Well,
It's late January and the typical Northwest inversion is lying heavy on the land and on my psyche. Can't afford a weekend in Tucson, don't have the energy to gargle with a shotgun. Last night a farmer friend calls me up and says "I need you over here in the morning to shoot two buffalo (bison)". Well that beats listening to NPR so I set the alarm.

I get over to Phil's place at 0:700 and it looks like this:



I figured we would throw out some oats to get them over by the gate so I can pop them in the ear at about fifty feet. Wrong. There is a big pile of oats that has been in the pasture for a week. Also, Phil spent four hours chasing the herd around last week to cut some out for a cutting horse trainer. So. They are well fed, well exercised and wary. I have to use brain shots because the meat is valuable. To make it more interesting the 40 acre pasture was chiseled a few days ago. Roughly chiseled. About like walking tussock to tussock on the tundra. Tussocks made out of slick gumbo, that is. Did I mention that Phil is a bit hyperkinetic? As in no patience for a quiet little stalk.

Anyways, into the pasture. "Aren't you going to close the gate Phil?" "No need, just shoot them." I look down at the tennis shoes that I wore, not anticipating a jagged and gooey pasture and think "This is gonna be a goat fuck".

The first one drops and the second one makes for the gate. Did you know that bison run faster than horses? Well, they do. She heads out through the gate. I did get lucky and kneecap her then (no heart/lung shots allowed) so she heads back along the fence (on the outside of the pasture). I'm trying to keep on my feet as I run after her. I get to the fence, sucking wind like a lung shot goose. She gives me an angle on her head finally, and it's over.



At this point things started looking up. Yeah back hoe! I have skinned and cut up bison in the snow and mud by hand in the past and that activity does resemble work.



Oh yeah, Lois is taking pictures and laughing her ass off.

Then life goes from good to great. Yeah custom butchers!



Notice the size of that saw.

This last picture is very instructive about the anatomy of animals with humps. It is twenty two inches from the top of the hump to the spine. This is on a three or four year old cow. It's more on a mature bull, of course.



Shooting sticks would have been nice.

lawndart

At least you got to spice up your winter blaghhhs a bit. The pic of the halved buff was very interesting. Are those "hump" bones see in the pic? Are they an extension of the rib bones? What were you using to shoot them with?

By the way the 7x7 was back in Dads yard tonight.

Hey Bill,

I'm going to make a house call to your folks place and save that 7x7 from getting eaten by wolves.

Those bones are spinous processes, part of the vertebrae. If you feel the bones sticking out on the back of your neck, those are your hump bones (that doesn't sound right, does it?).

I used my Sako in 416 Rem Mag, only because it was zeroed and there was a box of shells on the kitchen counter.

Last year one of Phil's big bulls got out and wandered around the county for three days. Went through a bunch of fences.

lawndart

Nice job, John, did they at least throw you a steak for your efforts?

Very instructive photo.I wonder how many 'tough to put down' shots have actually been hump hits. That butchers saw sure makes the job easier !

Ann,
I got a cup of coffee, two slices of toast and instructions to come out this weekend and kill some of those damn geese. I still have some steaks from backing up people on another ranch.

mete,
I was very surprised at the anatomy the first time I butchered a bison. The brain is smaller, higher up and further back than I had imagined. You can see what a relatively tiny target the spinal cord is, not to mention that it is nowhere near where you would expect it to be. They are mainly muscle and lung; that explains why they will run five miles without breaking a sweat.

That butcher's trailer is amazing. It has pressurized heated water to keep things clean, an electric hoist, a generator to run three saws, and external gut and hide barrels. These bison were skinned, gutted, split and hanging in thirty minutes for each.

lawndart

Mete,

I think a lot of people shoot their bison in the hump but I think a lot of others shoot them too far back. The heart and lungs of a bison are very far into the front of the chest and I think the front heavy build of the animal creates the illusion that the vitals are more toward the rear of the animal than they are.

