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- Dec 23, 2006
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The American Bison, ( Genus Bison bison) is one of the largest bovines. It is larger than an African Cape Buffalo and an Asian Water Buffalo.
There was a time when these marvels roamed our continent in the millions.
It was widely believed that the pacification of the Indians rested in the eradication of the Bison.
Market hunting and the vast amount of settlers pushing west left this noble beast to a grim future.
Alas by the late 1800’s these symbol’s of Americana and freedom where driven to almost extinction. The only remaining wild herds where in Yellowstone and a few in Canada.
Today probable the only true free range Buffalo hunting takes place in the Henry Mt. Herd in Utah and herds in Alaska. These hunts are available by permit draw and a tag is very hard to acquire.
The only other viable chance to harvest one of these magnificent creatures is from one of the numerous private herds in this country. The trick is to find a place that has a very large area and a healthy herd so you can kind of get the feel of what this stoic animal was like hunting back in the day.
This is where are story begins. Well known Bladesmith and my good friend Bill Bagwell harvests a Buffalo every year for the meat which in many peoples opinion is better than beef and we all know that it is healthy. Bill called me up and asked if I would like to come for a visit spend some time with him in the shop and to go along with him on his annual hunt for Buffalo using a classic Sharps rifle. I could not refuse. Bill knows of one of these ranches that I spoke of earlier that is very well managed and has an excellent herd with plenty of land to make this more than a duck shoot.
Bill has also been working with the classic Sharp’s rifles, developing loads and shooting competitively for I believe around 20 years. He is certainly well versed and has worked for major powder manufactures developing loads and testing bullets in the field and on the match circuit, which makes him an expert in the field.
We figured out a date and I was on my way. I was rather excited, I need a Bison for my wall and to hunt with a friend and to learn to use a classic big Sharp’s loaded with Black Powder by someone of Bill’s caliber had me searching out information on these great beasts and the famed big Sharp’s of old.
When I got to Bill’s he laid out the plan we where going to be testing an experimental load he was developing for a bullet manufacture and our first day would be spent on his range where you can shoot out to over 500 yds.
He gave me a choice of one his many fine Sharps rifles and soon with his tutelage had me striking the steel silloutes out to 300 yards. I have lots of trigger time but had never handled one of these rifles before and Bill is an excellent teacher and soon had me cracking the steel targets.
Bill and I have talked many times on the use of these big black powder cartridges and how they would compare to the heavy African cartridges which I do have experience with. Bill believes that loaded with the proper bullet and powder charge these loads will penetrate as well if not better than some of the famous African big cartridges. My experience, which I will get, to soon would have me believing him.
We left very early the next day and arrived at the ranch and meet the ranch manager who was a fantastic guy and off we went. The true challenge of modern day Buffalo hunting is to approach the herd finding a good bull at a reasonable distance and making a clean kill with out shooting thru and wounding another or much worse missing and shooting the wrong one.
It took us awhile and had a few blown stalks but eventually we harvested a fantastic Bull I made a lucky one-shot kill that to my surprise downed the behemoth with in about 30 yds. The Ranch manager said that he had seen a lot of Buffalo shot and that this was in the top 2 quickest kills he had seen on a buff not including head shot animals remember we where testing a new bullet and load and needed to shoot for the body. The load Bill made could not have worked any better and the one shot kill was a complete pass thru and ended in a clean humane kill. Proving to me that Bill is right these old guns can and will perform with the best of the heavy African stuff.
In the end it was a fantastic day Bill had his test results and a freezer full of meat. I had a magnificent trophy for the wall an experience I will never forget.
The icing on the cake was after some begging on my part I persuaded Bill to part with that wonderful rifle that worked so well for me and before I left he pulled the case colored butt plate and stamped the end of the stock with his signature stamp.
I cannot thank Bill and his wonderful wife Sidra enough for having me and teaching me about these great old guns. These guns have sparked a whole new interest for me and I just want them to know how much it means to me. Thanks Bill like I needed another hobby
You might ask what this has to all do with the custom knife world. Well I was hunting with a legendary blade smith carrying period rifles and carrying fantastic bowie’s that would have been right at home on a buffalo hunt back in the late 1800's and to me that is what the custom knife world is all about
Don’t worry I spent a day in the shop and took a lot of pics and got to photograph a fantastic bowie that Bill had just completed for none other than Bob F that Bill actually carried on the buffalo hunt. I will be posting both these threads in the future.
Thanks Bill and Sidra I love you guys. I had a blast. Merry X Mas
Bill at the range
Some classic rifles and my fav bowie with a classic P Long Cape buffalo sheath
Bill's awesome range look close there are lots of steel targets out there
Bill and my Buffalo with Bob's knife
Bill and I
Me and the Buff with my new rifle (new to me)and a Bagwell Bowie sheath by P Long
My favorite pic of the trip ( A Boy and His Dog )
Bill and Buddy
There was a time when these marvels roamed our continent in the millions.
