Thread: The 10 minute hunt

I lucked out on a very quick hunt this weekend.

The freezer was nearing empty so I organised a permit to a private forest block I hunt every now and then. This block has plenty of deer, but also lots of hunting pressure so they are very skittish. I've taken few dozen from there over the last 2 years, all had been spooked but made the classic fallow deer mistake of stopping to look back.

Come 4:30AM Saturday morning I wake up and peer out the window. The wind's blowing a gale and the rain is coming in sideways. Poor hunting weather, but the forecast is for it to improve. I grudgingly get ready, not keen to trudge in the rain for a few hours and come back wet, cold and empty handed. Hopefully it's better by the time I get there.

I park up at block at 6:15AM and get my kit ready. The weather is better with only a slight drizzle and looks to be clearing. At 6:20AM I hoist my rifle over my shoulder, check my phone is on silent, step through the gate and set off on the forestry road. Less than 3 minutes later I spot 2 deer in a clearing about 100m away, a spiker and a young stag. They're feeding and slowly moving towards me, and I predict on their current track they'll cross the road close to where I'm squatting in the middle of it. The amazing thing is they're completely unaware of me!

I watch them for a while as they get closer, my heart pounding in my chest. When they're about 50m away I stand upright, aim for the boiler room on the stag and take the shot. The big 7mm barked and I saw the hit. The stag took off in the direction he was facing, but I could clearly see he wasn't going far. I cycled the bolt, looked back at the spiker who was just standing there looking confused. I shoulder the rifle, take the shot and he drops like a sack of potatoes.

I look back at the stag as he's heading to the road, but he's slowing down by now. I cycle the bolt and get ready if he needs another, however when he reaches the road edge he stops, wobbles and falls over. Mission successful.

The time is 6:30AM and I've got 2 deer on the ground - 10 minutes after setting out! Typical of forest hunting being very quick, there was probably 5 seconds between the 2 shots.

Stag where I found him:


Spiker as I found him:


Gutted and ready to load:


The stag was kind enough to fall on the forest road, while I had to carry the spiker less than 50m to the same spot. I drove the ute right up to them!


At 7:15AM I'm heading back home. The rest of the morning was spent processing them.

Love it when you get an easy one.the next year six will tumble away down steep hill and end up in either bush lawyer or ongiongi patch lol.enjoy the venison.

Result

The very first deer I ever shot, i did a bunch of research on the area I wanted to try, slept in, drove out in a mad panic, 1.5hrs later than I wanted to be there, thinking I had ruined my chances. Got out of the Ute, and walked 100m, shot a young stag right off the track! Driving home proud as punch and thinking to myself this hunting business is easy. Took me 18 months to get another one on the deck

Well worth the the effort, would have been so easy to stay home.