Tyler's Link
—Jim
Ken
Day 1. The boys arrived on the early AM flight and we headed to camp to shoot the bows and gear up for the first afternoon hunt! We spent a short time driving just a KM from camp before finding our first group of buffalo cows calves and a young 3 yr old bull. We watched the group for a bit to see if a bigger bull was around but did not see one. We carried on down the track to find another group of buff about 15 animals with 2 good bulls in amongst them. The hunt was on. We managed to stalk into 40 yardsofthe group and the cows fed to us and bulls fed away. We had a stare down at 25 yards with the cows before the got out of there!
The evening hunt was good as we got on to a group of about 30 buff with 2 bulls in the mob. One was about an 80 inch heavy but short horn and the other was a better bull estimate in the low 90s but we ran out of light on our approach as the kept feeding away. So we backed out and left them undisturbed.
Maybe a 240” whitetail from up your way, Adam:).
What a stud!
Course, I’m not a whitetail guy so I’ll need it in comparison to a mule deer;)
Great week. Excellent job Tyler & your hunters shot well. Are you moving to a new location next week? Is the hunt that started on June 18 next or do you have additional hunters between now & June 18?
—jim
Evening 1 saw 92 inch bull and 6 cows and calves I decided to pass the bull being the first evening we left them undisturbed and he may become plan B later in the hunt driving back to camp saw a group of 15 buffalo cows from the cruiser. We got out and stalked them but swirling winds ended the stalk when the buff took off I caught a glimpse of what looked to be a giant old broomed shooter bull. We would look for him in the AM.
Day 1. We returned to the area we saw the old broomed bull we covered a lot of country as most of it is burnt and has new growth and makes a prime feeding area. After a couple hours of walking we finally found some buff, about 20 but they were all cows and calves. We were in position to intercept them if there was a bull but no luck. We did have 10 cows and calves under 30 yards at one point which was fun! The evening hunt I decided to do a quick check on a buff carcass from last week looking for a pig or wild dog. We did see a dog but it saw us first. Off in the distance we could hear a scrub bull calling so we thought we’d check him out. He turned out to be a brute! We got into 35 yards but he never presented a shot and he fed out into an open area and became unapproachable. I changed plans and moved to a water hole where we watched about 40 cows and calves visit the water followed by a good bull but with not much shooting light left we backed out.
Day 2 morning we drove down toward the other camp and came across a great bull with a few cows. We passed them parked got the wind right and stalked back to where thy were. Never found them. After a bunch of searching we picked up the track and headed to an area I had never been. 3 miles later we arrived at Black fellow creek and lost the track. Trying to pick up the track again we bumped a small group of pigs. We stopped at 11AM for a snack and had a young bull buff pass by at 60 yards. We followed him but he vanished in the long grass. 10 minutes later we found our buffalo herd but not the way we anticipated they were bedded in long grass in the shade impossible to spot and they jumped up and took off. We walked back to the cruiser after that seeing a pig and small group of buff in the way.
Afternoon hunt we saw more buffalo then we knew what to do with the wind was inconsistent and we saw easily over 100 buff in a small area 4 shooter bulls but just could not make anything happen. Let hope tomorrow is a better day!
Day 3 morning we spotted a great 100 point + bull from the cruiser. We drive well beyond him and worked our way back to never see the bull again. We carried on with my original plan and ended up amongst a mob of 20 cows that came up out of a river bottom face to face with us at 20 yards. Didn’t see a bull. We carried on walking for an hour or so before laying eyes on a wild dog. A speed stalk to intercept him worked a treat! As the dog was passing at 42 yards he spotted us with Al at full draw already the dog got curious and trotted into 28 yards where he copped a 630 grain arrow just below the chin. He made it 20 yards and it was lights out!
