Buffalo question

[BenBow]

Can I ask if you'd consider wearing a heart monitor during the event. It could tell us if your are 2 or 4 cycle driven...lol

[Ryan Rothhaar]

Were I in your situation I'd take StumpKiller's advice.  Talk to some folks that butcher cattle and find out the right way.

You run an arrow through that buffalo and he goes through the fence and ends up in the neighbor's swimming pool and you'll have a big mess on your hands.

I have a steer that gets to take a ride in the trailer on January 9 - I'd NEVER CONSIDER shooting him with an arrow.  I'm butchering livestock to eat here...not hunting.

I'm sure the owners can work something out with the police on this one....and everyone can avoid a potentially nasty situation - think of the black eye you could cause for bowhunting if just one thing goes a little wrong.  You don't want to be the guy on the front page of the newspaper on this deal.

I guarantee there is a way to kill that animal humanely without shooting him 24 times or causing a messy scene with an arrow.

Just my 2 cents.

Ryan

[Doug Campbell]

First off, yes your setup will work fine. If you put the first arrow in the right place he will be down in seconds and not even know he's hit. The vitals lie forward on these things, the center of his football size heart is just above and right behind his elbow. That is where I would aim for.

Second Ryan has a very valid point, a bad hit and the adrinalin (sp?) get to flowing... As your friends found out a bison can be real hard to finish off. If you have good enough facilities to contain him no problem but if not I can assure they can go for miles.

In my oppinion if your butchering yourself there is nothing at all wrong with killing him with an arrow, done right it's neat and quite. Every situation is different, I guess this one depends on the facilities and your confidence to put that arrow in the right spot. I'd sure have a big gun in calm hands there for emergencies though. A big bullet behind the ear if not quiet is very quick and neat also.

[Jim Dahlberg]

Have to weigh in on this one.  I worked with bison for 34 years at a national park.  Having seen them killed with all manner of weapons; from large bore rifles, shotguns, pistols, vehicles, helicopters, bow and arrows; I believe a well placed arrow will kill more effectively than all the rest.  As said above, study the animal for arrow placement before shooting and put in arrows until the animal is on the ground.  Your setup is plenty good.
IF they decide to kill it with a gun, 12 guage slug right behind the ear is the fastest.

[Stumpkiller]

Your point about a buffalo's skull is well taken.  I really have no idea.

I do know a large steer collapses in a heap with a jacketed .22 WMR bullet.

I also had an "occurance" where a motorist hit a whitetail doe on our road.  Hips were crushed but she was struggling.  I called the sheriff and, much to my surprise as I was turning to talk to my wife at the time, he shot it in the head from 3 feet with a 9mm FMJ - through the nose.  He shot it a second time when that had no effect - hitting it in the neck.  He shot it a third time finally entering the skull.

By then I was yelling: "Jxxxx Cxxxx!  I could have done better with a rock!"

As ChuckC said - study up a bit and have a plan.  We have bison at our city Zoo and I have watched them enough to know there is a lot of non-vital mass there.  When we go to a zoo my wife gets a kick out of me peering at the elk and mt. goats.  "You're hunting them, aren't you".  

"Thwack!" says I.  

Like in real estate: location, location, location.  Put that broadhead where it will do the best work.

Or call the local renderer and borrow/rent their mobile pheumatic gun.

[ChuckC]

A well placed arrow may not even have much visible effect on the critter.  A gun shot will surely spook it, but the arrow may not.  A sharp broadhead thru both lungs will kill even a T Rex as quickly as anything short of a brain shot with a .50 Barrett.

Maybe play some loud music to get him in the mood,  Ghost Riders in the Sky Maybe ?

ChuckC

[YORNOC]

Wait for quartering away. You have the time to pick your absolute best shot. 1/4 the way up from the belly at the crease where the front leg meets the body. The heavy frontal fur line meeting the shorter body fur can be deceiving, dont use it as a marker. Especially if broadside.
You can see the nock sticking out on the mid-lower left side of the bison. Don't look for a passthrough, you want it angled INTO the chest, not passing through behind the shoulder. You don't need a bloodtrail, you want to kill it ASAP.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Originally posted by Terry Green:
Here ya go Mystic....

A Montana Longbow Adventure  

Thanx Terry

[bro-n-arrow]

Yes, It will be interesting to here what happens.

[todd smith]

Sounds like an excellent set-up to me...

todd

[BenBow]

Finally have an arrow setup that should work great. Its a 28 1/2" Vapor 2000 shaft with a 4.75" 200 gr internal footing, a 1" 2117 external footing, and a 250gr Tusker Concorde left single bevel broadhead. This gives it a 32.46% FOC and a total weight of 695gr. They have postponed everything till next weekend.

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by Carbon Jack:
I have to think if the Plains Indians killed buffalo with their primitive 40 pound bows and stone tips, you should be OK with your setup.

They didn't make 'one shot kills'....they road along beside them and pin cushioned them and followed them till they bled and exhausted themselves to death.

Ben.....that weight will most likely be fine....regardless of what the FOC is.

Best of luck to ya sir....and fine dining!!!

[wayoutwest]

Mate i reckon shooting anything in a pen is wrong whqt ever the intent.
What the greenies say if they seen this?

[chanumpa]

They did it before they had horses as well.I remember were two bulls were brought in to be harvested here once.They shot the first one and when the other saw that he got the heck out of there through alott of containment.He headed out into the mountains and was sighted all over the place heading south for over 6 weeks on the lamb.Finally a truck hit him one morning in the fog 60 miles roughly south ,with two pretty good mtn.ranges and a good sized river he crossed several times.The whole ordeal was comical in retrospect.Best of luck.Colt45 between the eyes is my method,but that bow will workgood.Maybe have a back up plan though.They can be incredible.