This was my 11th hunt booked by Ray Atkinson. Like all before it, it was fun and successful. Thanks again Ray.

I hunted with Bill Yung, a land planner I work with from Branson, Mo. Bill was on a trophy quest. I had already killed a trophy bull a few years ago and was now just looking for a meat bison – preferably a young and tasty one.



We went to a 50,000 acre working ranch (Triple U) about 33 miles north of Pierre, South Dakota (the locals pronounce it “Pierâ€).

It was about a 14-hour drive from Branson, Missouri plus a two-hour stop at Cabelas in Kansas City. We took a pickup because we wanted to bring back the meat.

Cabelas stock of rifles was at low ebb, probably due to selling the good stuff at SCI so that was good. We were not tempted beyond our power of resistance.



Pierre is the state capital of South Dakota. The capital building is a very handsome example of Greek and Italian Renaissance Revival architecture. It was first occupied in 1910 and was designed by C. E. Bell and M.S. Detwiler of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Pierre is on the Missouri river and was a stop for Lewis and Clark who were delayed by indians here until Black Buffalo was able to arrange safe passage on upstream.



Pierre has more casinos than I had imagined. The subway shop has one, the car wash has one and there is even a casino for the blind.



Normally hunters stay at the lodge on the ranch but it had closed down for the season so we stayed in town. It didn’t take us long to discover our favorite watering hole – Mad Mary’s Saloon was complete with rifles and ranch stuff plastered all over the walls, excellent steaks and one drinkable single malt.



One of the interesting things about this ranch is that it is a working ranch with not only 2,500 to 3,500 bison but also American quarter horses and crossbreed cattle hardy enough to stand the local climate. That climate was 1 degree F while we were there by the way. The wind chill was minus 17 F according to the local radio. Buffalo hunting, according to my friend Bill, is not for sissies.





Another interesting aspect of this ranch is that it was the location for filming the movie “Dances with Wolvesâ€. Fort Sedgewick is still on the ranch.

Our guide Galen Humble was a great guy and was the top ranch hand or whatever you call them in cowboy talk and he is the real McCoy. He insisted that we sight in our rifles before he would take us out. I liked that. He also insisted that we shoot the bison in the ear. He would not tolerate meat damage. Bill took his faithful CZ 375 and I took “Stubby†my 19†barreled 450/400 3†Jeffrey.



They had a good range and in the cold and wind we made quick work of it. Bills rifle was off a bit but with a couple scope adjustments was soon back to its old self. My double has iron sights and they have never been off since JJ worked on the rifle. Nevertheless since I went up there expecting to shoot into the heart lung area and now learn that I have to shoot him in the ear (have you ever tried to see the ear on a bison?) I checked it anyway and found as I expected, it was good to go.

After a quick lunch we decided to do the meat hunt first so it would leave them time to start butchering and bagging up the meat while we did the trophy hunt. Galen said there was a herd about 2 miles SW of the ranch house that had some nice young ones in it so we struck out for that bunch.

The ranch would go along with any way you want to hunt them. You could walk; ride a horse in your Indian or Mountain Man suit or just whatever you chose. I chose a pickup truck with a BIG heater in it - at least until we got close to the herd then we got out. It was so cold and I had so many clothes on I felt like the Goodyear man.



The herd had about 50 animals and they were bunched up so tight it was not possible to get a clear shot for quite a while. I had taken my gloves off and my ears were exposed so I could hear Galen. I could not feel my fingers and was not sure if I could pull the trigger or not.



I told Galen to pick out a tasty one, as I did not care anything about the horns. He kept pointing one out but each time they moved in front of or behind another one. Finally one separated itself and presented about an 80-yard shot. I could not see the ear but Galen said to come straight across from the eye until you get just behind the horn so that’s where I aimed. The sun was behind me and my front sight contrasted nicely with the dark hair. Stubby came through (thankfully an ear shot as I did not want to risk the wrath of the head ranch guy or whatever you call him), my freezer was to be full of delicious and healthy bison meat and we were soon on the way to Mad Mary’s to seek out her frost bite remedy. She was well stocked.

Overnight the temperature dropped even more. It did not seem to matter. Numb is Numb and it does not matter much whether it takes 2 seconds or 4 seconds to achieve this state.

The next day it was now Bills turn. He was so focused on hitting the ear that he could not eat breakfast. I knew him well enough after our Tanzania buff hunt in the thick stuff last year to know he would do fine and I enjoyed a big breakfast while he nibbled a piece of toast and focused out to the horizon.

