Setting a weekend aside to hunt

[kombi1976]

Peter, a friend from Sydney, had hunted with me in August and we wanted to take his son back to the large property about 100km north as his has son just finished his last year of high school.
Unfortunately that property was booked out and so instead I called around and organised for them to stay with me so we could hunt the properties within close drive.
In the end his son (due to domestic issues I won't discuss) did not come but nonetheless we made the best of it.
At this point I should say that I missed work last Monday and Tuesday because of a severe left shoulder strain I cannot connect with any specific cause and although I was fine on Wednesday and Thursday the pain returned on Thursday night and throughout Friday I was in considerable discomfort.
However, knowing Peter was driving 200km to come and hunt I wasn't going to go soft and wimp out so when he arrived around 7:30pm we brought his kit in, had some dinner and then headed south to a colleagues farm about 20kms south of town.
It was the same property I'd bagged 12 rabbits at 2 weeks ago and I suspect I may've done some big damage.
We saw a couple of rabbit and managed to score the one below with the 25-20 at about 30m but aside of that we did not see them in the numbers I'd seen them a fortnight before.



From there we headed out across the paddocks in search of foxes and hares.
The reynards were not to be seen but we did come across these crows sitting on a fence.
At first Peter thought they were an unusual type of Australian owl called a Tawny Frogmouth but the long beaks and the eventual "caw!" they emitted gave them up.
First their tails were singed by a 75gr HP from my 25-20 and then Peter nailed them with one shot from his BRNO .22lr.



Peter was inclined to downplay it but crows do a lot of damage.
From there we drove around, locating 2 hares.
Peter was using my 25-20 and it has an astoundingly light trigger, so much so that it went off 3 times without him meaning to shoot yet.
That was the first occasion and the hares were off across the paddock and onto the next property before we could nail them.
Aside from an exceptionally poor shot where I missed a rabbit that was pretty much the end of the night and with an aching left side I wasn't sad to be home and in bed.

[davidlt89]

a severe left shoulder strain I cannot connect with any specific cause

rotator cuff tear? don't let it go, get it looked at if the pain is there, especially at night.
 
good story, sounds like you had fun. God Bless.

[kombi1976]

The next day we sorta tooled around and I slept long in the hope that my shoulder and back would improve.
They didn't. :undecided:
But for Saturday afternoon and night I'd organised to hunt a friend's 1000 acre property about 30kms south-west toward Canberra.
It has sheep and cattle on it and my friend is also experimenting with growing pine nuts.
In the past we have run into more hares there than any other place I've ever hunted and I was expecting to do so again.
More to the point the owner had tags for roos so we were free to shoot a few should we wish.
We looked after my 3 boys while my wife was in a meeting and then when she arrived home about 3:30 we headed out.
The house and sheds are simply crawling with rabbits.
However there must've been plenty of rain there lately because the grass was really long anywhere there were no stock, making the bunnies hard to spot and shoot in the grass.
First up we nailed 2 bunnies in a loading yard adjacent to the house.
I was kinda proud of the first one because it was the first rabbit I've ever bagged with my Remington Mod 6, a little "boys rifle" in .22lr which has iron sights, a "tilting block" action and was made around 1910.
The other was taken with Peter's BRNO .22lr.
Here I am with the Mod 6 and the bunny:



From there we began to head toward the back end of the property in search of foxes and hares, although I'm yet to see a fox on that land in all the time I've shot there.
Funnily enough Peter, once again proved himself a dab hand with the crows and shot the following one at about 100m using my 25-20 rested on the Land Rover Discovery.
Since a crow is smaller than a bunny that's a good shot in my book:



Here's a rough panorama shot of the property I took from that location:



The above pic looks ok however the weather was not great.
While it was not light drizzle and blowing a gale as it had been the night before it was blowing and enough to move the grass and trees about a fair bit.
We did see a rabbit running quickly under a tree and some roos as dusk approached but aside of that we saw nothing until the sun went right down and we pulled out the spotlight.
First Peter took another rabbit @103m up near the farm sheds using the 25-20 and then took this hare using his BRNO.
He'd had a lot of trouble using the scope on the 25-20 because of his glasses and then had accidentally squeezed the light trigger twice missing another hare and so he nailed this one using the .22lr.
It was a big animal!



He then took a baby hare about 100yds from the previous one again with the BRNO.



From there I took on shooting duties and after spotting and losing 2 hares and what may've been a fox we finally ran into this hare which led us a merry chase up and down and around a hill side before I finally thumped it with my 25-20 Martini.



