Post by donk on Feb 19, 2015 23:42:30 GMT -5
G'day guys, this is a compilation of posts I have posted on my Aussie forums. Hope you enjoy. In no particular order..........................
Well, after a 5 month journey, it has finally come to an end. I first saw this guy on the 22nd of December in velvet on my property, then every time since, he has always been on the 2 neighbouring properties. I have live pics of him pretty much every time I saw him, which should make a great story for a mag. Then yesterday, which just happened to be my Birthday, he appeared on my block for once which meant game on. I had easily 100 roos to contend with, so hit the ground and slithered on my guts as much as I could. The grass was wet, but after 5 months of nothing, I couldn't care less. Waiting for numerous roos was a pain, then a young spiker appeared off to my left which was ok due to the wind in my favour. 5 minutes later, I see a deer go screaming accross from left to right ( I don't think it could've been the same one) pronking his arse off, but the most spastic pronk I've ever seen, which put the whole paddock (about 100 acre paddock) into hopping mode. It was only then that I saw how many bloody roos there were. The big fella and 5 of his girlfriends hung around shortly, then took off up the hill. I just sat back and gave them a good half hour to settle back down before I went after him again. I only had to go about 300m when I caught sight of him, quickly lay down, thumb off the safety and let one rip. Shot was easy 250-300m front on chest shot. The buck took off and I sent 2 more after him before I saw the wobbles kick in, then to my relief, I saw him topple over for good. To say I was excited is a massive understatement. All 3 shots hit him and I was using my T3 Lite in 300WM shooting 155g ACP's. I'd say it was the first shot that did him over, but it hit slightly off centre, more hitting him in the left shoulder, but who cares, he went down and that's all that matters. Very happy with him as he's the biggest fallow I've ever seen, let alone shot in the wild and on my Birthday too
22nd of December 2013
End of January
Mid rut
Last week
And then finally, yesterday
He's older than I first thought. He has been breeding for many years, so very happy with that as the quality should start pick up in the next few years hopefully.
Now to find a bigger one - the journey never ends
Went out this morning before mum woke up for Mothers Day No deer seen on my block, but saw 5 bucks all up on neighbours, Couple were still croaking, 2 had batched up, the other 3 were with does still.
Came towards a dam, saw something not quite right. Bino's up, yep, antlers. But not one set, 2.
Some decent antlers actually, on one especially. The antlers can be separated, but if you imagine the whole animals in their position in relation to the skulls, you can see how they couldn't separate themselves.
Red stag I got my mate Pete onto on tuesday morning. Pete is the guy who wanted 30 cal 130g ACP's in his .308W for Africa and so Mark made them, simple as that. This red stag copped it from the 130g ACP and Pete is super happy with their performance. It's a 12 pointer too.
I'm still out n about hunting flat out. I have found the big fella numerous times now, just always on the wrong side of the fence :x :x :x
Anyway, shot this bugger the other day. Rattled him in too. Never done that before, but worked great.
He's another shit head that won't breed.
How I found him
He looks ok from here
BUT
What a mongrel
155g ACP pill from my .308 at roughly 130m. Shot went in just in front of the left shoulder and came out on the right side shoulder. Certainly a big hole.
And, best of all, wasn't even mine
Well, the rut didn't happen when I expected it to. I took my annual leave too early and have missed most of the rut for the fallow and the red roar. The red roar hasn't even happened yet and I am so pissed off because I can't get back up there to hear it. Anyway, the last 10-11 days has seen me hunting every morning and arvo, although I did miss 2 hunts because I was totally knackered.
My mate Pete reckons he will get me a 40 inch plus goat at the end of April, so I asked if he had ever hunted red deer before and he hadn't, so I said righto, I'll get you a 12 pointer then. I went up 2 days early to scout around and try and suss the deer out, which was a total failure. I only saw one fawn and heard no roaring. Pete turned up monday, we saw 4 reds(hinds and fawns) on monday arvo, that's it. Tuesday morning, we hunted through some country I hadn't touched yet, then all of a sudden a hind appeared in front of us, followed by a stag. I got the bino's on him in record time, then said "Pete, shoot it" although he never heard me as he was slowly getting his rifle off his shoulder incase I said to shoot. I was waiting for the BOOM, but it never came. The deer buggered off and I asked why he didn't shoot, but he said he was waiting for me to say so, even though he thought it was a big one. Anyway, we followed them in the bush, found them again, slid on our guts to get closer and waited for a shoulder shot. At about 100-120m, Pete whacked him with a 130g ACP in his .308 and not a single deer moved. "Hit him again" I said. The stag started to run off and Pete belted him again as he ran. After 30m, he got the wobbly boot and fell over dead. For a first ever red stag, Pete is bloody stoked big time.
