Recently had my woodhill hunting ballot day, After an hours drive we got to the forest at 5am. There were no other cars at the Dounahues rd car park after a quick coffee and a breakfast bar we split up and started walking to our costal block by torch light.
we had block 3 and I had chosen a doe permit as I really wanted to take some meat home. Just as I got to the coast rd to where I wanted to hunt it started to rain hard.:oh noes:As i sat on a stump waiting for it to get just a little lighter to see properly for say 50 metres the rain passed, so I slowly started off down the logged out forest rd. After about 15 minutes i picked up some movement ahead and saw 4 deer run across the rd weaving through the stumps and limbed branches and stopped skylined at about 150 metres.I leaned my rifle on a stump and watched these deer for a few minutes before they dissapeared.I didnt take a shot because of the angle but really hoped these wouldnt be the only deer i saw for the day.I carried on down the coast rd witout seeing anything else(except my mate in the distance walking toward me) He had seen 4 less deer than me and after a quick conversation and a plan of attack we split up again. I headed straight for the coast and hunted through the wild coast pine I had only been going for 10 mins when I spotted a black shape moving toward me through the trees. I shouldered the howa and waited untill the deer stepped out from behind the tree I was standing next to and shot her low in the chest at a range of 4 metres! After gutting the animal I looked at the watch....8am!! thats a lot of time to kill before the boys are ready to head home! I hung up the little deer up and carried on hunting in the hope of running into a porker.
The coast was definatly the place to hunt, I saw 16 deer in the length of the block, all does of differing colours. I decided to pack it in and start the walk back to the car as it was getting later in the afternoon now. I got to the car just as the sun was setting,scrounged a ride the last kilometre from the forest security guys,put the seat back and grabbed a cold beer from the chilly bin :thumbsup: I was just about drifting off to sleep waiting for the boys when I heard a twig snap. from the comfort of the passenger seat i watched two well antlered bucks jump on to a small clearing 50 metres away, They stopped for a second and dissapered as quickly as they arrived leaving me wishing i had taken a buck permit instead.The boys arrived shortly afterwards, worn out from near 12 hours walking. total deer seen 32 does 2 bucks. Great day and still got take home a few steaks each.
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