What pound bow is recomended to shoot a buffalo with. Many people hav told me " nothing lighter than an 80 pounder". A friend of mine bought a heavy bow just for the purpose of buffalo hunting and fuond that he couldnt shoot as competently with it. He then preceded to shoot a buff with his normal 70 pound bow. Do the guys at the shops just lie to sell bows ?

How did it work for your buddy and the buffalo? What set up did he use?

i have a friend who killed one with a 56# recurve, 2018 aluminum arrow and a magnus 2 blade broadhead. a broadside shot with a razor sharp 2 blade broadhead from a 50-60 lb recurve will take any animal in north america. its been done many times before.

it worked out fine for him. He had a 70 pound mathews. i think it was a switchback. Im not sure about the the other stats but i can find out. the buff only needed 1 arrow before it expired.

L.B. if my freezer ever gets empty....unlikely as it is because I'm such a good shot with my puny recurve .....I'm going to shoot a farmed buffalo with it.

Look at the skeletal structure of a buffalo. Those rib bones are seriously heavy.

I'm sure it can be done with a lighter bow but the margin for error shrinks considerably.

ya i agree . those ribs almost over lap. its a nice challenge for the competent bow hunter

Now I did not witness but a guide friend of mine watched a 16 year old take a buffalo with a 60lbs compound using zwicky broadheads. It did not go all the through but got both lungs.

I've heard much the same. 80-90 pound bows with arrows in the 750 grain department tipped with a strong two blade. It is definitely on my "to do" list....sooner than later.

I have two friends who have both taken cape buffalo with a bow in Zimbabwe. I believe one was only shooting about 65 lbs and the other 70 to 75 I dont remember for sure. Both hunts were fairly long as both hunters were very particular about their shot placement. One was a pass thru and the other almost so. Both hunters killed their buffs easily and the follow up stalks were short with no surprises. In fact one of the buff appeared to not even know it was hit as often happens on other animals with a good shot. One of the hunts took place last year and the other the year before. I think they hunted with Bill Bedford but since I am going from memory that needs to be verified.

I guided many ,many bowhunters on water buffalo ,and i saw very few hunters to kill the buffalo with one shot ,and to be honest we lost several buffalos ,one of the excelent shots and incredible expertise with bow was eyedoc of this forum ,i never saw him miss a shot.Juan

Eyedoc will probably reply to this because I sent him and IM so he can report what bow and arrow he used. He is headed back in July for Elephant,,, but he will have to use a gun on it but we will have our bows for the non-DG animals.drwes

Thank you for your compliment Juan, I will now be haunted by the task of trying to live up to such a high reputation

The bow I used to take both Asiatic Water buffalo and Cape buffalo was a Hoyt Deviator pulling eighty -three lbs. I think that even more important than the bow is the arrow.I used an Easton ACC 3-71 with a Beamon Pultruded carbon shaft inside. The broadhead is a Steelforce 210. The broad head was treated with a light wax "Chapstick" to help with drag. I used three five inch feathers with hard helical.Total weight was 955 grains.

Just as important is getting great arrow flight as confirmed by paper tuning at 1', 3' and 5'. If the arrow flies at anything less than absolutely straight it severely reduces penetration.

This combo has allowed me to get pass-throughs on two buffalo and two giraffe.

its not compliment ,its the true ,indeed my intention is to discourage hunting buffalo with bow ,this hunt IS ONLY FOR EXPERTS AND IN MY CASE I NEED 7 DAYS TO GUARANTEED A KILL.Mike Pickering too almost 20 trophys included birds never missed a shot,and using single arrow to each animal ,i saw him took 3 hogs is rapid shots before my dogs catch the hogs ,before and after him i saw many,many bow hunters ,even a BOWhunting guide from OREGON that lived 4 months at my farm ,he took several game ,but he said buffalo is too dangerous.Juan

Visit the Tradgang forum.
They have 1 section dedicated to dangerous game.
There's guys there that hunt Africa alot, using recurves and longbows, and kill everything.
Even if you don't shoot traditional, its real good info.
Dr. Ed Ashby has a section over there talking about broadhead performance. Its amazing the things he researched!!!!

Ammo-could not find the site you reference. Can you give us the adress or better yet a link?

quote:

Originally posted by eyedoc:
Ammo-could not find the site you reference. Can you give us the adress or better yet a link?

I believe this is the place you are searching for

Tradgang Forum

Thanks guys.

Eyedoc, did you ever cronograph that set up? The reason I'm asking is that I'm under the impression that a compound loses effeciency with heavier arrows. I heard something about loss of energy due to friction with heavier arrows.