I think maybe the first shot hit him and he just didn't know it yet
The jaw of the 12 pointer
We found a handle bar spiker that arvo while looking for one for me. See him.......
I love the zoom on my camera
We never saw another stag, so no stag for me, but Pete got a ripper, so all good.
I have been chasing fallow around the reds and they haven't done much croaking either, but getting better every day now. Here's some I have taken pics of. Some I would have liked to shoot as culls, but the boundary fence has stopped me - I hate that fence.
I'd love to get rid of this guy
And look who I found again, my big fella. 370m on the wrong side of the fence :x
Another cull I spotted numerous times, but could never get to him
And again
Then BANG, got him at 284 metres with my 300WM and the 155g ACP
Video of it here
Another week and I'll try again for that big bloke.
One from yesterday I got onto
Close up of his antlers
Lined him up
BANG
Nah, but so easily could have. I'm calling this guy a cull, but left him for now, be a good one for my missus. Backed out of there so he didn't even know what happened.
I saw this guy 3 days in a row, but could never get onto him due to the real shitty wind lately. I have vid of him chasing away younger bucks, but was from about 800m, so not real clear. I finally got onto him yesterday morning. I had the video all ready to go to get the kill shot, but I heard a noise, saw antlers and legged it up the hill as the boundary wasn't far off. I thought it was this guy, so left the camera behind as I thought I'd be getting off a quick shot. In the end, it must have been a different buck, as I found this guy bedded off to my left. I snuck in to about 100m and got ready. I tried croaking, I tried doe calls, in the end the good old "oi, get up" had the desired effect and I hit him front on, straight into the chest. I really wish I got the shot on video as he just folded on the spot. I was using the 155g ACP out of my 300WM. He is a gnarly old cull and I'm happy he's out of contention now for the rut. Anyway, pics.........
20 minutes before he carked it
The old battler
The 155g ACP travelled nearly the whole length of him. I found a lump on his leg, easiest bullet retrieval ever
Fair bit of age on him too
This guy from the other day
ACP 155g in .308 from 134m
The deer season has finally rolled around and I am looking for a particular animal that I spotted in late december and again in late january, still with no luck
Anyway, a couple of culls(what I thought were culls anyway) came my way and I took them out while I could.
First one was bedded at 80m. I was using my sako .308 with 'medium' 155g ACP's.(43g of 2206H) I hit him on his shoulder, but due to the way they lie down, I missed the offside shoulder and it came out just behind his shoulder. The buck got up, stumbled 12 paces, then fell over, dead.
The animal in question
Exit point
Exit wound
Internal exit wound
Antlers
The second buck was shot at 134m using the same bullet/load combo in my .308. I spied him from way off and closed the gap using what cover I could. By the time I got to him, he had bedded too. He is in front of the tree out there.
Close up
The buck
The exit
Internal exit
Still wondering if I shot the second buck too early and maybe should have left him. Too late now I suppose.
Been out looking for some fallow bucks lately, with not much luck I have to say. Been seeing plenty of deer, but mainly does
Got this fella 100m from my ute last week right on dark
This fella was on the farmers new pile. I never saw this guy, so wish I did
Went to my red block on thursday to look at my cams and see what I could find. They have started rubbing
I tried a new tactic, for me anyway, on my cams. I put a salt lick out in the hope of catching some stags, no luck. Cam was out for just over a month. Roos like it though
The only shot of deer on the lick. The spiker on the right is a 4 pointer already
A few more visitors too
Then, on friday morning, I spied 2 spikers down below me at first light, about 500m away. I snuck down for a looksee, losing them in the process. The wind was in my favour all the way, then as I was stalking through the last of the bush, about 100m away, some roos were going flat out, hopping for their lives, I have seen that before on this property and that means one thing, dogs. The 3 dogs gave up the chase only 100m from my position, the 2 spikers were forgotten and I lined up on the tan bitch first. A front chest shot had her on the ground straight away from a 130g ACP out of my brothers .270W. Two black dogs remained and one was coming my way, not sure of what was going on. I wound the scope back down to 4x and as it turned away from me at about 40m, my offhand shot hit it through the shoulder blades, punching up through its head and taking out the bottom jaw. The third dog was now off, but stopped for an instant in front of a tree branch not offering a shot. As it moved off, my third shot hit him in the guts, which required a finisher. The farmer would be a happy man and so was I
I scouted some new country, then packed up and headed off to my other camera with the other half of the salt lick. (no luck on that cam) A big dam was near this cam and it was 11.30am by this stage. As I approached, I saw a black flash dissapearing through the grass. I jumped out, grabbed the .270, tracked the pig and as it turned slightly, I nailed her right in the shoulder, leaving a massive exit wound out its neck. The ACP's sure do some damage
Valentines Day today and the missus wanted to go for a hunt :lol: Wasn't gonna argue with that. Mainly looking for some bucks and try a fox whistle. Saw a heap of does, but only these 2 males
We picked a spot and got the Scotch caller cranking. Within about 5 minutes, we had one coming in and when he stopped, I nailed him with my .308
The missus managed to get the last of it on camera
Tried getting my brother onto a few foxes with the whistel/caller over the weekend. Saturday arvo only consisted of 1 rabbit to each of us, no foxes were seen despite good winds.
