Used my new CZ 375 Holland & Holland

[William W.]

Shot a nice "small" bison with my 375 Holland & Holland magnum. Despite clipping the heart with my first lung shot, the animal took two more shots before deciding to pass. I used handloaded 300-grain Woodleigh soft point bullets over Norma case-filling 80-grains of Winchester 780 powder and a Federal Magnum Match primer which yield a muzzle velocity of 2,400 fps.

The bison was taken during our second trip to the Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey TN. We were here 2-years ago and our elk and pig from that trip have been eaten; it is time to re-fill a freezer. The books say that they can be "phlegmatic" when hit - after my first shot, taken at 10-15 yards as the animal obligingly paused as it walked up to me, went through the huge animal, it just walked off casually. I thought that I missed, swiveled my rifle on my shooting sticks, and took the rear quartering shot aiming again at the heart area. It still kept walking, turned a bit, offered a better chest shot opportunity, and I took another shot which finally convinced the cow to lay down. After the guts were removed (they completely filled a medium trash can), it was found that I had indeed nicked the stomach area with the second shot. There was literally a bucket of blood in the chest area which looked like a bullet Grand Cenral Station. After hosing-off the front half (it had to be cut in two pieces for processing) hopefully the front section meat is OK. The bladder and intestinal area were intact.

The meat was final-cut and vacuum-packed. The guys said that the meat was just fine. We are supposed to be getting about 100-pounds of ground buffalo - including sausage, pot roasts and alleged steak - the latter may become pot roasts.

 

[cpr0312]

Very nice, congrats! Lots of good meat for table fare!

 

[William W.]

Not as exciting as a Cape Buffalo, but it is a start.

 

[thi9elsp]

Great way to break the new girl in and some very good eating meat. Congratulations.

 

[Ray B]

WW- Any estimate on the total weight of packaged meat?

 

[Bullthrower338]

Good job William! A freezer full it should be! Man at 10 yards I bet you were wishing you had a bayonet on that CZ! Lol
Congrats,
Cody

 

[Ridgewalker]

Mmmm! Buffalo meat is so delicious! Good job!

 

[William W.]

WW- Any estimate on the total weight of packaged meat?

I asked for heavy deboning, so I am guessing about close to 300-pounds.

 

[Clayton]

Good for you, William. I've had Bison and it is very good eating.

 

[Ray B]

WOW!! 300 pounds of buffalo meat- GREAT. Enjoy.

 

[William W.]

Our first entre was bison-based lasagna which we served to our town's on-duty police officers during a Christmas Eve open house. It was delicious! Our second attempt to use the thin-cut steaks will be fajitas made with strips overnight marinated in lime juice, tequila, cumin and garlic. I am skillet-cooking them along with peppers and onions for our dinner tomorrow.

 

[CAustin]

Where in Tn did you take this hunt again? Any details would be appreciated. Do you have a website for the operation?

 

[William W.]

Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey, TN. http://wildernesshuntinglodge.com/. Unfortunately, by the time I cooked out the marinade, the small pieces of meat that I used turned rubbery. Such is life.

 

[William W.]

Where in Tn did you take this hunt again? Any details would be appreciated. Do you have a website for the operation?

If you want further details, feel free to call me 901-338-4031.

 

[CAustin]

Thank you sir! I'm looking at the website now!

 

[ChrisG]

Not as exciting as a Cape Buffalo, but it is a start.

Any chance I get to take an animal with one of my rifles, I don't care that it wasn't coming for me, bent on mashing me to a pulp. There is just something about using them for what they were intended for: the taking of game. The black bear in my avatar was taken with my .375 H&H and a 300 grain Hornady RN. Way more than was needed but, it worked and it worked well! This year I will be carrying my .416 for bear! Congrats on the Bison! Overkill is underrated. I would rather hit them with a ton of bricks and be sure that if I do my part, the animal will be recovered.

 

[William W.]

All, thank you so much. This is a superb forum. Great advice and support without ego and "gun geek" crap! There are many here whose hunting adventures completely over shadow my meager attempts, and yet there is nothing but kindness and acceptance here.

 

[William W.]

I would like to report back on my first attempt at slow-cooker bison stew; it was delicious.

I unthawed a large chuck of bison about 1-1/2 pounds and put it into the cooker with:
2-bags of peeled baby carrots cut into 1-inch lengths
About 8-Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
1-can tomato paste
2-bottles of Guinness Stout
3/4-cup steak sauce
2-TBL instant coffee
2-TBL brown sugar
1-TSP garlic powder
1-TBL Accent
1/2-TSP black pepper
1-package onion soup mix
1-TSP thyme
1-package McCormick beef stew mix

Cook on low overnight

Next morning, remove bison meat, cut into 3/4-inch squares (it does not pull apart like pork) and return to pot and add:
1- or 2-small cans of chopped mushrooms
1-package Pioneer Brand brown gravy
About 4-large onions cut into about 3/4-inch chunks

Cook on high, with stirring hourly, for about 6-hours

Serve with white slider buns as dinner rolls.

My recipe, hope y'all enjoy!

 

[MS Hitman]

Thanks for sharing with us.

 

[William W.]

Bison skull mount with some enhancements.