BOWFISHING FOR BUFFALO

March 23, 2008
by duckman

Just a little story about how some good can come out of a bad situation.  We have recently had flooding situations where several people have lost nearly everything they own and the problem isn't over yet.  We hope the rivers crest and recede soon for their sake, but while they are out of their banks and in the fields, that means so are the buffalo and carp. During this time of spring the carp and buffalo come to the shallow waters to spawn and this makes for some great bow fishing.

The fish average from two to thirty pounds and move around in groups of two to ten usually in only two feet or less of water.  The water is still very cool right now, around 50 degrees, which makes the meat in the fish still very firm and flaky.  Buffalo fish are in the sucker family and have very tasty ribs this time of year, so my son and I went out Easter Sunday to see if we couldn't shoot us a few.  This was the first time my son had ever shot a bow at fish so it took him a few shots to get used to the heavy fish arrow and the depth perception of the fish.  After just a few practice shots he managed to kill his first fish and the next two.  Three in a row, but he had a little slice of humble pie after that, it took him several shots before he stuck another.  On two different occasions  I managed to stick two fish with one shot and one time I stuck three, talk about the fight being on with three 10# plus fish going three different directions. We managed to take over 200 pounds of fish in about three hours while just wading in knee deep water in a soybean field.

Needless to say that's when the fun ended and the work began, it took three of us a couple hours to clean all these monsters, but it'll all be worth it when the grease is hot and the beverages are cold.  This is not how the average folks spend Easter but my wife says we're not quite right anyhow so we had rather be huntin or fishin if possible anytime.  I thought it was a great way of spending quality time with my son and hope to get to go again before the water leaves the fields.

Tags: bow fishing, fishing, Hunting