Sunday arvo after sporting clays, we hit a different spot. The first stand, I used the scotch predator call for a good 15 mins on and off and finally a fox wandered into view. He wasn't too fussed though and showed no real enthusiasm for the caller despite me using different noises. So, I pulled the old fox whistle out and straight away, he was coming at as at full steam. He propped at 25m and my brother nailed him with my Silver Pigeon and BB's.
Half hour later, we found another good spot. Again, with the whistle(not the caller) a fox appeared from over the far ridge straight away and came barrelling towards us. A couple of small sqeaks had him right near us and at about 7-8m, he too copped a full dose of BB's
That was sunday over, we swagged it and were up early again monday morning
I spied a mob of pigs from camp with my binos, a long way off. My ute had shit all through it, so we jumped in my brothers Prado to close the gap. After the maddest drive I've ever seen him do, we jumped out and closed the gap. He had my shotty and I had my Howa .223. They were all holed in some blackberries, so we split up - he was right up close with the shotty using AAA's and I was off to the right. A few rocks were thrown in and out they came. He got some lead into the biggest sow, while I cleaned up 4 with the .223 as they ran off. After finishing off the sow, I grabbed the shotty as I knew there were still some piglets in the blackberries. It wasn't sporting, but it was a good clean up of pigs the farmer doesn't want anyway. More rocks were thrown in and out came 5 piglets, all of which copped it from some BB's. No pics as cameras were left behind in the Prado.
We then tried a couple more spots for foxes before leaving for home. No luck at first, but we came upon the same gully where we shot fox number 2 from yesterday. Within a minute, a fox was spotted off to the left, only 30m away. We were both glued to this fox waiting for a clear shot. When it came, he fell to some BB's, then all of a sudden, the grass in front of us made a noise and out shot another fox that had come in undetected while we were looking to the left. He got nailed at a full gallop and it was a great shot for my brother who hasn't done much shotty work
Tuesday morning, my missus wanted to go out for a look, but pulled the pin at the last minute as she was pretty crook. I went out anyway to look for more foxes. Plans soon changed when I potted a good boar way out again. I only had a shotty, so had to get close and so the running began. The boar was with a mob of about 15 pigs in the end and I managed to get within 30m before he looked up and thought something was wrong. As he turned, I belted him with AAA's and he was off. The mob regrouped and ran back the way they had came. I dropped my pack and was after them as fast as my unfit arse could take me. Up one hill, down the hill, across the flat, then up the biggest hill on the place just past where I had parked my ute. I stayed on the offside of the ridge to intercept them and it worked perfectly. I heard some sqealing, then at 5m, out they came over the hill. At 5m though, they had me pegged in no time. I fired off 2 quick shots from my Bettinsoli(which I had only just got back from the gunsmith as it couldn't be opened for 2 years) It is still quite stiff to open up and by the time I ejected the shells, the rest were out of range. Anyway, 3 pigs for a so-called fox whistling session wasn't too bad I thought.
So, asked the missus what she wanted to do on the weekend, "lets go for a hunt" she said So she twisted my arm and off we went. Got onto a mob of pigs and this is the result. Shot with a 130g ACP out of a .270W at 160m ranged.
Africa is soon approaching and my brother needed some time in the hills to get used to his rifle again. A goat hunt was the best option as we had a few targets to aim at. His rifle is a T3 Lite in .270W shooting the 130g ACP. It was a nice day (despite being f***ing freezing) and he pulled off shots from 50m to 270ish metres. The ACP's worked well and the only time one needed 2 shots was because the first shot wasn't in the right spot.
Anyway, a couple of pics....
How we found him. This was an instant dispatch that I have on video too and will post it up when I have time
These 2 billies kept fighting despite their mates falling down around them :rofl:
My brother shot about a dozen that day and he's happy how the day turned out and put more confidence in his rifle before the trip which is good.
No other pics of goats as most were long shots across gullies.
Couple of quick vids of the goat shots
Dad came up the other week and I took him out for a look around. Tried finding him a buck with no luck, but we found this. Farmer had his light out by the looks of it
Tried another place the following day and I finally saw dad shoot a pig. Not a big pig, but a pig's a pig. I was stoked because dad hasn't shot a pig since 1986 FFS.
