The last week in the bush..

Discussion in 'Hunting and Fishing' started by Andy the Aussie, Oct 29, 2016.

  1. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    Soooooo....just back from a week out in the far west of my state, I only venture out there is the warmer months every few years as I much prefer hunting (and being) there in winter. This is the same place I was about 2months ago and got stuck up to the axles. It was still wet in places and it rained again the night I arrived. I have been going here now for about 30yrs and it is probably the wettest and greenest I have seen it !!!! What that means is that the deer are bloody hard to find as they don't need to venture out of the thick scrub for food or water. Such is life.



    After about 9hrs driving I got in late on Friday afternoon, unpacked, snake checked the house and pretty much went to bed !! I even managed a bit of a sleep in the following day. My oldest/longest friend was to join me on Saturday so I basically bummed around the house for the day waiting on him (he arrived about 1400hrs).



    That time was mostly spent touching up a few knives...



    [​IMG]



    Once he got in we got him unpacked and organised and ended up sparking up the house fire as it was quite cool. He and I are off to New Zealand hunting next year and discussed walking way out in the back blocks of this property and spending the night, just for the sake of it, we both packed accordingly and once packs were organised we settled in and promptly drank a bit much...LOL



    Next day we decided to start walking about mid-morning with a view to finding one of the tanks (dams) hand drawn on a sketch map we had. It was also getting hot (as was to be a theme for most of the week). In this country water (or the lack of it) is the most dangerous thing (besides me before my first coffee). Anyway we set forth and after several hours and about 13km we found the tank we were looking for (well actually we didn't, we found a new one that was not on the map but which was in the end only 500m or so from the one we WERE looking for). At this point I realised I had maaaaybe underestimated the amount of water needed so we both did a bit of a resupply from the tank.



    That's the mate crashed out in the grass...



    [​IMG]



    Prettiest tanks I have ever seen out in this country...



    [​IMG]



    Looking back down toward the tank we really were seeking (and into the area we spent the night)...



    [​IMG]



    The fire the mate boiled up his tank water on ( I camped on a log with my little MSR Pocket Rocket) ...



    [​IMG]



    Kelty pack and Sako..



    [​IMG]
     
    Zeek and C99c like this.
  2. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    So we moved a few hundred metres away from the tank (about 1/2 way between two) and picked a spot for the night to get set up, the mate promptly got a brew on...



    [​IMG]



    Home for the night in the late afternoon sun...



    [​IMG]



    We them hunted off around both tanks but other than 'Roos and Emus there was not much about...wandered back to camp and started on dinner...



    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]



    Not long after dark we both called it quits, a bit sore and sorry as "we are not as young as we once were"...!!! Mosquitos were a great annoyance all bloody night and I had got a little sunburn on the neck and hands that was also a pain. It was not the most pleasant night I have spent in a sleeping bag !!!



    Just after first light we were up and packing. I knew I should also have been drinking more but there was a long hot walk back yet. We took a different route back on a bearing to where we had left the truck, this one took us through some of the thickest country on the place and added considerably to the walking distance (as there is no "straight line" option !!). All told the walk back was about 5hrs and the GPS told us that the round trip had been a little over 30km. Certainly a good stretch of the legs and gave a bit of insight into some things we need to change up before next year's trip. Out of interest, I drank the last of my water (and was a spot dehydrated) as we drove back in.



    Walking through the bush the mate spotted a small brown snake that I (carefully) snapped...



    [​IMG]



    ....I grew in confidence when I realised it was NOT a baby King Brown. (It is in fact a Burton's Legless Lizard I believe).
     
  3. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    Once back in at camp we got a good bit of water in and started to think about a decent lunch. The mate had a small boned venison shoulder from out hunt in September so he attacked that with whatever herbs he could find and added a chopped onion and some oil then wrapped it up for a bit...



    [​IMG]



    Then lit a fire under some steel plate out in the yard and added the meat to the hot metal...



    [​IMG]



    And the result was delicious....



    [​IMG]



    I will say we both turned in early slept well that night !!! We were also a bit lazy and passed on the following morning's hunt.



    Instead we went to toy at the makeshift range we have. He wanted to check his .270's zero and me some loads in both the .308 and .300Win.



    Oh and there was his flintlock (with a beautiful "flash in the pan" on display)...



    [​IMG]



    I took the .300Win out last trip to test some loads and was really disappointed, barely held 2 inches, came home and dropped 1.5gns of powder (still a little over max load) and got this...



    [​IMG]



    ...so that will do !



    We both went for hunts in different directions in the afternoon and I saw sweet bugger all, he saw a good number of deer and shot a sow.



    While I was out I did see lots of dragons out and about, two were particularly Zen about me crawling up to them...



