First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Game hunting and large prey. Deer stalking, hunting with hounds. Boar, pigs etc., large prey, culling, hunting large feral animals.

First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Presson » 28 Mar 2017, 7:49 am

I see a lot of hunters sharing the results of their hunting. It's usually a photo of a trophy stag, countless rabbits, a dog as large as a small man or a pig that looks like it could eat a man. Let me balance that out with my reality.

My brother and I just went on our first hunt yesterday. Neither of us have any experience so we're starting at the back of the grid. We picked a forest, booked it in, planned the whole trip (haha), loaded the car and off we went to bag ourselves some meat.

Rather than recount the whole story, I'll just hit the highlights… or is it lowlights in this case?

- Arrived all cheerful to be greeted by a gate. There goes our campsite. Turns out the gate was marked on the map but it was slightly obscured by other markings and I overlooked it. Lesson learned.
- After doing some research many people suggested that you can get by with a normal road car in a forest. They must have been having a laugh. What they probably meant is you can drive up to a forest and then walk in. Granted there might be some forests with decent roads but my point is, don't count on it and certainly don't expect to come out if it rains. Lesson learned.
- I didn't plan for an alternate campsite. I was so set on the one I picked because I suspected we might have a hard time driving in. I was right but I still should have planned for an alternate site. Lesson learned.
- Once we decided to drive in with a small hatchback low to the ground we were pretty committed, and a little bit silly. I kid you not, not 5 min in we almost got stuck going down a fire-trail that we had no business driving on. We were barely able to reverse out. Lesson learned.
- After the scary moment reversing out we stuck to easier trails and some minutes later found a decent campsite. Turns out what was a good campsite in the evening was torturous the following day in full sun. Lesson learned.
- After setting up camp we went for a scout down the same road we got stuck on earlier. It was meant to be a short scout to see what the forest was like. Rather than sticking to the trail we went off it to take a short cut. Hahaha. Over two hours later we arrived at our camp exhausted. Our shortcut took us in the completely opposite direction! We climbed and climbed until we were sore and came upon a trail that looped around an extra 4 or so kms. We could have avoided it all with some better map reading. Lesson learned.
- During this scout my brother's boots literally fell apart. He hadn't worn them for years and the rubber just basically disintegrated. All he had for the next day was a pair of Vans… Lesson learned.
- The next morning we got up all excited for our first hunt. We set off early after a quick breakfast. Our pace was much slower than the day before. Partly to keep quiet but mostly because we were still sore from the scout that beat us up! Lesson learned.
- As much as we tried to go off the trails we were just too loud in the scrub. I'd like to say lesson learned but we have a lot to learn here. Lesson to be learned.
- We casually walked, stopping often, taking in the sounds, smells and sights. Unfortunately, apart from some local wildlife we did not see anything. This hunting business is not easy. You can't just expect to turn up and blow your load. Lesson learned.
- Heading back to camp we were really sore. The hills just took it out of us. I won't pretend we're the most healthy guys around but we're not exactly sloths either. Still, there's a difference between jogging in the burbs and climbing rough terrain with a bunch of gear weighing you down. Lesson learned.
- At the campsite during lunch the sun was hammering us and we just looked at each other and thought there is no way we can take another hour of this and we packed it in a day early….

A lot of things didn’t go our way. We could have planned it better and ummed and ahhed but in the end we just had to have a go and we really did want to do it on our own. There's no better lesson learned than a hard one and there were a lot of them. In that regard you could say this was a very successful trip.

I've painted a very negative picture of our trip. It wasn't all that bad. There were a lot of laughs along the way and a lot of bonding between two brothers. We'll count that as a success too.

We drove home defeated and exhausted but after the long initial silence in the car, individually reflecting on the experience, we started planning our next trip. Armed with the lessons we learned we'll head out again that little bit better equipped and when the next trip smashes us with yet more unexpected lessons, we'll just cop them and try again and again.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Supaduke » 28 Mar 2017, 8:38 am

Like many things in life, people only want to show and remember the good times. Thanks for the chuckle and refreshing honesty.

At least you guys are having a go. Each trip you will improve and learn.

Everyone was a rookie at some point.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by juststarting » 28 Mar 2017, 9:03 am

Yep, each trip will get a lot easier and you'll ditch a lot of gear you thought you'd need, however the hills will still be there :)

As for boots, I personally prefer turf shoes, i.e. runners with a very aggressive sole, like footy boots clits but with rubber. Makes all the difference.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by AusTac » 28 Mar 2017, 9:08 am

s**t trips make the best stories, you suffer through it but it'll always be a memory and a laugh later on
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by duncan61 » 28 Mar 2017, 10:32 am

I have read a story where hunters camped in a gully and a flash flood washed them and all there gear away.They only just survived with the clothes on their back and lost rifles and every thing
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Oldbloke » 28 Mar 2017, 11:47 am

You are a very fast learner. Took me about 10 years to learn all that. :lol:

Stick at it. Gets easier.