Evening we went to an area I had not been this season yet due to access but things are drying up finally. We got part way to where I wanted go but the road became impassable we set off on foot to see 100ish buff that night but the swirling winds beat us every time. We did have one quick stalk on a bull I know from last season a beauty bull with red skin and very wide straight horns about 98 inches. However the non existent wind put an end to that stalk at 50 yards. We would return in the morning
Day 4 morning. Returning to where we were the previous evening we saw 1 nice shooter bull in the drive but gave him a miss as his demeanour wasn’t in favour of a successful stalk. We parked and set off on foot again spotting a young bull right away and then another 10 minutes later. About 45 mins into our walk we rounded a corner in the bottom of a creek to come face to face with a giant bull 105+ incher. He was out about 80 yards and pegged us at the same time we saw him. The morning carried on to be a frustrating one with swirling winds screwing up 2 more stalks on the bright side we saw 3 bulls that I think were in the 100 inch range however they had all bust us.
Afternoon was a quiet one in search of a particular bull that never ended up showing himself.
Day 5 we returned to the area from yesterday morning and as soon as I approached the river a dandy scrub bull appeared feeding at 60 yards on the opposite side. After a short stalk we were in position at 38 yards the bull turned broadside and Al took a shot unfortunately he hit far forward and slightly high and just smacked shoulder. We followed the bull for about a mile and lost him in thick cover. Next to nothing for blood and he would not allow a follow up shot it was a real downer to what has been a tough week of hunting with the extremely high temps and no wind. On the way back to the cruiser we found a huge herd of buff 100 head easily but left them in their beds as there was no way to approach the herd bull with all the eyes. We went for a swim mid day and went to a new area in the evening and found a herd of 30 buff but only 1 bull about 75 inches so we just observed.
Day 6 and 7 were much the same little to no wind and what wind we did have was always swirling. Failed stalk after failed stalk Things we’re starting to get frustrating but at the end of the day it’s bowhunting. We were seeing quality bulls everyday we were just unable to close the gap or just get plain lucky.
Day 8 we woke up to wind as was forecasted on the Inreach. The first bull found was a high 80 class bull unfortunately he spotted us. The next bull a mid 90 class bull was in an unapproachable area in the bottom of a river with escarpment on both sides with swirling winds in the bottom we tried anyway but got busted as expected. 500 yards later we spotted a group of buff and they were feeding to us. Trying to find a bull in the group of animals was tough with the number of bodies constantly moving and the tightly woven paperbark trees not leaving much gap to see what was what. Finally I laid eyes on the herd bull. He was in the middle of the mix and headed to us. Cows started to pass us at 30-50 yards the bull was approaching and entered a shooting lane at 35 yards but walked right through offering no shot and moved out to 46 yards. The buffalo all seemed to stop moving and feed for a minute. We were unable to move with 60 sets of eyes under 100 yards. They started moving again I changed position by 10 yards and the bull cleared the scrub. Al came to full draw and the bull stopped but behind scrub at 32 yards. No shot when all of a sudden he jumps up and mounts a cow perfectly broadside as Al settled his pins the cow took off and the bull was back on all fours. He took a couple steps and stopped. Al cut one loose and drilled him however his arrow only got about 16 inches of penetration. The bull was hit well but likely only single lung. He staggered and ran out to 68 yards I told Al to fling another. With his 40 yard pin 2 feet over the bulls back the arrow dropped in perfect and buried right to the fletch. He ran 40 yards up into a rocky ridge and fell over in sight! To hunt as hard as we did in the toughest conditions I had faced buffalo hunting this bull was special!
Thankfully Al had booked a few extra days as typically 6 day hunts are ample time to get a bull. Our last couple days we sorta relaxed a bit we did some pig hunting and a bit of exploring. Al took 2 great boars to top his trip off perfectly!
Until next week!
I left for Australia on July 15th & was picked up by Tyler a few days later at Mcarthur river mine airport. A two hour drive to camp & we were ready to hunt that afternoon. Tyler has all of the bugs worked out of a tent came. I slept in a 4-man tent with lots of room for my stuff. The camp has a hot shower, kitchen, refrigerator (keeps beer really cold) & frezzer.