That was enough for him, he was happy. The mob ran off so dad handed me my .223 and I ran after them. I shot 3 more with the sow being the biggest. Never seen a boar on this place
We shot the pigs right near the house and you can see why the owner want them gone. Dad loves whacking bunnies and when this fella popped up near the pig rooting, he couldn't help himself.
Finally getting round to cleaning up all my stuff. Did this lot about 2 weeks ago. Still 2 out in the paddock, then I'm done.
Cheers guys.
Got away last monday for a few days out west looking for big goats and any pigs if we were lucky. Long story short( I hate typing sorry) we had a bloody great trip and I'll let the pics tell the story.
We got a quad bogged on the first arvo and while looking for it the next morning, I found this fella
My first goat of the trip, I shot the wrong one actually
My second billy. I am actually gonna get this fella mounted, my first shoulder mount of anything.
My third and final billy and the biggest I got at 38.75". If only his left horn was the same as his right
We left this one actually
The 4 of us and another big billy
Packing up to go home
Our haul, in no particular order. We could so easily have shot more, but then there'd be none left for next time.
Farmer came out one night and put on a show for us, lol
First time I'd seen that on a hunting trip
All up, a great trip with good blokes. Plans for another trip already being talked about.
I'm getting early marks from work this week, so making the most of it while I can, even in the bloody rain. Not complaining about rain though, we desperately need it.
I saw the same buck as yesterday(still has electric tape on him), then right near dark, saw the mob of pigs I saw 2 weeks ago, that were next door. 2 big sows and would have to be 20 odd piglets between them and a handful of 20kg jobs.
The tikka holds 4 and I shot 4. Not a bad arvo in the end. Some fair size to them
Late yesterday arvo, I threw the swag, rifle and not much else in my ute and took off to a place I have that I hadn't hunted for 22months(rut 2 years ago)
I was mainly looking for a deer, hopefully a buck to give me an idea what was there. I walked onto a fox straight away and let him be incase I scared any deer. It was bloody hot and l sat in the shade and glassed til it cooled down. I finally up and left and headed for a pine ridge which had rubs on it in the past. I spied 3 fallow does down near the near dry creek and was happy to see that they were still in the area. I headed up higher and away from them. Then, down below, a black shape caught my eye and sure enough, it was a pig having a drink in the creek.I hot footed it down there, in through the pines and out I poked about 100m away. I quickly set up the camera and smacked him with my .308. You beauty.
He looks bigger in the video, but this is him. I spied him from the hill in the background
As I got to him and before I took the above pic, a sow wandered out of the scrub and took off up the hill. I lined her up and nailed her on the run.
The boar is to the left of my right shoulder
Then, this morning, I was headed for some open country at first light to catch some deer coming back into the scrub. Just in the last 20m of scrub, a spotted pig broke out and propped and I thought, bugger it, and nailed it. I thought it was a boar, but was a sow. She had a 20 cent piece sized exit hole in her shoulder and still made 50m :roll:
There were 15-20kg suckers with her and I got 3 of them also. No pics though.
AT about 8am, I topped a hill and saw the rear end of a pig wandering through the saddle. I quickly closed the gap as I got ready my camera again. I got the whole lot on video, but as he kept moving, I shot him only 2 seconds after he walked out of frame :x He dropped on the spot too.
I found one castie too
My very basic camp
I set up my game camera, so will see what happens.
Cheers.
We had our Sporting Clays Xmas shoot yesterday, then after, I decided to put my game camera out on a nearby block which I thought might have reds on it, but am now doubting my first thoughts.( could be roos scratching all the stringy barks) I saw no deer sign at all, it's these rubs that got me keen to put the camera out.
Anyway, here's a bit of the country. 90% of this place I haven't hunted yet.
I found a nice spot which I thought might be harbouring a sleeping fox and bingo, after a 5 second whistling session, this young fella popped out only 20m from me. A load of BB's at 10m stopped him in his tracks and I scored my first kill for the Beretta
After 3.5 hours of pushing through some pretty shitty country from 3.00-6.30pm(farken hot) I came back out into the open and spied a nanny with 2 kids. I hunched over and walked straight at them as it was all open(I came at them from near the tree on the skyline) and just stopped whenever they looked up. I thought 30m was close enough and gave the nanny a dose of AAA's which pole-axed her, then I used BB's on the little ones with the same result.
Then, on the drive out of the thick stuff, I spied this fella climbing up a tree
Farmer was happy with a few ferals gone and the koala sighting, I was happy with the shotty, but not real happy where I put the camera. I will get pigs on it for sure, but doubtful of a red stag which I first hoped. Probably a waste of time, could be better on another block to confirm what bucks have moved in.
Well BBB fellas, sorry if that was too long, but I just got into it and kept copying and pasting. I hope you liked the pics. I had a pretty big year in 2014 on the hunting front and hope to have another big one in 2015.
Make sure you look at my other post I will put up soon - Africa. It deserves a post of its own.
