Well I am late to the party again. I had the opportunity to shoot two Buffalo for the meat about 10 years ago. I borrowed a Remington 7MM Mag for it with 170 grain jsp remington factory loads. The first shot was from dead on at about 8 feet. I aimed for the X between the eyes and ears. I pulled the trigger and the buffalo went down. I thought that it wasn't so bad. Then it got back up. So I shot it again in the same spot. It went down again and got up a little slower. Another guy there was able to get a better shot from behind the ear and it went down. On the next one I waited until it turned it's head and I was able to get a shot from behind the head. From my own experience do not shoot them in the forehead. You'll just make them mad. These buffalo were about 1.5 years old. We butchered 5 of them that day. After all of this I bought a 45-70. If I ever do this again I think that I will borrow a 375 H&H Mag to save the trouble of not getting the perfect shot.
Good Luck on the shooting.
You mean like wild roaming bison that you'd be allowed to go after? Can't think of anyplace that would let you do that. Even the Yellowstone Bison that wander off are afforded protection from hunting, (although some permits have been issued to a few ranchers). Bison are, by and large farmed/ranched. Places like mayor al is going to are the norm if you want to get bison meat. Buying a whole one from a company or processor would be costly. Shoot, a 1# package of ground bison goes for $10 in most places, it just goes up from there for other cuts. Mayor al will be getting the whole shooting match. He gets to choose his animal, dispatch it himself, gets the skin, the meat and all the rest for a good price. Hard to beat, really.Do real Bison hunts exist or are they all basically target practice? Not judging anyone, I'm just curious. As someone that is interested in having buffalo meat --I'm wondering if the "hunt" is worth the cost over just buying one locally after it's been butchered....
You mean like wild roaming bison that you'd be allowed to go after? Can't think of anyplace that would let you do that. Even the Yellowstone Bison that wander off are afforded protection from hunting, (although some permits have been issued to a few ranchers). Bison are, by and large farmed/ranched. Places like mayor al is going to are the norm if you want to get bison meat. Buying a whole one from a company or processor would be costly. Shoot, a 1# package of ground bison goes for $10 in most places, it just goes up from there for other cuts. Mayor al will be getting the whole shooting match. He gets to choose his animal, dispatch it himself, gets the skin, the meat and all the rest for a good price. Hard to beat, really.
I think there is a drawing hunt for truly wild (and genetically pure) bison in the Henry Mtns. of Utah. Of course, the odds of getting drawn are probably astronomical.You mean like wild roaming bison that you'd be allowed to go after? Can't think of anyplace that would let you do that. Even the Yellowstone Bison that wander off are afforded protection from hunting, (although some permits have been issued to a few ranchers). Bison are, by and large farmed/ranched. Places like mayor al is going to are the norm if you want to get bison meat. Buying a whole one from a company or processor would be costly. Shoot, a 1# package of ground bison goes for $10 in most places, it just goes up from there for other cuts. Mayor al will be getting the whole shooting match. He gets to choose his animal, dispatch it himself, gets the skin, the meat and all the rest for a good price. Hard to beat, really.
My experience is that, like everything else, bison is cheaper in bulk...I used to buy it by the half from a farmer near Hagerstown (who has since retired).
I know there are others; the only other farm I've been to in central Indiana is English's, near Bainbridge. They no longer sell bison by the side, and their prices look about the same as high end beef.
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Bison is awesome...as they are so lean, the steaks are best done medium-rare or even less cooked, else they may be tough.
Edit: While looking for other bison ranchers in Indiana, I found these folks, who also offer deer and bison hunts: Guided hunts for whitetail deer, wild turkey, buffalo, bison in Northern Indiana