This story starts earlier this year after I listened to a podcast by an American bowhunter who was talking about walking off the hill early due to finding some excuse - it's going to rain / I'm tired / maybe I should go fishing instead / had an argument with the boss etc. etc. I've certainly been guilty of this in the past, so for my recent long service leave I pushed myself not to walk away from time out in the bush. It did kind of pay off early, I shot a goat after a long hard walk in on the back of a sore throat, but after that nothing. Over the 6 weeks or so of hunting, I estimated I walked in excess of 100km, and none of it of nice flat ground and often with a heavy pack. There were a few times I got home and thought 'shoulda, coulda, woulda' but in amongst all that I couldn't find any medium or big game for love nor money apart from one 10min stand off with what turned out to be a pair of white fallow at about 40m. I saw plenty of foxes, but it was only about the 6th one that I managed to get a shot away.
I'd arranged a half day away from home, but a few showers on the radar and predicted by the BOM made me start second guessing myself but I pulled my socks up, loaded the car and headed off. My idea was to grab my camera I put out a week or so ago as it was only intended as a short stay and then depending on the winds find somewhere to sit the evening out in the hopes of something walking past. Reaching the parking spot, a few dark clouds threatened ominously and I couldn't help think of all the big trout in the local creek. Still,....at least I could grab the camera quickly....Then I remembered I hadn't repacked my light day pack and didn't even have a knife. Surely I wouldn't need one anyway!?!??
Heading up the brow of a finger ridge, I spotted plenty of sign. The problem was that it was spread out all over the place with no defined areas of movement. At least some was freshish after the last rain. Reaching the camera, I opened it up, but quickly realised a 4" screen doesn't show much
Dumping it in the pack I had a quick bite to eat and a drink. Surely those trout are rising now..... But I can go trout fishing any evening so I pushed on, crossing through the tops of a few small side gullies and checking on some previous sign and whistling for foxes at any likely spot. Along the side of one gully there is a few hundred meters where there is a rub tree every 20-40m like clockwork, and all the same age.
Reaching one of the main creeks, the winds were squirreling around a bit, but I worked out that the prevailing was down stream, which would only get more consistent as the day cooled. Passing a busy wombat, I took a fold in the main divide between the two creeks in the area and worked my way up to the top which features a road. This was the area I'd had the stand off with the fallow earlier, so I glassed heavily by nothing was spotted. I'd noticed the other face of the creek was nice and open, with a small but tight and deep gully coming down towards me. I'd been along that face earlier in my holidays and knew there was a fair amount of sign of both fallow and sambar, plus there were thickets of scrub for the deer to hide in towards the tops of these small gullies so I hunted around a little and found a nice spot I could sit and glass both the main gully upstream of me, as well as the opposite face and side gully.
Sitting down with my back against a tree with 4 or 5 smaller saplings around me, I was confident I was relatively hidden and had a couple of rests for a cross gully shot. Unpacking a bit to eat and another drink, I was nibbling on a few home made dried apple rings when I saw movement at the top edge of the clear opposite face. Picking their way across the slope was a young sambar and a calf somewhat above me and about 100m away. Through the binos I could see the size of them and guessed at a yearling and a calf, but I coulnd't see if big mumma was following behind. Grabbing the gun, I slithered down the hill to a wattle that had a perfect fork for a rest. The deer had disappeared behind some scrub, but a minute or so later the young one stepped out into a clearing that I had in the tops of the blackwoods in creek below me. Waiting until it reached the centre, I lined up the cross hairs and slowly squeezed the trigger.....WTF??
In my rookie haste, I'd forgotten that my Howa has a 3 positing safety, and I'd only gone up 1 click. Ooops. Flicking it fully forward, I re-acquired the lead deer and again lined up the crosshairs on the centre of the shoulder. Slowly breathing out I paused and the shot broke. Immediately the deer jumped and mule kicked and the first thought through my mind was 'gut shut, oh sh!t!!!', but it took a step or two while I quickly re-loaded. Suddenly it rolled over and tumbled down the steep hill, end over end to come crashing to a stop at the base of a big gum. I didn't even have to time to worry about it ending up in the creek before it was over. Despite the shot, it was still trying to move, so I lined up the crosshairs with the centre of it's forehead and squeezed off another shot, probably not necessary but I don't seeing animals suffer unnecessarily. It immediately stopped moving and a wave of relief went through me - I'd finally done it!!
Making the rifle safe, I grabbed the rest of the gear and packed it away and made my way down, across the creek and up the other side. A swift check to make sure she was dead, I took it all in. A couple of photos, a check on the sex (was a hind) and my shot placement (perfect both times) and a brief review of the situation:
No knife
No game bags
Very limited carrying capacity
Best part of 1km walk each way in/out
1hr daylight(ish)
Hmmmmmmm
The plan I came up with was:
1)Go home and collect kill kit
2)Ring uncle and try to borrow 4wd to get within ~80m of deer
3)Quarter up carcass ASAP
4)Carry out what I could depending on phone call/fatigue and/or hang quarters for collection the next day
As soon as I got reception I rang my uncle who was happy for me to borrow his ute. Reaching home I grabbed my extra gear and let my wife know she shouldn't expect me back for a few hours then hit the road again. Swapping cars, I reached the new parking spot with about 1/2 - 3/4hr of theoretical working light left, but as it is an East facing slope I knew the light would finish earlier than that so a good chance to try out my new headlamp. Parking up, I unloaded everything and hit the trail and a few minutes later was standing over the deer. The hard work was about to begin!
So far I've butchered 10 or so goats, but I wasn't prepared for a) the toughness of the hide and b) the sheer size (and this was really only 3/4 grown!). Amazingly it couldn't have come to rest in a better spot, a slight bench just above the tree made a level playing field, and I could spread out without having to worry about my footing. At least you can drag a fully grown goat around if needed, but I was hard pushed rolling it over as it was.
It took me an hour to quarter it up, it might not have been the best job ever done but I was good enough to hit the ball socket on the rear leg both times exactly, something I've struggled to do on the goats but I did get myself out of sequence and left some of the back strap on the front shoulder. Still, at current meat prices at the butcher I'm not complaining one bit!!!!!! It had turned fully dark by the time I was finished and started loading and I realised my life would have been easier to have a light of some description hanging in the tree to guide me back through the inky darkness, so I placed my high vis orange beanie on a prominent branch to pick it up with the torch making my way back in. Heaving with exertion, I got the first quarter in the backpack and on my back and made my way slowly back to the car up the steep hill. Returning for 2 more trips to get everything out, I staggered back to the car for the last time completely stuffed - thank god for helpful relatives!!
Arriving home, I hung everything in the garage, at a stable ~10C at least I don't have to rush but I'll have to organise some freezer space soon.
Guess I'll have to up my game, I got lucky this time but next time I might have a serious pack out to do. Pillowcases etc. might be fine for a goat and possibly fallow but certainly not for anything other than a calf in sambar.
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Howa 1500 in 30/06 with Corelokt 150gr