Texas Bison Hunt Report

11 February 2007, 07:27

Eland Slayer

Hunt Date: Feb. 10, 2007

Hunt Location: WRS Ranch in Kerrville, TX

Rifle: Browning A-Bolt Composite Stalker chambered in .300 WSM using 180 gr. Barnes MRX ammo

Optics: Zeiss Conquest 3-12x56mm scope and Steiner Marine 7x50 binos

Well, I went on my buffalo hunt this weekend. I saw the ad in the Houston Chronicle a few weeks ago and we decided we could use the meat. I hunted a middle-aged bull for $1,000 and he ended up weighing around 1,200 lbs. (plenty of meat

). He was a 5 year old bull, but he had EXTEMELY large horns for being so young (17 1/4 inches)! Surprisingly, the buffalo were pretty skittish. I figured it might be a 30 minute "hunt", but it ended up taking about 2 hours. They just weren't cooperating. Also, the reason the hunt was priced so cheap is because they are desperately trying to reduce the herd due to the recent drought and bad freezes which have killed all the grass (as you can see in the pictures, the range conditions were less that ideal for buffalo

). Anyhow, I ended up connecting on my first buffalo ever at about 100 yards and we got it all on video! My first shot was a little high (still double lung). My second shot shattered his elbow and also went through both lungs. The other bull in the herd started beating him up and we had to chase him off. My bull was nearly dead, but I put in one last shot at an angle (he was lying kind of on his side) through his lungs and scapula for insurance. The 180 gr. Barnes MRX performed FLAWLESSLY! All three shots exited and no bullets were recovered. The only thing we recovered was a petal from the exit wound of my first shot. When you watch the video, you can clearly see the power of the bullet. He was down in less than 30 seconds. Here are a few pics:

Here is me with my dad

Here is me with my guide James (sophomore at Schreiner University)

Here is just me with the bull

And here is a picture of the biggest damn Watusi I have EVER seen!!! HOLY CRAP!!! (it was still pretty early and the lighting wasn't very good)

Hope y'all enjoy the pictures. Let me know what you think.

11 February 2007, 07:38

30378

Great story and an excellent hunt. Thanks for sharing.

11 February 2007, 07:42

WyoHunter

Nice Bull! Enjoy the meat and congrats on your hunt!

11 February 2007, 19:21

Buglemintoday

Congrats!

How much for that Watusi ?

11 February 2007, 19:57

Eland Slayer

Actually, that Watusi was a pet. He's not for sale. That's probably the first Watusi I've ever seen that I thought would look good in a trophy room.

11 February 2007, 22:46

Aspen Hill Adventures

Nice bison!

12 February 2007, 07:01

Doubless

Great pics, and a nice hunt... And if you have never eaten bison, you are in for a treat! A friend gave me several packages, and it is absolutely wonderful. Lean, and full of flavor. Enjoy!

13 February 2007, 01:37

MAU MAU

Did the Guide indicate why the other Bull was beating on your Bull after the shot?

13 February 2007, 02:11

Eland Slayer

Everyone I have talked to that has taken a buffalo out of a herd, where there was another sizeable bull, said that the same thing happened. I think it's just nature's way. I guess when one gets sick or injured in the wild, they may try to speed up his death for some reason. I worked on a ranch in the summer of 2005 that had quite a few buffalo. A hunter came out to shoot a young bull and when he did, the herd bull locked horns with the young bull and flipped him over his back and then began to beat him up. I didn't see this first hand, but I heard it from someone who did. When I shot my bull, the other bull in the herd actually mounted him, I guess in an attempt to push him down to the ground. I have all this on video. I need to figure out how to put a video clip on my computer so I can post it here.

13 February 2007, 08:23

218 Bee

ES,

At the risk of sounding as jaded as I feel, this type of behavior isn't particularly unique amongst mammals.

You'll witness this exact response every day throughout corporate America...my thirty years in the oilfield has given me ample opportunity to see this behavior repeated ad infinitum.

Your bison's antagonist is just a bit more overt, that's all!

Good luck from one old Hill Country hand to another...my bride (the She-Wolf) is a Kerrville gal by birth!

Mark

14 February 2007, 14:09

markhor

eland slayer what is the ranch web site add kindly tell if they accept overseas hunters ,regards

14 February 2007, 19:06

Eland Slayer

Markhor,

The WRS Ranch doesn't have a website. I found the hunt through an ad in our local newspaper. I'm sure he would gladly accept overseas hunters. However, I would NOT recommend hunting on this ranch. The reason we went was for the Buffalo meat. After being on the property, I will probably never hunt there again. The habitat is very boring, with every bit of the underbrush cleared out from under the oak motts. Therefore, animals really have no where to hide and many of the animals were quite tame (except for the Buffalo, Axis, and Red Sheep). I have been to quite a few exotic ranches in Texas and this was one of the more poorly managed ones. As you can see from my pictures, there really wasn't anything for the animals to eat and most were in bad condition. Also, while hunting, we found a dead Scimitar Horned Oryx and a Pure Blooded Mouflon Ram with 30"+ horns. If you are interested in coming to the states for some exotic hunting, I know lots of other places that will provide you with an honest hunt and not just a "shoot". Where do you live? If you tell me what you are interested in and what your price range is, I'll gladly try and help you find the right place.

