Like many people my hunting plans over the past few months have been grossly effected by Covid-19 so when we were finally allowed to get out hunting and the weather gods smiled upon us we took the opportunity.
I took the boys (14 & 13) in search of a Thar. We went into a valley we'd only been into once before but it was knee deep in snow at the time so perhaps we might get to cover more country and the area is promising.
We got there early at a sparrows fart, walked up the valley before taking our intended route to the tops. On our way up we occasionally stopped for a glass and only found this red hind high up on another part of the valley very much safe from us.
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As we got higher we didn't spot any Thar but sign was certainly about but looking back across on the other side of the valley we spotted a nice catchment which held a healthy number of Thar with quite a few bulls.
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It was in mid afternoon we crested the ridge where we glassed the next valley but nothing seen and then we glassed on the side we were on and sure enough there was a nice mob of Thar 1 km away so a hasty plan was hatched to zoom along the ridge, try pop off an animal and get off the mountain back to the valley floor before it got too dark.
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As we got closer along the ridge we spotted a lone bull about 347 mtrs away where we got a bit closer to 327 mtrs. I asked my son if he wanted it as we hadn't even crested the ridge to look down on the mob yet but my boy was keen on this Thar so I set the rifle up, dialed in the range and once the bull presented a side on side he got the .284 high five.
The bull ran 40 mtrs before tumbling over from a dead center heart shot with a 140 gr NBT
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We got over to the bull quickly, took a few photos before I grabbed as much meat as I could before sending off my boy back to where his brother was on the ridge and telling them to both to start walking back down as dark wasn't too far away and I wanted to make as much progress getting off the mountain as possible. The early evening was quite warm and I said to the boys if we bought our sleeping bags when we'd just sleep in the tussock under the stars like we've done before.
We got off the mountain pretty much uninjured apart from me badly rolling my ankle but since being back home I kept thinking about that basin full of Thar so I asked the boss for a few days off which was granted and with a good window of weather I headed back in with the intention of three days hunting and two nights camping.
It took me longer than expected to get up there but once camp was set up on a little plateau and water nearby I headed off but since my return there had been a snow dump which forced the animals down lower which was a bonus.
I figured for the first evening I'd just watch and observe and see their movements with the next day planning my hunt to get closer in the afternoon. The first evening there were loads of animals, 6 good bulls and 20 odd nannies running about where I was tempted to get closer and have a crack but it was getting late in the afternoon and I didn't want to stuff things up so early bearing in mind I still had two full days.
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That night it was well below freezing and the next morning when I awoke my socks that were still wet from the previous day were frozen solid and they were inside the tent!
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I got back to my vantage point for the day in time to watch a few animals walk back up into the bluffs which was fun to watch.
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For the remainder of the day I got to dry out my boots and socks in the sun until around 1:00 pm when I decided to get a move on and get into a position for Thar o'clock when they should be coming back down the mountain again.
By 2:00 pm I got into a good position where I just waited and lay in the snow out of sight. I can't say I've hunted much in the snow but sitting there I was getting cold. A few Thar came down and were feeding on the face in front of me barely 200 mtrs away.
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A few other nannies came out including a young bull but I decided to wait and time was ticking on, the sun went down and the temperature was dropping when finally around 4:00 pm a spied a bull 400 mtrs out
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I'm no Thar expert but when I saw his body size, colour he just presented as a mature bull. I took a number of photos of him from various angles trying to assess him as best as I could when he walked down to 3 nannies at 300 mtrs distance from me where I figured he looked like at least 12 1/2 inches as I have a similar bull already at home.
I watched him while weighing up whether to leave him. I was cold but I was more than happy to leave him and walk away as I had already got some cool photos but I figured he's mature enough to take so at 305 mtrs he got the .284 high five and slide down the hill to a ledge.
I was hoping he'd go over the ledge and keep coming down to me which would have saved me climbing up into him as I didn't have any crampons and I was getting concerned with the snow starting to freeze over.
I climbed up to him, took a few photos and then grabbed his head before rolling him down the slope closer to where my pack was. I really wanted his skin but light was fading and I wanted to get out of the snow line as I wasn't there in the most ideal pair of boots!
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Getting back to camp I was stoked to have shot a stunning mature bull but with no measuring tape I was curious what length he is.
The next morning I wanted to go back and retrieve the skin but after packing up camp I figured with having to get off the mountain and drop down 800 mtres it might not be such a good idea with the extra weight of that skin.
Dam... Like Jesus, this gun can walk on water!
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Once back at home out came the measuring tape where he measured 12 3/4 one side and 13 inches the other so I was very happy.