Cheers guys,
Donk
Well, after a 5 month journey, it has finally come to an end. I first saw this guy on the 22nd of December in velvet on my property, then every time since, he has always been on the 2 neighbouring properties. I have live pics of him pretty much every time I saw him, which should make a great story for a mag. Then yesterday, which just happened to be my Birthday, he appeared on my block for once which meant game on. I had easily 100 roos to contend with, so hit the ground and slithered on my guts as much as I could. The grass was wet, but after 5 months of nothing, I couldn't care less. Waiting for numerous roos was a pain, then a young spiker appeared off to my left which was ok due to the wind in my favour. 5 minutes later, I see a deer go screaming accross from left to right ( I don't think it could've been the same one) pronking his arse off, but the most spastic pronk I've ever seen, which put the whole paddock (about 100 acre paddock) into hopping mode. It was only then that I saw how many bloody roos there were. The big fella and 5 of his girlfriends hung around shortly, then took off up the hill. I just sat back and gave them a good half hour to settle back down before I went after him again. I only had to go about 300m when I caught sight of him, quickly lay down, thumb off the safety and let one rip. Shot was easy 250-300m front on chest shot. The buck took off and I sent 2 more after him before I saw the wobbles kick in, then to my relief, I saw him topple over for good. To say I was excited is a massive understatement. All 3 shots hit him and I was using my T3 Lite in 300WM shooting 155g ACP's. I'd say it was the first shot that did him over, but it hit slightly off centre, more hitting him in the left shoulder, but who cares, he went down and that's all that matters. Very happy with him as he's the biggest fallow I've ever seen, let alone shot in the wild and on my Birthday too
22nd of December 2013
End of January
Mid rut
Last week
And then finally, yesterday
He's older than I first thought. He has been breeding for many years, so very happy with that as the quality should start pick up in the next few years hopefully.
Now to find a bigger one - the journey never ends
Went out this morning before mum woke up for Mothers Day
No deer seen on my block, but saw 5 bucks all up on neighbours, Couple were still croaking, 2 had batched up, the other 3 were with does still.Came towards a dam, saw something not quite right. Bino's up, yep, antlers. But not one set, 2.
Some decent antlers actually, on one especially. The antlers can be separated, but if you imagine the whole animals in their position in relation to the skulls, you can see how they couldn't separate themselves.
Red stag I got my mate Pete onto on tuesday morning. Pete is the guy who wanted 30 cal 130g ACP's in his .308W for Africa and so Mark made them, simple as that. This red stag copped it from the 130g ACP and Pete is super happy with their performance. It's a 12 pointer too.
I'm still out n about hunting flat out. I have found the big fella numerous times now, just always on the wrong side of the fence :x :x :x
Anyway, shot this bugger the other day. Rattled him in too. Never done that before, but worked great.
He's another shit head that won't breed.
How I found him
He looks ok from here
BUT
What a mongrel
155g ACP pill from my .308 at roughly 130m. Shot went in just in front of the left shoulder and came out on the right side shoulder. Certainly a big hole.
And, best of all, wasn't even mine
Well, the rut didn't happen when I expected it to. I took my annual leave too early and have missed most of the rut for the fallow and the red roar. The red roar hasn't even happened yet and I am so pissed off because I can't get back up there to hear it. Anyway, the last 10-11 days has seen me hunting every morning and arvo, although I did miss 2 hunts because I was totally knackered.
My mate Pete reckons he will get me a 40 inch plus goat at the end of April, so I asked if he had ever hunted red deer before and he hadn't, so I said righto, I'll get you a 12 pointer then. I went up 2 days early to scout around and try and suss the deer out, which was a total failure. I only saw one fawn and heard no roaring. Pete turned up monday, we saw 4 reds(hinds and fawns) on monday arvo, that's it. Tuesday morning, we hunted through some country I hadn't touched yet, then all of a sudden a hind appeared in front of us, followed by a stag. I got the bino's on him in record time, then said "Pete, shoot it" although he never heard me as he was slowly getting his rifle off his shoulder incase I said to shoot. I was waiting for the BOOM, but it never came. The deer buggered off and I asked why he didn't shoot, but he said he was waiting for me to say so, even though he thought it was a big one. Anyway, we followed them in the bush, found them again, slid on our guts to get closer and waited for a shoulder shot. At about 100-120m, Pete whacked him with a 130g ACP in his .308 and not a single deer moved. "Hit him again" I said. The stag started to run off and Pete belted him again as he ran. After 30m, he got the wobbly boot and fell over dead. For a first ever red stag, Pete is bloody stoked big time.
I think maybe the first shot hit him and he just didn't know it yet
The jaw of the 12 pointer
We found a handle bar spiker that arvo while looking for one for me. See him.......
