Buffalo

[Black Hand]

Our bison here in the states is pretty tough, but it make great hamburger!

Try Bison from Montana...

 

[robinsroost]

Wow, just wow! I am impressed, congratulations. I don't know how much those buffs weigh but you were a lot closer than I would be comfortable with. Well done, a nice narrative with some outstanding photos. Meg sounds like a keeper......Robin :bow:

 

[Ben K]

Thanks for the kind words, folks.

That little bull might've weighed 700kg, I'm guessing. A bigger bull might hit 1000kg.

It was an hour's hike back to the car, and then another thirty minutes before I was home, but that's fine for meat. No worries.

As for snakes, I got a fright by one black-headed python earlier in the year - heard him hissing at me in the grass at my feet, saw him and backed-off. Then we nearly stood on a good-sized brown in the front yard on the way to work one morning. That one got the shovel treatment. But the snakes have really copped a flogging here from the cane toads, which arrived from Queensland about twelve years ago. Some animals are slowly developing either knowledge or immunity, and are coming back. I'd be more worried about snakes in the southern parts of Australia (or northern WA where the toads haven't arrived; or all of Queensland where I'm told snake numbers are good despite the toads) or the USA with all your rattlers that could be anywhere (that's another thing, here - snakes can really only be found in certain places as a general rule).

Cheers,

Ben

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Outstanding report.Thank you.Congrats on the bull :hatsoff: Griz

 

[Sean Gadhar]

I keep seeing photos of clean handed people gutting/butchering.

Man I can't field dress a cotton tail with out a red hand and drops of blood on my boot :idunno:

You all are giving me a complex

:haha:

 

[Britsmoothy]

Good story.
What was the double? ( back up).

B.

 

[Ben K]

The double is a Merkel .500NE, shooting handloaded Woodleigh 570 grain solids. And, happily, it stayed quiet the whole time!

 

[justahunter]

Doesn't get much cooler than this!

Todd

 

[robinsroost]

The double is a Merkel .500NE, shooting handloaded Woodleigh 570 grain solids. And, happily, it stayed quiet the whole time!

That was a great choice for a back up. A 500 Nitro Express would stop a freight train, which is what a 2000 pound water buffalo would be like........Robin :wink:

 

[Grumpa]

Looking at those photos, I was thinking you should have had a bayonet on your rifle to hold that buffalo off if you had to reach for the double. :grin:

Thank you, for sharing the hunt, and for giving us some insight into hunting in Australia.

Now, if we could only get down there to taste some of that back strap....

 

[Britsmoothy]

The double is a Merkel .500NE, shooting handloaded Woodleigh 570 grain solids. And, happily, it stayed quiet the whole time!

Serious medicine.

The 54 felt like a 22 then :hatsoff:

 

[Ben K]

Absolutely! But then, the big double also feels like a .22 in hunting situations when the adrenaline is pumping!

 

[Britsmoothy]

Absolutely! But then, the big double also feels like a .22 in hunting situations when the adrenaline is pumping!

I bet :thumbsup:

 

[19 16 6]

Good stuff Beno :applause: .
I used to live in the Territory & got stuck into the Buffs & came so close to being stomped by a wounded one once.
Good to see those hard balls perform on the big heavy animals without only wounding. Next time, if you have more time an autopsy would be great to let us know more of the penetration details. However, you can't get much deader than dead & he looked dead enough to me.

Gentlemen, those balls Ben used were made of the lead from an automotive 12 volt lead acid battery.
They are flying well & killing dead on the big tough game. All good IMHO & they weigh in at 228, only two grains lighter than pure lead.
O.

 

[house]

Thanks for sharing! What a great hunt and story. You just made me Want to go out and shoot something more and I wanted before. I didn't think that was possible either!😀

 

[James Stella]

Great story and pics.

 

[Rifleman1776]

I kicked my sandals off

:shocked2: You are a better man than I, Gunga Din.

 

[Vaino]

A well written scenario of your hunt. One question....in the butchering pic, you are cutting out the loin....do you utilize the rest of the buffalo or is it too tough? You mentioned 700kgs which equates to approx. 1400 lbs which w/ just the front and rear quarters is a lot of meat to pack out....which you didn't mention.

Good shooting w/ a PRB.....Fred

 

[Ben K]

Thanks, Fred. Depends on the situation. If we can negotiate the Toyota in to the carcass, then everything is recovered. If not, backstraps only. It can be tough if not prepared and cooked right. Overcooking it is a killer, or cooking it too fast. "Wastage" of meat (inverted commas because the kites and dingoes make sure nothing is wasted) isn't an issue at all, as we have so many of these destructive feral animals damaging the ecosystem and reducing the population of various small native species who live and nest in the swamps. Cheers, Ben