TBO Happens to everyone. Gotta learn some how. :thumbsup:
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Bent Arrow » 28 Mar 2017, 12:00 pm

Sounds like a good trip to me, you got there and got home, nobody took home a long-lasting injury, you learnt your way around that part of the forest.......
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Adlippy » 28 Mar 2017, 1:53 pm

No such thing as a sh#t trip, they are all learning experiences, plus they get you out of the city ( in my case) which is always a good thing
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by bladeracer » 28 Mar 2017, 1:59 pm

I hope you manage to get out at least once a week...as long as you post the reports ;-)
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Presson » 28 Mar 2017, 3:53 pm

bladeracer wrote:I hope you manage to get out at least once a week...as long as you post the reports ;-)


Haha. I don't think my back can take weekly trips.

Planning has already started on the next trip though. Looking forward to some more hard lessons. :clap:
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by RoginaJack » 28 Mar 2017, 4:36 pm

Ah yes, we're all been there done that. The next time you go for a jog, wrap a couple of house bricks in towels, put them in your backpack and chuck that on your back. Surprising what a difference that makes.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Oldbloke » 28 Mar 2017, 5:04 pm

RoginaJack wrote:Ah yes, we're all been there done that. The next time you go for a jog, wrap a couple of house bricks in towels, put them in your backpack and chuck that on your back. Surprising what a difference that makes.


Yeh, will give you a crook back.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Smiley » 28 Mar 2017, 8:12 pm

As the saying goes, good decisions are made from experience. Experience is made from bad decisions.
You will learn something new on every trip.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Gwion » 29 Mar 2017, 12:57 pm

Nice one mate. Everyone has to start somewhere. What were you hunting, BTW?
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by albat » 29 Mar 2017, 1:59 pm

Hunting the forests is no joke you need to be fit and very patient way harder than driving around properties blazing away. I have gone many trips and never seen anything at all so you are not alone there one tip try to wait around in likely spots near open country or water and be patient
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by sakoBC » 29 Mar 2017, 4:31 pm

Don't lose heart. We all have character building “newbie” stories, such as…..
Me and the other newbie went for a 2 hour bush walk with guns. We returned to camp having not seen a single animal. We arrived at camp to find the experienced hunter field dressing five goats. The experienced hunter woke up late and was reading the paper and having a coffee when five goats visited the dam that we were camping on (who would have figured on animals coming to water :sarcasm: ). Live and learn.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by YoungBuck » 11 Apr 2017, 8:08 pm

Presson wrote:Rather than sticking to the trail we went off it to take a short cut. Hahaha. Over two hours later we arrived at our camp exhausted. Our shortcut took us in the completely opposite direction! We climbed and climbed until we were sore and came upon a trail that looped around an extra 4 or so kms. We could have avoided it all with some better map reading. Lesson learned.

I mapped out my last bush trip from the weekend, it was only 5 km round trip back to the car but the terrain was very challenging and factor in a backpack and your rifle and it is quite the physically demanding task. Bush hunting on foot ain't easy, and I'm only 30!
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by AZZA'S HJ47 » 11 Apr 2017, 9:06 pm

i have my first trip out next weekend im hopeful that it will be a successful trip with a bit of luck i think the trick is to tag along with someone that has done it before and has a little experience to help point you in the right direction.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by bigpete » 11 Apr 2017, 9:57 pm

juststarting wrote:As for boots, I personally prefer turf shoes, i.e. runners with a very aggressive sole, like footy boots clits but with rubber. Makes all the difference.

Where do you get these boots from lol
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by juststarting » 11 Apr 2017, 10:39 pm

bigpete wrote:
juststarting wrote:As for boots, I personally prefer turf shoes, i.e. runners with a very aggressive sole, like footy boots clits but with rubber. Makes all the difference.

Where do you get these boots from lol



Scroll right to the bottom, to the very last photo.
http://myshootingjourney.com/2016/10/23/choosing-the-right-hunting-shoes-dont-fall-for-gimmicks/

I got mine for $140 from Merrell in Melbourne CBD

Adidas has similar as well, but double the price.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by juststarting » 11 Apr 2017, 10:48 pm

Also, if you are flat footed little hobbitsy like me, Merrell is the way to go. Everything else I've tried on feels uncomfortably high around the arch. 'normal' hiking shoes are okay, unless you're climbing up wet dirt.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Noisydad » 12 Apr 2017, 6:10 am

What ever you buy and wear, make sure you break them in at home for a month before heading out on a long walk through the bush - you should see some of the monumental blisters we see on Scout's feet because they've got footwear that's brand new 2 days before a 30 km, full pack hike!
There's still a few of Wile. E Coyote's ideas that I haven't tried yet.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Gwion » 12 Apr 2017, 8:18 am

Mammout... Real boots.

That is all.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by RoginaJack » 12 Apr 2017, 11:57 am

That's a great article and nothing like a bit of experience gained by landing on the rear end a few times.
I prefer a higher cut boot for a bit more ankle protection and puddle wading and I take your point about prices; some are just exorbitant and well outside my budget..
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by Supaduke » 12 Apr 2017, 1:23 pm

I've worn merrells for years, great shoes. Very comfy, decent price and not too flashy.
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Re: First Time Hunters and Some Hard Lessons

Post by brett1868 » 13 Apr 2017, 11:56 pm

A great read and good to hear the adventures of others, a few flashbacks in there of lessons learnt in my own youth.
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