Note the blood......there was a lot of it and some came home on my jeans!
By then the wind was on the way to dropping and we headed up to the top of the property where I knew we were likely to find roos.
I wasn't wrong and it was an opportunity for Peter to try out his latest investment, a Tikka T3 Hunter in 30-06 with a Kahles Helia 3-9x40.
Using a Federal 150gr PowerShok he laid out this large female at 113m:



I'd also gone prepared in the hope of roo culling and was perhaps a little overgunned.....
I took these 2 big male bucks, both of which were at least 50-60kg, using my T3 Lite Stainless in 9.3x62 topped with a Lynx 1.75-5x20.
The scope was wonderfully clear in spite of the small objective lense.



Standing both would've been almost my height (6'2") and when we first sighted them they were sparring and thumping each other something shocking.
But a .366" cal 270gr Speer SMP does tend to dampen the spirits and these big boys went down.
I should point out right now that these animals were legally culled under the tag system used here in NSW.
From there we went in search of more hares.
I managed to bag this nice rabbit, again the 25-20:



And then bagged this hare at quite close range.
Hare a'la hollow point!



By then it was pretty late and Peter was losing energy and motivation fast.
So we headed back to the house yard and finished the night by taking a last little bunny there with the BRNO .22lr.
In the end I wasn't sad to go home either.
The cold and the bumpy terrain had taken its toll on my shoulder and back.

[RatherBHuntin]

Good job with the 9.3x62, glad to hear it's working for you.  Nice haul on the rabbits too.

[kombi1976]

I'm ashamed to say that due to my shoulder, which was partly aggravated by the night of hunting, I missed church this morning.
The extra sleep did help it though.
I don't think it's a rotator cuff tear, Dave.
It radiates up my neck and down my back and even into my left arm a little.

After I cooked a beef casserole and mash for our hearty lunch Peter and I headed south 20kms in a slightly different direction to a friend's place further into the sticks.
I was hesitant about hunting there as I've only ever seen 2 foxes there, never shot one and the last time we were there we saw 1 rabbit and it was heading for the hills as fast as its little legs could carry it.
When we arrived and saw the 1080 poison fox baiting sign on the gate my suspicions were confirmed and indeed for the entire afternoon we saw no sign of one.
I reckon they either died of the poison or were shot out on adjoining properties.
There we no rabbits to be seen initially either.
However we got out of the Land Rover and headed out into some of the more in accessable and wooded parts of the property on foot.
Sure enough in a glen with signs of roos were 2 rabbits well hidden in the shadows of a big gum tree.
It was only a 80m shot and I nailed one large one with the 25-20 but by then my shoulder was playing up badly and it took me 3 shots before to hit him because I had trouble steadying the rifle.
Here he is below:



Still hopeful of luring a fox we whistled a bit and disemboweled the bunny to put a scent into the wind.
From there we continued on foot in search of his fluffy tailed buddy who'd disappeared away down the glen but we were unsuccessful.
We swept around and my low ammo count meant a rifle swap was in order.
I popped the 25-20 back in the Landy and pulled out my Sportco Martini Hornet.
It needed sighting in after being at the gunsmith for extractor work but it has a scope rail and so three shots had it easily back on target.
Returning to the glen we lay in wait with the bunny carcass in easy view in case of foxes.
But instead we saw roos.......LOTS of them.
Unfortunately the owner here has no tags for them and so they were free to browse and graze as they wished.
At one point up to 11 were well within range of the Hornet and Peter's BRNO but we simply had to watch.
Here's a rough pic:



The roo on the far right was large male every bit as big as the 2 I'd nailed with the 9.3mm the night before and if you count carefully you can see 6 in this image.
The one to the right in the foreground could even see me and looked right at me while I tried to take pics and yet he did not run away.
They only fled when I discovered the red bull ants that were beginning to surround me.
So in the end only one rabbit.
I did see a sizable one bolt away just as I was closing the gate out of the main paddock and I looked expectantly at Peter to suggest looking for it.
But he walked up to me, said "Let me help you there" and closed the gate with an air of finality.
It was a nice afternoon and we enjoyed the wildlife spotting but I won't be returning soon.
The only thing my friends seem to be farming are roos! :undecided:

So, the conclusion.....well, the tally was such:

• 4 crows (including one we skittled on the road on the way out today)
• 6 rabbits
• 4 hares
• 3 roos

Not bad although a more thorough hunt would've yielded better.
The main thing is Peter enjoyed himself.
Next time, when it isn't blowing a gale half the time, I am healthy and we have more time it will be better.
Meanwhile I must find time to get to the large property again and chase the 5 or 6 hares we missed and the myriad of rabbits that avoided us in the long grass.