When I booked the hunt, we had an agreement that if I shot a bull, I would be able to hunt a 2nd bull. I drew blood on two bulls so I'm done... Tyler & I discussed alternatives & decided that I would hunt a cow water buff. We drove around looking for cows & decided to hunt pigs again. Back at the swamp, Tyler spotted a pig feeding towards us. We did our swamp walk & got within 28 yards of the pig. When it quarter away, I shot & the hit was perfect. The pig stumbled around & headed off into the muck. By this time it was almost dark & we decided it was not a good idea to go after it in the dark swamp.
Tyler has the hunting rights on the 1,000,000 aboriginal land we were hunting. Another guy has leased the rights to capture wild cattle that roam the same land. This agreement appears to work out well for both. Tyler was notified by the cattle guy that an old bull with a nasty disposition has taken up residence near his homestead & was causing some concern. The bull has charged the ranchers truck & appears to be very aggressive towards people. Tyler asked me if I would be interested in hunting the old nasty bull. I jumped at the opportunity. However, because of my poor shooting track record & disposition of the old bull, the rancher & Tyler would back me up with rifles.. We went to the area where the bull was known to hang-out & looked for him. When we spotted the bull & tried to close the distance he got very aggressive. He would run back & forth & rake the bush. No-one wanted to get out of the trucks. We finally got into a position where I could get within 53 yards of the bull. He was quarrying slightly towards me but the angle looked ok. As stated above, backing me up was Tyler with his 30-06 & the rancher with a 300 win mag. So, at 53 yards I took the shot. I didn't see the arrow hit but the rancher said you hit him. Shortly after the arrow hit the 300 & 30-06 boomed. The bull ran about 80 yards & went down. Tyler did an autopsy on the bull & I got a pass-through. It was a double lung hit. We found the arrow covered with little bubbles... The bull was an old skinny critter with busted up horns with a bad attitude... So, at the end of the day, I'm very disappointed in my performance. I had shot opportunity's at two pigs & three bulls... screwing up the two shooter bulls Tyler put in my lap. All in all I had a great time. Tyler is an outstanding outfitter that will put game well within bow range. If water buffalo is on your bucket list, IronBark outfitters will get it done.
—jim
Day 2 morning went to a normal good producing area of mine and found a large group of cows and calves but no herd bull. We covered several miles and found another group of buff in some country I had never been to before it yielded a nice bull be he was a short horned bull needing a couple more years as he was only about 4yr old. Evening we covered a few miles and found one smaller bull 85ish with a couple cows then finally the bull we were looking for a single bull that looked to score in the low 100s. He was standing in the middle of the floodplain facing us so we waited to see what he did. Well he bedded in that position. We closed the gap to the nearest tree 130 yards from the bull and elected to wait him out as we now had no wind. Well he out waited us. He may have even died this bull just fell asleep it got dark and we walked back to the cruiser.
Day 3 I went to an area I like to hunt its tough to get to and tougher to get animals out of as its foot access only. Dino’s brother shot his big cow buff up there last year. We had a long uneventful walk up there then finally found a lone bull standing in the wide open. We watched him for an hour then he started to move. We mirrored his movement until finally he stopped to feed after about half a mile. We had great cover and shadows and quickly closed the gap to 26 yards for a perfect broadside shot. The hit was low but with the tall grass I did not see the exact impact nor did Neil. The bull ran out to 50 yards and turned to face us for about 10 seconds. The bull indicated no real reaction of a fatal shot Neil and I with the uncertainty and knowing it was very low we decided to shoot him with the gun. I took him in the front of the chest right between the 2 white V’s on the chest and he expired 80 yards later. I did an autopsy and found the arrow centred the heart. Rifle shot not needed but with uncertainty and Neil not wanting to risk loosing the buff we played it safe. The result was good we had a respectable high 80s bull on the ground!
Evening plan was to go to a swamp so Neil would have an idea as to what pig hunting is like on the property even though he had no interest in personally shooting a pig and told me he would not get his feet wet for a pig I took him anyways. Well we only made it about half ways and spotted another giant bull. 105ish. The wind was fickle and we tried to close the gap on the bull but at about 60 yards it was all over when he got a slight whiff while the wind had done a subtle shift in direction. He moved off but not too spooked. We did not make it to the swamp instead we watched a floodplain the buff cross to head to the swamp and we saw 1 decent bull cross but with poor wind conditions and crunch ground underfoot we didn’t get very far on him.
Day4 we spotted a good bull from the truck we got the wind right and made Our approach only to get busted I sent Neil into the bottom of the creek 10yards to my left and started to flag the bull he came past Neil at 14 yards but with Neil down so low the vitals were obstructed as well as the rising sun right in his line of sight. Not a great situation but it was a fun encounter with a mid 90 class bull. We carried on. With my original plan right away a low 90 inch bull was spotted but he had got a sniff of us and was on edge. We didn’t even try to make a play on him. Off in the distance stood another great looking bull we made our approach and closed the gap to 3-400 yards and sat on the bull for a bit over 2 hours waiting for a steady wind to start. The bull was bedded broadside and I couldn’t judge his horns real well but by the looks of his body he was a mature animal and that’s all Neil wanted was a mature buff. size of horns were not of concern. Once the wind started we positioned ourselves in the creek about 150 yards from the bull ready to intercept and the waiting game continued!
30 mins later the bull rose to his feet facing us and I could now tell this was a very nice bull I estimated him at 101-102. I didn’t tell Neil that just said he was a shooter. The bull stood there for ages then slowly started to make his way to the creek we had to back track using the creek to cover our movement. We nearly intercepted the bull when he just stopped and bedded 52 yards away. We waited another 20 minutes ticked by and he got to his feet and started to angle towards us appearing he would cross the creek about 30 yards from our position. As he got to the creek edge he stopped 40 some yards away he stood there scanning the area around him for 20 minutes then he bedded again in a small depression with one large tree and some brush covering his body had we not seen him bed there you would never see this bull. With his head on the ground in the depression it was a perfect stalk scenario lots of cover good steady wind the only downside was all the scrub obstructing his body. We made our move slowly and quietly down the creek and into this small drainage to 18 yards of the bull bedded broadside but offering no shot. We would wait till he stood but even then a shot would be tough with all the obstruction. After about 30 minutes cooking in the sun the bull got up his vitals covered by the large tree the bull circled 180 degrees and rubbed his horns on the tree his vitals now covered by the scrub. The bull took a half step forward and there was a tiny window in the scrub which also had one baseball sized brown leaf amongst all the green that leaf happened to line up exactly where I wanted Neil to put the arrow. Neil couldn’t make out the body position or the crease behind the shoulder due to all the shadows. I told him to shoot the brown leaf and he said ok I’ll take your word for it!!! He drew took his time and released his 800 grain arrow out of his 65 pound Matthews blitzed through the brown leaf like it wasn’t even there!! And came to a hault on impact with the buff the shot placement was a perfect high lung but the penetration was good but not great the arrow stopped about an inch before the wrap. The bull merely flinched but became very alert swinging his head around trying to detect movement. Neil nocked another arrow and asked if he should shoot again. I said no because in this situation the last thing I wanted to do was spook the bull getting to full draw the bull then trotted out to 78 yards and stopped out in the wide open. He stood there for 10 minutes. he was hit hard I figured it was a 1 lung hit and that Neil had hit a rib and that’s why the penetration was lacking. He slowly made his way back to the creek having no idea what just happened we followed him and got to the last tree between us and him 57 yards away. It’s a long shot with a heavy arrow but you won’t kill em if you don’t shoot. The bull was quartering away Neil lobbed one short at the bulls feet the bull did not react. Neil adjusted and sent another unfortunately it was 2 inches to the right of where we wanted it and it buried into the shoulder. It was still a good shot in my books! The bull didn’t even flinch then a minute later he got aggressive and busted up a tree and spun around a couple times to see what hit him then he walked out into the open again. He spent about an hour and a half out there with no cover for a safe approach we waited. While waiting we found the arrow that missed so we were back to 2 in the quiver. The bull now got some life back in him and headed back to our creek again and moving fast. We tried to cut him off but couldn’t keep the pace. I caught a glimpse of the bull as he crossed the creek bottom and headed into a small drainage. We got up on the creek bank and approached the drainage. He had stopped in some shade we closed the gap to 30 yards and he moved up the bank to 36 yards quartering away. Neil was now a bit rattled it was 2pm hot thirsty and hungry he did his best to keep his composure the arrow hit the bull but far forward in the neck immediately I saw blood flowing out heavily he had got lucky and hit the jugular the bull collapsed right there and expired seconds later.
