I lucked out this year and got a tag on the community quota at the beginning of the season rather than the end like last year. The season opened on the 1st of September but I had to wait until Labour Day weekend to get out and give it a go. I had been out in that area on the two previous weekends and had seen a lot of bison in the area. Then when Sunday the 4th came my buddy Eugene and I headed out to our little slice of paradise to find a bull we had nicknamed "Sleeping Beauty" when we saw him the week before. When we got out and unloaded the quads...Everyone and his dog was out there. There were people, quads, chainsaws and campers everywhere. Needless to say, we didn't see much that day. I did get a stalk on one herd, but with all the activity out there I couldn't get close enough to sort the herd or get a shot with my iron-sighted 9.3x62. Besides, I told myself, the season lasts until the end of March and I wanted to shoot a big solitary bull rather than a herd bull. Odds are that I won't get another tag so I wanted to make this one count.

So we returned home a bit depressed at the lack of animals and the long-weekend invasion of knob-campers and 40 MPH quad "hunters". We decided to head back out the next morning at 9AM rather than leaving at our Gentleman Hunter's hour of 1200.

Good decision.

I made a call to LPR (my go-to bushcrafter extraordinarire) and enlisted his help with the coming day's hunt. Luckily he's not only avid, but he's in transfer-mode so he was more than happy to get out and play in the forest.

So off we went. When we reached the spot and started unloading the quads and were met by a group of people in two trucks leaving the area. I figured that most people would be leaving that morning rather than later in the day and hoped that they wouldn't spook the animals as much.

We started off down the trail and in short order started seeing fresh tracks. We came upon one set that was on top of the fresh truck tracks. I knew that we were close. We puttered along, with me watching the tracks to see if they were sticking to the trail. All of a sudden LPR yelled at me. there, 70 yards away, was the source of the tracks. I jumped off my quad and ran to the side of the trail where I dropped into a kneeling position. I gave him a good look through the binos. Even without seeing the rigging I knew that I was looking at a big bull. He was feeding and walking slowly toward us so I got a good look at the horns. I made the decision that he was worth taking within the first week and traded the binos for the rifle. I held the sights on him and waited for him to give me more than a head-on shot. He kept feeding and walking and stopped to look at us. Then he put his head down and continued to feed and amble toward us. Finally the bull turned to his left, just enough to give me a quartering shot into his chest. I settled the sights onto his chest and squeezed off the shot. The rifle bucked against my shoulder and the bull reared up and his right leg went out straight. He dropped back to his feet and lunged ahead a couple of steps before veering to my left across the trail. I jumped up and hit him again as he hit the far side of the trail. That stopped him in his tracks and I hit him again to put him down for good. Still, the big bugger was tenacious. Despite three shots through the vitals he still needed a finishing shot to bring things to a close. I had to appreciate the toughness of the big guy as I put my hands on him and felt the worn down tips of his horns and thick tangle of fur on his head. Amazing creatures left over from a time long past. I consider it a real privilege to have the chance to hunt this animal, the largest terrestrial mammal in North America.

But there was a catch. You know how people say that the fun of moose hunting fades with the sound of the shot? Well let me tell you, the fun of bison hunting travels faster than the speed of sound and was gone long before the echoes cleared. It probably wouldn’t have been so bad had I chosen to go flat skin and skull, but I’ve never been accused of doing things the easy way. This guy was impressive enough to me that I decided that he deserved a place of honour on the wall, not on the floor to be walked on. I have never undertaken such a task in my life. Even with LPR and Eugene helping me (and really taking over when I worked myself into a dehydration migraine) it took us 10 hours to get him into pieces, caped out and loaded in the truck. And we backed the truck right up to him!

Now, I’ve been told to include such fun details as rifle and load information. Like any true gun nut, I love the details so here goes. I think that many people have seen my Husqvarna M98 in 9.3x62. I bought the rifle from TradeEx and then restocked it to fit my Neanderthal build. I added a NECG masterpiece banded front sight and had a custom rear sight made by my father, pinto_plainsman who also helped me with all the work. I replaced the trigger with a Bold trigger from Brownell’s and added a red Pachmayr recoil pad. The load consists of 61.5gr of RL15 in Lapua cases (another TradeEx purchase). Because I hunt in cold climes I like to use magnum primers even in standard cases like the 30-06 and 9.3x62 so this load was primed with CCI 250s. The bullets were old Norma 286gr round noses that Why Not? had hiding in his box of tricks and kindly donated to the cause. I’ve probably had these bullets for 3 years but haven’t gotten a chance to use them until now. I recovered one bullet from the bison though none exited. This bullet was from the second shot. It broke the shoulder blade, ribs and penetrated through one lung before coming to rest. Final weight was 201 grains and it looks like a great mushroom. I lased the range of the shot and the first shot was at 37 meters. Subsequent shots were closer but probably no closer than 30 meters at the closest. The bullets started out at around 2350 FPS and impacted at pretty much that speed. Perhaps if they were slowed down a bit more they would have penetrated more, but the end result was satisfactory so I guess there’s no reason to complain too loudly! Interestingly enough, none of the shots penetrated the heart, though I believe that there was some damage to the aorta judging by the amount of blood in the chest cavity. All in all, I’m satisfied with the bullet performance.

