Bison with a Handgun?

[Snake45]

Anyone see last night's Mountain Men on History? They showed a couple brothers hunting bison. One of them charged up on a bison and pulled a long-barreled semiauto pistol from under his coat--10mm 1911, perhaps? Then they cut to commercial. After the commercial, the animal was already on the ground and the gun wasn't seen again. Strange because usually on HC, right after a commercial break, they show you the last 30 seconds or minute of what you've already seen.

Is a 10mm "good enough" for bison?

 

[BearBio]

Good enough for grizzly and polar bears, so I imagine it would be.

 

[kramden]

Saw a hunting program where a guy shot a cape buffalo with a 10mm.

 

[pleadthe2nd]

I saw that episode, and thought the same thing, was it a 10mm, or 45acp, don't know, but looked like a 1911, either seems minimal to me for bison, I've read stories where a 44mag had a tough time taking moose, but he was pretty close when he shot, maybe 10- 15 ft.

 

[mike7mm08]

Shot placement is critical with handgun and bison. Very critical. Several years back went on a meat shoot for Bison. Three of us were shooting meat cows around 800 pounds. Brother shoot one just behind the eye with 44 mag at about 35 yards. Had to at least graze the front of the brain in addition to the shock. Damn critter turned and looked at us and shook like a dog and walked away. Rancher had dropped them with one shot from a 17 remington, if you put it in the ear hole.

I also saw the mountain man shoot. Judging by lack of footage I am guessing it was not pretty. I am guessing a bunch of body shots. Got the animal to stop and make a stand and they finished him with a head shot.

I watched the clip several times. As they went to commercial looks as if the slide locked back. Guessing they did not want to show a full mag dump and just edited down to last shot or two. They also said they left the ribs, I would too if they were full of holes and bone fragments. Lots of meat on Bison ribs no need to leave them unless shot to hell.

 

[Snake45]

As they went to commercial looks as if the slide locked back. Guessing they did not want to show a full mag dump and just edited down to last shot or two.

I saw that clearly too, and wondered the same thing you did. :?

 

[BDM1]

My bad, i thought your title meant something else...

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Shot placement is critical with handgun and bison. Very critical. Several years back went on a meat shoot for Bison. Three of us were shooting meat cows around 800 pounds. Brother shoot one just behind the eye with 44 mag at about 35 yards. Had to at least graze the front of the brain in addition to the shock. Damn critter turned and looked at us and shook like a dog and walked away. Rancher had dropped them with one shot from a 17 remington, if you put it in the ear hole.

I also saw the mountain man shoot. Judging by lack of footage I am guessing it was not pretty. I am guessing a bunch of body shots. Got the animal to stop and make a stand and they finished him with a head shot.

I watched the clip several times. As they went to commercial looks as if the slide locked back. Guessing they did not want to show a full mag dump and just edited down to last shot or two. They also said they left the ribs, I would too if they were full of holes and bone fragments. Lots of meat on Bison ribs no need to leave them unless shot to hell.

^^^^^^^^^THIS is my take on it^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[Dan in MI]

Didn't see it, but was it like most hunting shows ? The shot was at the break of dawn, but the recovery was after dark.

 

[nrobe50]

its reality tv. does not make it true

 

[Mobuck]

Probably lots of bison( and most anything else) killed with a 44-40. 10mm or 44 mag from a handgun is about equal to 44-40 from a carbine.

 

[gramps]

1911 also come in .460 Rowland, .45 Super?. Then there is the Desert Eagle in .44 Magnum, and 50 AE. Bison herds were decimated with guns that had far less power!
gramps

 

[Thumbcocker]

When Smith and Wesson sponsored a Bison hunt for a Russian Prince or duke to get a contract for the Russian model revolvers Bison were shot from horse back with BP revolvers. IIRC in .44 Russian or .44 American caliber .

 

[jack black]

I shot a few with a bow so yes

 

[TRanger]

Shooting a bison with a 10mm is proportionally similar to shooting mule deer with a .22 rimfire. Can it be accomplished? Yes. Is it something an intelligent and ethical Hunter would do? An emphatic “No!”

 

[jack black]

Sort of like saying I am going to kill the beast cut it up and eat it but I will be gentle.

 

[mohavesam]

One word: why.

Even if your buff is not a once in a lifetime tag... Rifle. O'er sticks, on your hind legs like a grownup.
He'll be looking you in the eye when you're squeezing the trigger. Honor the creature, Bring enough gun.

Glad that's settled.

 

[onehandgunner]

One word: why.

Even if your buff is not a once in a lifetime tag... Rifle. O'er sticks, on your hind legs like a grownup.
He'll be looking you in the eye when you're squeezing the trigger. Honor the creature, Bring enough gun.

Glad that's settled.

AMEN !

 

[gramps]

Shooting a bison with a 10mm is proportionally similar to shooting mule deer with a .22 rimfire. Can it be accomplished? Yes. Is it something an intelligent and ethical Hunter would do? An emphatic “No!”

You don’t hunt do you? You have no idea what the ballistics of a 10 mm are. At least that is how you come across to me. Indians took bison with bow and arrow, settlers with Black Powder guns of all sorts took their share too.
gramps

 

[contender]

This kind of question is the type I like to use in my Hunter Safety classes,, when teaching the "Ethics" portion.

As noted above,, there are varied answers. And there is NOT a hard & fast rule to follow. What EACH INDIVIDUAL hunter has to do is be honest with themselves,, and ask themselves a question.
"Can I use my weapon of choice, and make a clean, one shot kill, under field conditions?" If the answer is "No" then the hunter has to look at WHY they can't answer yes,, and modify things to where they can answer the question with a "Yes."
It might be changing the weapon of choice, or even conditions of the hunt. For the sake of this thread,, it can often be "Change the weapon or caliber of choice."

An ethical hunter strives to make a clean, one shot kill that doesn't allow an animal to suffer needlessly.

 

[427mach1]

I shot a few with a bow so yes

And Native Americans killed them with bows, too, and they weren't anything like the compound bow you probably used!

 

[Jeepnik]

“Mountain Men” or “Housewives”. The same made up BS for the easily confused about what is real and what is fantasy.

 

[david knutson]

I'm sure the first people used a bow or a Speer ,,,but I'm willing to bet that they ran more over the jump than any other way..my home is less than 200 feet from the national bison range every year at least one idiot gets put in the hospital from messing with one ..there is a sand pit about 400 feet from me it is not a place you get to as a tourist those big bulls are massive when you watch them struggle to get up it is really hard to believe they can run as fast as they do,, I would not want to walk up to one with a 10mm as far as that goes I would not want to one at normal pistol range with any thing..