Bison, buffalo- great big beasts up in Canada and Alaska- over 2000 pounds of chunky Bull.

I was just in a discussion this morning with a potential hunting buddy about such a hunt.

I currently have a 300WSM and by the hunt will have a 375 Wea. and possibly my 300 Win Mag. custom rifle will be finished by then.

I think it is fair to say that a .300 mag. of any type loaded with 200gr. North Fork, TBBCs or TSX bullets will get the job done. Maybe backed up with .220gr. Solids? That is probably what I will go with. This will also work on the longer shots at Bison or Wolves across bogs or lakes.

BUT, I will have a .375 Wea. This might be a great excuse to use it. Loaded with .270gr. TSX or even heavier 300 gr. North Forks or TBBCs...

hmmm...


Then there is also the excuse to use this hunt to get another rifle, say a .338 (Win Mag, Dakota, Wea. RUM) and use 225gr. TSX or 250g. North Fork, TBBCs etc. in it.

SO, What type of rifle/cartridge/bullet combo would you use to tackle them in thick brushy bogs- free range in the wilderness of Canada or Alaska?

Shot distances mainly around 30 yards to 50 yards but some possibilities for shots across frozen bogs and lakes over several hundred yards.

Aren't Canada and Alaska great! Few places besides Africa will you need a rifle-cartridge combo to shoot everything from wolf sized animals to 1 ton+++ bison at ranges from 30 to 400 yards in a day.

I'd go with the .375 Weatherby... What else will you be shooting that even comes close in size to what that .375 is designed for?

Rumor has it that the black powder 45-70 load has done it a few times. But wait!! Its not a Magnum!!!!

The venerable '06 accounts for more dead bison in AK than any other single cartridge. Alas, it's not a manglum either.

Heck, are you guys advocating that I take my .308 win- a non-magnum? Or my Black Widow recurve bow? We all know it will take at least a few fractions of a second longer to kill a bison with a non-magnum

Let's try to better match the cartridge to the game.

Remember, that this is also a late fall-winter hunt with FAT animals and THICK, maybe iced-up fur and hide- in generally dense boreal bog forests with maybe not so perfect a shot angle on a huge animal.

Alot of bison are taken on the wind blown slopes above tree line. It is usually not to much trouble to get reasonably close. Very likely you may only get a 300 yard shot. Lots are shot under a 100 yds. Many are shot over 200 yds.

The 300 Mags are excellent. Being that you already have a 375 Weatherby, use that.

I have used a .338 Win. Mag with 225gr. bullet on 2 bison. Worked excellent.

It is law in the Yukon to use a .308 dia. bullet or larger and X amount of ft. lbs.
A .308 Win is not legal. (I think a 7mm RM with a 160-175gr. bullet would be ) but it is not legal. I don't make the laws.


This year I will be using my 30-338 Win. Mag. and 180 gr. Accubonds or Interbonds. One or the other. Friends of mine that drew tags will be using their 06's and 180gr. bullets. I will be back-up on those hunts with my 30-338.

I will use my snowmachine for the wolves.

Daryl

I'd have to decide between my old 500 BPE hammer double or the 404 Jeffery...hmmmm

I've killed bison with a crossbow, a 6.5 Gibbs and a 375 H&H. I've seen them killed with compound bows, 303 British, 30/06 and 9.3x64.

I say take the 375 Weatherby. The 300 would do fine except at bad angles, but you need something to justify that 375 don't you. That's why I took my H&H on my free-range hunt up the Halfway anyway. It worked fine, and I was glad to have it.

Cheers,
Canuck

I shot an 8 year old ranch bull bison this year. I used a 450 Dakota with 450 grain bullets and didn't feel the least bit overgunned. They are tough animals and can really soak up many shots before going down. The place I hunted had a thick, nasty swamp in the back of the property. For this reason, it was strongly suggested that only head/neck shots be taken. If a 2000 pound animal goes down in a swamp, you're kind of screwed. I used 450 grain solids to avoid damage to the cape. One shot to the neck put him right down, but it still required a finishing shot. I have heard of these animals soaking up 6 to 8 rifle shots to the chest before going down.