I shot him and had to gut him out by myself. I got pinon branches and propped his chest cavity open overnight but even with the ground having snow in spots the body did not lose heat well. My friend came the next morning and we got him skinned and into the truck We just barely saved the part of the hide that was on the ground overnight and the meat near the front shoulder. You will see under him two tarps that we used to keep him from getting dirty as we winched him into the truck. I hate dirty meat.

Anybody who hunts buffalo alone needs to have a very good plan for dealing with a very big animal.

 

[buffalorancher]

408sr,
The heart is very low and it is much easier to focus on hitting the lungs. They will die with a good double lung hit but if it's just one lung or on the edges of the lung you will have trouble. Buffalo are amazingly efficient with their lungs. I have had a couple die from pnuemonia from shipping fever and my vet still can't believe how bad the lungs will get before they die. This is why it is a waste of time to try and give a buffalo medications. By the time they become clinical it is too late because they don't show symtoms like cattle. We used to always shot for low in the chest and it works but it seems like the high shoulder has worked as well or better. A little high and you get close to the spine and a little low you are right in the middle of the lungs. The best advise is to do what your guide tells you.

 

[buffalorancher]

Buffalobob,
All I can say is that is very impressive. My guy's will complian about gutting with a tractor to hang them. You do hear horror stories about people leaving the hide on too long even in very cold weather. Another hide issue is when cooling it off if you are not salting it lay it out flat. I had a processor cancel on me after we had shot a bull so I took it to another guy but I had to butcher it myself. If you get out of practice a buffalo takes a long time to skin and quarter. When I finally got done I threw the hide in the cooler and left. The next morning I went to get the hide and I had piled it up with hair on hair. The maggots had all hatched out of the crap on the hair because it stayed warm enough inside the pile. The taxidermist wasn't going to take it because he thought it was rotten but I finally convinced him it was OK and we spent about 3 hours soaking it in salt water to kill the bugs.

 

[buffalorancher]

JWP475,
I can't see shooting that thing as being very pleasant. Ear plugs are not optional I assume.