Galen said his wife had seen a rangy old bull out near the cattle. He was by himself. He did not know where he came from or how he got in there. He thought we might go look but warned Bill that an old loner like that would be skittish and he would have just a short time to take the shot. I could sense this putting even more pressure on Bill. This was fun for me. Galen also said he would likely have broomed horns. Bill liked that - as we all would. This bunch of cows was maybe 3 or 4 miles from the ranch house straight into the eye of the wind.

We soon found the cows near an artesian well. They were a cross between Maine Anjou and Angus. There was not a bison with them. You can see forever in these hills and we all were looking around for a likely place that he would be hiding. There was a long washed out draw ahead and we thought he might be in there but he wasn’t. Then Bill spotted a 30-foot cliff that was obviously perpendicular to the wind and made the remark that it would be a good place for him to be found. As we got within 300 yards we could see just his topknot sticking out of the grass. He was lying down out of the wind and facing into the morning sun.

Bill finally got to within 150 yards and Galen told him that was as close as he should try to get. The bull was up and looking at us. He staggered at the first shot but took off at a good clip to the right. Bills second shot dropped him.



He was a fantastic trophy. He weighed close to 2000 pounds and was a golden color with black mane. His horns were broomed and chipped from his estimated 8 to 10 years of battle with the elements and other bulls.



We had to get a wrecker to take him back to the ranch.

One of the great things about this ranch is that they have their own slaughterhouse and can quickly separate the hide and quarter the meat. The meat from Bills bull will all be made into hamburger and given to a local charity.



The ride home was a bit frosty with snow, freezing rain and sleet not to mention that someone accidentally locked the keys in the truck.

We highly recommend that anyone wanting a quick winter hunt and get a lot of good meat contact Ray about this.

Looks cold but it sounds like you had a great time!

Thanks for sharing

Nice write-up and pics.

I got cold reading it though!


Tim

Anybody but Allen and Bill would have gone in Oct.Nov but not these two guys..

The last Bison Allen shot was in a Blizzard with Phil Shoemaker (458 on AR). Phil being an Alaskan guide and all thought it was a nice balmy 10 below day and thought the 40 mile an hour wind was just right to kill their scent, and the snow pelting them would make it easy to approach, perfect for hunting Bison, and it worked..

Allen just doesn't care as long as he has a rifle in his hands and something to hunt, he is happy as a pig in poop! All these guys are hunters, and they can take anything that comes along and never a whine or complaint no matter how tough it gets..ask them about the Tanzania Death March!

Good show! Thanks much for sharing your story and photos! Frosty or not, I liked the looks of that ranch as opposed to the fore feet of snow outside my window right now.
Matt

Damn, I got cold just looking at that funny-looking white stuff. That's a nice bison with lotsa meat there. How'd you end up with a 19" DR anyways?

475Guy1
Thats just how it was when I bought it. I wish they were longer but truth is it works just fine and is quite handy.

Im not recommending it and would not order one that way.

Nevertheless it is fun to shoot and carry and I tend to carry it more than any rifle I have.

great hunt fellas, I did it back in 1994. Shot a huge buffalo, but did not get to keep the meat, that was kept by the UUU, so I had to buy some and have it shipped home to Pennsylvania via Fedex.

Congratulations to all.

Hell of a write-up, and excellent pictures. A friend and I are talking about a bison hunt - hope that when we do it we can do as well as you did...

Great photos and write up. The state capital is a beautiful building. Too funny about all the gambling. Here in TX they want to hang folks for having 8 liner machines.
That bison in the back of the wrecker tells it all. Man those animals are huge!

Are you having anything done with the hide?

Allen
Good job, well done.

2 questions;
1. What was the "decent Single Malt Scotch.

and 2. Tell us more about your short barreled 450/400.

Weidmannsheil on a successful hunt, and thanks for a great story!

Question: is the meat of the older bulls not worth eating?? Or is burger (or sausage) the only way to go??

- mike

we did this hunt in november (it was lots warmer) just for meat & a 2 year old. We had the meat processed in town and that guy really did a bang up job. best processing i think i've ever had done. While he was cutting up 3 buffalo, we went east a bit and shot up a bunch of pheasants. That you buff is about the best eating there is, we prefer it to good beef.

bluefin, I am going to make a rug out of it.

Tony, Good to see that you ask the most important questions first. If I remember right it was a 10 yr Balvenie.

The Jeffrey is a 60 grain cordite with chopper lump barrels. Its serial no. got an estimate from Rusty and 400 Nitro of a pre 25 manufacture. They thought it to be one of the latest Leonard actions - maybe 1924.

I bought it off Gunlist about 5 years ago from a guy in Ontario. That was a giant pain getting it out of Canada.