14 February 2007, 22:03

markhor

eland im at pakistan i have hunted pratically all the species in pakistan except 3 different markhors,i hunted in africa too,the only place i never hunted in usa i love to come and hunt some great animals like buffalow elk and moose,pron horn whitetail,and bears,but currently im intersted in buffalow,i shall b coming to states in july,thank u for being kind,my budget is around $2000 for buffalow,u think i can manage in it,kind regards.

14 February 2007, 22:37

Eland Slayer

Markhor,

It will be difficult to find a place that offers Trophy Bull Buffalo for $2,000. Most places that have large bulls charge a daily fee between $100-$200 per day plus a trophy fee of $2,500-$3,500 for a large bull. There is one place I know of called the Mayfield Ranch that has good priced Buffalo. Here is their website: Mayfield Ranch. I have never been to this ranch so I can't say whether their operation is good or not, but it appears to be good. I hope this helps.

15 February 2007, 03:46

ScottS

eland slayer,

The bison are trying to get him up. This happens in all the "buffalo" including cape. Older bulls, which your's was not, are also beaten upon once it is discovered they are dead as pay back, this isn't typically restricted to another bull attacking the fallen but many individuals of the herd.

Typically the entire herd will surround the fallen while a few will nudge, jump on, and even gore the fallen in order to get them on their feet.

Your bull has nice horns for a 3 to 4 year old, which is what he very much appears to be. The human equivalent would be a 12 to 13 year old boy, far from man standing.

Like I said nice horns, but small skull. Congrats and I hope you enjoyed yourself!!

15 February 2007, 09:32

Crazyhorseconsulting

Congratulations Eland Slayer. Really good pictures and story, also that was a good report on your impressions of this ranch.

15 February 2007, 09:48

DB Bill

I've seen similar activity when hunting turkey. I remember one time there were several strutting and after I shot the biggest one the other two actually jumped on him, tried to peck him and one even tried to "mount" him.....they didn't even run off when I stood up and I acutally had to chase them away.....but then again turkey's can be screwy.

15 February 2007, 20:23

Ryan Campbell

I concur with DB Bill. I have seen that too. However, I think it is a domninance thing with turkeys. I've seen the Alpha Male in a turkey flock get shot and the younger jakes jump on him and start spuring him. As you said though, turkeys are screwy. As long as they don't actually see you, you can see them do some funny stuff.
I am told, though I have never seen it in real life, that wolves will do something similar when the alpaha is hurt or injured.
Eland Slayer,
Good Bull. It sounds like you made a good choice on your rifle and ammo. Congrats.

04 March 2007, 21:11

Anders

Congratulations! Good report.. Lookin` forward to video!

26 April 2007, 11:05

Blair338/378

quote:
Originally posted by Eland Slayer:
Hunt Date: Feb. 10, 2007

Hunt Location: WRS Ranch in Kerrville, TX

Rifle: Browning A-Bolt Composite Stalker chambered in .300 WSM using 180 gr. Barnes MRX ammo

Optics: Zeiss Conquest 3-12x56mm scope and Steiner Marine 7x50 binos

Well, I went on my buffalo hunt this weekend. I saw the ad in the Houston Chronicle a few weeks ago and we decided we could use the meat. I hunted a middle-aged bull for $1,000 and he ended up weighing around 1,200 lbs. (plenty of meat ). He was a 5 year old bull, but he had EXTEMELY large horns for being so young (17 1/4 inches)! Surprisingly, the buffalo were pretty skittish. I figured it might be a 30 minute "hunt", but it ended up taking about 2 hours. They just weren't cooperating. Also, the reason the hunt was priced so cheap is because they are desperately trying to reduce the herd due to the recent drought and bad freezes which have killed all the grass (as you can see in the pictures, the range conditions were less that ideal for buffalo ). Anyhow, I ended up connecting on my first buffalo ever at about 100 yards and we got it all on video! My first shot was a little high (still double lung). My second shot shattered his elbow and also went through both lungs. The other bull in the herd started beating him up and we had to chase him off. My bull was nearly dead, but I put in one last shot at an angle (he was lying kind of on his side) through his lungs and scapula for insurance. The 180 gr. Barnes MRX performed FLAWLESSLY! All three shots exited and no bullets were recovered. The only thing we recovered was a petal from the exit wound of my first shot. When you watch the video, you can clearly see the power of the bullet. He was down in less than 30 seconds. Here are a few pics:

Here is me with my dad

Here is me with my guide James (sophomore at Schreiner University)

Here is just me with the bull

And here is a picture of the biggest damn Watusi I have EVER seen!!! HOLY CRAP!!! (it was still pretty early and the lighting wasn't very good)

Hope y'all enjoy the pictures. Let me know what you think.

elandslayer,

What the bloody hell is a Watusi????

