March 2019 I did my R-license accredited course with the ADA (Australian deer association) and with in a week I am fully licensed and ready to hunt NSW state forests. I recently went on me first hunt with a mate of myn and was a great success in my books. Although only being there for a little over a day (hunting is only permitted 30 minutes before and after sunrise/set) i had accomplished some of the major things i wanted to, I had experience what it was like to hike hard for 14 hours with weight on your back looking at scat of all shapes and sizes and come home with a empty esky. Although we spent the best of 14 hours of the first day out putting in the work and only saw wombat and wallaby scat and not 1 single animal, I still had a great time and have learnt some major lessons from this. On the second morning we got up early spent about 3 hours in all the wrong places again. After packing up camp we decided to drive down to the lowest elevation we could hunt and do a hike along the border of the state forest. After 10 minutes of going up and down valleys we started coming across deer scat and alot more green growth (the forest was very dry and noisey). Within another 10 minutes we saw the first deer!! It was a small doe and was just outside the border, We had spooked her anyway. It was a great way to end the trip and was all that was needed to give me the motivation to plan another hunt as soon as i got home
Although my expectations for hunts are going to get more steep with hopefully more success, This was all that was needed to get us both excited to head back.