You guys might remember I took those young fellas up on the hill to help retrieve the Deer i shot the other month, i thought it good for them to get out of the house with Covid BS and what not....or perhaps it was school holidays.. i cant remember.
Well today, I took one of the lads who lives up the Road out for a "run up the bush", i messaged his mother the Day before and gave an early heads up, As the last time i offered i did not hear back in time an was in the bush before i got the call...
so i offered the next time to take him.
That was this morning 10am pick up, Bring warm clothes, a Sandwich and a water bottle.... "Yep he is keen" was the reply.
So this morning 10am i rocked up an was welcomed at the door by a Camo wearing Lad with a grin from ear to ear...... "Lets Go" i said enthusiastically.!
- quick history- the kid has seen quite a few deer hit the deck although ALL under a spotlight scenerio on the back of their own property....... lame.
So off we went.... parked the vehicle out of sight from any covidpolice , loaded the essentials- and off we trekked... non stop chatter was expected an it was recieved flat out initially.... i didnt mind as we were a good half hour or more from our glassing position... but after a while of looking at fresh prints, old poo, old rubs, an hearing "theres a clearing there, might be a stag" abou 300 times in the 30 minutes, i had to lay down the law.... SSSHHHHH, there could be a deer anywhere and they are certainly hearing Us right now,shhh, we can talk later..
we , rather heavy footedly made it up to the ridgeline an sat down for 15 minutes to give the area an initial glass.... "wheres the stag, is the stag there, i cant see the stag, can you see a stag"........ sheesh this might be a long day!
no sightings so we loaded our backpacks an set off another half an hour into another glassing spot i often visit, to watch deer...
we get close and again, SSHHH there might be a deer here, we will tip toe an be quite until we get to the lookout.... "ok.....but wheres the stag, do you think theres a stag here...."
11 years old an only one thing on the brain.. STAGS.
ok so we get into position an unfortunatley, we havnt seen BOO... a few hours go by, the patience has worn off an the kid is uneasy.. "You hungry mate, want a chochlate bar?" "Yep".... we have a choch snack...an continue glassing for 15 minutes more... "you want a packet of chips?" "Yep"...ok so we have some chips..
"You thirsty mate, would you like a Milo?" --- "oh what a milo, you are prepared" he says!
out busts the cooker an we boil up a Milo /choch drink..... we glass for another half an hour an i say "its a bit cold, maybe we should light a fire"... "oh yeah we should,ill get some sticks".... "ok you do that, that would be good" i replied.
we gin around trying to light some saturated grass, wood, bark, u name it an we manage to make a heap of smoke an not much warmth-- "ill get the TP mate, hang on" i also bust out the cooker an give it a blow torch start... "now that should get going".
we get a fire going an we are consumed for about an hour gatherng sticks, keeping warm and small chat- "wheres the stag do you think"....
i say a little prayed to the Sambar gods .. "please pop up somewhere for a moment if you will".........
im sipping my milo , cold by now, when through the smoke haze, with my eyes i spy a Brown shape!
i race around grab the binos an Bam....
this-
AWESOME- we have an animal.
1 and a half hours later we havewatched this animal, an looked in every bit of bush around it, incase of a "stag"... i mention they might be above her, but could be behind her, beside her below her or a mile away form her.........
2 hours goes by-
"Are you going to shoot that"
"im not sure mate, we should look for the stag at this time of the year, i dont wanna shoot her an have a stag run away"... "oh yeh that would suck" he says....
patience wears thin again, "So whats the plan, are you goin to shoot her".....
"Nah, we're deer hunting, this is part of deer hunting- have you found the stag yet??"
"No! ill have a look" so another 15 minutes goes by- "Nup, theres no stag, he might be under us" he rekons.....
"he might be" - i said.
"but we will keep looking, just in case"----
"and then What are we going to do--- are you going to shoot her"
i explain , "if we were hunting for your first deer with your .243, we would make plan an go hunt her- however- You are out with Me and I am doing My thing, i watch deer and I dont feel like lugging her out of this far from the vehicle at 3pm"......