Damn, I'd like to shoot it

26 April 2007, 16:56

Eland Slayer

Blair,

Watusi are a species of African cattle.

26 April 2007, 20:28

475Guy

Watusi was a dance, came out about the same time as the twist with Chubby Checker.

02 June 2008, 17:52

RobinOLocksley

quote:
Originally posted by 218 Bee:
ES,

At the risk of sounding as jaded as I feel, this type of behavior isn't particularly unique amongst mammals.

You'll witness this exact response every day throughout corporate America...my thirty years in the oilfield has given me ample opportunity to see this behavior repeated ad infinitum.

Your bison's antagonist is just a bit more overt, that's all!

Mark

And I find that not at all cynical !

In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", McMurphy speaks about chicken tearing a wounded chicken apart.

Best-
Locksley,R

02 September 2008, 02:10

D99

Either your 7 feet tall or that's not a 5 year old bull bison!

He is 2 or 3 tops or a cow?

Bison are within 200-300 pounds of their adult weight at 5.

This bull is closer to what a 5 year old bull looks like than what yours does. Are you shure it wasn't a cow?

02 September 2008, 04:36

Crazyhorseconsulting

How come a subject that was last posted on in April then revived in June has been revived for discussion.

Is someone bored??????????????

02 September 2008, 10:12

Eland Slayer

quote:
Originally posted by D99:
Either your 7 feet tall or that's not a 5 year old bull bison!

He is 2 or 3 tops or a cow?

Bison are within 200-300 pounds of their adult weight at 5.

This bull is closer to what a 5 year old bull looks like than what yours does. Are you shure it wasn't a cow?

Yes.......I'm positive it was NOT a cow. It had a pecker and 2 nuts. I'm not certain it was 5 years old, but I do know it was about 1,200 lbs. We weighed it at the processor.

I seriously doubt the bull in the picture you posted is 5 years old. He looks more like 12-15 to me. I worked on a ranch that has a 2 bulls that are 20+ and they look similar to the one you posted.

I also think the bison in Texas don't get as big as fast because of the extreme heat we usually get.....but I'm not a bison expert.

02 September 2008, 10:42

D99

So by that reasoning all the fat people I saw in Waco and Dallas were just visiting from Manitoba?

And Alaskans would be the fattest folks in the nation.

I have never seen a 5 year old bison bull that weighed under 1600 pounds. Yours looks a few years younger.

11 February 2009, 04:22

jwp475

quote:
Originally posted by D99:
So by that reasoning all the fat people I saw in Waco and Dallas were just visiting from Manitoba?

And Alaskans would be the fattest folks in the nation.

I have never seen a 5 year old bison bull that weighed under 1600 pounds. Yours looks a few years younger.

You do know that their are sub-species of Bison that don't get much over 1200 pounds

13 February 2009, 08:26

You had to shoot it three times with a 300 super magnum hell blaster?? Are you sure you didnt have a 30-30?

14 February 2009, 08:26

jeffeosso

Glad you got him, and i understand the meat hunt part.

Mike's cow herd, once she was down, did the same thing, tried to get her up

I'm no judge of bison, but i like yours. I don't believe it to be 2, no more than 3, but it will eat good!

14 February 2009, 10:41

Eland Slayer

Oh yes.....it's definitely eatin' good!! We're almost out though. Just so yall know.....if you look at the date on this thread I shot the buffalo 2 years ago. We still probably have 40-50 lbs. left.

14 February 2009, 19:08

scr83jp

I shot a 7 year old bull bison and it was over 2000 pounds,when quartered a bobcat fork lift was used to pick up them up and put them in the refer truck.Friends who go bison hunting only shoot young bulls and cows ,they taste better old bulls have rank tasting flesh.

14 February 2009, 21:27

ScottS

scr83jp,

quote:
old bulls have rank tasting flesh

I have never noticed that before. How long did it take for you to get that old bull down and dead? My experience is that they (old bulls that is) are tough and suitable only for burger and the crock pot, although the tenderloins are typically still "tender".

ES,
Nice bull, I would say based upon his body size, head size, and size of bosses, that he was a 3 year old. Still an excellent young bull and much much better eatin' than some old trophy bugger.