I finally downed a bison on 01/18/10 at about 9:15am. I lost a coin toss so I was to be the second shooter. We came up on a group of 3 roaming bulls and they knew we were in pursuit. The fellow that shot before me was using a .300 Ultra Mag rifle. He took his shot at 260 yards. He was using 200 grain partitions. The buffalo dropped at the shot. The guide told us to wait for a bit to make sure the critter was down for the count. It was raising its head and moving its tail. After about 10 minutes I figured we should be heading to it but the guide continued to hold his position. At about the 15 minute mark the darn thing got up and started to walk. I could hardly believe my eyes. Our guide told him to hit the buffalo again and at the shot the bull went down for good. During this time the other two bulls had been standing around. They finally took off and I figured that I would be waiting to get mine. The guide looked at me and said that he thought we might be able to intercept them. They disappeared behind a hill to our left. The guide and I took off toward the hill. He told me to stay close while he looked from the crest. He came back and told me that the smaller bull was walking by and he was sure that the bigger one would be following close behind. I got to the crest of the hill and spotted the younger bull. I sat down and got my .500 S&W Peformance Center on the sticks. The big one finally came into my view. The guide ranged him at 120 yards. He wanted to know if I felt comfortable with the shot as I had told him earlier that 100 yards was the limit that I had set for myself. I told him that I would give it a go. I got the 2-6x Bushnell to settle on him and I let him have it. He hunched at the shot walked about 10 yards and stopped. He was one sick dude. The guide told me to hit him again so I moved up to about 80 yards and got on the Bog Pod again. I could only see the top half of his body and half of that was behind grass. I aimed at the grass line and hit him again. He went down with all four legs under him. Our guide was pretty conservative so he had me hit him one more time from 25 yards with an offhand shot. That was it for my bison. Turns out that he was named the "Black Bull" because of his dark body color. They had been trying to cull him for the past two years because he had a reputation. Seems he liked to chase people. My first shot with the 440 grain cast performance stopped under the skin on the far side. It retained 94% of its weight. The other two shots were pass throughs. He bled heavily after the initial double lung shot. He was 12 years old. He weighed 1940 pounds which was the heaviest of any of the old bulls that have been shot to this point. Jonas Brother's unofficially scored him at 64 which would place him pretty high on the SCI handgun list. I have two pictures of him on the bragging board. I am extremely happy!

Recoil

Congrats on an exciting hunt! If you don't mine me axing, where were you hunting?

I was hunting with Niobrara Wilderness Outfitters in Northwestern Nebraska.

Recoil

CONGRATS!!!!!

Great story, good shootin'.

Sounds like one of those "Once in alifetime adventures" congradulations!

I have been interested in a bison hunt for many years. I finally decided to start doing and quit dreaming. The first thing I did was get off of the bench and shoot off of the tripod. I began that process as soon as my decision was made, about 4 months ago. I realized that small groups off the bench did not mean much. I had been going through the shot in my mind over and over. I did not know what to expect when I finally had the bull of my dreams in my sights. I was amazed that I maintained focus at that important moment. All those rounds away from the bench with my .500 paid off. I shot about 50 rounds every weekend. I think that I will stay away from the bench more now that I know that it pays dividends.

Recoil

Way to go Recoil! I have always wanted a bison. Thanks for sharing!

Cogradulations on your Bull, post some pictures as soon as you can

Congratulations and nice story!!

I posted two pictures on the bragging board on 01/20/10.

Recoil

Congratulations! That's a nice bull. I've taken 2 myself on different hunts using a .475L and a .500WE. I also hunted along the Niobrara river in NE., but apparently further to the east than you did. I love bison meat! It's also a favorite of my family.

Great shooting, sound like you had a an exciting hunt. I want to do a Bison hunt too. I'm hoping 2011 will be my year.

It's a real hoot! I will never forget it. Of course the shoulder mount will help me keep it fresh in my mind. The 6 month wait will seem long I'm sure.

Recoil

I posted another photo of me and Bert my buffalo. He has a place on my wall reserved beside Ernie my elk.

Recoil

I weighed the one Cast Performance 440 grain bullet that was recovered under the hide on the far side of my bison and it weighed 411 grains which comes out to 93% weight retention. That's what I was looking for.

Recoil

Congrats, good shooting. Gotta laugh: Bert & Ernie.

What do you name your deer? Please don't say Rudolph!!

runngun: Ha Ha! That is funny!

I have been in on two buffalo hunts as a photographer/cameraman (although I have never been the "shooter".)

And I have hunted on the same ranch for 23 years where they do buffalo hunts on a regular basis and I hear lots of true stories from the owners about what goes on.

Recoil,in my limited experience with buffalo hunting, may I say

CONGRATULATIONS ON SUCH A CLEAN KILL!!

Thanks a bunch Gregg. That means a lot coming from a gent with your background. I was mentioning to a fellow at work earlier in the year that I wanted to go on a bison hunt and he came up with the idea of calling it Bert to compliment Ernie my elk. My children were raised watching Sesame Street so Bert and Ernie was perfect. As far as the shooting goes I had an audience of three, Ken my guide, Herb the other hunter, and Ken's 14 year old grandson Kalen. I stayed pretty calm which is not my usual style. I do believe that the practice off of the sticks and my mental preparation really paid dividends. Before I left to come back to Colorado I thanked Ken one last time. He told me that it was a pleasure to hunt with someone who can shoot. They were hesitant when I first informed them of my desire to use a handgun but I think that I made believers out of them.

Recoil

Congrats Recoil! That's a whole lot of meat on the ground!