Lawndart,

I shot a bison in Custer Park South Dakota last year and they were kind enough to let me use their old butchery. Even with one of those great saws, a nice big steel table, and all the knives and sharpeners I could ever want, it still took this amateur a good two days to get the animal skinned/salted and the meat cut up and packaged. Those quarters are damn heavy and unwieldy!

Best,

JohnTheGreek

Thanks lawndart. Reminds me of many a weekend at my Pa's place. He doesn't have the heart to shoot his buffalo himself, so I "get" to do it. I think maybe he just "needs" me there to kill them so that I will also be there to help process them!!

My Pa doesn't like to disturb the herd with rifle shots, so I use his crossbow. Works slick. I haven't had to use a second arrow yet, and they never last more than 30 seconds or so. Most times they are down in less than half that. Last time (just before Christmas) I had to use a rifle because the site pins on the crossbow got bumped in the tractor. I only had my 6.5 Gibbs (which I brought for coyotes), but a 140 grain pill (a Sierra GK, no less) through the pumper finished it off in a hurry. There is NO substitute for bullet placement! And not an ounce of meat lost.

I am VERY impressed with the butchers trailer. Ours is just hand work. Splitting a buffalo from stem to stern is a lot of work with a meat saw, particularly since a lot of the young bulls will go 20 to 24 inches through the hump, and my Dad's hand saw is only 26 inches! Some of the bigger bulls have to get the chainsaw treatment (with vegetable oil in the chain). Access to warm water is a heckuva bonus too!!

If you've got any more pictures of the butchers trailer, I'd LOVE to see them!

Cheers,
Canuck

That halved carcass picture is great. I would never have thought that the spine is that low in a Bison. Very interesting.

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Originally posted by Fjold:
That halved carcass picture is great. I would never have thought that the spine is that low in a Bison. Very interesting.

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Most people mess that one up. The heart sits quite low on a bison.

If you consider that the spine dips down to occupy about half of visible chest depth (top of spine to brisket), you need to place a shot only about one quarter of the way up from the brisket.

I personally shoot about 6 inches up from the brisket to make a clean heart shot. Most people would consider that far too low! I haven't missed it yet though.

Hopefully lawndart won't mind, but here's my opinion of where the heart lies in the chest cavity. (I estimated the location of the leg on a standing bison - in black - and didn't put the front of the shoulder far enough forward. The back of the shoulder indicates the line where the long hair normally ends)....


And here's a live one for comparison...



Cheers,
Canuck

Canuck,
Your artwork is exactly right. When I have gone for heart shots I prefer to have the animal quartering. Then I can thread the bullet between the legs. On a broadside bull one time I tried to put the bullet right against the back of the front leg without hitting the leg. The bullet went through the tip of the ventricles, and he wandered around for five minutes until all his blood got pumped into the chest.

I backed up some guys doing pasture shoots with compound bows and was impressed at how quickly the animals went down with a correctly placed arrow.

Sawing through the hump is a job and a half! I did one with a hand saw once. Oh shit, oh dear that was tough work. That vegetable oil in the chainsaw trick works pretty well, especially if you have it hanging.

I'll take more pictures of the mobile butchering rig the next time I'm in the town where it is based out of.

It sure is sweet meat.

John the Greek,
No getting around it, they are a bitch to take apart by yourself.

lawndart

Canuck,
Thanks for posting your sketch. The buff is layed out far different than I would have thought.

John,
Just looking at those monster ribs makes me start thinking that they would make for a great BBQ. One of those per person would be a whole meal!!!

Didnt the old buff hunters consider the hump to be the best cut of meat? Is there something specail about it that makes it so good?

Bill,

I think they liked the hump meat because it had some fat in it. I cut some up for stew meat last year. It cut with a fork, no problem.

