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Good huntin' and shootin',
RAB

Nice to hear from you.

The largest bull I raised was 2200 pounds and about 6' 6" at hump.

His sire came from the Denver zoo, which probably had the tallest bison in the USA.

I had two Denver bulls, Einstein and Big Boy. Big Boy looke dlike a 7 year old when he was 3 years of age.

Einstien taught all my other buff to jump fences, hence his name. the prometheus of the bison world.

A more typical weight is 1600 pounds. They dress out about 50-52% of live weight compared to 60% for best domestic cattle.

They are very deep chested (heart girth to a horseman) compared to domestic cattle. they grow alot slower, and have about 60% of birth weight. Very low cholesterol red meat.

the cows often had best heads. Dont know why.

Buffalo hnting is not really hunting, but more like buffalo shooting. I think you can get a trip advertised in SCI for about 2500 dollars and fill your freezer.

We ground up everything for our own use, including steaks and roasts. It just makes the most delicious hamburger. Flavorful without being gamey.

If you want a picture of Jeff Coopers buff he shot with the 375 Steyr Ill email you the photo.

Clint Smith (of Thunder Ranch) was back up with a 45-70!

Andy
Andy

I never pass up a bison burger. I have eaten a lot of water buffalo too. All that stuff has about half the fat and cholesterol of domestic beef. I will have to go find a bison for the freezer soon, out west in the U.S. most likely.

Let us know when you get the ballistics article published.

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Good huntin' and shootin',
RAB

[This message has been edited by R. A. Berry (edited 07-10-2001).]

quote:

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Originally posted by Andy:
Buffalo hnting is not really hunting, but more like buffalo shooting.

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Depends where you hunt them! Try hunting the wild herds in northern BC. After snowmobiling in 40 to 70km in -35degC temperatures, to sneak after bison that are as spooky as whitetails, I think you'd have to agree that hunting bison can constitute "really hunting".

Of course, a ranch hunt isn't even comparable.

Canuck

I posted response to your weights on the bison gores man to death thread by mistake.

We had 1,000 acres in NE Oregon and you could walk up to any of our bison. When you shot one the others would just stand there, and even come over and lick the blood.

We butchered on the ranch to avoid tearing up a stock trailer, loading chute or slaughter house.

Andy

The animals that have been on my Dad's ranch from birth are quite tame. They don't like anybody but my Dad walking up on them, but you can drive right up to them in my Dad's truck or tractor (both equal food or water in their eyes). He has one bull, Buddy, that is about 1800lbs and 5 years old, that will eat out of his hand. Very few of the rest of his herd will do that.

They get real spooky with gunshots (and will stay away from their food), so my Dad has even been very careful with shooting the coyotes that come around during calving.

He has a couple of bulls that he will have to get rid of in a year or so. They are pretty wild, so we will probably have to kill them out of the herd. To avoid spooking the rest of the herd, Dad would like me to shoot them with my bow (which would be very easy out of the back of a truck or from behind a hay bale). Have you ever tried this?

Regards,

Canuck

I have not tried ambushing them in this way. I tried to select calm cows and work on their disposition through them.

I had a 900 yard rifle range parallel to their primary feild and they were used to gun shots so did not seem bothered by it.

Alot of mine would eat out of my hand. they especially liked pea vines.

I have absolutely no experience with a bow so am unqualified to discuss the wisdom of shooting one from behind a hay stack or truck.

I would probably not shoot from the truck as they trust it and you might not want to loose that trust.

I shot them in the spine (neck), head or heart.

Spine ruined no meat, while head shot reduced value of skull. the fast medium bores like 338, 358 norma and 375 are absolutely effective with one shot.

Andy