Here's my story:

Finally, after a jillion years of applying I drew a Wyoming Wild Bison tag and killed a wild bull bison!! wow

And to top it all off when I turned my bison in at the Wyoming Game & Fish station they told me it was the biggest bison killed by a blind man with a handgun this month!!

It was December 17. I had eye surgery December 12, a nasty cataract in my right eye. My left eye was a mess, not playing well with my "new eye" The lens in the left eye is scheduled for replacement December 30. My eyesight had been giving me fits for the last couple of years; so bad I had given up on using a rifle, open sights or a scope. I could shoot a handgun, arms stretched all the way out, using my left eye to aim.

Two guys in our party, about a mile apart, filled their cow/calf tags in a herd of about 200 bison. I didn't see any decent bulls with these cows but it was hard to tell, the herd took off running and ran over 1.5 miles, up and over some hills and out of sight. I think bison love to run; just amazing:


Shot (twice) with a 375 H&H at 150 yards this cow, guts and all, was drug to the road laying on a piece of rubber conveyer belting and was gutted and loaded into a pickup:


After the cows were all taken care of we went over to the Gros Ventre River and rode along the river bottom, a great place to put a sneak on a bison:


Seen a lone wolf, a few moose, a lot of bull elk, and even Whitetail Deer in the old cottonwoods along the way:


We found 4 mature bull bison resting in a patch of spruce trees. I got off of my horse and snuck off after them with my .460 S&W revolver, 5 bullets, a shooting stick and a knife. Hiding behind a spruce tree I set my shooting stick up. The biggest bison of the bunch disappeared. The 2nd biggest bison was broadside about 80 yards away. I aimed for his neck and fired. I could hear the bullet "thump" the buffalo and the animal spun 180°, obviously hit. He took off after the other 3 bison but stopped, broadside again, about 100 yards away. I shot, but I think I missed, shot over the top of the bull. It trotted away following the others and I shot again, a quartering away shot. I couldn't tell if I hit it or not, but "it felt good".

I got out of the trees and watched the 4 bulls as they ran down the river bottom. 3 of the bulls were close together and one of them was lagging behind, like he couldn't keep up. I looked for blood in the fresh snow and found none....not good, not good at all. At this point the bison were about 400 yards away and had run into 2 mature bull elk out in the meadow. The 3 bison paused, stood there and stared at the elk for awhile. This gave me a little time to catch up to them as I ran from tree to tree along the river. I spooked the elk and when they ran off the 3 lead bison went with them out of sight into another patch of trees. The 4th bison was obviously hurt and didn't follow the rest. It turned 90° and headed for the river, the bison hunt boundary, and disappeared in the trees. Sure that the bull bison had tipped over, I walked along the river towards it. To my surprise the bull popped out of the trees and stopped on the bank of the river, staring at me. I ducked behind a cottonwood tree 150 yards away (my guess), set up, shot, and knocked the bull down. The bull's body appeared limp; no legs were moving, but the head was thrashing around violently. With my last bullet I put the animal to sleep.

The bison died just a few yards from the Gros Ventre River, the boundary of the Grand Teton National Park (GTNP). If it made it across the river wounded I had to get a GTNP ranger to assist with any further pursuit or the recovery:




The head is massive and in mid-winter they have quite a “fro” on top:



They have beautiful coats this time of year. I'm having a blanket made.

The diaphragm was cut away, the windpipe severed, and the rectum ringed. A rope was pulled tight around the stomach and then a horse pulled the bison's guts out. The gut pile is enormous and it takes a long time to pick through it:


We rolled the beast over onto a conveyer belt sled thingie and tied him down. The 10' x 4' piece of rubber was hooked to a single-tree and a horse collar and then a stout horse pulled the bull out to the nearest road:


Once at the road a winch truck lifted the bull up and loaded it into a 1-ton truck:


The owner of the locker plant guessed the bull would weigh around 850 pounds dressed out:


Looking at the teeth they figure it's 6 1/2 yrs old, minimum. Two teeth were removed and will be aged by the Wyoming Game & Fish Dept

About 1/2 of the "petals" opened up (and peeled off) these 275 gr solid copper projectiles:


I found the liver to be relatively small and the pancreas huge. The heart weighs 7.5 lbs, good grief:


We performed an amateur autopsy on the 4 quarters at the butcher shop. There was a bullet wound in the hump and a wound around the brisket, both about 10" away from the spine, my target. Another shot clipped the diaphragm, went thru the stomach and the bullet was found embedded up against the hide at the hind leg about 8" above the knee.
At this point we have no idea what knocked the bison down.

I have all the guts with the exception of the tongue. So if the locker plant screws up, I'm good to go.

Later:


Big rug:

Great story and pictures!

Thank you so much for sharing your great story
about hunting Bison with the S&W 460, and what a
great Field Test/Review.

Your adventure really gave insight what it takes to
properly take care of and process a Bison.

Just for fun I googled mapped Evanston Wy. My son
lives in Cheyenne Wy. Just wanted to get an idea
of the location. He takes me Elk hunting every year
to his special hunting grounds.

Again thank you.

You're a tough old bird. I got out of breath just reading that story, but I really enjoyed your adventure.
Thanks for sharing it!
Will you have build an addition on your house for that rug? It's enormous - what -16' long maybe?

Awesome story about your bull. That is a big animal. With a huge pancreas he must have been on a high carb diet.

That heart looks lean so I bet he could run fast and for a long time if he needed to. I am guessing you made that lone wolf's day as well with that gut pile.

Congrats!!!

From one blind in one eye and can't see out of the other guy to another ,
That is one freaking awesome trophy , a hunt of a lifetime. Love the skull and robe.
I love happy endings and you look happy and you should be very proud .
Thanks for sharing , the scenery was beautiful !
Gary

As already said, thanks for a great story of your Bison handgun hunt.
I have taken several Bison myself with the 460 S&W.

Good luck and be safe in your future hunts.
Ruggy

Wow!

Thanks for posting! That was an excellent write-up, with great photos, too!

And nice buff, BTW!

Congratulations!!! Looks like a great hunt and experience. Hunting with a handgun is challenging on any game, never tried anything THAT big, lol.

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PTLAPTA!

Congratulations! Obviously you worked very hard to get that trophy. Good for you.

Very well done, indeed. Finally, someone who knows the only proper use for an X-frame. Congrats! Great story and wonderful photos!

Great hunt, great story, great shooting! I knew Buffalo were big but not that big!

Thanks for sharing....

Thanks for the kind words. I hope I put this in the correct section.

I practiced long and hard; 50 yards and 150 yards, always single action, 50%-50% offhand or with a rest.

It's huge but the picture makes the hide look bigger than it actually is.

Congrats! Well written story that ended in success They are tough critters aren't they?
Hope you are ready to enjoy some fantastic meat for the next 2 years.

We shot a bull in SD last Feb and ended up with 550-575 pounds of boned out meat and burger. Absolutely delicious.

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Tennessee

Being totally blind in my left eye and a cataract growing on the right
since 2009 l fully understand vision problems...Just have been reluctant
chancing the surgery... After reading this thread maybe its time..

Great story and hunt Sir..May you have many more

Congratulations on a successful hunt & thanks for sharing the story with photos. A real trophy.

Cory

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Cory
SWCA #3015 SWHF #465

What a super story! Congrats.

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Guns + Dogs= Bliss

You're a fantastic writer as well, this was a treat to read and see.

Great bison and great story, thanks for sharing.

Congratulations on a great hunt....thanks for sharing the story and pictures.


Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Congratulations! That's an awesome story. But I'm curious: why solid copper bullets?

Good question. The hunt area I was in is no-lead.

Man! now that's something that i wish i could do! Nice!

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Chewy

Thanks for sharing your story, i'm not into hunting yet I still enjoyed reading of your adventure. I very much admire your passion especially the fact you have vision issues. I'm in the same situation. I'm only a few clicks away from being legally blind as I am extremely nearsighted. RH shooter with a very poor dominate right eye. I'm aggressively perusing left handed shooting as my left eye is stronger and I can more comfortable shoot long gun irons. Adapt and overcome !

Nice story, terrific trophy, and delicious meat that will last quite a while!!

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Congrats! This story makes my day. Awesome hide!

Congrats on being drawn! Clearly the wait paid off for you. Thanks for sharing your great tale.

If you ever tire of that huge blanket here's an alternative to protect that .460 from the elements (I've posted this photo before, but couldn't resist):

Attached Images

Buffalo hide rig for S&W 500.jpg (75.1 KB, 171 views)

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Wrangler of stray Chiefs
Bob

That's really cool.

