Thread: from the other way....

first off I apolagise for lack of photos.....

well a few years back my mate bought a small block over on the "wet coast" ...well its sort of over there,below paparoas close to iki.
we had high hopes as the area used to be well known for fallow deer....
over last couple of years we have tried hunting early,late,mid day...spring,summer,the roar,middle of winter...we have tried sneaking upstream,circling around and creeping back downstream....Ive taken Meg my dog over,left her at home....we have even resorted to trying it coaster style and flicking light around (private land)
we managed to bump small mob of goats with Meg 3 years ago....shot 2

then again we bumped 2 young goats 18mths ago and shot them both.

Ive heard deer take off once....red stag going by sign...
mates Mrs has seen deer while out running and mate has had them cross road infront of him when heading out to work...
Ive put in some hours and travelled some serious KMs trying to crack this nut.there is bottle of wine sitting on shelf I will not open till we get a deer,knowing my luck it be like vinegar by then.
this block had an old logging road right around it once upon a time,we have explored it from one side many times before but this weekend we went the other way...6.2kms from house we found road washed out....came back next day and tried on foot....yip we got to within 500 yards of where we had been before,turned around and started back to wagon some 2kms away,and then I thought to self...this is dumb,why not I carry on and mate take wagon home??? so I handed him heavy 7mm mag and got my old BLR back ,oh how I regret swapping that rifle...its the one Timattalon owned,photo of it in lever action thread....its now suppressed with early gunworks can and wears a 1.75-5 tasco....
anyway I headed off through gorse covered track (why the friggin Pomgolians couldnt build post n wire fences like anyone else) and some 500 yards later heard goat calling out....and kept calling,either nanny getting rogered or young one seperated I thought,dropped off steep side of track and headed towards sign,got down to river and couldnt see goat or hear it either...headed 50 yards upstream,heard a call...moved closer and called back...after a few replies I stalked in and spotted 2year old nanny up on old beech stump,lonely,no mates n no kid..so put 150grn hornady sp into shoulders...yeah .308 works LOL.
whipped off back wheels and headed downstream.4.2kms back to mates house.saw black nbrown billy at 25 yards,watched him and then stalked past....then brown n white nanny at 50 yards..again I managed to ghost past,she spotted movement but couldnt make me out in the ferns and I got past without her spooking...stopped at another clearish spot for lunch and spotted two more nannies ,thought it was a fallow for second or three...scope confirmed nannies...stalked past.them too.
heaps of pig sign ,loads of deer sign ,but AGAIN...not a animal to be found other than the 5 goats....got back to mates place 6hours after leaving...fairly poked but happy to have managed another animal from block even if it was only a goat.

one of these days I will crack this block,I KNOW the animals there in spring,I know they trade up n down river...I know the wind blows everywhich way....one day Roger Fits one day....