It was widely believed that the pacification of the Indians rested in the eradication of the Bison.
Market hunting and the vast amount of settlers pushing west left this noble beast to a grim future.
Alas by the late 1800’s these symbol’s of Americana and freedom where driven to almost extinction. The only remaining wild herds where in Yellowstone and a few in Canada.
Today probable the only true free range Buffalo hunting takes place in the Henry Mt. Herd in Utah and herds in Alaska. These hunts are available by permit draw and a tag is very hard to acquire.
The only other viable chance to harvest one of these magnificent creatures is from one of the numerous private herds in this country. The trick is to find a place that has a very large area and a healthy herd so you can kind of get the feel of what this stoic animal was like hunting back in the day.
This is where are story begins. Well known Bladesmith and my good friend Bill Bagwell harvests a Buffalo every year for the meat which in many peoples opinion is better than beef and we all know that it is healthy. Bill called me up and asked if I would like to come for a visit spend some time with him in the shop and to go along with him on his annual hunt for Buffalo using a classic Sharps rifle. I could not refuse. Bill knows of one of these ranches that I spoke of earlier that is very well managed and has an excellent herd with plenty of land to make this more than a duck shoot.
Bill has also been working with the classic Sharp’s rifles, developing loads and shooting competitively for I believe around 20 years. He is certainly well versed and has worked for major powder manufactures developing loads and testing bullets in the field and on the match circuit, which makes him an expert in the field.
We figured out a date and I was on my way. I was rather excited, I need a Bison for my wall and to hunt with a friend and to learn to use a classic big Sharp’s loaded with Black Powder by someone of Bill’s caliber had me searching out information on these great beasts and the famed big Sharp’s of old.
When I got to Bill’s he laid out the plan we where going to be testing an experimental load he was developing for a bullet manufacture and our first day would be spent on his range where you can shoot out to over 500 yds.
He gave me a choice of one his many fine Sharps rifles and soon with his tutelage had me striking the steel silloutes out to 300 yards. I have lots of trigger time but had never handled one of these rifles before and Bill is an excellent teacher and soon had me cracking the steel targets.
Bill and I have talked many times on the use of these big black powder cartridges and how they would compare to the heavy African cartridges which I do have experience with. Bill believes that loaded with the proper bullet and powder charge these loads will penetrate as well if not better than some of the famous African big cartridges. My experience, which I will get, to soon would have me believing him.
We left very early the next day and arrived at the ranch and meet the ranch manager who was a fantastic guy and off we went. The true challenge of modern day Buffalo hunting is to approach the herd finding a good bull at a reasonable distance and making a clean kill with out shooting thru and wounding another or much worse missing and shooting the wrong one.
It took us awhile and had a few blown stalks but eventually we harvested a fantastic Bull I made a lucky one-shot kill that to my surprise downed the behemoth with in about 30 yds. The Ranch manager said that he had seen a lot of Buffalo shot and that this was in the top 2 quickest kills he had seen on a buff not including head shot animals remember we where testing a new bullet and load and needed to shoot for the body. The load Bill made could not have worked any better and the one shot kill was a complete pass thru and ended in a clean humane kill. Proving to me that Bill is right these old guns can and will perform with the best of the heavy African stuff.
In the end it was a fantastic day Bill had his test results and a freezer full of meat. I had a magnificent trophy for the wall an experience I will never forget.
The icing on the cake was after some begging on my part I persuaded Bill to part with that wonderful rifle that worked so well for me and before I left he pulled the case colored butt plate and stamped the end of the stock with his signature stamp.
I cannot thank Bill and his wonderful wife Sidra enough for having me and teaching me about these great old guns. These guns have sparked a whole new interest for me and I just want them to know how much it means to me. Thanks Bill like I needed another hobby
You might ask what this has to all do with the custom knife world. Well I was hunting with a legendary blade smith carrying period rifles and carrying fantastic bowie’s that would have been right at home on a buffalo hunt back in the late 1800's and to me that is what the custom knife world is all about
Don’t worry I spent a day in the shop and took a lot of pics and got to photograph a fantastic bowie that Bill had just completed for none other than Bob F that Bill actually carried on the buffalo hunt. I will be posting both these threads in the future.
Thanks Bill and Sidra I love you guys. I had a blast. Merry X Mas
Bill at the range
Some classic rifles and my fav bowie with a classic P Long Cape buffalo sheath
Bill's awesome range look close there are lots of steel targets out there
Bill and my Buffalo with Bob's knife
Bill and I
Me and the Buff with my new rifle (new to me)and a Bagwell Bowie sheath by P Long
My favorite pic of the trip ( A Boy and His Dog )
Bill and Buddy
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