Clemo
07-07-08, 09:37 AM
Part 1
It had been a month or so since my last serious Bow hunt and the anticipation of a weekend hunting pigs and goats with my son Tim and good mate Troy was almost too much to take in the week leading up. When Friday afternoon finally arrived I couldn’t get home to load the truck quick enough.
After picking up Troy and travelling for a few hours we arrived to our modest little hunting shack. The usual arrangement at this property is to stay in a sheering shed which has no heating and is somewhat less than desirable on cold nights. In speaking to the manager in the week prior to the hunt he told me that it’s to cold to sleep in the sheering shed and that we should stay in the second unoccupied homestead. I wasn’t arguing with him and on arrival we were blown away by our new hunting shack, it had all the mod cons and most importantly it had a slow combustion fire with firewood already cut ready for our arrival.
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7273/moonanjul08001ml7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7273/moonanjul08001ml7.7f81b7b566.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=372&i=moonanjul08001ml7.jpg)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4471/moonanjul08003sc8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4471/moonanjul08003sc8.3260943ddf.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=56&i=moonanjul08003sc8.jpg)
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6156/moonanjul08004zg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6156/moonanjul08004zg6.a939ba559e.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=70&i=moonanjul08004zg6.jpg)
We quickly got organised and within half an hour we were laying back on the carpeted lounge room floor in front of a raging fire, knocking back a few beers and ports discussing what might lay ahead over the next few days.
Turns out I knocked back a few to many and awoke the next day feeling a little worse for wear (Damn brown dog).
After some encouragement from Troy (Suck it up you big girl) and a quick bite to eat we set out in search of game. Our first hour or so was somewhat uneventful but eventually we came across a young Billy goat by the river, this was very unusual as the goats never come this far from their usual hills and on closer inspection we saw that he was not well. He was very emaciated and despite our proximity refused to move from the ledge on a little cliff on the river bank. He need to be put down but from our position on top of the cliff we could not get a clean shot so we decided to get him on our way back and headed of in search of a few pigs.
After a short footslog we spotted two boars out in the open, they were moving across the paddock jostling and fighting as they went, my first impression from our position 300m away was that they were of good size. Tim and I hurried off the side of the hill into the creek bellow, we crossed the creek which the pigs had now moved into. This put us about 100m from where they were now feeding in a depression in the creek bank. I parked Tim on a rock ledge where he could get a good view and headed up the creek to the pigs, as I edged around the corner of the depression I found them both with their heads down facing away from me, I drew and waited for one to present a shot. It wast long and I had one quartering away at 15m. I touched of the arrow and watched as the shaft passed through a little fare back but I thought that I dad done enough as the pair scurried off along the top of the creek bank. After about 100m they both ran down into the creek but only one came out the other side, I knew he was down for the count.
It turns out he was only a young boar, not very big but I could see Troy licking his lips at the sight of him so we gutted him and left him in a shady spot for collection with the truck.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1354/moonanjul08003xr5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1354/moonanjul08003xr5.73ff9fabd5.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=56&i=moonanjul08003xr5.jpg)
The rest of the morning was uneventful so after picking up our pig we headed back to the sick goat where Troy moved in quickly and dispatched him with a front on heart shot. On inspection the poor guy had a broken jaw and was unable to feed.
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8508/moonanjul08013fd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8508/moonanjul08013fd5.cff8b085aa.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=76&i=moonanjul08013fd5.jpg)
Back to our humble shack for some lunch. After lunch we headed to the managers house to say G’day and stash our pig in the cool room. He asked us if we would help him pick up a pig trap from another property, the pigs had been making a real mess at the river and he wanted to try and thin them out. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal in its self, without going into detail we all ended up covered in stinging nettles which is not pleasant but we got the trap in position and dragged the sick goat carcass in as bait.
Pig damage at the river.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2330/moonanjul08020mz2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2330/moonanjul08020mz2.2af2853917.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=157&i=moonanjul08020mz2.jpg)
The afternoon was wearing on so we headed to the back of the property to look for goats. We drove the truck as far as we could up the steep mountain. On arrival Troy was keen to make the steep 500m climb to the top where he had spotted some good Billies on a previous trip. I decided to stay down lower with Tim as the climb to the top is a bit much for Tim (and me to just quietly), so we found a spot to sit and watch the as nannies and kids filled past. It was a real buzz for Tim and me to just sit quietly and snap a few picks, the goats seemed oblivious to our presence and one young goat feed to within 5m and we got some good picks.
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7263/moonanjul08002sx7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7263/moonanjul08002sx7.76fc3dbaf8.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=375&i=moonanjul08002sx7.jpg)
After an hour or so Troy had not returned and light was starting to fade when I noticed a few Billies filling up from the steep drop over, one was a respectable 30” fella and he was only 30m from the truck so I grabbed my bow and moved in on him. As I came to full draw on him, out of the corner of my eye I saw another Bill come over the lip of the drop over, this fella demanded my attention as he stood gazing at me, he was a ripper and my first impression was that he would be up near the 40” mark so I swung around as he started to trot up the ridgeline, he was at 35m and moving at a far clip when I let fly. The arrow hit to far back and he headed over the drop over, OH NO, was my first thought as I raced to the edge. Luckily he had walked parallel along the side of the steep incline and not down into it and was offering a quartering away shot at 45m. This time the shot was on the money and he only walked another 5m and looked shaky so I put another one in him at 50m, this turned out to be a mistake as the impact made him lurch forward and sent him toppling end for end down the face of the cliff, my heart sank as I listened to him crash another 80m down the impossibly steep hill. It was near dark by this time as I tried to make my way down with the aid of my head lamp but it was just to dangerous in the dark so I found the last blood where he fell and stuck a shaft in the ground to mark it, I then walked back to the start of the blood trail and stuck another shaft in the ground their so I could locate the trail next day and have a go at retrieving him, I was feeling a bit down at this point, Troy had lost two good goats over this drop, one of which was a 40” model but as I made my way back to Tim and the truck Troy came marching triumphantly down the hill carrying a nice set of horns and pushing a mob of 30 or so or so goats in front of him, it was quite a funny sight.
Back at the shack we measured Troy’s horns and they turned out to be 32” and a new PB for him.
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/944/moonanjul08005sx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/944/moonanjul08005sx3.6bdafb9229.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=55&i=moonanjul08005sx3.jpg)
That night we turned in early and I spent a restless night thinking about my goat and how or if I was going to be able to retrieve him.
To be continued!
It had been a month or so since my last serious Bow hunt and the anticipation of a weekend hunting pigs and goats with my son Tim and good mate Troy was almost too much to take in the week leading up. When Friday afternoon finally arrived I couldn’t get home to load the truck quick enough.
After picking up Troy and travelling for a few hours we arrived to our modest little hunting shack. The usual arrangement at this property is to stay in a sheering shed which has no heating and is somewhat less than desirable on cold nights. In speaking to the manager in the week prior to the hunt he told me that it’s to cold to sleep in the sheering shed and that we should stay in the second unoccupied homestead. I wasn’t arguing with him and on arrival we were blown away by our new hunting shack, it had all the mod cons and most importantly it had a slow combustion fire with firewood already cut ready for our arrival.
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7273/moonanjul08001ml7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/7273/moonanjul08001ml7.7f81b7b566.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=372&i=moonanjul08001ml7.jpg)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4471/moonanjul08003sc8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/4471/moonanjul08003sc8.3260943ddf.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=56&i=moonanjul08003sc8.jpg)
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6156/moonanjul08004zg6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/6156/moonanjul08004zg6.a939ba559e.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=70&i=moonanjul08004zg6.jpg)
We quickly got organised and within half an hour we were laying back on the carpeted lounge room floor in front of a raging fire, knocking back a few beers and ports discussing what might lay ahead over the next few days.
Turns out I knocked back a few to many and awoke the next day feeling a little worse for wear (Damn brown dog).
After some encouragement from Troy (Suck it up you big girl) and a quick bite to eat we set out in search of game. Our first hour or so was somewhat uneventful but eventually we came across a young Billy goat by the river, this was very unusual as the goats never come this far from their usual hills and on closer inspection we saw that he was not well. He was very emaciated and despite our proximity refused to move from the ledge on a little cliff on the river bank. He need to be put down but from our position on top of the cliff we could not get a clean shot so we decided to get him on our way back and headed of in search of a few pigs.
After a short footslog we spotted two boars out in the open, they were moving across the paddock jostling and fighting as they went, my first impression from our position 300m away was that they were of good size. Tim and I hurried off the side of the hill into the creek bellow, we crossed the creek which the pigs had now moved into. This put us about 100m from where they were now feeding in a depression in the creek bank. I parked Tim on a rock ledge where he could get a good view and headed up the creek to the pigs, as I edged around the corner of the depression I found them both with their heads down facing away from me, I drew and waited for one to present a shot. It wast long and I had one quartering away at 15m. I touched of the arrow and watched as the shaft passed through a little fare back but I thought that I dad done enough as the pair scurried off along the top of the creek bank. After about 100m they both ran down into the creek but only one came out the other side, I knew he was down for the count.
It turns out he was only a young boar, not very big but I could see Troy licking his lips at the sight of him so we gutted him and left him in a shady spot for collection with the truck.
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1354/moonanjul08003xr5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/1354/moonanjul08003xr5.73ff9fabd5.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=56&i=moonanjul08003xr5.jpg)
The rest of the morning was uneventful so after picking up our pig we headed back to the sick goat where Troy moved in quickly and dispatched him with a front on heart shot. On inspection the poor guy had a broken jaw and was unable to feed.
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8508/moonanjul08013fd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/8508/moonanjul08013fd5.cff8b085aa.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=76&i=moonanjul08013fd5.jpg)
Back to our humble shack for some lunch. After lunch we headed to the managers house to say G’day and stash our pig in the cool room. He asked us if we would help him pick up a pig trap from another property, the pigs had been making a real mess at the river and he wanted to try and thin them out. This turned out to be a bit of an ordeal in its self, without going into detail we all ended up covered in stinging nettles which is not pleasant but we got the trap in position and dragged the sick goat carcass in as bait.
Pig damage at the river.
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2330/moonanjul08020mz2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/2330/moonanjul08020mz2.2af2853917.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=157&i=moonanjul08020mz2.jpg)
The afternoon was wearing on so we headed to the back of the property to look for goats. We drove the truck as far as we could up the steep mountain. On arrival Troy was keen to make the steep 500m climb to the top where he had spotted some good Billies on a previous trip. I decided to stay down lower with Tim as the climb to the top is a bit much for Tim (and me to just quietly), so we found a spot to sit and watch the as nannies and kids filled past. It was a real buzz for Tim and me to just sit quietly and snap a few picks, the goats seemed oblivious to our presence and one young goat feed to within 5m and we got some good picks.
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7263/moonanjul08002sx7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img375.imageshack.us/img375/7263/moonanjul08002sx7.76fc3dbaf8.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=375&i=moonanjul08002sx7.jpg)
After an hour or so Troy had not returned and light was starting to fade when I noticed a few Billies filling up from the steep drop over, one was a respectable 30” fella and he was only 30m from the truck so I grabbed my bow and moved in on him. As I came to full draw on him, out of the corner of my eye I saw another Bill come over the lip of the drop over, this fella demanded my attention as he stood gazing at me, he was a ripper and my first impression was that he would be up near the 40” mark so I swung around as he started to trot up the ridgeline, he was at 35m and moving at a far clip when I let fly. The arrow hit to far back and he headed over the drop over, OH NO, was my first thought as I raced to the edge. Luckily he had walked parallel along the side of the steep incline and not down into it and was offering a quartering away shot at 45m. This time the shot was on the money and he only walked another 5m and looked shaky so I put another one in him at 50m, this turned out to be a mistake as the impact made him lurch forward and sent him toppling end for end down the face of the cliff, my heart sank as I listened to him crash another 80m down the impossibly steep hill. It was near dark by this time as I tried to make my way down with the aid of my head lamp but it was just to dangerous in the dark so I found the last blood where he fell and stuck a shaft in the ground to mark it, I then walked back to the start of the blood trail and stuck another shaft in the ground their so I could locate the trail next day and have a go at retrieving him, I was feeling a bit down at this point, Troy had lost two good goats over this drop, one of which was a 40” model but as I made my way back to Tim and the truck Troy came marching triumphantly down the hill carrying a nice set of horns and pushing a mob of 30 or so or so goats in front of him, it was quite a funny sight.
Back at the shack we measured Troy’s horns and they turned out to be 32” and a new PB for him.
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/944/moonanjul08005sx3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/944/moonanjul08005sx3.6bdafb9229.jpg (http://g.imageshack.us/g.php?h=55&i=moonanjul08005sx3.jpg)
That night we turned in early and I spent a restless night thinking about my goat and how or if I was going to be able to retrieve him.
To be continued!