Thread: What did you learn on your last hunt?

The further end of the block isn't always more productive, racing past the start of the block could mean walking past the animals.
Look for favourable conditions such as sun, shelter, water and food, rather than just the distance from the carpark.

To take key for trigger lock!!!!

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

To take key for trigger lock!!!!

Thats why I only have the combination ones.

Which reminds me take a spare pair of reading glasses. (in case you loose/forget first pair because you can't see the numbers on the f...ing combination lock)

Originally Posted by 7mm tragic

Thats why I only have the combination ones.

Which reminds me take a spare pair of reading glasses. (in case you loose/forget first pair because you can't see the numbers on the f...ing combination lock)

I forgot another value for taking a young fella along for ride, reading the bloody numbers on the combination trigger lock in low light

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

To take key for trigger lock!!!!

Only forgot the key once, fortunately an angle grinder was on hand
Have gone to combination locks now

If you're camping above the bushline in winter and passing through wet brush on the way in. Stop and take your time to put wet weather gear on.

Second to that.. there is only so much wet gear a down sleeping bag can handle if you are trying to 'cook' it dry over night haha.

Lastly, sounds obvious but do anything you can to go into the hunt rested. Starting off tired isn't the way.

Originally Posted by nots0sane

Another day out and another new spot. Saw three pigs and a deer this time but again no chance getting a shot off. The pigs were on a mission and gave me a hell of a surprise. I heard a very "basey" hum and there they were three of them with their head down steadily moving across right in front about 20m away. The deer gave itself away with a snap of a twig. I was alert to it but it ducked down to a creek and then I saw it scramble out of it.

I'm seeing animals more consistently, which tells me I must be doing something right. Now just to learn how to stop them (I almost yelled out oi you! at the pigs) and catch them feeding as opposed to changing locations.

Learnings:

1. Make sure you have all essential gear BEFORE getting to the car park.
2. Head torch is a must this time of year.
3. 4 p.m. seems to be when all the animals are on the move in my area.

Appreciate any tips and/or any feedback!

Not sure if anyone has actually given you advice on how to hold up an animal, especially if they haven't seen you and are just moving through, or if they aren't quite sure exactly what you are, i.e, they have seen you but not smelt you yet.
Give them a "Meh" or something along these lines. Don't be afraid to make it loud and say it a couple times as you're bringing your rifle up if they are really spooked. But generally just a quiet "meh" will hold them up if they're just unsure about what's going on.
Red deer especially are notorious for stopping for one last look back, which is often there downfall.

Goodluck. Been cool reading through this and seeing your progress.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Yeah looking at all that pulled hair, picking you hit that animal.

What ammo are you using? If you dont get an exit there can be very little to zero blood.

I shot a deer last sat, perfect front shoulder shot with a 130 eldm going about 2600, bullet sized entry, fist sized hole through near shoulder, internals all complete mush, zero blood trail.

She only went 20m or so but took a good amount of time to find her. They can run in some funny directions when on the last dash.

I'm using the Hornady 125gr SST rounds for my 7.62x39 rifle. I didn't about the bullet not exiting. Missing that sika at close range had really put a doubt in my mind and it's funny how the uncertainty influences how you think! The way the deer reacted and the lack of blood made me think I had missed again. I did follow the prints for a good 45mins or so but did not have much luck (didn't help that it was raining steadily), and I put it down as a miss down to a combo of the rifle and/or skill.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

base of kneck chest area the colour of that hair I think my first quess would be you have clipped across the front of its chest - forget the kneck go further back behind the shoulder or middle of shoulder - unless the kneck is all you can see - and as others have said blood trail or at least give a good look - mark where you last saw the deer - toilet paper hung up is good or bend some fern leaves over - at eyeball height so you can see it thru the trees - this gives a point of reference to come back to - as a general rule deer hit hard head down hill so start there - (but not always downhill) work slowly in semi circles looking for prints blood hair guts anything fresh from your deer - give it a good go - its when they start heading uphill and the blood runs out thats not good at all - my last blood trail was for my mate - he went down hill looking so I sidled along and no blood just a small piece of coughed up lung fallow spiker was another 50 meter further along the face he had not gone down just headed around the face -- real bad is dark blood and fresh grass from gut bag - wait a good 10 mins and start trailing hopefully the bullet has done more than a gut shot - gut shot deer will stop eventually and you may get a killing shot at it - but you need to stalk otherwise they will bolt again -hunters have lost good stags gut shot and the only way they have found the stag is next day with a dog or go back week or two later and try and smell the carcass