This sounds crazy but the custom butcher in Greenleaf, Idaho makes jumbo buffalo hot dogs that are the sweetest and cleanest tasting I have had in my life.

lawndart

lawndart,
Well done! That eased the cabin fever. Nice to have friends who want you to shoot their buffalo. Canuck's input explains why I hit great vessels over the top of the heart when I shot one last October in Nebraska ... that reminds me of the buffalo tongue in the freezer that I have been meaning to try ... I also saved the entire football-sized heart. All the relatives that have tried the steaks and roasts have really loved it. I have been tipping my gunsmith with buffalo meat too, and getting fine service!

Any ideas from sumbuddy on the best way to cook a buffalo tongue?

RIP,

quote:

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ny ideas from sumbuddy on the best way to cook a buffalo tongue?

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Just like a roast!

ASS_CLOWN

AC,
You are off ignore. I will heed this advice, as I feel it is safe. I am good at roasts. Brown it in a frying pan with a bit of olive oil, throw it in a pot, chunk up the carrots, potatoes, onions, and throw in some cloves, salt, pepper, and garlic, to simmer at 350 degrees for about 90 minutes or until the meat thermometer reads 160 degrees at core. This tongue should serve at least 6. This was a 3 year-old meat bull and his rump roasts were tender and tasty. A young cow ought to be even better, if that is possible.
Cheers!

RIP,

The traditional way to prepare tongue is to poach it...

quote:

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Preparation Method:
To poach tongue, cover tongue with cold water and add the poaching mixture(1 Carrot, large cut; 1 Celery stalk, large cut;1 Onion, medium size, large cut; 15 ml 1 tbsp. Salt; 45 ml 3 tbsp. Pickling spice)

Bring liquid to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook tongue until tender (when fork is inserted and comes out easily), approximately 1.5 to 2 hours (for small tongue).

Cool tongue and peel it. Cut it into strips.

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Here's a couple good sites for you to check out for recipes..

Alberta Buffalo (this has some links to other great sites as well)

Canadian Bison Assoc.

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

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Originally posted by lawndart:
When I have gone for heart shots I prefer to have the animal quartering. Then I can thread the bullet between the legs.

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That is exactly how I do it too...arrow or bullet. Its the only way to get a good shot on the heart without risking hitting a major bone (arrow) or ruining meat (bullet).

Thanks for the corroboration, btw.

I look forward to seeing more of that trailer if you manage to get some pictures.

Bison is pretty tough to beat on the plate, that's for sure.

Cheers
Canuck

Thanks, Canuck,
I've got all kinds of recipes now. I guess AC would have me chewing on some tough tounge peel. My bad for thinking I could trust him.

I will see if I can find some recipes for Bison Heart and Rocky Mountain Oysters. Maybe the old gal will get frisky over the latter if I can get her to eat some. Lots of good recipes for the steaks, roasts, and burger too ...

BTW, bison shooting is good therapy for post safari depression, just to get back to the African forum. It is highly recommended practice for plains game, and under the right conditions, the occasional DG charge practice.

Not quite sure how I would classify bowling for bison, except that Michael Moron would never be involved in it.

RIP

Here is how I came up with the name "bowling for bison":

I drove up to Jordan Valley, Oregon to take a friend out for a pasture shoot a couple years ago. The landowner had taken a fellow out a bit earlier. He was shooting his father in law's 300 Weatherby instead of the 270 Winchester that he was used to using. His first shot was too low and too forward. The object of his affections had a major bloody nose and a bad 'tude. She was trying to get back into the safety of the herd (~200 animals on 400 acres). She smelled of blood so the herd wanted to push her out. The landowner was driving after the herd with a tractor trying to get the customer a good shot. The poor customer had lost his confidence, and was a bit unnerved by all the animals milling about. The landowner and customer asked me to shoot the animal because it was just for him to get the meat. A bit later the herd came by my pickup. The wounded animal had just gotten pushed ahead and I had a 60 yard shot with a decent angle at the neck and back of the right side of the head. It was perfect lighting and the CZ Rigby with open sights swung like a shotgun. At the shot she went down hard, but her momentum carried her through a forward somersault. She looked like a ten pin after it got centerpunched by a 45 ACP.
I remember the good shots more than those like the time I hit a deer too far back too late in the day and the coyotes got to it first. That is not admirable, but there it is.
Bison are sneaky as whitetails away from the herd; I don't know how such big animals can disappear in the sagebrush.

