Bit quieter than normal this winter/spring
Hey guys.
Here's a bit of a report from the last 3 months or so. Haven't done too many decent hunting trips this winter/spring, work and renovations have been keeping me pretty busy (hence my lack of contributions lately).
Still, I've managed sneak out for the odd evening hunt or day-hunt or days fishing and have seen a few animals about. Managing to keep ours, friends and families freezers full. Also managed to get a couple of first time hunters their first deer, which is always satisfying. I'll let the photos do most of the talking.
Late winter chamois hunts are always interesting, one day you're in snow to your knees, the next you're sweating in a t-shirt ;D
Have seen a lot of chamois this year, none of real trophy size but a number of young bucks showing potential.
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Pip, my now maturing and "know it all" hunting dog loves hunting chams, and on a couple of occasions this winter when fog and snow made things very challenging her nose lead us right onto groups of chamois;
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We hunted for a whole day on one particular trip, not seeing hide nor hair of an animal, covering a number of kms in awesome cham country. Wet and tired at the end of the day we pitched the tent and sat glassing while the billy boiled. As the sun lowered in the sky a number of chamois appeared in the bluffs a stones throw from camp. Cheeky buggers ;D
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Did a few day hunts on deer, freezer filling mainly. Evening hunts at my local haunts usually produce animals, seeing animals isn't too hard, getting them is another story (eh Cleaky). When a stalk goes right the wee 223 usually produces the goods though;
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Winter feed near cover is always worth a look in late winter when feed in the scrub's getting tight. These two were out at 2pm, they disappeared back into the scrub when we arrived, so we came back just on dark at 5ish and sure enough, they were out again.
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On the same trip we hunted some fallow in South Canterbury. It was a cold day, snow on the ground, but we managed to get onto a few animals. A mate we had with us shot his first deer. Unfortunately I only managed a few live deer shots before the battery on my camera went flat and we couldn't photograph his proud moment! ;D
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A few more shots from winter/spring hunts. Sometimes they're just onto you, waaaaay before you get a chance to have a crack;
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Or they pop their heads out of the scrub for a second to check you out, then disappear;
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A good mate of mine called me one evening, his cousin was over from South Africa and they'd been hunting for four days, only seeing two deer and not managing to connect with either. He was hoping I'd be keen to take them on an evening hunt and try to get Jean his first deer.
We arrived at our hunting grounds with less than 40 minutes of daylight left, beelined it for a fairly reliable spot and luckily for us two spikers were out grazing on the bush edge. With our detailed instructions, Jean pulled off a awesome 280yd shot with the 7mm08, dropping the first deer in its tracks. I followed up with my .223 and the 2nd deer met the same fate with a clean shoulder shot. Jean was absolutely ecstatic with his first deer.
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I had a bit of a rush of blood to the head a few days ago and asked Malhunting if he was keen to do a day trout fishing, a late afternoon evening hunt followed by a night shooting possums. Sure enough, if he can fit it in he's always there!
We hit the river about 230pm, within two hours had caught 13 trout between us. Most were smaller trout but good fun all the same;
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Then we headed out for a hunt, stalking clearings, bush edges and tracks for a couple of hours with the dogs in hope of a deer or pig. The dogs worked quite well together, when Sids not trying to have his wicked way with Pip...
Mal & Sid taking the lead;
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Hitting up one final spot I picked up a yearling feeding along the bush edge, so we went into stealth mode. The wind worked perfectly for the dogs, with both of them picking up scent on the breeze easily. We wanted Sid to work this hunt, so Mal lead up the bush edge slowly, but the deer had moved on by the time we got to its location.
Continuing on we stalked through a patch of scrub, the dogs winding well. As we pushed around a patch of fuchsia deer erupted around us, with one unluckily catching a .223 pill to the neck as it dived for cover. The dogs were happy, as were we.
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That evening we shot about 20 possums before getting home about 12 hours later. Great day out.
Last night Cleaky and I snuck out for a hunt, we saw at least a dozen deer but they were all to cunning for us, and survived to see another day. He needs to bring some lucky pills next time we go hunting.
Looking forward to summer hunting/fishing and diving, scouting summer stag country for the coming roar, and looking for big cham bucks in summer coats. Planning has started already 8-)
Happy hunting
Josh :)