Nice kill and great story I was fortunate to draw a bison tag in Montana a few years ago. I shot a huge bull with a super Blackhawk and a 320 gr hardcast bullet at 125 yards. I didn't realize just how large they were, they don't look that big on the back of a nickel.

I figured it was something like that. I wonder if a heavier for caliber lead bullet would have functioned better and put the bison down faster.

Grizzly Ammo 460 S&W Mag 320 Grain PUNCH Flat Nose Lead-Free Box of 20

These might work better and are ''Non Lead''...Little pricey tho..

Hey..l wanna hear about the ''Elk Hunt'' you posted pictures on Wyo..

Congrats on the hunt and thanks for sharing the story and pics. Pretty cool.

Bison are tough, If you have penetration more weight does not really help anymore.

Wife but 458 SOCOM 300 grain bullet taking the bottom of the heart and still took 5 minutes before it tipped over, could not get a second shot because of the herd was in the way.

I used a 325 Barnes buster out of 460 and even with complete penetration it still took several rounds.

Again great story and pictures.

Ruggy

What an adventure, thank you for taking the time to type all that. You look very happy in the pics, and very proud of the outcome of your hunt..what fun that must have been. It didn't even look to cold out..I need to do a bison hunt..lots of yummy meat!!

Congratulations on a well deserved trophy!

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Judge control not gun control!

The old buffalo hunters used a shot that took the eye and ear and made an equilateral triangle with the first vertebra just behind the head. I've used that shot to kill the last four bison I have shot. My last one was at 208 yards. I use a .338 Win Mag. All one shot kills. I've seen a bull take two 3756 H&H in the heart-lung area and appear to not care other than losing a lot of blood spurting out of it. That one was shot by a friend on mine and it took that bull about 15 minutes to finally bleed out and fall over.
Yes, they are tough to kill, and it doesn't help that they can run like heck over terrain we can't follow on. I can only imagine what it would take to kill one with a handgun. Thanks for your hunting story. And enjoy all those bison steaks and burgers. One of them feeds my family and a few friends for about 2 years.

The elk hunt story is not as appealing as the bison hunt story.

I hunt elk in the dark timber from a ground blind, 2 miles from the road. We have harvested over 36 elk from the stand since 1987, using a variety of weapons.

Last year I got a decent 6x6 with a 12 gauge shotgun. Backpacking in and out and getting the meat to the road is always the most interesting, and challenging, part of the hunt.

I normally shoot 240 and 300 grain Hornady XTP handloads; 240gr antelope and deer, 300gr for elk. Spend a lot of time reloading and then practicing with both rounds. Shoot my share of lower-recoil cast bullets too. Whatever it takes, shooting a heavy revolver offhand accurately enough to feel comfortable, to be ethical, hunting large wild big game animals takes a lot of practice.

So, I didn't read the bison proclamation close enough concerning which particular hunt areas didn't allow lead projectiles. After we found the bison in a non-toxic ammo area I bought 2 boxes of over-the-counter copper 275 gr CorBons and shot 1 box of them at the range sighting in the 460 XTR again.

We call the 460 the "Thunderboomer". Comes from getting excited, getting in a hurry, and not taking the time to put ear plugs in during a hunting situation. not good

That's sure a lot of guts. Congrats and thank you for sharing your story.

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Jorge

Say what? Huh? Come again? I say speak up!!

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Ouch! When I shoot 357 and 44 mag I normally double up at the indoor range with some in-the-ear plugs and earmuffs. I can only imagine shooting a 460 "naked"

Waidmannsheil ! A really great Story, awesome photos and a beautiful hunt ! It`s a dream from me, to hunt an american Bison ! But it will be a dream.....
Greets from Germany

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Greets, Jo

WOW!! Congratulations on a great, successful hunt. What a trophy! Now I'm gonna take a nap, I'm exhausted from reading the story!

Great story and pictures. Thanks

This one deserves another bump.

Update on my Cataract. lts GONE!!!! Dr removed IT on
''Trump Day''... Replacing it with some fancy Hi-Tech lnsert..

one-to-four ZOOM.. Yeah. l could only DREAM

I'm guessing the four bullets might have had something to do with it.

Congrats on a successful surgery! I had both eyes done and Restor lenses put in. My near sight isn't as good as it used to be, but I can still read w/o glasses, and for the first time in decades, no longer require glasses for distance or driving. Took a long time to adapt to no longer needing glasses for driving, but it's great being able to get by with a $20 pair of sunglasses!

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

that is AWESOME! how much meat did you end up with?