quote:

"We followed fresh sign for a couple hours and finally spotted four large bulls bedded in the heavy timber. These Bison spend much of the time bedded on the edge of the timber and emerge to feed throughout the day. We positioned ourselves down-wind and got within 50 yards. We had to wait nearly 30 minutes for the animals to turn broadside before I could take a shot. I aimed for the lower left shoulder and, when I felt the offside was clear of any other animals; I sent one of your 540 grainers through his shoulder. The terminal performance of the 540 Hammerhead is unbelievable. The animal was quartering towards from me at about 45 degrees. The bullet shattered his shoulder, took out both lungs and exited. Upon further review, seven large pieces of his shoulder bone took out the top of his heart, while the bullet took out the rear portion of his lungs and two ribs on the way out.
Seeing such a large animal get slammed to the ground is something to behold!"

Jim Audette

Pretty impressive,I thought.Garrett ammo does it again..Dang-I may have to turn cast..It just impresses me how the 45-70 can make such short work of such a large animal with the right bullet and shot placement.

Great job Jim....

Jayco

Where was this at? Very nice trophy, sounds like the 540 gr did the trick. Only thing that would have made it better for me would have been to get him with a Rolling Block, I just love those Rollers. Looks like it's tenderloin time. Way to go.

Steve E..........

If the performance was so great why did he have to wait for a perfect broadside shot ? Am I missing something ? 45-70s certainly work well !!

Jayco where and how much did your hunt cost Please ! I have 2 45/70's one 45/90 & a Sharps 40/90 would love to have a hunt like yours Great Picture !

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
If the performance was so great why did he have to wait for a perfect broadside shot ? Am I missing something ? 45-70s certainly work well !!

It was a 45 degree angle not a broadside shot.

quote:

The terminal performance of the 540 Hammerhead is unbelievable. The animal was quartering towards from me at about 45 degrees. The bullet shattered his shoulder, took out both lungs and exited. Upon further review, seven large pieces of his shoulder bone took out the top of his heart, while the bullet took out the rear portion of his lungs and two ribs on the way out.
Seeing such a large animal get slammed to the ground is something to behold!"

It was not me.A friend e-mailed it to me.I don't know the guy that shot it but I thought everyone would like to see what the 45-70 with the right bullet is capable of..That is one fine and very large Bison and I wish I was the one to be eatin on it.

Jayco

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
If the performance was so great why did he have to wait for a perfect broadside shot ? Am I missing something ? 45-70s certainly work well !!

Bison are very easy to kill. Why? Because they just stand there. Cape Buffalo have a habit of giving you a piece of their mind. Bitey/scratch/stompy critters are exciting.

A fellow harvested two buffalo (he's now up to 8), one with a .338 and the other with a 45-70. The 45-70 load was a Remington 405gr launched at 1950fps. The .338 was a 250gr SP. Shot placement was identical. Distance was 80yds. The 45-70 put the animal down much faster. Didn't recover either bullet.

My point? Randy Garret makes the finest ammo for the 45-70. But you can accomplish the same feat with much less. Do you really need a Ferrai to go the store and get some milk?

Poorly written ! First he says 'turn broadside" then "quartering toward me" .Got me confused .There are many fine factory loads available today.I wonder how many have been found appropriate for bison.Anyone have experience with Win 300 Partition or Corbon 300DPX [Barnes] or PMC 350 ??

Well I guess I won't get the $ Price for such a hunt ?

quote:

Originally posted by mete:
Poorly written ! First he says 'turn broadside" then "quartering toward me" .Got me confused .There are many fine factory loads available today.I wonder how many have been found appropriate for bison.Anyone have experience with Win 300 Partition or Corbon 300DPX [Barnes] or PMC 350 ??

Meet-I know of two Bison takin with the 300 Nosler PP out of a 45-70 posted on another forum with excellent results.Larry Weihshun(SP) uses it in his Guide Gun for Bear.Several swear by the Winchester 300 grain Nosler Partition Gold for there hunting purposes and especially the penetration it gives.

Jayco

Bison aren't all that hard to kill. Shoot them, and wait for them to realize they're dead.

I killed mine with a T/C Contender handgun in .30-30.

George

The problem is not killing them. Here in AK they don't just stand around waiting to be shot - they're pretty wary. A friend of mine spent most of a day and many miles getting within range to get a shot at one. One .416 Rigby through the boiler room took care of the job. Of course the big problem here in AK is getting a permit to hunt them! Everybody wants a bison permit here.

Your's is probably the 27 millionth Bison killed with a 45-70

Actually,male Bison are not so placid as one would be led to believe by those who have little experience with them but write various articles for sale anyway. Woods-Bison in particular are not "friendly", sleepy animals. Even ranched bison can be downright snorty, and they are more than powerful and quick enough to do a job on a horse and rider when so disposed. Just ask anyone who has tried to raise them commercially.

The other thing is, its not just whether one can kill a Bison, but where it dies. They aren't easy to pack either.

