I'm getting ready to do another Bison meat hunt and I'm going to do it with my Marlin 1895CB in 45-70. The only ammo I have for it is the Hornady LeverEvolution 325 gr.....traveling around 2,000 fps. Is this enough for a large Bison cow? Shots will be kept under 100 yards.

Thanks.

I should think it would be plenty. I've only shot 2 bison, one a very old bull of 12 or 13 years, and the other a yearling bull for meat. I shot both with a .338 winchester, using 225 grain trophy bonded bearclaws. I had fairly poor bullet performance on the old bull, one of the bullets literally came apart on a low chest shot, though it did quite a bit of damage along the way. The young bull, I broke his neck and that bullet worked just fine. A good quality bullet is important, and I know one fellow that has shot 3 or4 bison with a .270 between he and his wife, and no problems since they shoot high quality bullets.

Be sure to study bison anatomy before you go. The heart is very low and forward in their chest. You are going to have some very delectable meat, bison are delicious!

I shot my first one with my Shiloh Sharps LRE in 45-70. The load was a 500gr Laser-Cast at 1470fps and about 117 yards. Shot him on the crease, text book shot. Down, lurched to his feet, and made it 10-15 feet to a stinking wallow and died. Four year old, about 1400lbs.
Second was a nine year old, over 2200lbs. About 100yds with my 1886 50-110 and a 450gr WW bullet. Nearly 1800fps MV. Right between the eyes, but a bit high. No reaction. He wandered around slowly for about a minute, sat on his haunches like a dog and then toppled over. Sausage and jerky special.
Get a four or five year old, the best eating IMHO!

Good hunting,

Rich

We've shot somewhere around a dozen or so with my 450 marlin shooting 350 gr flatpoints. None have needed a second shot.

I'd say your ammo will probably work as long as you don't try to shoot through the shoulder socket. Keep it low behind the shoulder and you can probably get the skinning knife ready.

I'd have to agree that the bullet should do just fine. Having dealt with buffalo a bit, I'll add this. If the herd remains relaxed, you should have no problem making a clean, one shot kill, as they aren't spectacularly hard to kill. If the herd gets stirred up, all bets are off. I've seen them run for a loooong ways, not at all phased by temporary barriers like fences (even pipe), rivers, or anything shy of a 15 foot tall, 2 ft thick concrete wall. Good luck.

generally on a meat hunt you'll shoot just behind the ear.

Why don't you just hit the thing over the back of the head with a shovel?

quote:

Originally posted by MrHawg:
Why don't you just hit the thing over the back of the head with a shovel?

I went on nosler shooters pro shop and bought a bag of nosler 45-70 300gr partition seconds for $14 several years ago.Now I have lots of nosler accubonds,ballistic tips,etips,partition seconds in .308 that I bought from www.bivwak.com