Week End Deer Hunt

[Jorge in Oz]

Hi Guys,
 
My mate Paul emailed me about a week ago and after having no success organising a pig hunt up north, he asked me if I'd like to go with him to scout out some new ground for some red deer. I jumped at the chance.
 
The morning started out Sunday morning when I was suddenly awoken at 3:08am by my wife Maya, telling me my alarm hadn't gone off . Well low and behold it hadn't. I was in a mad rush to get dressed as I was suppose to be at my mate's place at 3:30am and we were taking my car so he still had to pack his gear. Fortunately the car was packed with my gear but I was to miss breakfast, not a good start in my eyes. So I madly got ready and I was out the door.
 
Arrived at Paul's place 5 minutes late and we got the gear and Mascara (Paul's female Jack Russell) not the make up type so don't get any funny ideas fellas. Stopped for a well deserved coffee and we were on our way to Kilkivan which is north west of Gympie which is an hour north of the Sunshine Coast. Refer to link for location http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&sugexp=gsis,i18n%3Dtrue&cp=6&gs_id=3&xhr=t&q=kilkivan&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ADSA_enAU349AU349&gs_upl=&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&biw=1024&bih=624&ion=1&wrapid=tljp131608485759304&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x6b94db435910386f:0x400eef17f20e6b0,Kilkivan+QLD&gl=au&ei=ZdxxTo5OpZaJB-Tt_KAG&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=image&resnum=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCgQ8gEwAQ
 
After about an hour and a half of driving we arrived at our base camp which is at the entrance of Paul's friends farm which is a regular hunting spot and where I took my first stag. we would visit the new ground in the afternoon.
 
From there we got into our gear and commenced our trek up the hills towards the hunting grounds. The wind was swirling pretty bad so Paul decided to take a different route than our normal walk up. Paul's friend had told him that he had seen some deer near one of the creek. They had not seem any deer for some time but they appeared to be back. According to my mate this is the time when the red deer are in groups.
 
During our walk Paul noted many fresh signs that deer had been around. He found fresh tracks which we followed crossing a creek a couple of times but the trail went cold. We changed direction and walked through an area of pine plantation. The scene reminded me of the Northern Americas or the South Island of New Zealand, mind you without the cold weather (although it was about 4 degrees celcius when we started out that morning). Now something that struck me, you guys in the colder climates might know this but I decided to sport a long sleeve thermal top under my hunting shirt as I knew it would warm up later so I didn't want to be lugging a jacket around. When I bought this thermal top it said on the tags that it helps disperse moisture, I was skeptical about that but it was spot on. Ater all the walking we did, albeit not being extremely hot, I was not soaked with sweat as I would normally would be wearing a cotton t-shirt under my shirt so there you go you I was impressed. I'm sure many of you already knew this or sport hi-tech type of clothing. I've always been a cotton shirt and t-shirt kind of guy but I must say I may be swayed by this new technology.
 
After some serious walking (I'm sure my mate would call it light walking because of his conditioning) we came across a sound. It appeared we had spooked a deer as we heard it crash through the brush. We tried to follow it and head it off but we could not locate it. Mascara could smell something but there was no definite scent trail.
 
We continued on and as were circling back towards where our car was, suddenly Mascara ears pricked up and she went stiff as she picked up a scent and heard something. Paul signalled me to stop. We could hear something rustling in the brush to our left. I thought it may be a big pig, you could see the bushes moving. My mate moved forward slowly and then I saw him setting up his shooting sticks, so I moved in and then as I caught a first glimpse of the spiker's antlers, that split second my mate let a shot fly. It was a hit but the spiker continued to run. As that shot rung out 3 spikers ran in front of me into some long bush to my right, I dropped my shooting sticks and shouldered my rifle, there were 5 spikers in total. It appeared that the spikers stopped in the long grass. Looking through my scope I could see the head and top part of the neck of one of the spikers, it was about 30 to 40 meters away. I set my crosshairs just below the visible part of the neckline and touched off a round. In the meantime one of the spikers was climbing up a hill about a hundred meters away. I turned and moved to my left as I watched the spiker, I think my mate wanted me to try to take him but it was going to disappear in the bush. So my mate let one fly and as usual it was a hit. The spiker tried to struggle up but you could see he was hurt. I watched him through my rifle scope and my mate commented that he may need a finishing shot. But I could see the blood coming out of his mouth and he was stumbling down the hill and he eventually dropped.
 
