Sandhills buff trip.
Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2003 1:01 pm
Nov 21st my friend Larry and I were at the Sandhills ranch for buffalo. We were originally scheduled for the 22nd but due to the approaching snow storm Kelley at k-bar called my wife and suggested we try to make it the 21st. My wife remembered that we were going to Cabellas and had Larry's wife call there and tell us the news. It's scary when you get paged over the intercom to come to the service desk. It puts everything into perspective to find out that nobody was hurt or deathly sick and that the only thing was a step up of the hunt date.
As we were driving into the ranch friday morning a herd of buffalo was along the driveway rode which we stopped to look at and take some pictures of. They didn't seem to be real scared and I told Larry I hoped these weren't the ones we were going to look for. When we got to the ranch we were told that indeed they were the ones. Kelly told us that they were and they were wild from having so much hunting pressure. Needless to say I was skeptical if not downright disbelieving. We left at 9:00 am and drove to about a mile from the herd and proceeded to walk to the herd hidden from view by the hills. About an hour later we finally got to where we were on our hands and knees sneaking within range of them and I'm thinking to myself "We don't need to do this they'll let us walk right up to them".
Well I was very wrong because while cars and people along the road don't give them much concern when you get out and start sneaking around they turn into different animals. The herd saw us and started leaving pretty quickly. Sorting out and shooting a good animal from a herd is tough when they are spooking but one opened up and Dan (our main guide) told Larry to shoot. He made a good hit with his 45/70 Marlin shooting smokeless rounds with jacketed bullets (Larry's not sharp enough to appreciate the bpcr thing) and slowed her down. He shot two more times which were both misses. She went about 200 yds. over a little hill. A follow up stalk was made and Larry put her down with another shot.
Kelley and I went to look for the herd while Larry's animal was being taken care of and saw them a mile away moving away at a walk. We circled around and tried to get in front of them. When we got to where we thought we could see them we saw them alright ... about another mile and ahalf away. Moving good. I was happy because these weren't tame animals. I told Kelley he was right about them.
I then hunted with Dan the rest of the day. To make a long story short we went up on a hill and found the herd about 4 miles from where they were in the morning and drove to within a mile of them. We then stalked them only to have them move a another mile away. I was starting to think I wouldn't get one that day. We finally snuck in close only to have them see us while we were trying to size them up. They weren't sure what we were and ran around us to get a better look and try to scent us. Thankfully the wind was swirling and they worked their way just over a hill. Dan finally said that if we were to get one we better try for the first one available. I said ok. We snuck up to the hill and I made a rare for me good shot at 97yds on one. I held low behind the shoulder and she broke into a fast run that lasted only 20 yds and went down. It was about 3:30, cloudy and not alot of light left. I used my Shiloh #3 45/70 with 420 gr. Lyman 457193 pure lead bullets in front of 71 gr. of Swiss 2 f. Velocity of 1348. Probably a little slower as cold as it was. As I get older it's a little sad when I kill something, especially an animal like this that could pound me into the ground if she wanted to. But it was a challenge and a alot of fun hiking around the sandhills of Nebraska. Dan was real patient and seemed to have fun too.
As we were driving into the ranch friday morning a herd of buffalo was along the driveway rode which we stopped to look at and take some pictures of. They didn't seem to be real scared and I told Larry I hoped these weren't the ones we were going to look for. When we got to the ranch we were told that indeed they were the ones. Kelly told us that they were and they were wild from having so much hunting pressure. Needless to say I was skeptical if not downright disbelieving. We left at 9:00 am and drove to about a mile from the herd and proceeded to walk to the herd hidden from view by the hills. About an hour later we finally got to where we were on our hands and knees sneaking within range of them and I'm thinking to myself "We don't need to do this they'll let us walk right up to them".
Well I was very wrong because while cars and people along the road don't give them much concern when you get out and start sneaking around they turn into different animals. The herd saw us and started leaving pretty quickly. Sorting out and shooting a good animal from a herd is tough when they are spooking but one opened up and Dan (our main guide) told Larry to shoot. He made a good hit with his 45/70 Marlin shooting smokeless rounds with jacketed bullets (Larry's not sharp enough to appreciate the bpcr thing) and slowed her down. He shot two more times which were both misses. She went about 200 yds. over a little hill. A follow up stalk was made and Larry put her down with another shot.
Kelley and I went to look for the herd while Larry's animal was being taken care of and saw them a mile away moving away at a walk. We circled around and tried to get in front of them. When we got to where we thought we could see them we saw them alright ... about another mile and ahalf away. Moving good. I was happy because these weren't tame animals. I told Kelley he was right about them.
I then hunted with Dan the rest of the day. To make a long story short we went up on a hill and found the herd about 4 miles from where they were in the morning and drove to within a mile of them. We then stalked them only to have them move a another mile away. I was starting to think I wouldn't get one that day. We finally snuck in close only to have them see us while we were trying to size them up. They weren't sure what we were and ran around us to get a better look and try to scent us. Thankfully the wind was swirling and they worked their way just over a hill. Dan finally said that if we were to get one we better try for the first one available. I said ok. We snuck up to the hill and I made a rare for me good shot at 97yds on one. I held low behind the shoulder and she broke into a fast run that lasted only 20 yds and went down. It was about 3:30, cloudy and not alot of light left. I used my Shiloh #3 45/70 with 420 gr. Lyman 457193 pure lead bullets in front of 71 gr. of Swiss 2 f. Velocity of 1348. Probably a little slower as cold as it was. As I get older it's a little sad when I kill something, especially an animal like this that could pound me into the ground if she wanted to. But it was a challenge and a alot of fun hiking around the sandhills of Nebraska. Dan was real patient and seemed to have fun too.