Puk
15-03-07, 09:38 PM
While Macka was out nailing the big one, i went on my first ever deer trip, after fallow in the South East of SA.
I reckon everyone in my town knew i was going deer hunting, i was that excited about it!
when i arrived at the shearer's quarters on the property on which i was to stay, i was met by this on the wall outside my room:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007001.jpg
That was enough to get the blood boiling, i can tell you!
The first night i was there, i decided not to go hunting, just to go for a drive around the property. Sound foolish? I saw a BIG white shape in the distance against the red-gum plantation, which bounded off into the trees within 10 seconds of me stopping the conformadore 500 metres away. These things are like ghosts when the rut hasn't started yet!
On the way back i stopped and looked at two does 30 metres away in the banksia plantation who stared at me for 40 seconds before slowly walking further in, quite unperturbed by the station wagon, or the tbga sticker on the side. My mouth was watering at the sight of things to come.
the next morning i spooked 5 does coming out of the gums, as i walked down the middle of the road back to the car looking at my feet, then looked up to see 5 does crossing the road 50 metres in front of me! I now know what a fallow alarm bark sounds like, part of the education of any deer hunter!
Walking another scrub during the day, i crashed through bracken and banksias, got lost, looked down at my bum-belt as i pulled out the GPS, thinking of a morning coffee and a nap, when the bracken exploded 10 metres away from me. The wind had swirled and taken my scent to a fallow doe that had been asleep in the thigh-high bracken right beside me that i had not seen! The heart was racing as i whirled to see a black and white striped deer arse run away from me!
That night after waiting for the does to come out where they had the previous day, i realised it was getting a bit late, had a quick whistle for foxes with the old button whistle. (I only took this one, as foxes weren't my main target. Sorry 'stoka!) I turned around and there was a fox looking at me above the bracken. I guessed where the chest was and clean missed, losing the arrow. I walked around the corner and saw a fox trotting away up the gums. Another quick whistle and he was running my way. He dissappeared 5 metres away and the bracken rustled as he saw me and dived back through. he stopped on a clear sand path 5 metres on the other side, and i shot. I saw that the arrow had hit this time (thank goodness) and expected him to run 20 metres or so after a chest shot, but he hit the ground and stopped cold. I had shot him through the neck and out the other side, severing the jugular. Off course, that was the spot i was aiming for! :wink: :roll:
By the time i got the digital camera from my pack it was dark, and some self-timed shots were made harder by the darkness, so i took him back to base, before skinning him so i could tan the hide:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007007.jpg
the son of the property owner is an artist, and staying in a shearer's quarters which doubles as an art gallery adds a touch of class to the experience.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007002.jpg
In the end, no deer, but my second fox. I learned a lot about deer, saw my first wild buck, and this experience will be part of the equation the day that my first buck falls to the bow.
Well done Macka.
Puk
I reckon everyone in my town knew i was going deer hunting, i was that excited about it!
when i arrived at the shearer's quarters on the property on which i was to stay, i was met by this on the wall outside my room:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007001.jpg
That was enough to get the blood boiling, i can tell you!
The first night i was there, i decided not to go hunting, just to go for a drive around the property. Sound foolish? I saw a BIG white shape in the distance against the red-gum plantation, which bounded off into the trees within 10 seconds of me stopping the conformadore 500 metres away. These things are like ghosts when the rut hasn't started yet!
On the way back i stopped and looked at two does 30 metres away in the banksia plantation who stared at me for 40 seconds before slowly walking further in, quite unperturbed by the station wagon, or the tbga sticker on the side. My mouth was watering at the sight of things to come.
the next morning i spooked 5 does coming out of the gums, as i walked down the middle of the road back to the car looking at my feet, then looked up to see 5 does crossing the road 50 metres in front of me! I now know what a fallow alarm bark sounds like, part of the education of any deer hunter!
Walking another scrub during the day, i crashed through bracken and banksias, got lost, looked down at my bum-belt as i pulled out the GPS, thinking of a morning coffee and a nap, when the bracken exploded 10 metres away from me. The wind had swirled and taken my scent to a fallow doe that had been asleep in the thigh-high bracken right beside me that i had not seen! The heart was racing as i whirled to see a black and white striped deer arse run away from me!
That night after waiting for the does to come out where they had the previous day, i realised it was getting a bit late, had a quick whistle for foxes with the old button whistle. (I only took this one, as foxes weren't my main target. Sorry 'stoka!) I turned around and there was a fox looking at me above the bracken. I guessed where the chest was and clean missed, losing the arrow. I walked around the corner and saw a fox trotting away up the gums. Another quick whistle and he was running my way. He dissappeared 5 metres away and the bracken rustled as he saw me and dived back through. he stopped on a clear sand path 5 metres on the other side, and i shot. I saw that the arrow had hit this time (thank goodness) and expected him to run 20 metres or so after a chest shot, but he hit the ground and stopped cold. I had shot him through the neck and out the other side, severing the jugular. Off course, that was the spot i was aiming for! :wink: :roll:
By the time i got the digital camera from my pack it was dark, and some self-timed shots were made harder by the darkness, so i took him back to base, before skinning him so i could tan the hide:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007007.jpg
the son of the property owner is an artist, and staying in a shearer's quarters which doubles as an art gallery adds a touch of class to the experience.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c180/Jpukallus/deer2007002.jpg
In the end, no deer, but my second fox. I learned a lot about deer, saw my first wild buck, and this experience will be part of the equation the day that my first buck falls to the bow.
Well done Macka.
Puk