Although it was not an ideal 1 shot kill it was a true grit bowhunt and it was great to have this tank on the ground! Neil was very pleased with his bull and so he should be with a score of 100 3/8 he is a dandy old bull!
So just for interests sake so we can judge vs these size you are mentioning - what would be let's say the Australia archery record on these buffs?
Tyler's Link
The main system used for scoring game animals in Australia is the Douglas system similar to a Net B&C or P&Y score it factors in the differences per side. Now a lot of you might think all buffalo look pretty even well it’s not the case. Even the ones that you can see are not broken and look perfectly even normally have 2 inches difference between the sides.
The record book down under that most bow hunters use is called trophy takers or the ABA. The record archery buffalo was 108 4/8 DP taken in 2012 in trophy takers and 108 2/8 in the ABA this was taken in 1987 however at 110 4/8 DP Nick Peterson is now the record holder for trophy takers and once officially claimed with the ABA he will hold that record as well beating a record that’s over 30 years old! Which is very exciting for both Nick and I!
I have attached a link to trophy takers and will repost a photo of the giant week 1 bull. With a link to the ABA website as well
Tyler's Link
Day1 morning. Went across the main river to an area I had not hunted this season and wow were there buffalo there at least 100 buffalo were out on the flood plain cool to see but more or less impossible to hunt. Buff started to move off and we found a good bull with a smaller group of cows 10-15 animals problem was we had no wind. Late in the morning the wind started but the buffalo went to a tough spot to approach nearly 1pm at this time I said to heck with it let’s just take a crack at closing in on them. It was a long shot but sometimes you get lucky. We did not get lucky. Got to about 60 yards and it was all over.
The evening hunt we went to an area that doesn’t normally hold a lot of buffalo but normally a shooter bull or 2 can be found. We walked about a mile and a half and I started to see some fresh sign. I followed the sign with the wind mostly in our favour. About a mile later the sign was taking us to the river as we approached the river I spotted some bedded cows. We watched the group for 10 minutes from a distance of 80 yards when the wind shifted and they took off. It was all cows and calves about 20-30 head. We continued on to find a scrub bull which Ilene was not interested in hunting. I was looking at the scrub bull when I noticed a nice buffalo bull on the move about a half mile behind the scrubber. We moved around and past the scrubber trying to intercept the cruising buff. With him on a steady pace and light fading fast I decided to try and call the lone bull in with Ilene in position I started to call. The bull came on a string right to 25-35 yards he kept pacing and staring at me in the long grass trying to decide what I was and what to do. Ilene was at full draw trying to wait for the right shot angle finally the bull decided he had enough and as he exited he paused at 30 yards quartering away. Ilene let fly but the shot was way right of where it needed to be hitting the bull in the neck he took off not offering me a shot with the rifle and disappeared into the river. I marked that spot and would return in the morning.
Day 2 morning was spent looking for the bull from the night before we found blood and trailed it for about 600 yards and the trail dried up we continued to hunt the direction the bull was headed hoping for a miracle to bump into him again however it was not to be.
That evening we headed to a large burnt area that provides lots of green feed for the buff. We found plenty but only one mature bull with a few cows. On the approach the wind had totally died and we got busted shortly after with the crunchy conditions and no wind.