When I bumped up my arrow weight from 350 to 500 grains my arrows actually went a couple fps faster out of my 50 lb recurve.

thanks

My experience has been just the opposite and when you think about it scientifically it makes sense. With a heavier arrow less energy is lost in bow vibration, noise, and shock.That is because the arrow absorbs more of the energy and is therefore more efficient.

Every bow combination that I have shot was more efficient with heavier arrows than lighter arrows.This held true for all arrows from 300 grains up to 1000 grains. I have not worked with arrows outside of this range in weight.I owned a bowshop for several years and eventually sold it to the guys that founded Diamond archery. We shot through a chronogragh on a daily basis.

I have heard of others stating that with "Their bow" they became less efficient with heavier arrows but I personally have never seen it and it does not make sense unless the bow was badly out of tune or some other element/variable is involved.

Arrow speed would go down as the arrows got heavier but KE would always go up.

quote:

Originally posted by eyedoc:
My experience has been just the opposite and when you think about it scientifically it makes sense. With a heavier arrow less energy is lost in bow vibration, noise, and shock.That is because the arrow absorbs more of the energy and is therefore more efficient.

Every bow combination that I have shot was more efficient with heavier arrows than lighter arrows.This held true for all arrows from 300 grains up to 1000 grains. I have not worked with arrows outside of this range in weight.I owned a bowshop for several years and eventually sold it to the guys that founded Diamond archery. We shot through a chronogragh on a daily basis.

I have heard of others stating that with "Their bow" they became less efficient with heavier arrows but I personally have never seen it and it does not make sense unless the bow was badly out of tune or some other element/variable is involved.

Arrow speed would go down as the arrows got heavier but KE would always go up.

I absolutely agree with you.

I have shot eight Australia Water Buff.
I used a 70# Mathews Switchback, Arrow weight off 510 grains, with a two blade broadhead.

Wmunro, what were your experiences. Best shot? Worst shot? Worst penetration etc.

thanks

Eyedoc, I'm not arguing with you I basically agree too and I don't shoot a wheelie bow so I have no experience at all with them.

The stuff I found said that the added weight could cause loss of effeciency through friction with the cables and the more arrow weight the more friction. Like I said I have no experience so I don't even know if the cables rub on each other.

Back to the crony, that's what really interests me, because it's the one place where there is something we can actually measure. What speeds were you getting with regular weight arrows and what was the speed with the super heavy ones?

thanks

calgarychef1,
I was hunting at Nhulunduy, NT, Australia. All self guided,so I had time each weekend to Hunt.
Six off the eight where side on shot's, behind the front leg angling forward,all shafts went to the fleches, two off the buff I shot to fare back by a foot, they made it to the edge off the rain forrest,so I got my hunting mate to drop them with his 416, I think If I had of left them for three or four hours they would have died,but that is a lot off pain to leave the buff in so I could say they where clean bow kill's.

I shot a cape buffalo with a 70 pound Matthews z7 and a Easton fmj dangerous game arrow and a German kinetic broadhead

Shot my buff with 90lb Elite Synergy, 250 DG / FMJ arrows, 180gr Silver Flame German Kinetic. First shot got the near side and opposite lung, second shot bang in the hart only went 18 yards.

I have had quite a few clients take Buff with a bow over the years. I have seen Buff succumb easily to a bow and I have seen them shrug off badly placed shots as if they had been stung bu a mosquito.

My advice is dont shoot anything less than an 80lb bow. Select a good quality two blade 180g broadhead and nothing lighter than 500g of arrow. Most importantly, ensure that you can shoot your set up accurately and that your PH is clued up on his bow hunting. This should ensure that you have covered the basics properly and are not taking any chances. Buff are tough as nails and you shouldnt rely on luck to take one.

quote:

Originally posted by zimFrosty:
Most importantly, ensure that you can shoot your set up accurately and that your PH is clued up on his bow hunting. This should ensure that you have covered the basics properly and are not taking any chances. Buff are tough as nails and you shouldnt rely on luck to take one.

Spot on

You guys have a lot more experience with buffalo than I do. But I've managed to kill an American Bison and an Asian Water Buffalo with my whitetail setup.

I'm shooting a 70 lb. Forge Woodsman bow with a 29 inch draw. I shot them with Forge Hunter arrows and Slick Trick 100 grain, four blade broadheads. The Bison was a complete pass-through and the water buffalo died with one shot after running a laser ranged 137 yards.

I might get flamed for this, but I believe it's more important how WELL you hit them than how hard...

Doc Ashby and several in that circle have killed quite a number of Cape Buffalo with longbows. They have the tackle down to a science for maximum effect, but it still is a matter of excellent shot placement. Just look at Saeed's videos of his Kills with the 375. He has it down pat and makes it look like walking up to bovine dairy cows in a field, bang flop and they drop like a sack of potatoes with their legs splayed. Flip-side, guys shooting 600 Overkill M'bogo Magnum Specials making marginal hits and it turns into a rodeo clown near death experience. Bows are no different, shot placement with tackle that penetrates the vitals.

