macka
05-04-07, 01:13 PM
Well i went and checked out that new property i got onto and it was a bit dissapointing. The country was not in the hills where i thought it was more just some patches of scrub out in the middle of the cropping county. I went for a walk through it mid morning anyway and saw two mobs of deer with a young stag in each. I decided it was not worth bowhunting on so went for a drive to do some door nocking.
Well about 5 houses later a bloke told me to go and call in at a house about 10km away and that he owns all the hills you can see behind his place. So off i went again hoping it was not another dead lead. well this time it was no worries and he has heaps of deer out there aparently. I already had a map of the hills and area so he just marked in where his property and within 15 mins i was driving through the front gate. I thought to myself i had scored some bloody good country as this place had everything from the dense mallee scrub and thickets of dog wattle to the grassy open gullies. Even had some open spinifex covoured hills.
Here are some pics of the thickest gully on the property.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010074.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010073-1.jpg
I only had an half an hour of light left as i pulled up on top of a ridge and chucked my gear on for a walk. And within 100m i was 40m away from 3 does. When i moved to find a shooting lane they picked me up and dissapeared down the hill. Thinking that was a good sign i moved on and happened to glance across at the oposite ridgetop to think there was a mob of sheep up there. Then i remembered that the owner said he had no sheep in here atm. On seccond look it was a big mob of deer. I sat down and saw that they were all does but counted 18 of them. All i could think of was what a great new property i had found.
I returned back to my ute to set up camp with bucks grunting away over the ridge from me, pitty it was too dark to hunt them.
spot the doe? she was up in the scrubby gully across where i first parked.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010075.jpg
The next morning i was waiting on top of a hill before light to try and locate a buck or two. Just as the first bits of colour could be seen over the horison a buck started grunting a couple ridges over from me. It wasn't long and i was sitting on the oposite ridge just making out the figure of a big stag and a hand full of doe's. The closer i got i started to wounder if this guy was bigger than the one i had already shot this year as his antlers looked very impressive in the low light. I made it over to the same ridge as him and sat there watching from 80m as he grunted and tried to keep all the does at his scrape but eventually most of them escaped but two. The light was pretty good now so i got some vid footage of gim before stalking in to try and get a shot. I stalked down the ridge onto him but was looking for him in the wrong spot and next thing he just appeared to my left. He saw me as i saw him and as i drew my bow he jogged off down the hill with his two doe's in tow. A quick range of the scrape where he stood and yep 30m bugga!
Here are some images of him sorry not real clear.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture027.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture031.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture033.jpg
After that i walked out into some of the better country and found deer everywhere. Ended up seeing about 40 for the day but diddn't see any other mature stags. Some more scenery pics.
Oh and a deer dissapearing over the ridge.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010087.jpg
A nice gully i found 7 doe's feeding in at about 1pm!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010063.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010060.jpg
This morning i woke early and headded out after hearing the bucks going at it all night was pretty surprised i couldnt hear any. But the wind was blowing which made it hard to hear anything. I diddn't get close to any bucks but saw 3 that were alright and saw about 25 doe's in a couple hours. Here are some pics.
two does at 30m
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010082.jpg
More deer
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture022.jpg
and again
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture023.jpg
A mob dissapearing after winding me.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010086-1.jpg
This place has to be my best hunting property now and i am very happy with the door nocking approach you just have to put the time and effort in and you can come up with a spot like this. I diddn't ground anything this trip but i'm just happy i checked out a new place. Next time i hope.
Macka
P.S sorry about all the pics :wink:
Well about 5 houses later a bloke told me to go and call in at a house about 10km away and that he owns all the hills you can see behind his place. So off i went again hoping it was not another dead lead. well this time it was no worries and he has heaps of deer out there aparently. I already had a map of the hills and area so he just marked in where his property and within 15 mins i was driving through the front gate. I thought to myself i had scored some bloody good country as this place had everything from the dense mallee scrub and thickets of dog wattle to the grassy open gullies. Even had some open spinifex covoured hills.
Here are some pics of the thickest gully on the property.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010074.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010073-1.jpg
I only had an half an hour of light left as i pulled up on top of a ridge and chucked my gear on for a walk. And within 100m i was 40m away from 3 does. When i moved to find a shooting lane they picked me up and dissapeared down the hill. Thinking that was a good sign i moved on and happened to glance across at the oposite ridgetop to think there was a mob of sheep up there. Then i remembered that the owner said he had no sheep in here atm. On seccond look it was a big mob of deer. I sat down and saw that they were all does but counted 18 of them. All i could think of was what a great new property i had found.
I returned back to my ute to set up camp with bucks grunting away over the ridge from me, pitty it was too dark to hunt them.
spot the doe? she was up in the scrubby gully across where i first parked.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010075.jpg
The next morning i was waiting on top of a hill before light to try and locate a buck or two. Just as the first bits of colour could be seen over the horison a buck started grunting a couple ridges over from me. It wasn't long and i was sitting on the oposite ridge just making out the figure of a big stag and a hand full of doe's. The closer i got i started to wounder if this guy was bigger than the one i had already shot this year as his antlers looked very impressive in the low light. I made it over to the same ridge as him and sat there watching from 80m as he grunted and tried to keep all the does at his scrape but eventually most of them escaped but two. The light was pretty good now so i got some vid footage of gim before stalking in to try and get a shot. I stalked down the ridge onto him but was looking for him in the wrong spot and next thing he just appeared to my left. He saw me as i saw him and as i drew my bow he jogged off down the hill with his two doe's in tow. A quick range of the scrape where he stood and yep 30m bugga!
Here are some images of him sorry not real clear.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture027.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture031.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture033.jpg
After that i walked out into some of the better country and found deer everywhere. Ended up seeing about 40 for the day but diddn't see any other mature stags. Some more scenery pics.
Oh and a deer dissapearing over the ridge.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010087.jpg
A nice gully i found 7 doe's feeding in at about 1pm!
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010063.jpg
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010060.jpg
This morning i woke early and headded out after hearing the bucks going at it all night was pretty surprised i couldnt hear any. But the wind was blowing which made it hard to hear anything. I diddn't get close to any bucks but saw 3 that were alright and saw about 25 doe's in a couple hours. Here are some pics.
two does at 30m
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010082.jpg
More deer
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture022.jpg
and again
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/Picture023.jpg
A mob dissapearing after winding me.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b255/Mackadebowhunter/P1010086-1.jpg
This place has to be my best hunting property now and i am very happy with the door nocking approach you just have to put the time and effort in and you can come up with a spot like this. I diddn't ground anything this trip but i'm just happy i checked out a new place. Next time i hope.
Macka
P.S sorry about all the pics :wink: