Let me give you a little background before I get into the actual hunt itself. My dad had a heart attack while snowmobiling at our cabin this spring and they had to lifelight him to the hospital. The doctor put a stint in one artery and he has another artery that is partially blocked. It will eventually need a bypass, but the doctors decided to wait and just use medication for now. A few weeks after his heart attack we found out he had drawn this once in a lifetime hunt, but we didn't know if he would be able to go or not. He was bound and determined to go, so we made the best of the situation.
We arrived a couple of days early to do some scouting and found lots of people and buffalo. For the first 4 days of the hunt we saw lots of buffalo and a couple of good bulls. it seemed there were guys in every place you could park a vehicle with a two way radio telling whomever they were with where the buffalo were at. There were a lot more people than we had expected, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. We started stalking bulls two different times and backed out because we saw other hunters going after them. We also had a couple of young bulls in the road and standing within a 100 yards that my dad decided to pass on. We left to go home for Thanksgiving and decided to go back on Friday although we wouldn't have as many people with us to help out.
It had snowed while we were gone and the buffalo were obviously holding up tight after being hunted for 3 weeks. We didn't see near as many hunters, but we didn't cut any fresh tracks in the snow or see a buffalo all day. We finally spotted a herd right before dark and stalked to within 200 yards, but we decided to back out and go after them in the morning.
The next morning we drove into the same area and found the herd not too far from where they were the night before. They were about 800 yards off the road when we first saw them, but not too long after we pulled up they knew what was going on and started to head down the canyon. The herd had 23 buffalo and the biggest bull we had seen while scouting or hunting was leading the way. My dad and I hiked off the mountain in pursuit of the herd, while my brother and our friend Mark waited and watched from above.
While hiking down the ridge in the crunchy snow and keeping an eye on the herd we saw them stop on top of a small ridge and start grazing again. We snuck down to within 400 yards of the herd, but we only had a small shooting lane in between the cedars for a shot. After discussing our options for a few minutes, we decided to come up the back side of the ridge and sneak over the top. If they were still there, we would be right on top of them. A good half hour later we snuck over the ridge and as luck would have it, they were feeding 50 yards below us. There were two bulls in the herd. One was a young bull and the other bull was huge. He was all broomed off and very heavy. The problem was he was all the way at the bottom of the herd and we had a bunch of other cows and calfs blocking a clear shot. The second biggest buffalo in the herd was a cow and she was much bigger than the young bull body wise. After sizing them up for several minutes the herd spooked realizing that something wasn't right and ran off 25 yards and stopped. They only had another 20 yards to go before they would disappear into the cedar jungle below us.
The herd started to move again and the big cow turned broadside. BOOM! The .300 RUM that Cowslayer had let my dad use for the hunt went off. It scared the hell out of me, because he didn't say anything before he shot. I heard the smack of a solid hit as I watched the big ole bull run of. He hit her a little far forward right in the shoulder with the first shot. She hunched up and he shot again, but I'm not sure were he hit the second shot. The herd scattered and I watched the big bull run off with the others unharmed. They ended up running up the mountain right by my brother and Mark. After a little discussion my dad told me she was the biggest one he could see with a clear shot and so he took it before they bolted.
My dad and I split up and hiked down were they were standing when he shot to look for blood. I found some blood and heard something in the brush down below me, so I called my dad over. We saw it heading further down the canyon and 3 shots and several hundred yards down the canyon it was a done deal. They sure are tough animals. My dad had his once in a lifetime Henrys buffalo and we were at least 3/4 of a mile from the road. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad. The big bull had got away and he had passed up quite a few buffalo right off the road. Now we had one down a long ways from the road. Oh well, I guess that's hunting for ya. My dad said that shooting this buffalo was the experience he was looking for and shooting one off the side of the road wasn't even though he shot a big ole cow instead of a bull. It really put things in perspective for me and and made me realize that sometimes I get to caught up in trying to kill the biggest animal I can and not taking in the whole experience. I think I need a hunt like this every once in a while.
After some pictures and a little video me and my dad started working on caping and boning out the buffalo, while my brother and Mark hiked back up to the truck to get game bags, the cordless sawzal, radios, and ect. Once my brother and Mark came back down with all of the gear, my dad hiked back up to the truck and made a few phone calls on his onstar to see when he could get some horses in there to pack it out. I know it killed my dad, but he called on the radio and said he didn't dare hike back down to where the buffalo was at with his heart problems. We couldn't get horses in there until late the next day, so after weighing to options we decided to just pack it off the mountain on our backs while my dad waited up at the truck. Five loads and nine hours later me , my brother, and Mark had his buffalo off the mountain and my dad couldn't wipe the smile off his face! It was definitely one of the funnest and most rewarding hunts I have ever been on. It will probably be the best tasting too!
