My first thought was: “No, Jim I’m not going to sell you another one of my favorite rifles!” A year earlier I had sold him my Marlin .45-70 Guide Rifle, one I never intended to let go because it is one of the most accurate off-the-rack guns I’ve ever shot!
But then, Jim Bequette and I go back more than a few years. When we first met and hunted together, he was the editor of Shooting Times magazine, where I served on staff as the hunting columnist years ago under his tenure. Over the years we became really good friends.
“Larry, I’m asking the favorite writers I worked with in the past to sell me one of their rifles. I’ve got guns from Bill Jordan, Skeeter Skelton and a few others who used to write for me. I really want one of your rifles to go along with theirs!”
Being put into that company, how could I refuse? I sold him my .45-70 Marlin Guide rifle. Frankly I would NEVER have sold that rifle or allowed anyone else to own it, other than Jim Bequette. I had procured the rifle back when Tony Aeschliman worked for Marlin and used it initially on a whitetail hunt on Anticosti Island and then a few other deer hunts. I also used it to take a monstrous black bear in Saskatchewan.
“Okay Jim, but only if it’s not about another of my rifles.”
“No, no, no… A friend of mine, Jim Block, and I want to shoot a buffalo, an American bison. We both own Sharpe’s rifles and are looking for a buffalo to take with them.”
“I know the place, Choctaw Hunting Lodge! Let me call Dusty Vickrey, who oversees their hunting program, to see if he has any buffalo hunts available,” I replied.
A quick call to Dusty. Shortly thereafter, I got him and Jim together after telling both I wanted to be present when the hunt occurred. A few weeks later, I helped the two Jims unload their gear into Choctaw Lodge. They had arrived after dark, too late to check their rifles that evening.
“Y’all want to make certain your rifles are properly sighted in?” asked Dusty over coffee before first light the following morning. Both nodded affirmatively. “Our range is out back, next to the lake. I’ll set up targets at a hundred yards. We’ll do our best to get you that close or closer.”
As he turned to leave, Dusty added, “I’ll go grab some gear. Meet me here in the kitchen in ten minutes. We should have good light by then.”
Both had brought their 1874 Sharps Rifles chambered in .45-70 Government, exact replicas of the originals Sharps rifles made by Shiloh Sharps (www.shilohrifles.com) during the heyday of the “buffalo runners” in the 1800s.
We were waiting in the kitchen when Dusty returned. It was interesting to see his face when he saw the rifles.
“We’ve done numerous buffalo hunts here at the Choctaw,” he noted, but this is the first time we had anyone show up with true buffalo hunter guns. I like it!”
At the range, I watched Jim Block chamber a hand-loaded cartridge, a 495-grain, hard-cast bullet propelled by black powder. He adjusted his sights for 100-yards, then shot. The bullet landed perfectly in the center “X-ring.” He followed that one with a second shot, less than one half-inch from the first. Jim Bequette did the same with a 300-grain Hornady Soft Point load when it was his turn to shoot. Impressive!
“I think both these guys are ready for buffalo!” commented Dusty, smiling broadly. We walked back to the lodge in preparation of heading afield.
A few minutes later, we headed to Choctaw Lodge’s estate area where the buffalo lived, part of more than 40,000 acres owned by the Choctaw Nation in southeastern Oklahoma. To both Jims, the steep, rolling hills and deep valleys covered with oaks, pines and a variety of underbrush were not quite what they had expected. They had thought the land would be flatter.
Dusty pointed the ATV toward a long deep valley.
“Saw a lone bull here a couple of days ago,“ he said. “Also saw him here four days before. One of our guides, Eric Stowe, saw him here just before dark yesterday as well. We think he’s staying somewhere in this valley. If we spot him while we’re driving, we’ll continue past like we didn’t see him, go another quarter mile or so, stop and then try to stalk him.”
After a slight hesitation, Dusty added, “I will warn you . . . unlike what you might have heard or assumed, buffalo can be really wary. Taking one is usually far from easy!”
Dusty continued, “We drive everywhere here on the ranch in ATVs. Sometimes the animals do not pay us them much attention. Sometimes they do. If they see a person walking, they run and go a long way before stopping. If we find a bull and get on the stalk we’ll need to pay attention to the wind and move slowly.”
We had barely entered Long Valley when we spotted a lone bull. We acted as if we had not seen him, and then a half-mile down the road Dusty stopped our ATV, out of sight of the buffalo.
“Who’s shooting first?” asked Dusty. Bequette pointed at Jim Block and then explained: “This hunt is a birthday present to Jim from his wife. She knew we had been talking about hunting buffalo with a Sharps rifle ever since we were in high school together.”
Jim Blocker started to protest, but Bequette shook his head. “You’re up first. No arguing!”
“Load up, have extra shells where you can get to them quickly,” Dusty instructed. “Buffalo can be really tough to bring down. Shooting those hard-cast bullets, it may take more than one bullet. Shoot for the vitals immediately behind the shoulder, about a third of the way up from the bottom of his body. Don’t shoot too high, keep your shot in the lower third!”
Dusty continued. “We’ll move slowly and use trees and underbrush for cover where we can. We’ll try to get within a hundred yards or less.”
A short time later, we again spotted the bull. Problem was, he spotted us at the same time, and quickly turned and ran. Last we saw, he was crossing into the adjoining valley. We walked back to the ATV. So much for simply walking up to a buffalo and shooting him as some might have thought could be done!