I shoot it with 78 grains of IMR 4831 with a very light crimp on Woodleighs. The Canadian I bought it from did not say anything about the barrel length and I did not think to ask him about it. I only have about 5,000 in it so I decided to live with it.

I took it over to JJ and he worked on it most of Friday and half of Saturday and finally got it to shoot pretty good. The darn thing is so handy that it is usually the first thing I pick up for a quick deer hunt or just going out to knock around the woods.

I am going to try some 300 grain Hawks using your 75% rule the next time I am reloading for it.

mho, I think the older bulls are better when ground into hamburger.

butchloc, I agree on the taste of bison and the place is just busting with pheasants. In fact, there is an autographed picture on the wall at UUU from the crew of airforce 2 from when the VP came up to pheasant hunt.

Allen

I once handled a 450/400 with around a 20 inch bbl and really like it. If I was flush with money I would have bought it.

I will be curious to see how the 300gr bullets shoot. Is it a .411 or .408.

Several DRSS guys have had good results with the Hornady 300gr 405 Win bullet. My 400 is .408 so I use the Hawk 300gr with the .025jkt. It expands very big and is a great killer of deer and pigs.

I have never had a deer or pig take a step after being hit with the 300 gr Hawk.

I have also shot one pig with a 400gr Hawk with the .035jkt. He was running full out, and at the shot he died and skidded about 15 or 20 feet.
The shot was slightly quarting away and the recovered bullet was perfectly expanded.

So, If for some reason the 300gr bullets do not shoot in your gun the, 400gr Hawk would be a great chopice for deer, pigs, black bear etc.

Again, I think your short barreled 450/400 is pretty slick.

Tony, mine slugs a little over .411. I have been thinking of buying a swager and squeezing down 416 bullets but haven't tried it yet.

Jeez, I thought bison were bigger than that.

Only kidding!
I had a bison porterhouse in Big Sky, Mt. last summer that was one of the best steaks I have ever eaten.
Would you have me over for Dinner one night?
My mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Nice pics.

Congrats on the bull, and thanks for sharing the photos and story. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
bluefin, I am going to make a rug out of it.

Tony, Good to see that you ask the most important questions first. If I remember right it was a 10 yr Balvenie.

The Jeffrey is a 60 grain cordite with chopper lump barrels. Its serial no. got an estimate from Rusty and 400 Nitro of a pre 25 manufacture. They thought it to be one of the latest Leonard actions - maybe 1924.

I bought it off Gunlist about 5 years ago from a guy in Ontario. That was a giant pain getting it out of Canada.

I shoot it with 78 grains of IMR 4831 with a very light crimp on Woodleighs. The Canadian I bought it from did not say anything about the barrel length and I did not think to ask him about it. I only have about 5,000 in it so I decided to live with it.

I took it over to JJ and he worked on it most of Friday and half of Saturday and finally got it to shoot pretty good. The darn thing is so handy that it is usually the first thing I pick up for a quick deer hunt or just going out to knock around the woods.

I am going to try some 300 grain Hawks using your 75% rule the next time I am reloading for it.

mho, I think the older bulls are better when ground into hamburger.

butchloc, I agree on the taste of bison and the place is just busting with pheasants. In fact, there is an autographed picture on the wall at UUU from the crew of airforce 2 from when the VP came up to pheasant hunt.

Palmer, as always, great report. Thanks for sharing! I think that the fun police have a warrant for you, however. Having too much fun is a crime, you know...

Curious: how much meat did you get off yours?

Cheers,

KG

quote:

Having too much fun is a crime, you know...

Kamo, it takes a criminal to know one.

My bison was estimated to be only about 800 lbs on the hoof and the meat came out to a mere 463 lbs. but its all good.

Shot a buffalo out of one of the last free ranging buffalo herds in the country at the JA ranch in North Texas ~8 yrs ago. Unfortunately, I didn't have a nifty english 400 on hands, so I used a 250 savage (no lie) to the ear. Shot was made at about 30 yards... basically stepped out of the suburban and shot it. They weren't too skiddish that particular afternoon.

Before bashing me for this, you have to realize that the texas game dept. was in the process of tranquilizing these buff, loading them up into cattle trailers, and shipping them off to some ranch in N. Dakota. We needed them off the ranch (step dad manages the JA) because they tear through barbed wire like string cheese, and the bulls had a habit of knocking up our hefers and cows... called the cross breeds beefalos, and they made for fantastic eating.

Anyways, the buffs got shipped off, but the wildlife guys killed ~10 of them in the process. It was a total scrub operation, but the buff are safe now and making great buff burgers for someone up north.