This deer bolted straight up the hill. I tried to track it's prints up the hill for as long as I could and then re-traced back to the spot I shot it a couple of times. I think I could definitely have been more thorough and grid searched the area if I thought I had shot it. I feel awful thinking I may have shot it and didn't find it (or worse, wounded). I might go back in a couple of days to have a better look around.

I had thought all the hair was because the deer bedded down in that same spot? Or is it unusual to see that much hair?

I went to the range yesterday and found my rifle was shooting 1.5 inches to the right. I also had a mate watch me shoot and he said I sort of was too aggressive with the trigger. Spent some time re-sighting in the rifle, as well as sighting in my new .308 and getting some general shooting practice in with mate watching. I feel like I have a better understanding of what I need to do and build muscle memory by putting a few more rounds through when I can.
@Dingo Cheers for the advice on the "Meh". I am aware, but have been reluctant to try it for fear of "mucking it up". Will definitely try this next time!

Another basic tip as you seem to be spending a lot of your time bush stalking. Once you are at the location the animal was last standing before your shot, leave a square of toilet paper. Then every few meters as you follow blood, etc, put another square. Its honestly a game changer for finding animals, especially in thick bush as you can sort of start to picture the route the animal took a lot easier.

Plus you always should have some loo paper handy anyway for cleaning/drying your scope. I think someone mentioned the scope cover thing back on this thread here. Its far easier to just give it a good wipe with some loo paper. Especially if you are actively hunting bush edges, etc. Taking a scope cover on and off is a pain in the arse every time you think you've seen something or want to check that little bit of movement in the scrub.

Originally Posted by nots0sane

I'm using the Hornady 125gr SST rounds for my 7.62x39 rifle. I didn't about the bullet not exiting. Missing that sika at close range had really put a doubt in my mind and it's funny how the uncertainty influences how you think! The way the deer reacted and the lack of blood made me think I had missed again. I did follow the prints for a good 45mins or so but did not have much luck (didn't help that it was raining steadily), and I put it down as a miss down to a combo of the rifle and/or skill.



This deer bolted straight up the hill. I tried to track it's prints up the hill for as long as I could and then re-traced back to the spot I shot it a couple of times. I think I could definitely have been more thorough and grid searched the area if I thought I had shot it. I feel awful thinking I may have shot it and didn't find it (or worse, wounded). I might go back in a couple of days to have a better look around.

I had thought all the hair was because the deer bedded down in that same spot? Or is it unusual to see that much hair?

I went to the range yesterday and found my rifle was shooting 1.5 inches to the right. I also had a mate watch me shoot and he said I sort of was too aggressive with the trigger. Spent some time re-sighting in the rifle, as well as sighting in my new .308 and getting some general shooting practice in with mate watching. I feel like I have a better understanding of what I need to do and build muscle memory by putting a few more rounds through when I can.
@Dingo Cheers for the advice on the "Meh". I am aware, but have been reluctant to try it for fear of "mucking it up". Will definitely try this next time!

Prints can be bit deceiving, can be old can also be a different deer. Really common for another deer to be tucked further up face, especially this time of year. Often dont see them when zerod in on the first animal.

That's why the grid is important. Being shot in the chest can make you do some odd shit!

I shot a wee sika and couldn't find blood, tracked what looked like dead fresh prints running down the side of the face for ages before giving up trudging back and finding the deer dead 5m from where I shot it. Had been following mum's prints.

Don't stress to much bro, you live and learn, and we certainly arent running out of deer. All that really matters is to learn and improve on the next time.

The bush is my happy place.

That wet leaf litter is nice and quiet to walk on, but also very slippery

Well, the story continues.

