Thread: Getting the monkey off my back

Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

Shearers moccasins are good in winter too, they help keep the feet a bit warmer while not losing feeling through the soles.

That said, I'm off to Torpedo7 to buy a pair of dive booties. Must be getting soft.

There's a use for partially cured deer skin right there. Those moccasins look pretty crude. Even your footprints will smell like deer!

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Originally Posted by Eat Meater

There's a use for partially cured deer skin right there. Those moccasins look pretty crude. Even your footprints will smell like deer!

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You know, you might be on to something! My wife has already given me the thumbs up when I asked her haha. Let the experiments continue.

Keep us updated. I hate waste, so a use for deer skin would be good

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Well done mate. Have really enjoyed your write ups as you have learnt more and more and shown it on the next trip

Awesome story,your learnings on bush stalking paid dividends.

Originally Posted by Eat Meater

Keep us updated. I hate waste, so a use for deer skin would be good

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Well, here's an update. Had a go at tanning the skin. Not sure what they are supposed to turn out like, but pretty happy with this one. Even better, hides the stains on the carpet...

good stuff. take the heads off unless you plan eating them...2c worth

Hide looks to be tanned well. Work on shape of next one,how you make the cuts and tack it out makes big difference. A bit of a trim up after it's finished helps too. And just so you don't think every hunt is supposed to mean dirty barrel. I went last night to area I've hunted for 35 years.... Quick hunt last night,another this morning,maybe two hours each time just checking things out not a single fresh deer pooh or foot print at all. Thermals,spotlighting and roaming dogs seem to have moved animals back further into bush... But I got great night's sleep,dog got a walk and my soul is refreshed just getting out.

I'm going through a bit of a dry spell myself. Seeing deer every trip but getting a pill into them is becoming frustrating. Had a Sika stag nutting off at me for about 15 minutes this morning, only 10-15 metres away but for the life of me could not find a gap to slot one in. It's becoming a theme lately.

But it's still nice to get out anyway.

Great read, thanks mate and congratulations!

Update on recent shenanigans:

Instead of starting a new thread, I thought I would make another post on the old one reporting my last few adventures.

Spring Tahr hunting:

Needless to say, I am hooked on hunting. So come spring, mate and I headed south and reunited with an old buddy of mine to spin some yarns and get into some Tahr country. Having seen a lot of these animals when out climbing or tramping in the mountains, I was well aware of how impressive they are. Seeing them at a distance when out wandering vs trying to hunt them seemed like a completely different proposition. While we were hoping to head to the west coast, the cycle of spring storms meant that our best bet was to stay on the east coast and head up some of the Canterbury rivers. My mate had equipped his truck with a snorkel just for this trip, so we journeyed our way up the Rangitata for the next 5 days. I'm used to having all my belongings in the backpack on trips, so being able to drive all the way to the huts and have EVERYTHING with us was such a novelty to me. I think I ate better than I eat at home these 5 days. What was really exciting was that as we were driving to the river, I managed to spot a big bull Tahr in a paddock running along the fence line!

Reading the hut book suggested that there was a lot of animals about (one report suggested they had seen up to 70 Tahr in a day!!), and so we were all really excited for the hunt. After watching Tahr hunting on Tv and Youtube, I was under the impression that we'd be walking for hours to get close to any animals. However, we spotted the first animals on a small hill just a few hundred meters from the hut. My mate and I started trudging up this "small" hill to try and cut the gap. Unfortunately, they caught a glimpse of us and buggered off. Out of the corner of my eye I saw half a dozen Tahr hopping from rock to rock and chasing each other by the creek below us. So we made the call to give up on the bigger bull we had seen earlier and managed to knock over a few of the young animals. As I hate wasting meat, we took as much off those animals we could and a beautiful Tahr curry was on the menu for the next two nights. I also kept one of the pretty skins which I later tanned. The next day, we tried another catchment and again, we were on to animals in a flash. We found a nice big boulder amongst the bushes where we were able to rest and pick off some Tahr at a fair distance. This time even I had a go on my mates big boomstick and managed to knock over a couple at 250ish meters. The recovery was steep and challenging, but we managed to get to the animals and take some more meat and we took a couple more skins.

To be honest though, it all felt a bit impersonal. I have become accustomed to getting close to deer in the bush, so shooting long range at Tahr that did not even know we were there felt very different. For now at least I think I still prefer bush hunting. All in all this was an epic first experience of hunting Tahr.



Spring sika hunting:

After my Tahr hunting trip, I couldn't wait to get back into the bush. I was also curious to see where the animals would be and what they are feeding on once spring properly set in. So, with all the best intentions of trying to get to the river flats, I set off one early morning. I realised I had left too late, so abandone that plan and bush hunt instead. This trip ended up being super memorable not for having shot deer, but for all the new experiences.

I had been walking for a while without seeing much sign, until I came across an area with a number of deer prints. I decided since that was all I had to go on, I would follow them for a while. I was tracking this deer for nearly 45 mins, when I wondered if it was possible to close the gap on deer and actually find it. Lo and behold, 10 seconds later I was on to a Sika. Unfortunately for me the deer saw me first and a loud squeal and she was off! I followed where she had gone but no luck. I gained the ridge and dropped off the other side to just get out of the strong wind. I was stalking along when out of the corner of my eye, I saw an odd grey rock, no wait, grey fuzzy rock...wait it has ears and it's chewing and eyes looking straight at me! I couldn't believe it took me that long for my brain to recognise what my eyes were seeing. This was in plain sight less than 30m away. The hind must have also been confused as she just kept watching me. Bolt down, safety off, slowly turning towards her. She looks away and I could have a shot but her head and neck is behind a tree and she's still sitting. I thought she may stand and give me a chance but she stood and ran in a swift movement and I had no chance. Bugger!!!!

Oh well. That definitely did wake me up though. 10 hours of stalking can really slow the brain I suppose, but that last encounter had me buzzing and alert again. Not half hour after this I was sneaking up a small rise and saw the tips of two ears. I could see the top third of the tips and not more than 10m away. This was super exciting as the deer had no idea I was there. I contemplated taking my boots off but thought better of it and tried to sneak in slowly. Damn twig gave me away and the little yearling was up standing. I had a clear shot but then something in me decided not to squeeze the trigger. I had plenty of meat in the freezer and it was only a wee thing. Sometimes, the stalk is rewarding enough and I got home with some entertaining stories to tell my wife.

Another outing another exciting encounter:

I went out for an overnight trip a couple of days ago and had another exciting sika encounter. I was stalking through the bush and unfortunately for me, didn't spot the deer till it was too late. This hind was 20m away and bedded down (also my first time seeing the brown coat!). She took off and annoyingly began squealing frequently. Stuff it. It was the last bit of bush to hunt before I headed to camp, so I thought all that squealing has alerted all the deer around. So I decided I was going to throw caution to the wind and just charge in her direction. I made a fawn call every now and then to see if she would stop or at least squeal back to give away her location. This went back and forth for about 15 minutes, and I cut the gap to within 50m again. I couldn't believe it but for a split second she showed herself again, but my movement to raise the rifle was enough to send her away sprinting again. I wondered if she did have a fawn and it was why she kept calling?

Anyway, no animals down recently but plenty of excitement and learning. I also feel like I'm having more luck with Sika than Reds. I think I just haven't found the right spots for the Reds where I hunt, so that is my next mission. Thanks for reading!