I imagine that someone will clamour for pics so without further ado, here they are.



Yours truly with the big beast.


Myself and LPR

And again with Eugene, the manimal. We should have packed a tripod to get everyone in!

Again with LPR, just thinking about how much we’ve just bitten off!


Thanks for looking!

We've got some bison in Alberta on a tag now and I'm just about in tears every year when I don't get that draw!! What a thrill to hunt a free range buffalo, you're lucky and I think you know it.

Congratulations!

That's a slice o' the past......huge congrats! And it sounds like you paid for it after the fact....which made it all the more satisfying I'm sure.

nice buffalo. I have been there and agree about the amount of work involved with processing. Even if it is lying in the road!

Ski+3

Awesome mass....and he carries it all the way out too! I am not an inch hunter, but I would love to know what that bull scores.

This is definately on my "to do" list. Great bull. I will probably have to shoot a Florida transplant bull.

very nice buffalo there. i feel for you about the work. i skinned and quartered a cow bison all by myself once. i even broke someone's donated bone saw while doing it. i am not sure i have ever been so tired and worn out. congratulations. i love the color of the skin.

Congratulations. Nice bull and he has some real mass. Wonderful trophy to take, wild free ranging bison on your own. Well done!

I got the mount back from the taxidermist. It looks awesome. I also scored it as best I could. 122 6/8" B&C and 62 3/8" SCI. I'll post pics in a bit.

Great bison and a great adventure! Are your friends still your friends after you roped them into something like that?

quote:

Originally posted by calgarychef1:
We've got some bison in Alberta on a tag now and I'm just about in tears every year when I don't get that draw!!

Yeah I cry a bit too when I'm not drawn. Then I give a great big relieved sigh! The logistics of geting a bison out of the bush are daunting!

Dean

quote:

MAKI- "The logistics of geting a bison out of the bush are daunting!"

Wouldn't be any problem at all if you buffalo busters just followed the customs of the western American Indians. The men hunted and killed the buffalo, then relaxed and smoked while the women took care of the downed animals.

The women and girls skinned them, gutted them, cut them up, put the meat on their horses, dogs, and their own backs, and packed it to the village. There they cleaned the guts for bodine and many other uses, striped out the sinews for bow strings, etc., cleaned the bones of marrow, then made the bones into various tools, pegged and fleshed the buffalo hides, brain tannned them, made leather to cover their teepees and lodges, made clothing, moccasins, sleeping robes, etc., and then jerked the meat for the warriors to carry when they went on horse raids, and hunted.

You guys just need to get your wives and daughters with the program! Then buffalo hunting and killing will truly be a dream hunt!!

L.W.

quote:

Originally posted by Leanwolff:

The men hunted and killed the buffalo, then relaxed and smoked while the women took care of the downed animals.

L.W.

My wife owns way too many weapons for me to try that.

Dean

Does that mean all the women associated with you do this? If so, where do you find them? ....sisters? daughters?

quote:

Originally posted by ~Arctic~:
Does that mean all the women associated with you do this? If so, where do you find them? ....sisters? daughters?

Naahhh. I tried to convince my wife how much fun it would be but she said she had no American Indian blood in her ancestry so she'd pass the opportunity and let me have all the fun.

L.W.

Excellent story, Excellent Bull. Congratulations.

quote:

Originally posted by BigUglyMan:
I got the mount back from the taxidermist. It looks awesome. I also scored it as best I could. 122 6/8" B&C and 62 3/8" SCI. I'll post pics in a bit.

Sweet! I have taken two of these bulls of trophy quality. One had killer mass and no length (broomed) while the other had awesome length but didn't carry its mass out far enough. Your one bull has it all. Weidmannsheil !

quote:

Originally posted by tendrams:Sweet! I have taken two of these bulls of trophy quality. One had killer mass and no length (broomed) while the other had awesome length but didn't carry its mass out far enough. Your one bull has it all. Weidmannsheil !

Weidmannsdank!

I'm truly priviledged to live where I do. These guys are crawling all over the place and I see them often when I'm out and about. Three times this week I saw two solitary bulls not far from the house and they are easily as big as mine. My three year old asks all the time to go for a drive to "go see buffawo". She also asks to go hunting but I think we'll start her off on something easier to get in the truck!

quote:

Originally posted by ~Arctic~:
Does that mean all the women associated with you do this? If so, where do you find them? ....sisters? daughters?

Barry

We're obviously missing out on some secrets our Southern Cousins have been keeping from us!

Well, I've spent a fair bit of time Idaho, but guess I was looking in the wrong places. Of course, I never shot a buff in Idaho, so maybe they were in hiding, waiting for the opportunity to run out and gut it.

And here he is on the wall in my Uncle's foyer. I can't wait to see it hanging in person!

Hey BUM

do you live in Nunavut now?

We officially arrive there next Sunday.

Let me be the first to welcome you to Nunavut.

Koana Joe!

Iron sights no less! To have the confidence in your ability using iron sights on such a special hunt says volumes about you as a hunter.

Congratulations!