I love the zoom on my camera
We never saw another stag, so no stag for me, but Pete got a ripper, so all good.
I have been chasing fallow around the reds and they haven't done much croaking either, but getting better every day now. Here's some I have taken pics of. Some I would have liked to shoot as culls, but the boundary fence has stopped me - I hate that fence.
I'd love to get rid of this guy
And look who I found again, my big fella. 370m on the wrong side of the fence :x
Another cull I spotted numerous times, but could never get to him
And again
Then BANG, got him at 284 metres with my 300WM and the 155g ACP
Video of it here
Another week and I'll try again for that big bloke.
One from yesterday I got onto
Close up of his antlers
Lined him up
BANG
Nah, but so easily could have. I'm calling this guy a cull, but left him for now, be a good one for my missus. Backed out of there so he didn't even know what happened.
I saw this guy 3 days in a row, but could never get onto him due to the real shitty wind lately. I have vid of him chasing away younger bucks, but was from about 800m, so not real clear. I finally got onto him yesterday morning. I had the video all ready to go to get the kill shot, but I heard a noise, saw antlers and legged it up the hill as the boundary wasn't far off. I thought it was this guy, so left the camera behind as I thought I'd be getting off a quick shot. In the end, it must have been a different buck, as I found this guy bedded off to my left. I snuck in to about 100m and got ready. I tried croaking, I tried doe calls, in the end the good old "oi, get up" had the desired effect and I hit him front on, straight into the chest. I really wish I got the shot on video as he just folded on the spot. I was using the 155g ACP out of my 300WM. He is a gnarly old cull and I'm happy he's out of contention now for the rut. Anyway, pics.........
20 minutes before he carked it
The old battler
The 155g ACP travelled nearly the whole length of him. I found a lump on his leg, easiest bullet retrieval ever
Fair bit of age on him too
This guy from the other day
ACP 155g in .308 from 134m
The deer season has finally rolled around and I am looking for a particular animal that I spotted in late december and again in late january, still with no luck
Anyway, a couple of culls(what I thought were culls anyway) came my way and I took them out while I could.
First one was bedded at 80m. I was using my sako .308 with 'medium' 155g ACP's.(43g of 2206H) I hit him on his shoulder, but due to the way they lie down, I missed the offside shoulder and it came out just behind his shoulder. The buck got up, stumbled 12 paces, then fell over, dead.
The animal in question
Exit point
Exit wound
Internal exit wound
Antlers
The second buck was shot at 134m using the same bullet/load combo in my .308. I spied him from way off and closed the gap using what cover I could. By the time I got to him, he had bedded too. He is in front of the tree out there.
Close up
The buck
The exit
Internal exit
Still wondering if I shot the second buck too early and maybe should have left him. Too late now I suppose.
Been out looking for some fallow bucks lately, with not much luck I have to say. Been seeing plenty of deer, but mainly does
Got this fella 100m from my ute last week right on dark
This fella was on the farmers new pile. I never saw this guy, so wish I did
Went to my red block on thursday to look at my cams and see what I could find. They have started rubbing
I tried a new tactic, for me anyway, on my cams. I put a salt lick out in the hope of catching some stags, no luck. Cam was out for just over a month. Roos like it though
The only shot of deer on the lick. The spiker on the right is a 4 pointer already
A few more visitors too
Then, on friday morning, I spied 2 spikers down below me at first light, about 500m away. I snuck down for a looksee, losing them in the process. The wind was in my favour all the way, then as I was stalking through the last of the bush, about 100m away, some roos were going flat out, hopping for their lives, I have seen that before on this property and that means one thing, dogs. The 3 dogs gave up the chase only 100m from my position, the 2 spikers were forgotten and I lined up on the tan bitch first. A front chest shot had her on the ground straight away from a 130g ACP out of my brothers .270W. Two black dogs remained and one was coming my way, not sure of what was going on. I wound the scope back down to 4x and as it turned away from me at about 40m, my offhand shot hit it through the shoulder blades, punching up through its head and taking out the bottom jaw. The third dog was now off, but stopped for an instant in front of a tree branch not offering a shot. As it moved off, my third shot hit him in the guts, which required a finisher. The farmer would be a happy man and so was I
I scouted some new country, then packed up and headed off to my other camera with the other half of the salt lick. (no luck on that cam) A big dam was near this cam and it was 11.30am by this stage. As I approached, I saw a black flash dissapearing through the grass. I jumped out, grabbed the .270, tracked the pig and as it turned slightly, I nailed her right in the shoulder, leaving a massive exit wound out its neck. The ACP's sure do some damage
Valentines Day today and the missus wanted to go for a hunt :lol: Wasn't gonna argue with that. Mainly looking for some bucks and try a fox whistle. Saw a heap of does, but only these 2 males
We picked a spot and got the Scotch caller cranking. Within about 5 minutes, we had one coming in and when he stopped, I nailed him with my .308
The missus managed to get the last of it on camera
Tried getting my brother onto a few foxes with the whistel/caller over the weekend. Saturday arvo only consisted of 1 rabbit to each of us, no foxes were seen despite good winds.