Alberta Canuck,

They are amazing animals. Hunting them on horseback with a bow must have been more dangerous than selling bibles in Mosul. I'll try and get a few more pictures of the trailer on Wednesday. Oh yeah, the trailer has a refrigeration unit.

lawndart

My mothern use to fix beef tounge in the pressure cooker, it will save some time over just boiling it. As for the mountian oysters, skin them out of the tough outer layer of membrane, and slice them about 1/2" thick, they will be to large to fix them whole.(like calf size) Batter and fry them up.

Hog Killer

Hog Killer,
Thanks. I will get my wife to supervise me with the pressure cooker, so I don't get hurt. I will fry up some bison testicles as an appetizer. "What's for supper Grampaw?" ... "Hee haw, poached bison tongue and fried bison oysters." ... They were moved from the freezer to the fridge yesterday.

lawndart,
Hee haw to you too! You have been making bison do tricks, eh? Wish I could have seen that. I am going to need at least one bison per year. Can you get me a price for shooting a meat animal. Cow or bull, either one is fine. If they are on the smaller more tender-tasty side, I might need two. Shopping for bison bowling.

Excellent post and all the photos are very informative. Thank You!

Nick,
Thank you. Alberta Canuck's artwork should be in one of those "shoot here" handbooks.

RIP,
I think I can get you a good price up in Jordan Valley. I'll check on it when I'm up there next month. BTW, there is a small herd of feral bison running around the Owyhee mountains (If you don't feed them for a day, don't worry, they'll go find some forage on their own) . We would have to take a string of pack horses in after them though. On second thought, that sounds almost like work.

lawndart

awesome pics and info guys--

lawndart--do you recommend tenny shoes for all hunting!!(he,he)--sounds like you had a blast--chris

I actually have some decent hunting gear. Unfortunately I am SO not a morning person that I usually stumble out of the house wearing whatever is between my bed and the door, via the coffee pot. I am semi-notorious for showing up in some colorful and shall we say, eclectic hunting ensembles.
Shooting bison is about as addictive as sex. I view it like being married to a crabby wife; when the offer of sex/bison kill is made I always say yes because I don't know how long it will be until the next time.

lawndart

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Originally posted by lawndart:
Alberta Canuck's artwork..

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Thanks lawndart. I should point out though that I am just plain ole Canuck. "Alberta Canuck" is a different feller altogether.

Cheers,
Canuck

Oops, duh. I lumped you in with the wrong subspecies.

BTW, I'll send you an email link to that same picture with all the pixels left in.

Shit, oh well, at least I didn't call you a Quebec Canuck (surly) or a Newfie (goofy) Canuck.

lawndart

Canuck is so sensitive!

Let's see, a "Shot Placement Guide for Bison." You shoot them right behind the front leg in the lungs and they croak. Just like every other animal on earth?

quote:

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Originally posted by lawndart:
Oops, duh. I lumped you in with the wrong subspecies.

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Love it!

Actually I was not at all offended by being lumped with the Alberta subspecies. There is a guy here that goes by the handle "Alberta Canuck", though....I just wanted to make sure there was no mistaken identity.

Cheers,
Canuck (the original )

quote:

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Originally posted by Will:
Let's see, a "Shot Placement Guide for Bison." You shoot them right behind the front leg in the lungs and they croak. Just like every other animal on earth?

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The only real point was that if you shoot behind the shoulder at the vertical midline on a buffalo, you will hit the top of the lungs, not the middle like people tend to think. Its VERY easy to shoot too high on a buffalo.

They also suck up lead like a moose. Lung shots do not make for quick deaths on bison. I've had to wait around for 5 minutes for a cow to drop that was hit 3 times through the lungs with a 375 H&H.. I couldn't get any more shots into her because she got into the middle of the herd. Heart shots are the way to go, IMHO.

Cheers,
Canuck