A handy Bison rig a hunting friend of mine had was a mid-60's Chevy Suburban 4x4 with the two swing-open type rear doors. Almost everything in the way of interior creature comforts was removed except the two front seats and of course the heater. In between the front seats, an electric winch with a large spool was mounted. It was used pretty much every year for hunting just outside the NE end of Woods Buffalo Nat'l Park on the border of Alberta and the NWT. The hoped for "drill" (which occurred fairly frequently if my memory serves correctly), was 1) shoot a Bison with something big enough to do the job immediately, then 2) work the rig around in the bush until the winch line could reach the Buff. 3) Field Dress Bison, then winch it right up and into the back of the Suburban. [Okay, so the Bison might require some cutting up before fitting into the rig, but the winch made loading the carcass a lot easier.]

Concho, come to http://www.huntingbc.ca and post your question there. There are a couple of prime possibilities that come to mind. derf

Call this a dumb question, but I have always wondered, what do you do with all that meat?

-Spencer

Alberta Canuk,

Many of the hunting rigs in Africa have pto or electric winches winches in the front "bumper". Some guys use a brush bar mounted sheive (sp?) to get the cable heading up and back and a "roll bar" mounted, removeable, sheive (sp?) to clear the cab and get the cable running above the center of the bed. Put a ramp, ussually a removeable tailgate thats reinforced, up into the bed, hook up the critter and winch him into the bed.

This really works well for cape buffalo and eland...We don't need it here in whitetail country, but....

JPK

Thanks Derf !

quote:

Originally posted by jaycocreek:
Pretty impressive,I thought.Garrett ammo does it again..Dang-I may have to turn cast..It just impresses me how the 45-70 can make such short work of such a large animal with the right bullet and shot placement.

Great job Jim....

Jayco

Hmmmm.... Why is it so impressive? I seem to recall a fellow by the name of Bell that killed Elephants with his little 7x57.

-Bob F.

Cart shop....what do you do with all that meat??? Eat it of course.

the chef

quote:

Hmmmm.... Why is it so impressive? I seem to recall a fellow by the name of Bell that killed Elephants with his little 7x57.

Well Bob-It impresses me just like a huge Bull Elk and many on this forum that get all fuzzy about African game.Theres lots of meat on them thar bones and I love Buffalo(Bison) meat.

Were not going calibers are we?I also have seen the 22-250 kill Elk but is it an Elk rifle?I could be wrong here, but didn't the 45-70 and the likes just about wipe out the Bison herds and that was years ago with primitive rifles compared to today's.

Please don't confuse me with a certain other 45-70 user that has brought the Wrath of Khan down on the rest of us by his stupidity and childish behavior.My Elk rifle is a .300 Win Mag but I have killed an Elk with the 45-70 and Barnes bullets and it was just as dead and just as quick if not quicker.You have never and will never here me say the 45-70 is the round for African Dangerous game.

Just posted a picture of a great take for this fella or anyoneone else and he did it with a 45-70 and a 540 grain Garrett Hammerhead that penetrates like there is no tomorrow.

quote:

The terminal performance of the 540 Hammerhead is unbelievable. The animal was quartering towards from me at about 45 degrees. The bullet shattered his shoulder, took out both lungs and exited. Upon further review, seven large pieces of his shoulder bone took out the top of his heart, while the bullet took out the rear portion of his lungs and two ribs on the way out.

To me-That is awesome penetration on such a large animal.Lets not take away a fine job and trophy for this hunter because he used a 45-70 and a certain Carmello has got a bunch of guys ready to pounce anyone whom uses a 45-70 on this forum.

Were not all brain dead.

Jayco

jaycocreek,

I was just kidding you and having a little fun with my post. I have nothing against the ol' .45-70 Govt. I've owned a couple in the past (a Browning 1885 and a Browning 1886) though none currently. I've never hunted Buffalo but there is a restaurant near my office that serves Buffalo burgers; excellent taste and very good eating. Actually I think the guy has a very nice trophy that he can be proud of, good memories of a hunt, and a LOT of good meat to put in the freezer. Nothing wrong with that at all!

And, quite frankly, if I ever did book a hunt for Buffalo, I would probably use a .45-70 for the hunt. Why? Simply for the history and nostalgia of it. A walk in the footsteps of those that have gone before, so to speak.

Cheers....
-Bob F.

Hey Bob-No problem here.I guess I am just jealous because I was not the shooter.Like yourself,In North Idaho they have a place called the Snake Pit with the best Buffalo Burgers I have ever had and more fries than my kid can eat.I wouldn't mind filling my freezer with one of those critters..

Jayco

ha
I ate at the snake pit about 15 years ago
i didn't even know if they were still around .
they made quite the impresstion on a 10 year old kid with those buf burgers and fries.

quote:

Were not going calibers are we?I also have seen the 22-250 kill Elk but is it an Elk rifle?I could be wrong here, but didn't the 45-70 and the likes just about wipe out the Bison herds and that was years ago with primitive rifles compared to today's.

Cannot be too primitive considering that Remington Brought back their Roller and several other companies make them plus the Italian repo's and Same thing with the Sharps made by several companies plus the Italian Repo's Plus the Winchester High and Low walls and The lever guns that are made for this cartridge.

Rollers Rule! 45/70 built on a origional 1902 Model 5 Frame with a Green Mountain barrel.