Sunday arvo after sporting clays, we hit a different spot. The first stand, I used the scotch predator call for a good 15 mins on and off and finally a fox wandered into view. He wasn't too fussed though and showed no real enthusiasm for the caller despite me using different noises. So, I pulled the old fox whistle out and straight away, he was coming at as at full steam. He propped at 25m and my brother nailed him with my Silver Pigeon and BB's.
Half hour later, we found another good spot. Again, with the whistle(not the caller) a fox appeared from over the far ridge straight away and came barrelling towards us. A couple of small sqeaks had him right near us and at about 7-8m, he too copped a full dose of BB's
That was sunday over, we swagged it and were up early again monday morning
I spied a mob of pigs from camp with my binos, a long way off. My ute had shit all through it, so we jumped in my brothers Prado to close the gap. After the maddest drive I've ever seen him do, we jumped out and closed the gap. He had my shotty and I had my Howa .223. They were all holed in some blackberries, so we split up - he was right up close with the shotty using AAA's and I was off to the right. A few rocks were thrown in and out they came. He got some lead into the biggest sow, while I cleaned up 4 with the .223 as they ran off. After finishing off the sow, I grabbed the shotty as I knew there were still some piglets in the blackberries. It wasn't sporting, but it was a good clean up of pigs the farmer doesn't want anyway. More rocks were thrown in and out came 5 piglets, all of which copped it from some BB's. No pics as cameras were left behind in the Prado.
We then tried a couple more spots for foxes before leaving for home. No luck at first, but we came upon the same gully where we shot fox number 2 from yesterday. Within a minute, a fox was spotted off to the left, only 30m away. We were both glued to this fox waiting for a clear shot. When it came, he fell to some BB's, then all of a sudden, the grass in front of us made a noise and out shot another fox that had come in undetected while we were looking to the left. He got nailed at a full gallop and it was a great shot for my brother who hasn't done much shotty work
Tuesday morning, my missus wanted to go out for a look, but pulled the pin at the last minute as she was pretty crook. I went out anyway to look for more foxes. Plans soon changed when I potted a good boar way out again. I only had a shotty, so had to get close and so the running began. The boar was with a mob of about 15 pigs in the end and I managed to get within 30m before he looked up and thought something was wrong. As he turned, I belted him with AAA's and he was off. The mob regrouped and ran back the way they had came. I dropped my pack and was after them as fast as my unfit arse could take me. Up one hill, down the hill, across the flat, then up the biggest hill on the place just past where I had parked my ute. I stayed on the offside of the ridge to intercept them and it worked perfectly. I heard some sqealing, then at 5m, out they came over the hill. At 5m though, they had me pegged in no time. I fired off 2 quick shots from my Bettinsoli(which I had only just got back from the gunsmith as it couldn't be opened for 2 years) It is still quite stiff to open up and by the time I ejected the shells, the rest were out of range. Anyway, 3 pigs for a so-called fox whistling session wasn't too bad I thought.
So, asked the missus what she wanted to do on the weekend, "lets go for a hunt" she said
So she twisted my arm and off we went. Got onto a mob of pigs and this is the result. Shot with a 130g ACP out of a .270W at 160m ranged.
Africa is soon approaching and my brother needed some time in the hills to get used to his rifle again. A goat hunt was the best option as we had a few targets to aim at. His rifle is a T3 Lite in .270W shooting the 130g ACP. It was a nice day (despite being f***ing freezing) and he pulled off shots from 50m to 270ish metres. The ACP's worked well and the only time one needed 2 shots was because the first shot wasn't in the right spot.
Anyway, a couple of pics....
How we found him. This was an instant dispatch that I have on video too and will post it up when I have time
These 2 billies kept fighting despite their mates falling down around them :rofl:
My brother shot about a dozen that day and he's happy how the day turned out and put more confidence in his rifle before the trip which is good.
No other pics of goats as most were long shots across gullies.
Couple of quick vids of the goat shots
Dad came up the other week and I took him out for a look around. Tried finding him a buck with no luck, but we found this. Farmer had his light out by the looks of it
Tried another place the following day and I finally saw dad shoot a pig. Not a big pig, but a pig's a pig. I was stoked because dad hasn't shot a pig since 1986 FFS.
That was enough for him, he was happy. The mob ran off so dad handed me my .223 and I ran after them. I shot 3 more with the sow being the biggest. Never seen a boar on this place
We shot the pigs right near the house and you can see why the owner want them gone. Dad loves whacking bunnies and when this fella popped up near the pig rooting, he couldn't help himself.
