Some years ago KZN wildlife asked one of their rangers (Tony Tompkinson) to do a study on the killing effects of a bow compared to a rifle. If I remember correctly Tony took 99 animals of all sizes (could have been more) with a bow and then the same number with a rifle. The rifle shot placement was similar in all cases as the bow shot animals. The outcome of the study was that bow & arrows were no less effective at killing than a rifle - but that's for killing and not charge stopping.

From my limited experience the average bowhunter has far better fieldcraft than the average rifle shot - if they didn't they would never take an animal due to the range factor.

I'm not a bowhunter myself and have never PH'd a Buffalo bowhunt - but I'd be happy to do so as long as the bowhunter could pull the appropriate weight and as long as I had my .500 along in case things got sticky....... there would obviously be an agreement between myself and the client about when I would consider it time to shoot.

My biggest passion on Earth is close range Buff hunting. If I had one last day on the planet, I'd spend it hunting Buffalo if I could and as far as I'm concerned the client is the guy who's paying the bills - so it's his hunt.

Hell, he could slap it on the ass with a cricket bat or use a catapult if he wanted to.