I would like to thank Jim aka Awholelottabull and Doug aka Slamdunk for the info they shared with me before the hunt. It definitely helped me and my dad save a lot of time and money. Thanks guys!
We arrived a couple of days early to do some scouting and found lots of people and buffalo. For the first 4 days of the hunt we saw lots of buffalo and a couple of good bulls. it seemed there were guys in every place you could park a vehicle with a two way radio telling whomever they were with where the buffalo were at. There were a lot more people than we had expected, but that's just the way it goes sometimes. We started stalking bulls two different times and backed out because we saw other hunters going after them. We also had a couple of young bulls in the road and standing within a 100 yards that my dad decided to pass on. We left to go home for Thanksgiving and decided to go back on Friday although we wouldn't have as many people with us to help out.
It had snowed while we were gone and the buffalo were obviously holding up tight after being hunted for 3 weeks. We didn't see near as many hunters, but we didn't cut any fresh tracks in the snow or see a buffalo all day. We finally spotted a herd right before dark and stalked to within 200 yards, but we decided to back out and go after them in the morning.
The next morning we drove into the same area and found the herd not too far from where they were the night before. They were about 800 yards off the road when we first saw them, but not too long after we pulled up they knew what was going on and started to head down the canyon. The herd had 23 buffalo and the biggest bull we had seen while scouting or hunting was leading the way. My dad and I hiked off the mountain in pursuit of the herd, while my brother and our friend Mark waited and watched from above.
While hiking down the ridge in the crunchy snow and keeping an eye on the herd we saw them stop on top of a small ridge and start grazing again. We snuck down to within 400 yards of the herd, but we only had a small shooting lane in between the cedars for a shot. After discussing our options for a few minutes, we decided to come up the back side of the ridge and sneak over the top. If they were still there, we would be right on top of them. A good half hour later we snuck over the ridge and as luck would have it, they were feeding 50 yards below us. There were two bulls in the herd. One was a young bull and the other bull was huge. He was all broomed off and very heavy. The problem was he was all the way at the bottom of the herd and we had a bunch of other cows and calfs blocking a clear shot. The second biggest buffalo in the herd was a cow and she was much bigger than the young bull body wise. After sizing them up for several minutes the herd spooked realizing that something wasn't right and ran off 25 yards and stopped. They only had another 20 yards to go before they would disappear into the cedar jungle below us.
The herd started to move again and the big cow turned broadside. BOOM! The .300 RUM that Cowslayer had let my dad use for the hunt went off. It scared the hell out of me, because he didn't say anything before he shot. I heard the smack of a solid hit as I watched the big ole bull run of. He hit her a little far forward right in the shoulder with the first shot. She hunched up and he shot again, but I'm not sure were he hit the second shot. The herd scattered and I watched the big bull run off with the others unharmed. They ended up running up the mountain right by my brother and Mark. After a little discussion my dad told me she was the biggest one he could see with a clear shot and so he took it before they bolted.
My dad and I split up and hiked down were they were standing when he shot to look for blood. I found some blood and heard something in the brush down below me, so I called my dad over. We saw it heading further down the canyon and 3 shots and several hundred yards down the canyon it was a done deal. They sure are tough animals. My dad had his once in a lifetime Henrys buffalo and we were at least 3/4 of a mile from the road. I didn't know if I should be happy or sad. The big bull had got away and he had passed up quite a few buffalo right off the road. Now we had one down a long ways from the road. Oh well, I guess that's hunting for ya. My dad said that shooting this buffalo was the experience he was looking for and shooting one off the side of the road wasn't even though he shot a big ole cow instead of a bull. It really put things in perspective for me and and made me realize that sometimes I get to caught up in trying to kill the biggest animal I can and not taking in the whole experience. I think I need a hunt like this every once in a while.
After some pictures and a little video me and my dad started working on caping and boning out the buffalo, while my brother and Mark hiked back up to the truck to get game bags, the cordless sawzal, radios, and ect. Once my brother and Mark came back down with all of the gear, my dad hiked back up to the truck and made a few phone calls on his onstar to see when he could get some horses in there to pack it out. I know it killed my dad, but he called on the radio and said he didn't dare hike back down to where the buffalo was at with his heart problems. We couldn't get horses in there until late the next day, so after weighing to options we decided to just pack it off the mountain on our backs while my dad waited up at the truck. Five loads and nine hours later me , my brother, and Mark had his buffalo off the mountain and my dad couldn't wipe the smile off his face! It was definitely one of the funnest and most rewarding hunts I have ever been on. It will probably be the best tasting too!
I would like to thank Jim aka Awholelottabull and Doug aka Slamdunk for the info they shared with me before the hunt. It definitely helped me and my dad save a lot of time and money. Thanks guys!
