Rob H
02-10-07, 06:55 PM
On Sunday, Trophyhunter, Hit and Giggle and myself went for a goat hunt on mine and trophyhunters blocks and the surrounds. The day started slow as my dad had just purchased a new bull and he needed the ute to move him:rolleyes: When we had finished with the bull i went and picked the boys up and we headed off down the 2km fire trail through the hills to our starting point.
As we walked in search of goats we talked about the TT awards night which we attended the night before, and how good it was to meet like minded hunters and members of this site.
As we neared the 3km mark of our walk along the river our hopes of finding goats dropped as we heard gunshot after gunshot about 1-2km upstream from our position. We then stopped for a break overlooking a pool of water and listening to the echo of the shots. As the shots became less regular we moved on and climbed over cliffs that overlook the river and where goats usually bed, there was freshly stirred up dirt in the beds and some fresh droppings but due to the gun fire they were gone.
We could hear voices and then we saw a 4 wheeler on which 2 blokes about our age jumped on and rode back around to the river where they left it and walked out of sight down the river. Being curious young buggers we cautiously walked towards the bike and i took a couple of pics of the 4 wheeler and then retreated to cover as we saw the 2 blokes returning to the bike with rifle in hand. They then rode off and we didnt see them again for the rest of the day, now we know why the goats have been so spread out of late..... Heres a pic of the bike....
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/4wheeler.jpg
After the drama we continued to a patch that we knew held rabbits. As we walked towards it we saw a couple of fleeing rabbits so we slowed right down. I then spotted a rabbit sitting on it's burrow followed by josh spotting one about 3m from the one i spotted. It was Josh's shot so he headed in for the stalk, as he got to 25-30m he drew and let fly only to miss by a whisker. We then had lunch and continued up the river but all to no avail. Our hopes were shot and it was time to head back to the ute.
On the way back we stalked through the spot where the rabbits were and i spotted a young rabbit sitting on top of its burrow. It was my shot so i positioned a tree between me an the rabbit and started the stalk in. As i got to 20m of the rabbits position i had a look to see where he was, and sure enough he was still there sitting in the sun. I drew back and slowly stepped out from behind the tree, i rested my 20m pin on his chest and hit the release. I didnt even see the arrow fly, all i heard was a small thud and i saw the rabbit immediately role on its back and start kicking. You beauty i thought until i saw it fall down it's burrow, i quickly ran over and stuck my arm down to get it. As i put my arm to about elbow length i could feel it kicking so i yanked it out and it expired as i laid it on the ground. The supreme with an adder behind it did the job slicing a large hole through its chest. Here's a couple of pics.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/merabbit1.jpg
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/rabbitbow.jpg
Then it was Jimmy's turn so off he went on his stalk, he closed the gap to around 10-15m but with a misplaced arrow the rabbit made it to the safety of its burrow. We then made the long walk home and no more game was spotted, which is very unusual for this area....
Thanks for reading, i hope i didnt bore you guys for too long;)
As we walked in search of goats we talked about the TT awards night which we attended the night before, and how good it was to meet like minded hunters and members of this site.
As we neared the 3km mark of our walk along the river our hopes of finding goats dropped as we heard gunshot after gunshot about 1-2km upstream from our position. We then stopped for a break overlooking a pool of water and listening to the echo of the shots. As the shots became less regular we moved on and climbed over cliffs that overlook the river and where goats usually bed, there was freshly stirred up dirt in the beds and some fresh droppings but due to the gun fire they were gone.
We could hear voices and then we saw a 4 wheeler on which 2 blokes about our age jumped on and rode back around to the river where they left it and walked out of sight down the river. Being curious young buggers we cautiously walked towards the bike and i took a couple of pics of the 4 wheeler and then retreated to cover as we saw the 2 blokes returning to the bike with rifle in hand. They then rode off and we didnt see them again for the rest of the day, now we know why the goats have been so spread out of late..... Heres a pic of the bike....
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/4wheeler.jpg
After the drama we continued to a patch that we knew held rabbits. As we walked towards it we saw a couple of fleeing rabbits so we slowed right down. I then spotted a rabbit sitting on it's burrow followed by josh spotting one about 3m from the one i spotted. It was Josh's shot so he headed in for the stalk, as he got to 25-30m he drew and let fly only to miss by a whisker. We then had lunch and continued up the river but all to no avail. Our hopes were shot and it was time to head back to the ute.
On the way back we stalked through the spot where the rabbits were and i spotted a young rabbit sitting on top of its burrow. It was my shot so i positioned a tree between me an the rabbit and started the stalk in. As i got to 20m of the rabbits position i had a look to see where he was, and sure enough he was still there sitting in the sun. I drew back and slowly stepped out from behind the tree, i rested my 20m pin on his chest and hit the release. I didnt even see the arrow fly, all i heard was a small thud and i saw the rabbit immediately role on its back and start kicking. You beauty i thought until i saw it fall down it's burrow, i quickly ran over and stuck my arm down to get it. As i put my arm to about elbow length i could feel it kicking so i yanked it out and it expired as i laid it on the ground. The supreme with an adder behind it did the job slicing a large hole through its chest. Here's a couple of pics.
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/merabbit1.jpg
http://i197.photobucket.com/albums/aa281/Rob_H_2007/rabbitbow.jpg
Then it was Jimmy's turn so off he went on his stalk, he closed the gap to around 10-15m but with a misplaced arrow the rabbit made it to the safety of its burrow. We then made the long walk home and no more game was spotted, which is very unusual for this area....
Thanks for reading, i hope i didnt bore you guys for too long;)