So I just spent another week in the bush nominally chasing deer, well OK….really chasing deer as it was the cast that the Black Fallow Rut was well and truly starting. The tough part was that the weather was pretty horrible. Spent several days across the week hut bound (driving horizontal rain) or when out battling a howling wind. What was even more fun was getting to the back boundary of the place as the rain rolled over the mountain and dumped on me for an hour….LOL All that said I would not have been anywhere else !!! I arrived late Friday but only managed to get into the bush on Saturday afternoon. Saw plenty of deer around and heard more. Among it all I saw several young bucks but none with a head worth taking, along with this we need to cull out a good number of does. So, I rode the Zombie Express out high to the south west end of the property, heading up a track I realised how much rain had fallen there when the bike started spinning up most of the slopes. I also noted in one spot the left hand wheel rut of the track was now about 75cm deep thanks to running water. After parking up I walked to just below the ridgeline and started following it along. No bucks, plenty of does (one less) and then I found myself having to push through a stand of ferns/blackberry bent over at the waist; I had just started in and came nose to snout with a little boar…. ….dragging him out so I could snap a pic was a BITCH !! He was in the area that is visible in the background of the pic. Oh and leeches…they were there as well….and were a feature all week. I then headed back down the mountain and got trapped in the hut again till Monday !! At least we had a fire and lots of food…too much food… When I got out again the wind was just howling and the rain had only let up earlier in the day. I stayed low on the creek line with the bike and parked up and climbed. I came across several deer all sheltering in gullies and such (not a great pic as I just wrestled the camera out of my pack as they winded me)…. I climbed and then contoured around up and down. At one point I was in a gully that had a run off stream flowing in the bottom and a small group of deer walked onto me. Again I was still bumbling with the camera when the wind screwed me up (180degree direction changes will do that L ) …. Evening was fast approaching and I roamed one more gully over and could hear several bucks grunting so I tried to walk in on them, got to a spot where I could see six separate bucks spread out in a large gully (I always find deer in this spot) including one that was running the show… ….that’s him and he is a worthwhile (though not world beating) head. Problem was it was almost dark and the wind was against me…. ! That pic was taken with the ISO at around 3200 and on full zoom from across the gully, I lightened it a bit also so he is more visible. The rest of my time was pretty much spent hunting him !! I managed to get back in on him several times but never in a position to take a shot at him. On the way out I spotted several Echidnas and to resolve an argument with a staff member at work I snapped this pic… ….she is adamant that they “fire” their spines out into you if you touch them (porcupines they are NOT). A day or so later I had got into a spot to try and wait out that larger buck, I was sheltered from the wind and in a less than visible spot…I was not alone however as it seems this guy agreed with my assessment of the location… ….he remained there the whole time I did and was still laying down when I did finally make good my departure. From that spot I had a good view of the scrape and stand that older buck had made (I have some video of him working on it I need to figure out how to post). While I was there it was not he occupying it but in this case tow kangaroos and three pigs.. A little later I thought I saw a couple of Black Fallow does wandering it but slowly my pea sized brain processed just what I was seeing and that they were 30% bigger, a different colour (though Fallow come in many shades) with big donkey like faces…yep… Red Deer. Two hinds and a fawn. The only pic I managed was as they crossed onto my side of the gully well below me… OK…yep hunting deer….but those that know me know pigs make my eyes glaze over…especially when they are a little larger…. I snotted this one from about 150yds across the gully and then walked onto it….as I approached the “body” I was a bit shocked when the eyes popped open and up and forward it came, I took a bit of an “exit stage right” and placed a second shot down the back of the shoulders/neck at around 8 paces… After this I roamed up the other side of the gully and spent some time on a log overlooking some prime deer country. While here I had a bit of a reorganisation of my gear, a snack, got my GPS out of my smock pocket (smock having been stuffed in my pack during a long uphill walk) to relocate to my shirt and snapped some pics. I then set off across and higher, about an hour later I stopped, encouraged another leech to dismount and decided to check my location in relation to another rutting stand I knew of (from a few years ago)…I figured I was just under it and needed to be a bit higher up…at that point I could not located the GPS….%$#&*% !! Worst case I assumed it dropped from my shirt pocket on the walk up (it rides in a covered sleeve pocket and has always been safe there), I could not see it this way however. Then processing the morning I remembered getting it out of the smock while there on the log but never placing it in my shirt. Hummmmm…! Thankfully that log (there are MANY like it) was in a pretty prominent position so I reversed course….and from about 25yds away I was relieved to see it resting comfortably just where I had deposited it…. Despite the weather being cooler there were still a few reptiles around (other guys saw a few snakes bit not I) including this little guy catching some rays…. He was totally zen as I moved his rock around for the appropriate sun to snap his pic (and back when I was done)…. And more weather approaching… Not the best hunting I have had (besides the hogs I shot a couple more does) but it also beats the hell out of being at work.
Andy, you want to host the first Expat® Knives Hunting Expedition Gathering? I'd like to shoot one of those deer and I'm sure some on this forum would be interested in taking a run at some of the sheep in your area...
We are going to have to hit @Andy the Aussie for a week of backcountry shenanigans. Maybe you can get us a discount on airfare through Lodge.
We can get you all on a "Stock Transport" for a bargain price, that way when you sail over (I will have the Captain leave some of the live sheep exports on board for the return journey) you can get all that Sheep Love'n out of your systems and concentrate on hunting and not being killed by any of the local wildlife... After my week here I went out to inspect another property with the owner... it is quite remote (for the South East of Aus) and hard to access. He and I ended up needing to use a quad (ATV) and my bike to get in. The ride was brutal as the track was blocked at a high point by a large fallen tree and we had to go across country. My legs are still battered from the several times I "dismounted" the Zombie Express unexpectedly Nice place, tough access, some game around more snakes than I like to see (saw two Blue Belly Blacks in a short period. One posed for a pic right up until I got close enough to take the pick...LOL
Is there anything that is safe in your country? I heard in the news last week that even the soil over there has been found to have lethal viruses in it. Even dirt can kill you there.
Don't even start in on the hookers either... !!!! It's not that bad...we start training for nasty critters here early... http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...p/news-story/23c108b71896f0ca49b58ad664a56446
