jindydiver
01-05-05, 08:02 PM
Got back from my hunt today and I had a ball, but sorry guys, no dead buck pics.
FRIDAY
Friday afternoon I arrived and pulled up just inside the gate so I could check out the first paddock (which has always been a good bet). I wandered off down through the trees and I was certainly off my game after the long drive, because I saw at least a dozen does (who had all seen me first) but never really got a chance at a stalk. I had a good look for sign of the buck that was there 2 weeks ago and all the scrapes were dry and it seems that the rut was over for this guy.
I jumped back in the car and headed out to where I saw the big guy last week. When I parked I knew that my w/e wasn«ÉŸt going to be all I had hoped, because I couldn«ÉŸt hear a peep out of him, and last time he was groaning like it was all there was to do in life.
I stalked into his lek and I found a black spiky had taken the patch and he was actively rubbing and marking but he had next to no does. I assume that the big guy had serviced all the does in this area and this guy was just out of luck.
I thought I might have a go at him and I stalked in to about 50mtrs from him as he fed in some bracken ferns. Just like 2 weeks ago with the big fellow, a doe I had not seen saw me and give out a small bark. All the deer in the lek (15-18 odd) started to get to their feet and the stalk was pretty much blown. I stood still and waited while the does moved off (all but one still not knowing why) and watched disappointedly as the spiky followed them off through the forest.
I was sure I was out of sight of the doe and it had me stumped as to why I had blown the hunt, until I headed over towards where the doe had been and I saw a fox gnawing on a bone left from the buck the poachers had taken 4 weeks ago. I figured the doe was keeping an eye on the fox and when I stalked past in the distance she was ready to bolt already. I stalked in and at 20 metres I decided to see if the jinx was me or my bow. He was facing towards me so I shot trying to get him in the front of the chest. It seem I can«ÉŸt do anything right just lately, he put his head down to get a better bite at the bone just as I released and the arrow beaned him right between his ears and flew off into the forest. The fox was struck dumb and was staggering about so I nocked another arrow and let fly. This one took him from the rear up under his armpit. It severed his fore leg clean off except for his skin on the top of his shoulder. He was fully aware now and bolted in a zigzag up the hill and straight down a wombat hole. From the amount of blood on the arrow and on the ground I would reckon that he was almost dead on his feet.
I was pretty happy that I finally scored a good hit with my new bow.
I pulled into my camp just on dark and saw a nice fallow stag run past so I made camp and thought of grassing that guy first thing in the morning.
SATURDAY
I got up about 6:30 to find everything covered in a good coating of frost. I got set to go in record time and set out to where I had sprung many deer over the last few months.
As I was walking up the hill through all the bracken I could see plenty of does feeding in the open and knew that if I did my bit I would get a real chance at a deer this morning. I stopped to take some pics of the deer in the paddock and I could smell a buck nearby so I resumed the stalk through the bracken. I was nearing the crest of the ridge and the smell was really strong. I had taken my sandals off and was walking in bare feet doing my best impression of Kung Fu walking on the rice paper when not 6 metres in front of my I saw some antlers rise up over the bracken.
Far out, did my heart skip a beat or what.
The buck was a different guy from the fellow I saw last night and he was a huge Mesopotamian that must have weighed a good 150 kgs. He was looking straight at the bracken trying to see what it was that had disturbed him and I was crouched down watching him through a small gap. This lasted for maybe 3 or 4 minutes and I couldn«ÉŸt see the kill zone through the ferns (much less trust an arrow to hit it) and to stand up would send him running flat out with no chance of him being here again in the near future, so I waited.
When he finally turned away so I could move he started to walk down into the gully away from me. I stood and drew and waited for a chance but he was not going to give me the chance, so when he was a lost cause I grabbed the camera and snapped of a couple of shot of him.
I didn«ÉŸt know whether to laugh or cry. I had pulled off an awesome stalk (and didn«ÉŸt it without stepping on even one thistle) but circumstances had robbed me of my buck again.
Here he is wandering off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/jindydiver/mesobuck.jpg
I followed him for a bit then just headed up over the hill to where the spiky was yesterday. I was coming down the hill through the trees and concentrating on my footsteps when just down the hill I saw two does going about there business and they both walked out into the open about 50 metres away. I froze, and as fate would have it I was out in bare ground in a gap between two trees. There was no hope of getting to one of them without being seen (both at least 5 metres away) so I decided to stand still and see what would happen. The does turned out to be part of the same group that was with the spiky yesterday and the lead doe started to walk up a trail that passed only just the other side of one of those trees too far away. Well now I looked at them as too close because I knew there was no way the deer would give me half a chance to draw and anchor at that range without leaving the area at light speed. So here I was again between a rock and a hard place and loving it.
At about 15 metres the lead doe sniffed at a log that was across the trail and then stepped over, still looking at the trail and walked up the trail towards me. I decided that I would have a go, and just as I was about to lift the bow and draw the doe looked right at me and I knew that she knew that the extra bush near the trail wasn«ÉŸt something she wanted to get close to. She barked and jumped at the same time as I brought up the bow and my calculations turned out to be spot on. I hadn«ÉŸt even got to anchor the draw and she had taken the whole mob a further 50 metres down the hill.
I gave up and headed back over the hill to my camp, very happy with the day so far. I had been out for 5 hours and my back was feeling like ****, but there is no way I would swap this day with anybody.
I went out again in the evening but my back wasn«ÉŸt going to let me be Kung Fu again and the meso«ÉŸ buck sprung me early on and put an end to my days hunting.
SUNDAY
It started raining at around 12 last night and as I got up and got organised I found that my body wasn«ÉŸt going to allow a third days hunting so I packed up and headed out. I saw a couple of dozen deer as I was leaving, and I had bought a rifle with me so I could fill the freezer, but I was just on such a high from yesterday, and I was unsure how my back would take to butchering a deer today, that I just dropped into the farm house to have a chat and then got on my way home.
An eagle I saw on the way home.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/jindydiver/wedgie.jpg
FRIDAY
Friday afternoon I arrived and pulled up just inside the gate so I could check out the first paddock (which has always been a good bet). I wandered off down through the trees and I was certainly off my game after the long drive, because I saw at least a dozen does (who had all seen me first) but never really got a chance at a stalk. I had a good look for sign of the buck that was there 2 weeks ago and all the scrapes were dry and it seems that the rut was over for this guy.
I jumped back in the car and headed out to where I saw the big guy last week. When I parked I knew that my w/e wasn«ÉŸt going to be all I had hoped, because I couldn«ÉŸt hear a peep out of him, and last time he was groaning like it was all there was to do in life.
I stalked into his lek and I found a black spiky had taken the patch and he was actively rubbing and marking but he had next to no does. I assume that the big guy had serviced all the does in this area and this guy was just out of luck.
I thought I might have a go at him and I stalked in to about 50mtrs from him as he fed in some bracken ferns. Just like 2 weeks ago with the big fellow, a doe I had not seen saw me and give out a small bark. All the deer in the lek (15-18 odd) started to get to their feet and the stalk was pretty much blown. I stood still and waited while the does moved off (all but one still not knowing why) and watched disappointedly as the spiky followed them off through the forest.
I was sure I was out of sight of the doe and it had me stumped as to why I had blown the hunt, until I headed over towards where the doe had been and I saw a fox gnawing on a bone left from the buck the poachers had taken 4 weeks ago. I figured the doe was keeping an eye on the fox and when I stalked past in the distance she was ready to bolt already. I stalked in and at 20 metres I decided to see if the jinx was me or my bow. He was facing towards me so I shot trying to get him in the front of the chest. It seem I can«ÉŸt do anything right just lately, he put his head down to get a better bite at the bone just as I released and the arrow beaned him right between his ears and flew off into the forest. The fox was struck dumb and was staggering about so I nocked another arrow and let fly. This one took him from the rear up under his armpit. It severed his fore leg clean off except for his skin on the top of his shoulder. He was fully aware now and bolted in a zigzag up the hill and straight down a wombat hole. From the amount of blood on the arrow and on the ground I would reckon that he was almost dead on his feet.
I was pretty happy that I finally scored a good hit with my new bow.
I pulled into my camp just on dark and saw a nice fallow stag run past so I made camp and thought of grassing that guy first thing in the morning.
SATURDAY
I got up about 6:30 to find everything covered in a good coating of frost. I got set to go in record time and set out to where I had sprung many deer over the last few months.
As I was walking up the hill through all the bracken I could see plenty of does feeding in the open and knew that if I did my bit I would get a real chance at a deer this morning. I stopped to take some pics of the deer in the paddock and I could smell a buck nearby so I resumed the stalk through the bracken. I was nearing the crest of the ridge and the smell was really strong. I had taken my sandals off and was walking in bare feet doing my best impression of Kung Fu walking on the rice paper when not 6 metres in front of my I saw some antlers rise up over the bracken.
Far out, did my heart skip a beat or what.
The buck was a different guy from the fellow I saw last night and he was a huge Mesopotamian that must have weighed a good 150 kgs. He was looking straight at the bracken trying to see what it was that had disturbed him and I was crouched down watching him through a small gap. This lasted for maybe 3 or 4 minutes and I couldn«ÉŸt see the kill zone through the ferns (much less trust an arrow to hit it) and to stand up would send him running flat out with no chance of him being here again in the near future, so I waited.
When he finally turned away so I could move he started to walk down into the gully away from me. I stood and drew and waited for a chance but he was not going to give me the chance, so when he was a lost cause I grabbed the camera and snapped of a couple of shot of him.
I didn«ÉŸt know whether to laugh or cry. I had pulled off an awesome stalk (and didn«ÉŸt it without stepping on even one thistle) but circumstances had robbed me of my buck again.
Here he is wandering off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/jindydiver/mesobuck.jpg
I followed him for a bit then just headed up over the hill to where the spiky was yesterday. I was coming down the hill through the trees and concentrating on my footsteps when just down the hill I saw two does going about there business and they both walked out into the open about 50 metres away. I froze, and as fate would have it I was out in bare ground in a gap between two trees. There was no hope of getting to one of them without being seen (both at least 5 metres away) so I decided to stand still and see what would happen. The does turned out to be part of the same group that was with the spiky yesterday and the lead doe started to walk up a trail that passed only just the other side of one of those trees too far away. Well now I looked at them as too close because I knew there was no way the deer would give me half a chance to draw and anchor at that range without leaving the area at light speed. So here I was again between a rock and a hard place and loving it.
At about 15 metres the lead doe sniffed at a log that was across the trail and then stepped over, still looking at the trail and walked up the trail towards me. I decided that I would have a go, and just as I was about to lift the bow and draw the doe looked right at me and I knew that she knew that the extra bush near the trail wasn«ÉŸt something she wanted to get close to. She barked and jumped at the same time as I brought up the bow and my calculations turned out to be spot on. I hadn«ÉŸt even got to anchor the draw and she had taken the whole mob a further 50 metres down the hill.
I gave up and headed back over the hill to my camp, very happy with the day so far. I had been out for 5 hours and my back was feeling like ****, but there is no way I would swap this day with anybody.
I went out again in the evening but my back wasn«ÉŸt going to let me be Kung Fu again and the meso«ÉŸ buck sprung me early on and put an end to my days hunting.
SUNDAY
It started raining at around 12 last night and as I got up and got organised I found that my body wasn«ÉŸt going to allow a third days hunting so I packed up and headed out. I saw a couple of dozen deer as I was leaving, and I had bought a rifle with me so I could fill the freezer, but I was just on such a high from yesterday, and I was unsure how my back would take to butchering a deer today, that I just dropped into the farm house to have a chat and then got on my way home.
An eagle I saw on the way home.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v243/jindydiver/wedgie.jpg