Just got back from an afternoon hunt and I have a story and a few more learnings. I have been slowly expanding my mental map of my hunting spot. Last trip out, I started 2km up the road and finished at the spot I started the previous time, etc. So I am another few kms up the road this time and I had a plan to go up to a flat spot on a ridge, a third of the way from the top (I think I read it somewhere on this forum that it's a likely winter hiding place for deer). As usual, 30 minutes in, I start to get distracted. "Wait, but there's some sign here, maybe I should stalk slower? Shit, it's already 1 o'clock, I'm never going to make it there at this rate!" So I had to have a chat with myself and decide if this was purely a recce or if I wanted to have a deer encounter of some kind, even if it means I don't get to check out this likely country. After all that pissing about, I decided that I was going to go for it and move quickly UNLESS I saw some proper fresh sign. A fair compromise. Just as well, that I didn't see much fresh sign at all for most of the day and I started gaining elevation on my ridge. I had the option of gaining it via two different spurs and it turned out I chose the wrong one. It was tight bush with lots of juvenile horopito and skinny deer trail through. It was impossible to stalk quietly and again, no fresh sign. "oh well, at least I have expanded my mental map" I thought. I made a note of all the antler rub and couple of wallow spots if I ever decided to hunt the roar. The tight scrub slowed me down enough that I had to abandon my plan and descend via another spur.

This is where things got interesting. As I started to descend I saw better and more consistent sign (mostly fresh prints, droppings were hard to come by around here). The wind started to get a bit swirly as the katabatic started to kick in. I slowed down and I thought I heard something up ahead. At first I wondered if it was a pig? No, wait, that sounded like a "Meh". Noway, was it? Then another "Meh", this time it was unmistakable. I'd spent most of yesterday evening reading up about hind and fawn calls and watched a few videos on it and practicing it. So I returned a "Meh". I hadn't actually seen the deer until then. I saw this deer step out and some antlers appeared. It took two steps and stopped. I followed with another "meh" and got my rifle ready for a shot. At my second call, the stag raced down in my direction till it got to less than 10m away. This gave me a hell of a fright and I was desperately trying to line it up through my scope. By the time I got my crosshairs on it and pulled the trigger, the deer had worked me out and started to move.

This all happened so quickly (felt like time sped up instead of slowing down) and there was so much adrenaline coarsing through me that I'm not entirely sure if I should have taken a shot, if I saw the animal move and shot out of desperation or if I could have stopped myself pulling the trigger in that moment. All I knew was I had completely missed and I actually felt disappointed that I had tried a shot. I checked the spot and the surrounds thoroughly, no blood, no hair and no evidence of wounding.

At this rate, I've got a better record as a deer indicating dog than a hunter...

So, the learnings:

- I can manifest things (seeing deer, first stag, opportunity to try out a hind call).
- A young stag will sometimes make this call too? (I watched a video where couple of guys lured a stag in really close with this call).
- Determine the main outcome for the trip and stick to it. Saves fluffing about.
- Don't need more than 3x on the scope for close range bush stalking (had it on 4x as the stag ran towards me).
- Not every deer encounter has to end with a shot taken. I was too eager to take the shot. I think this also took me by surprise.

I need to go check my undies now.

That a sit up a hill in sunshine is good for the soul.

Went out again yesterday afternoon, to a new section of the same area I've been hunting this last wee while. Covered some kool new country with lots of likely spots for deer to be feeding. The wind was swirling and I managed to bump a mob of deer 20m away. Had a good old barking match with the deer but couldn't close the gap. Oh well, I thought. Maybe I will traverse over to where I had the encounter with the stag and see if I can get on to him again. Bush had dried out a bit but at least the wind was consistently in my face this time. So I get onto the ridge near where I saw him last time. No luck, no sign. Oh well, it's getting on in the day and there's a wee flat back down that I wanted to check out. I take 20 steps and there's my stag, lying dead on the ground. @#$%!!!!!!!!!

I am so gutted. I didn't believe I hit him and I didn't look hard enough. He was 50m from where I shot him. The shot was a bit high in the abdomen, exit wound through the stomach. I called a mate to see if I could salvage any meat at all as it had been cold, but from the smell once I moved him, I thought better of it. I am absolutely fucking gutted. I have taken the head of and he will always be a reminder for me to resist the urge to take a hasty or chancey shot and to ALWAYS look thoroughly if I fire a shot.