Day3 morning we headed to an escarpment that has several springs that run out of it. it is normally a good area to find buffalo moving from the flood plains to get a drink and bed down for the day. It didn’t take long to find buffalo unfortunately it was just too many. We tried and tried to make something happen but couldn’t catch a break when all of a sudden a wild dog started harassing some buffalo cows and calves about 100 yards in front of us. One cow in particular was not happy about this and put her head down and charged the dog right towards us. I told Ilene to knock one we were in good cover the wind was good and with the dog appearing to be on the hunt and feeling deflated after being run off by a cow I figured I might call him in a few mouth squeaks and he was on his way over 30,25,20,16 whap Ilene drilled him frontal he made a short dash and it was all over. All the buffalo seemed to stare in amazement as to what just happened to the dog. We gave the buffalo a bit of time to see what might happen but it was more like pushing $h1t uphill so we took some photos and called it a morning.
Day 3 evening we headed to the same spot we had killed the 103 inch bull from week 1 we found a few cows before we got to the creek where the buff normally hang out as we approached the creek I spotted some buffalo. The whole scenario was exactly the same as week 1. As I looked at the bull he appeared to be a son to the one we had killed with a real tight curl but lots of length and mass. I estimated him right on the 100 inch mark just lacking a bit of mass compared to the week 1 bull. the cows were in front of us and the bull and a few more cows approached from our left they were going to travel 25 yards or less in front of us. Everything was perfect but a cow picked up a slight bit of movement and blew the whole setup. It was a bummer. We continued hunting and found several cows and young bulls before heading back to camp.
Day4 morning we headed to an area I had not been to this season on the drive in we started to see several buff bulls and cows in groups. When passing one shooter bull and his few cows they seemed unphased by the cruiser so the plan was to drive past and hunt back with the wind being in our favour. We stalked down a dry creek towards the buff and located the bull and his hot cow. A short while later she fed into the creek we were in but the bull surprised me and did not follow he turned back and disappeared. We waited for 30 minutes for him to return but he never did. I decided to head in the direction I had last seen him. About a half mile from where I had last seen him Ilene spotted the buff ahead and across the creek to our left. The light breeze we had was in our favour and the creek offered great cover. The bull and 4 cows were grazing and unaware of our presence. We dropped into the creek followed it up and came up at a likely spot I felt the bull might return back to the hot cow he had left earlier. The buff fed in front of us for about 20 minutes at a distance of 80-120 yards, then the bull started our way. The distance became very short very fast unfortunately the angle was not right and when the bull paralleled us at 22 yards he got a sniff of us and spooked across a small drainage Ilene drew at this point the bull stopped at 35 yards broadside and she released. The arrow flew well but hit a bit high and penetration was severely lacking the bull stopped at 60 yards or so and I shot him in the heart with the rifle. He ran and stopped so I gave him another followed by a couple more just to ground him sooner. He was a great mature bull with a bit worn off one side scoring about 90SCI. Once photos were done I removed the backstraps for dinner and a front shoulder to see what the arrow had hit. Ilene had just clipped the top of one lung and the broadhead was lodged into the spine. It was likely a fatal shot but the bull would have taken quite some time to expire.
The next few days were spent boiling the skull, swimming in the hot spring, fishing for barramundi, catching crocodiles, viewing venomous snakes, pig/wild dog hunting and eating as much food as we could so I wouldn’t have to take it all back to Queensland with me. It was a great way to end the season!
—jim
If you are on the fence about doing this hunt... Just jump! It's an action-filled week with countless stalks, adrenaline pumping up-close encounters, beautiful country, and a perfect backcountry camp. Tyler works his tail off from the moment he picks you up at the airport, the camp is rustic but extremely comfortable with all needs met including hot showers!!! The food is fantastic, we had everything from leg of lamb, huge steaks, delicious corned beef, and more... I can't say enough about the buffalo meat, extremely delicious!
Hunting, fishing, mucking through swamps, swimming, waterfalls, crocodiles, unbelievable birdlife and unimaginable adventure! That's what you get with this hunt, I can't thank Tyler enough for helping to make a hunt/trip of a lifetime! (I'm trying to post some pics but having a problem, I'll keep trying)
