Buffalo arrows

[Sidewinder]

I intend to take a buffalo (Bison) in a couple weeks with my hickory stick 55#. It would be nice if it was  with all natural materials trade points the exception. Does anyone have a  dozen 45-50#  made up they might want to trade for a nice osage stave. Draw length not more than 27".  Also if its 55# bow at my draw length, which will be more stable 5 or 10# less on spine weight? I would have preferred to make them myself but no time or materials and the bison aquisition is coming faast  upon me and too much to do otherwise in the mean time. I didn't post this on the trade post yet because I mainly wanted to get the answer on the 5-10# less question and I thought if there were any takers on the trade they may be located on the arrow forum. If an admini thinks this should be moved than by all means go ahead.   Thanks in advance.  Danny

[welch2]

How long a shot you gonna take Danny? I got some of my trade points outa thick stock ,they weigh 260 -275 grains .

Ralph

[Justin Snyder]

Are you shooting it in a pen?  If not you might want to consider a little more bow for buff. At least do yourself a favor and get some super heavy arrows. At least 500 gr.  They are big tough animals and you want to be as humane as possible.  Not to mention a mad buff isn't something you want to mess with. They wont run away if you are close and they get poked.  Justin

[Sidewinder]

Ralph and Justin, I have options on where I can take it. They have an area aprrox 2.7miles fenced they call their hunting pen they will release it in and I can stalk or have someone do a drive for ambush. I think thats the way to go.  The shot....15-20yds I spect. I'm a little inexperienced in the arrow setup thing but I normally try and shoot 10-11 grams per # and with 125 head. I suppose if it were a heavier head it would need to be a stiffer arrow right?
I would not normally go for a penned hunt situation however in this case I'm getting the bsion regardless so I might as well make it as intersting as possible. Yeah I have thought about the mad buffalo so I'm gonna have a back up shooter along with a rifle in case she does decide to get even. I'm really doing this because the deal on the meat once its processed will still be under 2.00 a lb and with the price of beef its a no brainer. The fact that they will set you up in the hunting pasture/pen is just a bonus. I originally was thinking I would just try and rustle up a stock trailer and truck and go get her and then have the meat locker do the kill, but the more I thought about it the more I decided that I was missing an opportunity to have the experience of taking a buffalo with the stick and string so I decided as long as I have a good back up shooter to prevent any tragic stories of getting gorred and stomped by a North American Bison that it might be a much more enriching experience this way.  In reference to a heavier bow, how much heavier? I only own one right now that I made myself a couple months ago a 55# 64" pyramid hickory that I clocked at 158.5fps at gander mtn. How much arrow speed would I need on a well placed shot? Any suggestions are welcome.   Danny

[Justin Snyder]

I don't want to rain on your picnic, but I figure a pen hunt is a pen hunt.  If you want to kill it with your bow have them herd it into a 20' pen so you can get her while she is standing still. Shoot quartering away from you right behind the shoulder so it goes up into the chest farther. You will not penetrate the shoulder with that setup. The chances of you/me/anyone making a clean killing shot on a running buff are slim and none. If you gut shoot or hit the hind quarter you can ruin a lot of meat and cause her to suffer. Go small pen or have her hauled to the butcher alive. Just my oppinion, do what you want. Justin

[DanaM]

I wasn't going to say anything but can't hold my peace. What you plan on doing bears no relationship to hunting.
I think you should rethink this and just pay a butcher to take care of it. You still get the meat, hide, bones what have you.
Might as well shoot a cow in the barn.

Just my opinion.

[stiknstring]

I won't comment other than to say that is NOT really hunting . I would not even consider a canned hunt of any sort myself. There is no sport in killing a caged animal.

[sailordad]

I have to agree with Dana ,ifn its in a pen,weather its 20 foot pen or a 2 mile pen,it is still a pen.Therfore its not really hunting imho.
Not that I would turn down the meat(bison is sooooo much better than that greasy a-- beef).  so i guess to each his own,good luck and watch out for the angry cow.

[billy]

Ok ya'll, I read some of these posts and now I'VE gotta put my 2 cents in.  Here goes.....

I know everyone says "if it's in a pen, it's not hunting."  Well...have any of ya'll ever tried it??

Early this past fall, a lady asked me and my friend to try and shoot a deer that was in her 8-acre fence.  The deer had been eating her flowers and she wanted the deer out of her property, whether it was dead or alive.  She was trying to fence the deer out, but somehow this little yearling had gotten in.  Now, only about 3 acres were wooded, the rest was pasture.  I was armed with my primitive bow, my buddy had his Mathews compound.  We chased that damn deer for over an hour.  It ran circles around us and finally found a way outta the fence.  Neither of us ever got a shot opportunity. 

Here's my take:  If it were me, and the buffalo is gonna end up dead anyway, I would probably try and shoot it with my primitive bow, just to see what it could do.  Hell, he's using a PRIMITIVE BOW for christ's sake. Of course I wouldn't be reckless and take questionable shots, but when would any of us ever have the opportunity to take a buffalo? 

Wild animals still have wild instincts and can run away, and as long as it's over 25 yards away it may as well be 25 miles away.  If a patch of woods is surrounded by suburbia and you hunt deer in that patch of woods, then suburbia acts as a fence.  If you hunt in a funnel where deer movement is concentrated, then the landscape can act as a fence.  If you sit in a blind on a deer trail and pile up brush to force deer near your blind, then you are, in essence, building a fence to make the shot easier. 

If you were to hunt in a 2 square mile fenced-in ranch, and you spook a deer, is it gonna run 2 miles, get cornered in the fence and wait for you to shoot it?  HELL NO.  It's gonna run in circles, circle back, cross its own trail, and confound you to the point that you're gonna look like a bumbling idiot.  I don't care what anyone says, just because it's in a fenced in area, it is in no way like shooting fish in a barrel.  Try it, then I'd like to hear you say "oh man...that was too easy."  I'll bet you won't. 

[wvfknapper]

I agree with Billy,  in that it's still an animal , it's not tied up...I think it would also be interesting to see how well primitive equipment did on a Buffalo..........I figure a lot of people on here have hunted hogs and exotic animals on those game farms, no different,, a lot of people use feeders and food plots, those are about the same..............Plus the main thing is, all Danny asked was if anyone would trade him some arrows for a nice Osage stave and if anyone thought his equipment was sufficient to do the job, He didn't ask to be judged about his desire to achieve something he felt would be interesting to him , or if it was ethical.


wvflintknapper

[DanaM]

Your right wv its his call but when you post something on here you also have to expect people to give their opinion especially on something like this.
He also could have just posted asking about arrows for buffalo and left the details out. Show this buffalo some respect and just give it a quick death same as when ya butcher a cow, pig or chicken.

Billiy I don't think you can compare a 50lb yearling deer to a 2000lb buffalo also its apparent that the deer had a chance as it escaped the buffalo is
gonna be dead at days end no matter what. As to him using primitive equipment, so what does that make it right?
Your comparing this to deer hunting, its a buffalo in the open ain't no where for it to hide.  And if runs to the corner of the
fence two miles away just get in the truck and go stick a few more arrows in it.

Danny no offense intended just my opinion.

[Coo-wah-chobee]

The circular reasoning used on some of these replies to Danny's post is just astounding ! Also, there is no reason to see if primitive equipment will kill a buffalo. The Indians DID it for hundreds of years ! That being said.......                                                                                                                                                                                                  Danny, I hope you will reconsider this for a number of reasons one being  I think youre setup is too light for the animal you are trying to harvest. I can see the reasoning about the meat. Take it or have it taken to a processor. I dont think you will be happy with the personal feeling at the end of this "hunt " if you do it, at least I for one hope you wont..................bob

[jamie]

im with billy . id take the hunt. i wouldnt take backup shooter though. still want it to be a fair fight. i eat him or he stomps me.

[Bishop]

Danny my fellow Kansan
  you may have kicked a can of bees with this one..lol. I know you didnt ask for opinions on how you are going to take the buff but you are going to get them anyway. I would assume most people who have taken a interest in primitive archery have learned a little about our native indian tribes and how much the buffalo meant to their daily lives and survival. This may sound dumb but with me its a respect issue i guess, but in the end, either way, you are going to have a dead buff and some meat in the freezer. When i was young the only place i could see buffalo was in a baseball field size pen on Fort Riley. now there is a buffalo farm not 16miles from my house where i can go and buy pre-packaged meat, and man its good eatin. How do they kill their animals, well, i have never asked. does that make me a hypocrite, maybe. If you are doing this just to see "what your bow can do" i would say please reconsider. if not, then you only have yourself to answer to.

Bishop
 

[Pat B]

Danny, I'm not gonna comment on the method, thats up to you...but I will say if you don't know that your bow WILL take the buffalo and you don't have arrows to practice with, you shouldn't try it this time!  If this opportunity excites you, have your set up ready for the next time around. I would imagine this ranch, and others, have a similar situation every year of so to keep their herd in check.   My $.02.    Pat