Back Country/yard adventures
With Mrs Dorkus heading to her family farm for a weekend of docking, Friday saw @Pop Shot, @Taranaki hunter and I knock off work early and head up Takapari road with plans to spend a couple of days glassing and blasting some silly spring deer. The road was in pretty average condition and gave me an opportunity to test the 4wd features of my new/not so new wagon ('94 swb vitara). It was a bit of a squeeze with three blokes, a dog and all our gear. We parked up a couple of hours before dark and made our way to the campsite under threatening skies, hoping that the rain would hold off long enough for an evening glass. We arrived at camp and decided to quickly chuck our tents up and head out for an evening hunt - By the time we had established camp it started to drizzle. We made our way into the bush as the rain set in and increased to not much short of a torrential downpour. By the time we reached our first lookout it was clear that the rain had set in and our chances of hunting that evening were zilch.
We headed back to camp dejected and agreed to re-check the forecast and make a plan from there. The weather maps had changed somewhat and showed a deterioration and little chance of enough fine spells to do much damage to the local population so we packed up and made our way back up the hill to the truck.
After dropping the boys off I headed home, only to find the house all locked up and my house/car keys on the hook inside - Bugger! By this time it was 10pm and the Mrs was over an hour away. Nothing for it but to set up my wet tent in the back yard and crawl inside for a pretty average nights sleep.
The alarm went off at 7am Saturday and I was off for a day hunt. JohnyTheHorse and I have been trying to jack up a hunt for months now and Saturday was the day that everything fell in place. I picked him up and we headed off to his secret spot that he has been scouting for the last few months. We parked the truck and made our way into the native. After an hour or so of yomping up a big-ass hill the pace slowed (thank god - The BK breakfast wasn't capable of sustaining the uphill pace for much longer) as we approached an area that held plenty of promise - A long ridge with large pockets covered in broadleaf and whiteywood with steep punga guts running off either side. There was lots of sign, most was at least a couple of weeks old although there were enough fresh prints and droppings to keep us on full alert.
After another hour of stalking through the promising looking country JTH suggested I take point and work into the wind down one of the spurs leading off the ridge. I duly obliged and chambered a round. At this point I will have you note that due to my unplanned night on the back lawn, and being unable to get into the house, I was stalking with my long range rig (7mm RM with 22" barrel +can,bipod and 4-16x44 Vortex). I took the lead and followed a series of game trails down a spur and into a likely looking punga gut with a little stream running down the middle. As I crossed a little terrace the bush below opened up enough for me to see a little yearling through a gap in the trees at about 30 yards. She saw me at the same time I saw her, stopped in her tracks, ears pricked up but not sure what to make of me. I eased the safety off (anyone with a Winchester model 70 will know that they are the loudest safeties in existence), she flinched but still didn't bolt. I came up on aim, the crosshairs settling right where the shoulder should be - the scope fills with deer, crosshairs drift from shoulder to mid gut as she starts to move off. I make the adjustment and squeeze off the shot in one movement.
7mm RM @ 30 yards should definitely result in bang-flop. Man did it make a mess! I'll upload photos from my phone in a minute.