Finally getting round to cleaning up all my stuff. Did this lot about 2 weeks ago. Still 2 out in the paddock, then I'm done.
Cheers guys.
Got away last monday for a few days out west looking for big goats and any pigs if we were lucky. Long story short( I hate typing sorry) we had a bloody great trip and I'll let the pics tell the story.
We got a quad bogged on the first arvo and while looking for it the next morning, I found this fella
My first goat of the trip, I shot the wrong one actually
My second billy. I am actually gonna get this fella mounted, my first shoulder mount of anything.
My third and final billy and the biggest I got at 38.75". If only his left horn was the same as his right
We left this one actually
The 4 of us and another big billy
Packing up to go home
Our haul, in no particular order. We could so easily have shot more, but then there'd be none left for next time.
Farmer came out one night and put on a show for us, lol
First time I'd seen that on a hunting trip
All up, a great trip with good blokes. Plans for another trip already being talked about.
I'm getting early marks from work this week, so making the most of it while I can, even in the bloody rain. Not complaining about rain though, we desperately need it.
I saw the same buck as yesterday(still has electric tape on him), then right near dark, saw the mob of pigs I saw 2 weeks ago, that were next door. 2 big sows and would have to be 20 odd piglets between them and a handful of 20kg jobs.
The tikka holds 4 and I shot 4. Not a bad arvo in the end. Some fair size to them
Late yesterday arvo, I threw the swag, rifle and not much else in my ute and took off to a place I have that I hadn't hunted for 22months(rut 2 years ago)
I was mainly looking for a deer, hopefully a buck to give me an idea what was there. I walked onto a fox straight away and let him be incase I scared any deer. It was bloody hot and l sat in the shade and glassed til it cooled down. I finally up and left and headed for a pine ridge which had rubs on it in the past. I spied 3 fallow does down near the near dry creek and was happy to see that they were still in the area. I headed up higher and away from them. Then, down below, a black shape caught my eye and sure enough, it was a pig having a drink in the creek.I hot footed it down there, in through the pines and out I poked about 100m away. I quickly set up the camera and smacked him with my .308. You beauty.
He looks bigger in the video, but this is him. I spied him from the hill in the background
As I got to him and before I took the above pic, a sow wandered out of the scrub and took off up the hill. I lined her up and nailed her on the run.
The boar is to the left of my right shoulder
Then, this morning, I was headed for some open country at first light to catch some deer coming back into the scrub. Just in the last 20m of scrub, a spotted pig broke out and propped and I thought, bugger it, and nailed it. I thought it was a boar, but was a sow. She had a 20 cent piece sized exit hole in her shoulder and still made 50m :roll:
There were 15-20kg suckers with her and I got 3 of them also. No pics though.
AT about 8am, I topped a hill and saw the rear end of a pig wandering through the saddle. I quickly closed the gap as I got ready my camera again. I got the whole lot on video, but as he kept moving, I shot him only 2 seconds after he walked out of frame :x He dropped on the spot too.
I found one castie too
My very basic camp
I set up my game camera, so will see what happens.
Cheers.
We had our Sporting Clays Xmas shoot yesterday, then after, I decided to put my game camera out on a nearby block which I thought might have reds on it, but am now doubting my first thoughts.( could be roos scratching all the stringy barks) I saw no deer sign at all, it's these rubs that got me keen to put the camera out.
Anyway, here's a bit of the country. 90% of this place I haven't hunted yet.
I found a nice spot which I thought might be harbouring a sleeping fox and bingo, after a 5 second whistling session, this young fella popped out only 20m from me. A load of BB's at 10m stopped him in his tracks and I scored my first kill for the Beretta
After 3.5 hours of pushing through some pretty shitty country from 3.00-6.30pm(farken hot) I came back out into the open and spied a nanny with 2 kids. I hunched over and walked straight at them as it was all open(I came at them from near the tree on the skyline) and just stopped whenever they looked up. I thought 30m was close enough and gave the nanny a dose of AAA's which pole-axed her, then I used BB's on the little ones with the same result.
Then, on the drive out of the thick stuff, I spied this fella climbing up a tree
Farmer was happy with a few ferals gone and the koala sighting, I was happy with the shotty, but not real happy where I put the camera. I will get pigs on it for sure, but doubtful of a red stag which I first hoped. Probably a waste of time, could be better on another block to confirm what bucks have moved in.
Well BBB fellas, sorry if that was too long, but I just got into it and kept copying and pasting. I hope you liked the pics. I had a pretty big year in 2014 on the hunting front and hope to have another big one in 2015.
Make sure you look at my other post I will put up soon - Africa. It deserves a post of its own.
Cheers guys,
Donk
Just another night at work for me and Monty will be back here again bright and early. 
