375 Rum not enoug GUN

The day after Lisa took her Buffalo my friend, his son and a number of other went with them in to shoot another buffalo. They took my friends 375 Remington Ultra Mag and 270 grain softpoints.

They found the Buffalo on the other side of the valley approximately 1/2 a mile from where Lisa shot hers. SOn Aaron crawled in within 100 yards placed the crosshairs behind the eye and touched it off. He and others watching, watched the debri fly out the far side of the head. They also watched the herd run off along with the bull he had just shot. Back across the valley the herd runs and when they settle down again Aaron puts a stalk on and shot the bull right behind the front shoulder. No flinch, no signs of any kind and the herd takes off up the same hill where Lisa shot her bull the day before. Now we are talking 2 hours after the first shot when Aaron starts the climb up the hill to get in front of the herd. AT three hours he exposes himself ( asked him if the bulls laughed) in front of the herd where all the bulls in the herd line up in single file horns forward and present him with a stare down. Aaron is about 60 pounds over weight,exhausted and a long ways out in the open away from protection. He has three cartridges left and a dozen very angry buffalo bulls in a line standing 50 yards away. According to Aaron he was scared (bad) so just stood there letting the animals decide what they were going to do. All animals eventually chose to turn and head down the hill the way they had just come. Thirty feet from the gut pile Lisa left the day before the wounded bull stopped and looked back. Shot number three dropped the bull and the hunt was over.

Since he was hunting with a rifle and since he knew that Lisa dropped her bull the day before with one shot from a handgun I did not say anything.

Autopsy: Aaron did not compensate for the fact that he was using his dad's gun and the gun was sighted two inches high at 100 yards. Aaron figured with the power of the cartridge any place close would drop the bull. The first shot went one inch high over the brain/skull cap. and just went through the bone/boss bases under the horns. Proving to those of use that read this that animals are illiterate. Yes, I am sure by the reaction of the bull after the shot that he was not impressed with 5000 pounds of energy. The second shot went through just under the backbone and just above the lungs. Aaron did not know to compensate for the meaty hump and again close to a fatal shot and the bull was not impressed with the energy. The third shot was 8 inches below the second shot and went through the lungs dropping him instantly. The bull was not expired when Aaron arrived and put another shot behind the ear.

Since our two bulls are hanging in the same locker I am on my way over to mark our meat because I suspect one animal is going to have a very strong flavor.

Neal

WOW...that just sounds like alot of work lol. So never hunted bison/buffalo..is it normal to just shoot them in the head? My next question would be where are you getting to hunt bison/buffalo? And can out of state people hunt them too?

If i ever do get a chance to hunt one i want to us a Shilo sharps in 45-70...=)

I live on Kodiak Island Alaska. Yes anyone can buy a buffalo in a number of states from Idaho to Minnesota.
Ours however have never seen a fence and have become to populated on the open range ranch my friend owns that for over a decade they have strayed onto state lands and multiplied.

On the two threads under this one a bull like the one my wife shot would cost $5000. plus as he is considered a trophy. My friend charges $2000. flat rate for whatever size one wants.

I wanted Lisa my wife to shoot hers in the forehead as I wanted to test the Accubond bullet for weight vs penetration as its our typical bear protection as well as 600 yard hunting bullet for regular species like deer,goat,sheep,caribou,etc. Many of us routinely put one behind the ear on most any species and all is good.

Having guided up here at one time I was asked the same question over and over again. " What gun should I bring up there for bear/moose". My answer was always, " the one you can hit a baseball with at one hundred yards three shots in a row" and at least 300 Mag for Brown Bear. ! Many showed up with 338's-458 Win Mags". With most hunting with 308 or 06 based cartridges. After one shot if they had not sighted the gun in before hand, could not hit the broad side of a barn because of the recoil pain. They figured like my young friend that all the gun one can handle, put the bullet close and your good to go!

Your 45-70 is an excellant cartridge for most hunting. AT the ranges we are forced to shoot at here its a poor cartridge because of the huge trajectory figures. Very nastalgic shooting a Bison with a lever gun in 45-70 though. Do it.

Neal

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 358Hammer

I live on Kodiak Island Alaska. Yes anyone can buy a buffalo in a number of states from Idaho to Minnesota.
Ours however have never seen a fence and have become to populated on the open range ranch my friend owns that for over a decade they have strayed onto state lands and multiplied.

On the two threads under this one a bull like the one my wife shot would cost $5000. plus as he is considered a trophy. My friend charges $2000. flat rate for whatever size one wants.

I wanted Lisa my wife to shoot hers in the forehead as I wanted to test the Accubond bullet for weight vs penetration as its our typical bear protection as well as 600 yard hunting bullet for regular species like deer,goat,sheep,caribou,etc. Many of us routinely put one behind the ear on most any species and all is good.

Having guided up here at one time I was asked the same question over and over again. " What gun should I bring up there for bear/moose". My answer was always, " the one you can hit a baseball with at one hundred yards three shots in a row" and at least 300 Mag for Brown Bear. ! Many showed up with 338's-458 Win Mags". With most hunting with 308 or 06 based cartridges. After one shot if they had not sighted the gun in before hand, could not hit the broad side of a barn because of the recoil pain. They figured like my young friend that all the gun one can handle, put the bullet close and your good to go!

Your 45-70 is an excellant cartridge for most hunting. AT the ranges we are forced to shoot at here its a poor cartridge because of the huge trajectory figures. Very nastalgic shooting a Bison with a lever gun in 45-70 though. Do it.

Neal

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Thanks for the imput Hammer er..Neal ;)

I am one of those that believe i was born in the wrong century. I love old gun....and new guns. But mostly old guns...and have a huge desire to be able to hunt buffalo like they did back in the day. With a 45-70 Sharps rifle....probably go with a Quigly model as i love that movie lol.

One of these days i want to get up to Alaska too...

Like they say, nothing beats shot placement.

As I just posted in another topic.....
"What a bullet destroys is a matter of shot placment, not so much bullet construction." Or in this case, substitute bullet construction with "size, velocity, and energy of the projectile."

That .375 is more than enough gun, with proper shot placment. It is not that your son did not try to do a good job, he just suffered the concequence of using someone else's gun. He found the 2 voids in a buffalo that when hit, do virtually nothing. As they say, " it happens"

2 things for Aarons' next hunting trip with dads' 375

1. sit your but down at a range days before next hunt,, especially with someone elses rifle. i don't care if it's the Popes "soul/heatseeking-holy-lord-3000-megamag"!

2. Make him chip in on the powder for that dam cannon hahaha

Shot placement is half the battle of bringing down a big game animal like a Bison! The idea of just having a large caliber means nothing if you hit it in the hams or out of the vital area. I hope to take my next Bison using my 45/110 if I am strong enough to tote that gun weighting almost 14 pounds, if not the marlin 45/70 will get the nodd.