I've killed several hundred steers over 1000# with a 22 long rifle and yes that same 22 will kill a bison. drop him in his tracks.
many,many, bison were killed with calibers developed for BP pistols, ie. 44-40, 45 Colt,etc.
I just killed a bison in Dec. with a 45-70 @ 400 yds, 1 shot broke his neck.
would I hunt bison with a 30-30 sure, wouldn't give it a second thought. But I would shoot him in the ear and to guarrantee that shot placement I'd want to be within 100 yds of him.
Quilly: no caliber is going to make up for poor shooting. To be ethical a hunter uses a caliber sufficent to humanely dispatch his quarry. your "pal" that needed 4 shots to kill a moose with a 30-30 should have in my opinion used just 1 and shot it behind the ear to start with. If he was using this marginal caliber for moose he should have waited for the perfect shot, rather than pepper the poor critter

Edited by - buffalo hunter on 03/05/2002 07:37:15