The Bison Nearly Took Him Out!

This is a great story of a bison hunt from the Yukon. The hunter became the hunted. And there are people who imagine that these great, shaggy beasts are not capable of soaking up a LOT of damage. He was using a 338 RUM. Three rounds resulted in an extended tracking job and a charge, until two final shots dispatched the big bull.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/i-deserved-it-yukon-hunter-becomes-the-hunted-1.3671809

It's a statistic every year from Yellowstone National Park, that more people are hurt by the wild Bison than any other animal in the park.
Also, in Custer State Park, outside Custer S. Dakota, more people are hurt by Bison than any other animal in the park as well.

American Bison are no joke!
They're dangerous people!

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And yet, they killed them by the trainload with .45-70's, muskets, and even bows. Somehow, I think the guy's accuracy skills are lacking.

bdbrown66":2qq2wg99 said:

And yet, they killed them by the trainload with .45-70's, muskets, and even bows. Somehow, I think the guy's accuracy skills are lacking.

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[emoji115] I would have to agree that

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Dr Mike

This is only from memory, but I thought I remember Cheyenne saying that the "wood" bisons are larger and more aggressive than the "plains" bison. Am I remembering correctly ?

Do you have both "wood" and "plains" bison Dr Mike and do you hunt them or have in the past ?

BTW Dr Mike, thank you for your posts and links. You put up a lot of good stuff for us, thank you

A bison hit properly with a 338RUM isn't going miles and miles. I'd be curious to know what bullet he used and what the 3 points of impact were.
I've shot bison and moose that did not react to the shot but none lived more that a minute or two at the most, one died instantly.
I'm sure bison can soak up tons of energy in non-vital areas and live to see another day.

Woods Bison, June 2017 in the Yukon. Big fella:


Bison in Yellowstone, October 2016. Big fella:


Actual fair-chase hunts for bison are rare. But, I have to admit that I'd love to hunt one.

Guy

Charlie-NY":uvci16kv said:

A bison hit properly with a 338RUM isn't going miles and miles. I'd be curious to know what bullet he used and what the 3 points of impact were.
I've shot bison and moose that did not react to the shot but none lived more that a minute or two at the most, one died instantly.
I'm sure bison can soak up tons of energy in non-vital areas and live to see another day.

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I hate to imagine that this guy probably hit the bison in the intestines, but that was probably the case.
A game animal hit in the vital area is going to expire fairly quick, no matter what kind of animal it is.
Unless this person did a Texas heart shot, this bison should've expired very quickly.

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HAWKEYESATX":6lv5plhf said:

Charlie-NY":6lv5plhf said:

A bison hit properly with a 338RUM isn't going miles and miles. I'd be curious to know what bullet he used and what the 3 points of impact were.
I've shot bison and moose that did not react to the shot but none lived more that a minute or two at the most, one died instantly.
I'm sure bison can soak up tons of energy in non-vital areas and live to see another day.

Click to expand...

I hate to imagine that this guy probably hit the bison in the intestines, but that was probably the case.
A game animal hit in the vital area is going to expire fairly quick, no matter what kind of animal it is.
Unless this person did a Texas heart shot, this bison should've expired very quickly.

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Click to expand...

Yep. My thoughts exactly.

A buddy of mine use to hunt (a loose term here) a cow bison every year on a ranch in MT. He shot them with some huge calibers and they all stay on their feet for quite a long time. He shot them with a 458 Lott, 416 Rem., 338 Lapua, etc. These are cows that are considerably smaller then bulls. A bull bison isn't that much smaller than a cape buffalo and look at what they can take for punishment. If you don't hit bone it's hard to drop something that large without time or several rounds. The mass of the animal is so large it takes considerably longer to fill their lungs with blood or bleed out in general and they can ruin your day in that amount of time.

I understand that a big bull of either species, cape buff or American bison, can reach 2,000 pounds or more.

That's a LOT of animal.

Guy

.338 WM 225 gr IB one shot dropped in it's tracks. Also watched a guy drop one with one shot with a 7mm RM.

That said, I also sat on a high ridge and watched a guy follow one for a couple of miles shooting it 4 or five times. Don't Know what rifle he was using or if he was hitting it.

My buddy dropped this little fella last year in the Dakotas after waiting years for a draw tag. It was ONE and DONE with good shot placement. He never mentioned the bull traveling very far after the shot. The beast has to be every bit of a ton or more.

This was a woods bison that the fellow shot. There are plains bison somewhat south of us, but the beasts around here and north are woods bison. Yes, they can be rather large. They can get your attention. I would agree that he likely didn't place his shots where they needed to be. I know that a .358 Win will bring down a bison, but a 376 Steyr will drop them even more smartly.

Canada does have both "plains" and "woods" bison. There its a nice herd of "plains" at Elk Island, Alberta and a small herd in Banff, also in Alberta.

Yes, the "woods" is about 10 to 15 percent larger than the "plains", both in height and weight.

Our largest "woods" herd is in Alberta along the N.W. territory border, but there is also herd"s in The Yukon, B.C., Manitoba, and as of a couple of years ago, they are once again in Alaska. Perhaps Hodgeman or Bear78 can update us on how they are doing.

Buffalo and Elk are two animals the First Nation people hunt very little, as we want their numbers to increase, but they are hunted, both by First Nation individuals, non first Nation individuals, and Outfitters who sell hunts and the hunts are fair chase not a fenced ranch for the "woods", but I believe all the "plains" bison hunts in Canada are on ranches.

I hunted them with a 348 ( wood leigh bullet ) without a problem.

A forum member who knew I had hunted them ask me to share this information on the open forum, but in all honesty, Dr Mike and Gil probably know even more about them than I do, as well as other Canadian members

Thankful Otter thanks for your input. They are an amazing animal. I keep hoping here to one day draw a tag in Montana. Maybe next year will be it!

If I draw I'll probably use my 30-06 or if possible talk my buddy into letting me use his 45-70 that he had custom built on an old rolling block action. That would really be cool. No I won't be wearing a loin cloth out pursuing the mighty beast either!

Dr Mike, Cheyenne, thank you

They are certainly huge animals and I would probably opt for the 45/70

thanks again for the thread Dr Mike, we dont get a lot of Buffalo threads

This guy may be a "senior natural resource officer," but he doesn't give me the impression that he is very woods wise from what is reported. There is a follow-up report this morning.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/i-deserved-it-yukon-hunter-becomes-the-hunted-1.3671809

Actually, bison are hard to get because the hunt (at least here in BC) is in winter. It often requires a sled to reach the area where the bison are found. You sure don't drive up to them with your pickup. Most people don't want to walk in, so they get the draw and nothing happens.

I agree Dr Mike. After he found the blood he should have circled. However since I know this post will be printed out and mailed, I think I will pass on any further critique.

Dr Mike, you are as always correct sir. They can be a very tough hunt, as they are hunted in winter. Sleds to scout and then we use a combination of skis and snowshoes. Then the hard part really begins because of their size and our preference to use as much of the animal as possible, we try to go back and get the sled and bring it as close as possible.

Gil, did you notice the post by Charlie NY. Looks like he got his with a bow

Cheyenne,

He was fortunate that the bull didn't gore him. I remember a few years back the native man who was found with a dead bison in northern Alberta. He did kill the bison, but the bison killed him. I'm currently helping a young native man load for a rifle his father gave him. I'm trying to dissuade him from hunting bison until he gains a bit more experience. He wants to walk in on his own. Frankly, I'm deeply concerned for him.

Gil has taken several bison. The work begins after the animal is down. If you're some distance back, it is quite a haul to bring out the meat. My only bison was taken in the spring, and Gil and I were able to drive my truck up to the two animals we had shot. That was an unusual situation; it is not the norm.