Best

Hi Shof

One thing a lot of people who have hunted both American and African game comment on ,is that African game is much tougher. Cape Buffalo have thick overlapping ribs that make full broadside shots very difficult if they are even marginally misplaced. To shoot a buff on private land in Zim, I beleive that the minimum poundage is 80lbs. Through experience, I would not shoot a 4 bladed broad head at a buff.

You are 100% correct when it comes to shot placement being vitally important, but I doubt you would get many PHs ready to take on a Buff with a 70lb bow(law aside). They tend to bite when angry!!!!!

This fellow used a 58@28 hybrid longbow shooting an 808 grain arrow. The shot was 35 yards. His draw is ~31", so he was shooting about 64#. Bow was by A&H. BH was a 260 grain 2-blade single-bevel ABowyer.

I've shot several Australian water buffalo with a bow(and rifle) and guided lots of hunters. There are several things to keep in mind, not all buffalo are the same. A mature herd bull is probably at least twice as hard to shoot through as a mature cow or immature bull AND the buffalo in different areas are different body sizes. I would not consider using anything but a two blade cut on contact head. Many outfitters that take bowhunters have a collection of rib bones with broadheads stuck in them. The ribs are right tight together and SOMETIMES a two blade head will slide between them, where a multi blade head will not. I have done LOTS of autopsies LOTS. Shot placement is paramount HOWEVER, very few shooters do their best shooting when they are 12-15 yards from a buffalo AND very few buffalo only get shot once, regardless of what you might hear. A HEAVY perfectly flying arrow is the ticket, bow poundage less so. I would consider an 800 grain arrow to be the absolute bare minimum and 900 grains is better. Mine weigh 970 grains. All the bowhunters we had, wanted to come back and they all said they would come back with heavier gear, except the ones that knew they couldn't shoot heavier gear and they mostly elected to shoot smaller buff. Everyone thinks they will put one perfect shot in their buff, I can tell you, that almost never happens, so the heavier you can go, the better off you will be, when you miss the sweet spot by a couple inches or have to put mulitple arrows in from 40 yards or non broadside.

I've seen a video of my buddy shooting a PSE 65 lbs shooting a Bear Razorhead with a 2117 Easton aluminum shaft shoot a Bison at around 30 yards shooting instinctively and zipping one through the chest. It was in the snow and the bull leap forward for about 50 yards, stopped, looked around with the steam coming out of the wound and tipped over. It became a great mount in his family room.

Compound this, 90# that! Fred Bear did it with a longbow! Oh yeh, and add an elephant to that list in 1964.

quote:

Originally posted by icemanls2:
Compound this, 90# that! Fred Bear did it with a longbow! Oh yeh, and add an elephant to that list in 1964.

That's kind of what I was thinking when I went bison hunting with my 70 lb. bow. It died quite nicely. And that kind of thinking was in the back of my mind when I shot my Asian Water Buffalo with another 70 lb. bow.

Now I do understand that there are some physiological and anatomical differences between an Asian Water Buffalo and a Cape Buffalo, but I find it hard to believe that there's that much difference between the two that would require equipment that is THAT much heavier than what I'm currently shooting.

Shof
The law itself in most countries might prohibit you from using lighter draw weights. In Zim 80lb min for Buff.

Seriously though, talk to the PHs on the ground in Africa and get their recommendations and stick to them. We have had clients here who have told me that the Cape Buff is MUCH tougher than the NA Bison. I dont know as I havent shot Bison, but I do know that Cape Buff are bloody tough creatures who dont die easily if you misplace a shot or dont get the penetration.

Elephant are actually much easier than Buff with a bow. They have wide gaps between their ribs and huge heart lung areas. They are also much easier to get close to than Buff are and therefore shot placement is easier. A good Buff , in thick cover makes a challenging adversary

quote:

Originally posted by icemanls2:
Compound this, 90# that! Fred Bear did it with a longbow! Oh yeh, and add an elephant to that list in 1964.

Fred Bear shot a recurve, not a longbow. A Super Kodiak recurve to be exact.

You need to be very careful making judgements based on one or even a couple animals. I have seen many many water buffalo shot with bow, muzzleloaders, handguns and rifles. One thing is not all buffalo are the same. An old herd bull is probably at least twice as difficult to shoot through as an immature bull or mature cow. If everything is perfect a 70# is fine, very seldom is everything perfect and then an 85# bow will be looking a whole lot better. Dr. Ed Ashby did a bunch of testing after he moved to Australia and determined that water buffalo are the most difficult animals to shoot through, short of the pacyderms, but the difference with them, is they have spaces between the ribs and you can see and aim for those spaces.