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:

quote:

Having too much fun is a crime, you know...

Kamo, it takes a criminal to know one.

My bison was estimated to be only about 800 lbs on the hoof and the meat came out to a mere 463 lbs. but its all good.

Who says there's no honor amongst criminals?

That's a bunch of meat, and I love buffalo. 'Say honey, how'd you like to wait on that trip to Hawaii I've been promising and instead you come with me to chase a buffa...<smack>' 'OK, OK. I'll meet you half way. How about a fishing trip in Miami instead?'

Thanks for the info, Palmer.

KG

Great write up. If I ever get in one place long enough to actually plug my freezer in I am going to go on a hunt like that. I have heard that winter is the best time if you want to do anything with the hide. Sounds like it was a great time.

Chain,
We hunt these Bison on the Triple U from Oct. to Jan or February...I got Allen in late and they had even closed the lodge for the winter so had to improvise, sounds like they faired well and found a great watering hole..

Late Nov to Mid Jan is ideal for a good robe.

Ray,

What's the cost for something like this. Be a nice way to fill the freezer and have a fun weekend.

Tim

Boomer,
A meat hunt, being a steer or heifer is $1600. a trophy-meat bull hunt is $1900, that will be a 3-4 year old bull with nice horns and a good robe, A trophy bull hunt is $2100 and he will be a big old herd bull..

You get hide head and meat on everything but the trophy bull.

On a trophy bull hunt you get the hide, head and you can purchase any amount of packaged meat off of him that you want, but I wouldn't, I'd buy some meat off a younger animal if I wanted meat...

Great hunt report and I'll second or third that "damn those bison bulls are HUGE"! The bull in the back of the wrecker looks "photoshopped" he's such a load!

I did not know that these hunts were so reasonably priced!

bwanamrm: He was a load as Bill found out when it was being unloaded at the slaughter house. Bill got his hand caught between the chain and the leg. Fortunately, he did not lose any fingers because then I would have had to drive all the way home instead of sleeping. Oh yes, I guarantee that photo was not photoshopped.

Buglemintoday: When you consider that you have some fun, get to shoot your big bore, do not have to fly across the ocean, can do it over a weekend and end up with about 500 lbs of good-for-you lean meat which has only 27% of the fat of beef...... its about the best bargain around.

Just FYI the USDA is looking at changing inspection rules regarding bison. From what I understand,the Triple U sells the meat on the big bulls and can do so legaly in SD because of the state inspection but will not be able to do this if federal inspection is changed. If they can't sell the meat the hunts will cost quite a bit more. I delivered some culls last month and got $1.40 hanging so a big bull is worth live weightx.55x$1.40. If you are interested in a big bull with them you may want to do it sooner than later.

This sounds very interesting. After my 400/.395 Nitro Express on a Ruger #1 gets finished, I'd like to do it!

Buffalorancher,
As I understand it the law will exempt personal use, the same as it does on beef..Only meat for sale to the public will apply..

quote:

From what I understand,the Triple U sells the meat on the big bulls and can do so legally in SD because of the state inspection but will not be able to do this if federal inspection is changed. If they can't sell the meat

Sell

I see the word sell in there twice and I do believe that is the point he was trying to make.

Just an opinion of course

Ray,
You are correct in that it will be fine for personal use but the Triple U will lose the revenue from the carcass so I assume you will be paying about +/-$1500 more for the hunt. Of course you will probably get all the meat which almost all of my hunt clients want anyway. I just thought that people may want to know that there may be an increase in the hunt price since this is a good value if you don't want the meat. However, this issue is in the hands of our politicians now so it could change next week and it may stay the way it is. This inspection issue is very political.

Lance,
As I understand it as proposed and reported to me is that the triple U has a Govt inspected meat processing plant, and the Feds will inspect all meat at that location, but only the meat that will be sold commercially...The meat from a hunters shot bull will be his for personal consumption. If this is the fact as radified by the politicians, nothing will change other than carcass inspections by the Feds...at least that is what I am hoping for, otherwise the ranch will have to start shipping live buffalo to the packing plants much the same as beef. The triple U is 50,000 plus acres of only Buffalo and wildlife, no cattle on the ranch.

Ray,
Right now from what I understand and what would make sense is that the Triplr U is inspected by the state of SD. Federal inspection is voluntary now but an "amenable" designation will mean federal inspection to ship interstate, NO field slaughter, and no inspection fees. I have an aquaintance that is buying the big bull carcasses from Triple U and this would stop with an amenable designation. The National bison Association was pushing the designation to help with inspection fees but I am a board member and I am going to try to stop this. Things work fine the way they are now.