An hour later, we spotted another bull. We parked the ATV and headed in his direction. Thankfully, the wind had come up, and he neither smelled nor saw us.
The bull was feeding on a slope at the tail end of a waterhole. I stayed back with my camera, trailing the trio to record the hunt for an episode of our weekly A Sportsman’s Life, seen on CarbonTV.com and on my www.larryweishuhn.net website, as well as our A Sportsman’s Life YouTube channel.
Dusty and the two Jims used the pond dam to hide their movement to get within less than a hundred yards of the unsuspecting bull. Jim Block set up shooting sticks, rested his Sharps and took careful aim. The bullet hit the bull squarely through the vitals. The buffalo acted no differently than if he had been bitten by a mere mosquito. He started to slowly walk away. Block quickly reloaded and shot him a second time. Again, no real reaction from the bull. He just kept walking.
I followed the two Jims and Dusty as they trailed the bull. Through my 10×40 Stealth Vision binos, I could see two bloody spots behind the bull’s shoulder. It was not until Jim Block put a third bullet into the bull’s vitals that he finally went down.
At the buffalo’s side, we admired his size and majesty. After hearty congratulations, Dusty and I listened to the Jims talk about how hunting buffalo together was something they had started talking about well over 50 years ago. Now, finally, it had happened! Both of them, really all of us, were ecstatic over our early success!
After appropriate photos, and, a few TV things I asked “the players” to do for the episode I was filming, Dusty called in his support team, particularly Drake Stowe, to take care of the downed buffalo. Back at camp, Drake and his helper skinned the bull, caped it, and then took the carcass to a nearby meat processor to create the makings of many delicious meals.
Jim Block’s bull down, we started looking for a buffalo for Bequette. Little did we know that it would take some doing, in fact several days. Each time we saw a bull, he was running and soon hidden by trees, tall hills and deep valleys, much to the chagrin of Dusty and his crew. Most Choctaw buffalo hunts were usually completed within a day or two, leaving ample time to hunt the Choctaw Hunting Lodge’s wild hogs or go fishing while waiting for the meat to be processed.
Bequette’s hunt was different, mostly spotting a buffalo as it ran away. We did find a bull very late one afternoon. But by the time we stalked reasonably close, it was too dark for Jim to see through the fine metal peep sight for an accurate shot.
We hunted hard all day long for four more full days. The last hours of the hunt approached. In those waning hours, I was reminded of a whitetail hunt I had done with Bequette a couple of months earlier. Less than two hours remained before Jim finally got a shot. I hoped this hunt would end the same as that one did, though I was I starting to have my doubts.
We left camp after a most delicious meal, one that didn’t take place until about three in the afternoon because of having walked and searched for a buffalo most of the day. I will mention one thing about hunting on the Choctaw, no matter how far or much you walk, expect to gain rather than lose weight! The meals are unbelievably delicious!
Beyond satiated with food we headed back to the field. We dearly hoped last afternoon luck would be on our side. It was!
Dusty spotted a cow, a younger and an older bull feeding on a grassy slope shortly after we left camp. We drove past them quite some distance, stopped, then walked into the wind, hoping the buffalo were still where we’d seen them, while also knowing buffalo sometimes just decide to go elsewhere! By the time we got back to where they had been feeding, they were gone.
Dusty suggested I walk through a strip of woods near where they had been, while he and the two Jims went the other direction. No sooner had I crossed into and out of the woods I spotted the buffalo. They were walking slowly, coming right toward me. I ran to where I could see Dusty and waved them my way.
A short time later, we set up an ambush. If the buffalo continued the way I had seen them coming, they should cross a small relatively open area less than a hundred yards away. Bequette set up his shooting sticks, rested his Sharps, got ready and waited. Totally unexpectedly, a cow came running our way. I hoped the bull would not be running, giving Jim a reasonable shot.
I watched through the camera lens. The bull was following the cow and coming our way; thankfully, he was walking slowly. I managed to film the buffalo just as Jim shot. The bull bucked and ran.
I knew from the shot placement I had seen through the camera the bull would not go far. He didn’t! He dropped less than 75 yards from where Jim had shot him.
After hearty congratulations and many photos, we called in the “Choctaw buffalo extraction team” to gut Jim’s bull and take him to the local processor. That night, with ample “safewater,” we toasted the Choctaw Hunting Lodge, the buffalo, old and new friends, and told many hunting tales, including both Jims telling their buffalo stories several times before beds beckoned.
The Choctaw Hunting Lodge (www.choctawhuntinglodge.com), owned by the Choctaw Nation in Ssoutheastern Oklahoma, is one of those truly special places; fabulously beautiful productive wildlife habitat and wildlife populations; spacious and comfortable lodge; food fit for royalty; staffed by the finest and most knowledgeable people in the outdoor industry.
While on the buffalo hunt and several times after I visited with Dusty who heads the lodge’s hunting program, Matt Gamble who heads the Choctaw Nation’s wildlife management programs and Jody Standifer, who oversees anything having to do with the Choctaw Nation’s lands. The future of hunting on the Choctaw Hunting Lodge is secure under their leadership.
There are numerous hunting opportunities available on the Choctaw Hunting Lodge for buffalo, various exotic big game species and a limited number of outstanding free-range and estate whitetail deer and Eastern turkey hunts, as well as fabulous fishing. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth.