Post by phil46 on Jan 2, 2022 17:30:56 GMT -6
Longbow Bison
This adventure started as many do, sitting around with good friends, sipping a bit of Jack Daniels. As I remember, it was a hot July evening. We were reminiscing about past hunts and someone mentioned that we should do something a little different. After tossing a few ideas around I suggested a Bison hunt. My hunting buddy David said he would be up for it. After a bit of discussion and research we decided we would do a cow hunt for the meat. I then started researching a location. Finally I hit on a location in North Dakota that seemed to offer what we wanted.
I talked to the outfitter and he recommended we come between December and early March as the hides would be prime. We decided to make the trip in December. It would be a three day hunt. Neither of us wanted mounts, but both of us wanted a nice buffalo robe. I decided that I would use my go-to bow, a 66” Jeff Massie 2 piece takedown Longhorn, 57 lbs at 28”. For arrows I would use Arrow Dynamics Trads tipped with 2 blade, 160 grain Magnus broadheads for a total arrow weight of 620 grains. My buddy opted to use his Black Widow recurve, 54 lbs at 28”. For arrows he used Grizzlystics tipped with a 2 blade,125gr Magnus Stinger for a total arrow weight of 600 grains.
We arrived at the ranch on December 6, 2004, met up with the outfitter, Orem, and got settled into the comfortable old ranch house. Orem took us for a quick tour to see the bison and where we would be hunting. It was wide open prairie with about 6,000 acres behind barbed wire. Orem said that the wire would not stop the bison if they decided to go somewhere. We went back to the house and settled down to rest up from the 2 day drive. Later, Orem picked us up and took us out to a local bar/café for dinner. We had a couple of drinks and ate some excellent T-bones while we planned strategy for the next day.
Next morning when we got up it was 19 degrees and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. We climbed into Orem’s pick-up and drove out to the pasture. We had decided we would start out by trying to stalk. This proved to be difficult as it was wide open prairie. There were some gullies and some trees along the watercourse, but the bison pretty much stayed away from them. By crawling and taking advantage of the low cover we were able to close the distance to about 50 yards, much too far to shoot with our trad equipment. We spent the morning trying stalks but were never able to close the distance.
After warming up with a hot lunch of chili, we discussed the afternoon hunt. Orem decided to put out some bales of hay and we would hide behind them to ambush the bison. We crouched behind the bales and waited for the bison to approach. The herd of approximately 200 finally came in and we were virtually surrounded. I examined the herd searching for a cow with a really good coat. Finally I spotted one that suited me, and waited for her to separate out from the herd enough that I could get a decent shot. Finally, she separated from her companions and turned almost broadside at about 20 yards, just slightly quartering away from me. I figured that if I held for the off shoulder I could slip an arrow through both lungs.
I picked my spot, came to full draw, hit my anchor, and dropped the string. I watched my arrow arc through the air and make contact just behind the rear rib, headed for the far shoulder. As she ran off I could see the arrow fetching protruding from her side. David was watching through binoculars and said it looked good, but penetration might be a little lacking. Then he said “She’s down”. She had made it about 100 yards before going down. When we walked up on her she was still breathing but couldn’t get up. I slipped another arrow into her and it was all over. We waited while Orem went to get the tractor and front end loader to load her onto the truck for the trip to the processor. She weighed about 900 lbs and I wound up with over 300 lbs of packaged, prime eating.
My penetration was a little less than I would have liked. I think this because she was somewhat quartering and the fact that I was using a 1 1/2” wide broadhead. I took out he near lung and was into the far lung. I think with a slightly narrower head I would have fully penetrated both lungs.
This adventure started as many do, sitting around with good friends, sipping a bit of Jack Daniels. As I remember, it was a hot July evening. We were reminiscing about past hunts and someone mentioned that we should do something a little different. After tossing a few ideas around I suggested a Bison hunt. My hunting buddy David said he would be up for it. After a bit of discussion and research we decided we would do a cow hunt for the meat. I then started researching a location. Finally I hit on a location in North Dakota that seemed to offer what we wanted.
I talked to the outfitter and he recommended we come between December and early March as the hides would be prime. We decided to make the trip in December. It would be a three day hunt. Neither of us wanted mounts, but both of us wanted a nice buffalo robe. I decided that I would use my go-to bow, a 66” Jeff Massie 2 piece takedown Longhorn, 57 lbs at 28”. For arrows I would use Arrow Dynamics Trads tipped with 2 blade, 160 grain Magnus broadheads for a total arrow weight of 620 grains. My buddy opted to use his Black Widow recurve, 54 lbs at 28”. For arrows he used Grizzlystics tipped with a 2 blade,125gr Magnus Stinger for a total arrow weight of 600 grains.
We arrived at the ranch on December 6, 2004, met up with the outfitter, Orem, and got settled into the comfortable old ranch house. Orem took us for a quick tour to see the bison and where we would be hunting. It was wide open prairie with about 6,000 acres behind barbed wire. Orem said that the wire would not stop the bison if they decided to go somewhere. We went back to the house and settled down to rest up from the 2 day drive. Later, Orem picked us up and took us out to a local bar/café for dinner. We had a couple of drinks and ate some excellent T-bones while we planned strategy for the next day.
Next morning when we got up it was 19 degrees and there was about 6 inches of snow on the ground. We climbed into Orem’s pick-up and drove out to the pasture. We had decided we would start out by trying to stalk. This proved to be difficult as it was wide open prairie. There were some gullies and some trees along the watercourse, but the bison pretty much stayed away from them. By crawling and taking advantage of the low cover we were able to close the distance to about 50 yards, much too far to shoot with our trad equipment. We spent the morning trying stalks but were never able to close the distance.
After warming up with a hot lunch of chili, we discussed the afternoon hunt. Orem decided to put out some bales of hay and we would hide behind them to ambush the bison. We crouched behind the bales and waited for the bison to approach. The herd of approximately 200 finally came in and we were virtually surrounded. I examined the herd searching for a cow with a really good coat. Finally I spotted one that suited me, and waited for her to separate out from the herd enough that I could get a decent shot. Finally, she separated from her companions and turned almost broadside at about 20 yards, just slightly quartering away from me. I figured that if I held for the off shoulder I could slip an arrow through both lungs.
I picked my spot, came to full draw, hit my anchor, and dropped the string. I watched my arrow arc through the air and make contact just behind the rear rib, headed for the far shoulder. As she ran off I could see the arrow fetching protruding from her side. David was watching through binoculars and said it looked good, but penetration might be a little lacking. Then he said “She’s down”. She had made it about 100 yards before going down. When we walked up on her she was still breathing but couldn’t get up. I slipped another arrow into her and it was all over. We waited while Orem went to get the tractor and front end loader to load her onto the truck for the trip to the processor. She weighed about 900 lbs and I wound up with over 300 lbs of packaged, prime eating.
My penetration was a little less than I would have liked. I think this because she was somewhat quartering and the fact that I was using a 1 1/2” wide broadhead. I took out he near lung and was into the far lung. I think with a slightly narrower head I would have fully penetrated both lungs.