We immediately headed over to the long bush where I had shot at the spiker. Paul found him and he must have dropped on the spot. The bullet had gone into the neck and exited on the other side. To say I was stoked was an understatement. He was no trophy stag but I was after meat and he was a healthy looking spiker. When I took his back legs and backstraps I could see how nice the meat was. Here is the spiker I shot. He was facing the other way but we had turned him around to see where the bullet had exited.
 
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Here is a close up and you can see where the bullet has exited from the neck.
 
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Here's me with my my spiker. Note that I did shoot it with a rifle but i never seem to get the rifle in the picture, but that's ok. Also note that I am sporting glasses to hunt these days. My optometrist said the magnification and adjustment on the scope is not enough as I have a stigmatism in my right eye which has yet to settle.
 
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Here is amother one for good measure.
 
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After the formalities we set out to find Paul's deers. Here is a shot of the first one he shot with Mascara in the picture.
 
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Here is a close up.
 
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I didn't get a shot of the second deer Paul took as I left my phone behind when we went looking for it. Mascara is a great little dog. She helped locate all of the deers, she's an absolute gem and saves much time searching for deer both tracking them and then find them once they have been shot.
 
Paul took meat from his deers and i butchered mine, butchered being the operative word. Haven't had much experience cutting up a deer and I badly butchered one leg but the other one was good. With more practice I should be right. We headed back with Paul carrying a a full 50 litre backpack full of the meat a rear leg on one shoulder. I was carrying a smaller amount of meat in my backpack and two rear legs with one on each shoulder. We had to go up a steep hill and that was a killer but from there it was downhill all the way.
 
On the way back we placed the meat under a tree in a cool spot and we heade back to get the car. It was getting warmer and I felt very satisfied with our morning effort. After collecting the meat we headed up to see Pauls' friends Keith and Christine who are a lovely and very hospitable couple. We had some brunch with them and spent some time in fellowship and having very interesting discussions. As we had had a pretty fruitful moment, we decided not to scout out the new spot. I was happy about that as I was feeling weary and I had gotten another deer, I couldn't be happier.
 
Once again it was an awesome experience and I have my friend Paul and his friends to thank for that.
 
Cheers
 
Jorge

[gitano]

We're watching...

Paul

[Fieldmor77]

G,day Jorge, Anywhere round the Rossmore Road area?, that's where my mate has 400 acres, area is lousy with Reds, got invited up the other day to fill the freezer and have a crack at a couple of Dogs that have been hanging around.

[gitano]

got invited up the other day to fill the freezer and have a crack at a couple of Dogs that have been hanging around.

And....

Paul

[22hornet]

deer are in groups.
 
TO BE CONTINUED. GETTING LATE WILL FINISH TOMORROW.

 
I always enjoy a hunting story Jorge. Looking forward to the next installment.

[Fieldmor77]

And....

Paul

Expect full report after i get back, first free weekend and I'm off.

[gitano]

Looking forward to it.

Paul

[Jorge in Oz]

G,day Jorge, Anywhere round the Rossmore Road area?, that's where my mate has 400 acres, area is lousy with Reds, got invited up the other day to fill the freezer and have a crack at a couple of Dogs that have been hanging around.

Hi Peter, it's off the Wide Bay Hwy before the Kilkivan township, can't remember the road's name. But there are deer around there, have to walk a bit to find them.
 
Cheers
 
Jorge

[Fieldmor77]

Sounds like the same area Jorge, nice looking deer, good to see someone having some success, you're right about the walking,  the mates place is mountain goat country,  all hills and steep gullys full of lantana,  though he has cleared 90% of Lantana from his block which makes it easier to get around.
 
Retrieving anything you shoot is hard work no matter what part of the property you're on.

[Jorge in Oz]

So true, you can smell the lantana walking around. It may be a good time now for you to visit your mate as the deer are in groups and the 5 young spikers we came across were pretty green, they were making so much ruckus that they didn't even hear us approach. After my mate fired his first shot 3 of them ran across in front of me and then stopped in the long grass thinking I can't see them, so they didn't make it too hard for us.
 
You are right it is hard to retrieve your game in some spots where it is hilly and the bush is so thick. That's why my mate's dog, Mascara, is priceless as she finds the deer after they are shot, she's a great little Jack Russell.
 
I love walking around in those hills, even when we don't fire a shot it still great been outdoors.

[Fieldmor77]

Yes Jorge the sooner i get up there the better, things will really start to heat up around that neck of the woods soon,  it can get hot out there, you've pretty well got to set out around four in the morning and be back in camp by nine.