"what we will do is watch her for a bit an then we will stalk down the gulley back to the 4x4 track before dark".
a moment goes by and i almost give in to the little bugger.... the Hind is 260m away and i have my Kimber 7-08.... but , i didnt want to kill her for a few reasons, an so i explained..."Mate, you are not going to learn anything by me shooting that deer...and there certainly will not be a stag hanging around her tomororrow if i kill her now"...
he thinks about that for a moment.... "oh but i might learn something"...
i said "No you wont mate, you will have a heavy backpack and thats about it-- Next time we can"
A deal was made, we will stalk off down the gulley an look for cast antlers..
alot of chatter as we slowly decended down off the high ridge top into the blakc berry choked gulleys--- hes almost runnin around looking down every avenue for cast antlers-- we didnt find any.
however, we found a Wallow i found 5 years ago an hadnt realy visit since, lets go an look at that hey-
we give it a scrape and gin around for a while, "Theres stags here, look at this big print" as he points out to 1 of the 15 different prints around the wallow- all weeks old- "Yep" i say.
well we finish up doin the water levels and make our way toward the track, still some kilometer away from the Track- when as i near the rise, we are discussing the Hide He had made above the wallow on his farm and then next minute- coming down the ridge from our Left- is a Sambar deer!
without much Fuss and knowing exactly where i was- i chambered a 140gr PPSN in and raised the rifle - the deer semi trotting, paused for a moment- Kaboom Wack- i smacked a gum tree as i didnt thread the projectile neat enough- although i thought i hit her, we moved down rather quick incase we find her scampering up the opposite face---
when all of a sudden "rhys rhys rhys there it is !!" "where" - "there" and he pulls me across to the right an says he seen some movement just down there (30m away) Ok- "oh #### yep" and i lined her up, but she takes stride---
i move the rifle to the right about 15 meters an pick a clear lane---- she gallops in and BOOM i press the go button.
The hind Cartwheels- polaxed-
i couldnt believe it...
the kid is beside himself "ohh what a shot, she cartwheeled- You got her" he sings out!
im slightly chuffed with the rather flukey Neck shot and i mention to just stay calm an keep an eye on her---
she wasnt goin anywhere.
Heres a few Snaps.
backstraps and rear legs- the young fella took the backstraps to make some "jerky" that he first tasted only 3 hours prior sitting up along the fire sipping milos........
i load my Exo with 2 rear legs and the camera gear etc....
the lad loads the backstraps into a bread bag and carries my rifle out for me.
we arrive back at the truck at 6pm, right on dark!
Simply.... one of the Best hunts I've been on.......an a Day the LAD will never forget.
Cheers from AU
Well today, I took one of the lads who lives up the Road out for a "run up the bush", i messaged his mother the Day before and gave an early heads up, As the last time i offered i did not hear back in time an was in the bush before i got the call...
so i offered the next time to take him.
That was this morning 10am pick up, Bring warm clothes, a Sandwich and a water bottle.... "Yep he is keen" was the reply.
So this morning 10am i rocked up an was welcomed at the door by a Camo wearing Lad with a grin from ear to ear...... "Lets Go" i said enthusiastically.!
- quick history- the kid has seen quite a few deer hit the deck although ALL under a spotlight scenerio on the back of their own property....... lame.
So off we went.... parked the vehicle out of sight from any covidpolice , loaded the essentials- and off we trekked... non stop chatter was expected an it was recieved flat out initially.... i didnt mind as we were a good half hour or more from our glassing position... but after a while of looking at fresh prints, old poo, old rubs, an hearing "theres a clearing there, might be a stag" abou 300 times in the 30 minutes, i had to lay down the law.... SSSHHHHH, there could be a deer anywhere and they are certainly hearing Us right now,shhh, we can talk later..
we , rather heavy footedly made it up to the ridgeline an sat down for 15 minutes to give the area an initial glass.... "wheres the stag, is the stag there, i cant see the stag, can you see a stag"........ sheesh this might be a long day!
no sightings so we loaded our backpacks an set off another half an hour into another glassing spot i often visit, to watch deer...
we get close and again, SSHHH there might be a deer here, we will tip toe an be quite until we get to the lookout.... "ok.....but wheres the stag, do you think theres a stag here...."
11 years old an only one thing on the brain.. STAGS.
ok so we get into position an unfortunatley, we havnt seen BOO... a few hours go by, the patience has worn off an the kid is uneasy.. "You hungry mate, want a chochlate bar?" "Yep".... we have a choch snack...an continue glassing for 15 minutes more... "you want a packet of chips?" "Yep"...ok so we have some chips..
"You thirsty mate, would you like a Milo?" --- "oh what a milo, you are prepared" he says!
out busts the cooker an we boil up a Milo /choch drink..... we glass for another half an hour an i say "its a bit cold, maybe we should light a fire"... "oh yeah we should,ill get some sticks".... "ok you do that, that would be good" i replied.
we gin around trying to light some saturated grass, wood, bark, u name it an we manage to make a heap of smoke an not much warmth-- "ill get the TP mate, hang on" i also bust out the cooker an give it a blow torch start... "now that should get going".
we get a fire going an we are consumed for about an hour gatherng sticks, keeping warm and small chat- "wheres the stag do you think"....
i say a little prayed to the Sambar gods .. "please pop up somewhere for a moment if you will".........
im sipping my milo , cold by now, when through the smoke haze, with my eyes i spy a Brown shape!
i race around grab the binos an Bam....
this-
AWESOME- we have an animal.
1 and a half hours later we havewatched this animal, an looked in every bit of bush around it, incase of a "stag"... i mention they might be above her, but could be behind her, beside her below her or a mile away form her.........
2 hours goes by-
"Are you going to shoot that"
"im not sure mate, we should look for the stag at this time of the year, i dont wanna shoot her an have a stag run away"... "oh yeh that would suck" he says....
patience wears thin again, "So whats the plan, are you goin to shoot her".....
"Nah, we're deer hunting, this is part of deer hunting- have you found the stag yet??"
"No! ill have a look" so another 15 minutes goes by- "Nup, theres no stag, he might be under us" he rekons.....
"he might be" - i said.
"but we will keep looking, just in case"----
"and then What are we going to do--- are you going to shoot her"
i explain , "if we were hunting for your first deer with your .243, we would make plan an go hunt her- however- You are out with Me and I am doing My thing, i watch deer and I dont feel like lugging her out of this far from the vehicle at 3pm"......
"what we will do is watch her for a bit an then we will stalk down the gulley back to the 4x4 track before dark".
a moment goes by and i almost give in to the little bugger.... the Hind is 260m away and i have my Kimber 7-08.... but , i didnt want to kill her for a few reasons, an so i explained..."Mate, you are not going to learn anything by me shooting that deer...and there certainly will not be a stag hanging around her tomororrow if i kill her now"...
he thinks about that for a moment.... "oh but i might learn something"...
i said "No you wont mate, you will have a heavy backpack and thats about it-- Next time we can"
A deal was made, we will stalk off down the gulley an look for cast antlers..
alot of chatter as we slowly decended down off the high ridge top into the blakc berry choked gulleys--- hes almost runnin around looking down every avenue for cast antlers--
we didnt find any.however, we found a Wallow i found 5 years ago an hadnt realy visit since, lets go an look at that hey-
we give it a scrape and gin around for a while, "Theres stags here, look at this big print" as he points out to 1 of the 15 different prints around the wallow- all weeks old- "Yep" i say.
well we finish up doin the water levels and make our way toward the track, still some kilometer away from the Track- when as i near the rise, we are discussing the Hide He had made above the wallow on his farm and then next minute- coming down the ridge from our Left- is a Sambar deer!
without much Fuss and knowing exactly where i was- i chambered a 140gr PPSN in and raised the rifle - the deer semi trotting, paused for a moment- Kaboom Wack- i smacked a gum tree as i didnt thread the projectile neat enough- although i thought i hit her, we moved down rather quick incase we find her scampering up the opposite face---
when all of a sudden "rhys rhys rhys there it is !!" "where" - "there" and he pulls me across to the right an says he seen some movement just down there (30m away) Ok- "oh #### yep" and i lined her up, but she takes stride---
i move the rifle to the right about 15 meters an pick a clear lane---- she gallops in and BOOM i press the go button.
The hind Cartwheels- polaxed-
i couldnt believe it...
the kid is beside himself "ohh what a shot, she cartwheeled- You got her" he sings out!
im slightly chuffed with the rather flukey Neck shot and i mention to just stay calm an keep an eye on her---
she wasnt goin anywhere.
Heres a few Snaps.
backstraps and rear legs- the young fella took the backstraps to make some "jerky" that he first tasted only 3 hours prior sitting up along the fire sipping milos........
i load my Exo with 2 rear legs and the camera gear etc....
the lad loads the backstraps into a bread bag and carries my rifle out for me.
we arrive back at the truck at 6pm, right on dark!
Simply.... one of the Best hunts I've been on.......an a Day the LAD will never forget.
Cheers from AU
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