    [​IMG]



    [​IMG]
     
    Zeek, R Stowe, CWB and 2 others like this.
  4. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    Unfortunately my mate got a call that evening and had to pack up and head home Wednesday morning.



    In our down time we (well he) had built a Yabbie trap out of some rubbish and we tried it with NO luck on the house tank. After he left Wednesday I rode the bike out bush and set it on another tank. Still not much in the way of game about.



    The following day I rode out again into the back (about 1/2 way out where we walked) and hunted back into the scrub...



    [​IMG]



    ...so that was the one shot I fired all week at a critter ... ;)



    On the way back in I decided to check the Yabbie trap and while there was not feast provided it did prove the concept...



    Trap...



    [​IMG]



    Yabbie...



    [​IMG]



    .... that one went back into the tank for next time... ;)



    Once I finished out here it was getting HOT...so I ended up sitting in the shade back at the house and slowly started to get packed up. At one point I wondered over to the edge of the verandah and looked down, there a whole six inches lower was the front 8 or so inches of a Western Brown Snake poking out taking in the sun, he/she retreated back under the house before I could retrieve the shovel. It was just a reminder of what you already know out there, the snakes ARE there even if you are not seeing them (same weekend last year that got 4 IN the house).



    And alas by 0700hrs Friday I had to start the 9hr drive home...



    [​IMG]
     
    Zeek, GaryMc, JAD and 5 others like this.
  5. DYSPHORIC JOY

    DYSPHORIC JOY Administrator Staff Member

    Messages:
    10,151
    Likes Received:
    17,306
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    The Land of Copperheads and Baccer Spit
    That's what I am talking about. Nice pack as well. Is that a Mil-Spec Kelty?
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  6. The Warrior

    The Warrior Member

    Messages:
    1,410
    Likes Received:
    3,343
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Illinois
    Awesome man, thanks for posting.

    I was wondering what a yabbie was, until I saw the photo. We call them crawdaddies.
     
    Paynefree and GaryMc like this.
  7. jlowrance

    jlowrance Member

    Messages:
    193
    Likes Received:
    189
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Portland, Indiana
    Awesome pics. Looks to be a great time. One question are kangaroos hunted there?
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  8. Expat

    Expat Expat™ Knives Staff Member

    Messages:
    5,413
    Likes Received:
    10,079
    Location:
    SE of Disorder
    That's a really cool adventure.

    Although Austria doesn't look at all like I pictured.
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  9. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    ... THANKS :) it is mate, got it from another member here.

    .... Thanks, and yes they are, thought it is more like shooting rabbits than hunting. I rarely shoot Skippy (Kangaroo) these days except for some dog food. It IS great eating however, I tend to get my eating 'Roo at the Supermarket ;) Worms and other parasites are common (especially out thee in the west where I was - I have pic here form a few years ago of one I took for meat that was riddled).

    .... yes, Yabbie = Freshwater Crayfish ;) ;)
     
    GaryMc and jlowrance like this.
  10. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    ... Thanks.... flatter and dryer with more thorns and less snow I imagine. It is not all lederhosen and strudel you know.... !
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  11. ozbushy

    ozbushy Member

    Messages:
    224
    Likes Received:
    238
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Wide brown land for me
    Sounds like a good trip mate cheers for sharing it
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  12. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    Yes mate, just not long enough !!!! After 7 days I was just starting to relax !!!
     
    GaryMc and ozbushy like this.
  13. ozbushy

    ozbushy Member

    Messages:
    224
    Likes Received:
    238
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Wide brown land for me
    Haha they never are
     
    GaryMc likes this.
  14. JAD

    JAD Member

    Messages:
    1,112
    Likes Received:
    1,803
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    St Louis, MO
    Always great stuff from you guys "down under". It's amazing how much fun you criminals seem to have down there.:D Don't know why the Brits ever wanted to get rid of you.
     
    GaryMc and JMJ like this.
  15. GaryMc

    GaryMc Member

    Messages:
    1,530
    Likes Received:
    1,879
    Location:
    A better place
    Great pics and looks like great fun, thanks for sharing!!!!!
     
  16. Menace

    Menace Member

    Messages:
    362
    Likes Received:
    780
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Virginia
    I can't see the pics. Do I have a setting messed up or something?
     
  17. Andy the Aussie

    Andy the Aussie Administrator of the Century Staff Member

    Messages:
    12,766
    Likes Received:
    18,541
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Australia
    ... no mate, phtotobucket is down.
     
  18. Menace

    Menace Member

    Messages:
    362
    Likes Received:
    780
    Gender:
    Male
    Location:
    Virginia
    Thanks bro! I see them now looks like a great time
     

Share This Page