[davidlt89]

I don't think it's a rotator cuff tear, Dave.

If I had a dollar for evertime I heard that I would not have a mortgage. I hope you are right though.

It radiates up my neck and down my back and even into my left arm a little.

could be disc related, again, hope it isn't.
 
If you would not of said anything about the kangaroos in the picture, I would of never noticed them. do you eat them or are you doing varmint control? looks like a good time none the less. like you said, your buddy had a good time and that is what counts. God Bless.

[kombi1976]

Good job with the 9.3x62, glad to hear it's working for you. Nice haul on the rabbits too.

Thanks, RBH.
I really love that rifle.
When one of my mate's used to ride in my VW Kombi (bus) he said it "fills up my happy tank".
Well, shooting the 9.3mm fills up my happy tank.
The haul on the rabbits was pretty good although with more perserverance and patience we could take a bigger haul, particularly on the big property we were hunted on Saturday night.
Peter really should've brought his .243 rifle because my scopes are set for my eyesight and his glasses make it almost impossible to see anything at night when using anything bigger than 4x magnification.
The 25-20 has a K6, a fixed 6x32, and he had a lot of problems because his .243 has a Leupold VX-II 3-9x40 which he could've wound down.

If I had a dollar for evertime I heard that I would not have a mortgage. I hope you are right though.

Well, I really hope I haven't torn a muscle.
The only way I could've done it was when I was holding my 3 yr old son at the car show last week end and he was wriggling to try and get away.
As for the roos it really is culling.
We leave them to lie mainly because it's difficult to know if they have worms and also the meat is an acquired taste.

[bowhunter 51]

Great write-up with pics', ...Kombi.....you guys made an excellent time of
it....I imagine, if I were to wake-up in the land of Oz tomorrow...I would
come to specialize in harvesting kangaroo...I was really impressed by the
pics of those critters....and, I believe the first I've seen you photograph...
They are a bit larger than I imagined...strike me as deer (in a way)...BH51..

[kombi1976]

Thanks, BH51.
Harvesting kangaroos looks like fun but when you do it with a spotlight, the preferred method, it's a "fish in a barrel" affair.
We only knock over the few when needed and usually it's the big males because they can be quite intimdating and dangerous, both to people and to farm dogs.
They aren't really as big as a deer; their danger lies in kicking and their forearms which are heavily clawed.
It is the first pics I've taken of them though and I realised for about the 100th time that I REALLY need a new digital camera with a decent optical zoom.
Even my wife thinks we need one!
But roos do disappear into the landscape among the fallen timber and the trees almost as well as rabbits.

[bowhunter 51]

Well now!......that's another surprise.....I would've figured them a bit more
illusive and cautious.....alot of our whitetail bucks are seldom seen in the
light of day, much less a threat to farm dogs and such...though subject to
aggression...it's rare....................as for the camera with the zoom lens....I
can relate........love to have one myself,......but now the the camera used in
these image seems to be a pretty good one........................................BH51.........

[kombi1976]

Kangaroos often are illusive and frequently flee from humans.
However I've also seen them just stand and look at people as they drove up and only hop lazily away when the car got within 15 yds.
The big male roos are the only aggressive ones but then you only need one solid kick and if a male has got away with intimidating people before chances are he'll press his luck again given the opportunity.
My camera, I must say, is almost 7 years old.
We bought it for a trip to the UK over Christmas/NewYear '01-'02 and have used it ever since.
I even lost it roo shooting one night and decided it must be lost for good.
3 weeks later, AFTER some heavy rain, the property owner rang to say they had found it and, sure enough, it was working fine.
Anyhow, hardy it is but flexible it aint.
It has a 3.5x digital zoom but that just makes the photo more pixelated.
It also tends to add more yellow into pics making them seem garish at times.
Worst of all, it does not like low light or night photos.
But for the mo it'll do.
We might get a better one for Christmas.
I'd like another Olympus....this one has been trouble free.
It was $500 well spent, even if it was made from blue prints discovered at Jurassic era digs.

[Jorge in Oz]

Good Hunting Kombi.

I love knocking over those roos.

[kombi1976]

It is satisfying although it isn't as good as thumping ferals.
I LOVE whacking goats and foxes much more.
Can't wait until I bag a pig.