I haven't been for a hunt since November and the venison supplies were demolished well before that so a plan was hatched to get some meat. In my mind any thing was game with the exception of fawns. I began my stalk and straight away got barked at by a cheeky hind. She gave about 20 barks then moved on. In my experience it's a cat and mouse game when this happens and the mouse always wins. Moving on I slowed down and saw a hind ghost through a bit of bush but wasn't too sure on what I was. I decided to give her some space and sidle around 200m and come at 180 degrees to where I last saw her. Working my way down to the creek I paused and saw what looked like a deer standing side-on the other side with the sun on its face. I looked harder and saw it was a hind. Her ears were flicking back and fourth and she gave a few uneasy steps. I decided she would do so lined up on her neck and gave the 223 a warm up. She dropped on the spot. I love it when they do that. On inspection she was really big. It had just gone 9.30 so was stoked I could have time to bone her out. Unfortunately I got a bit of a shock to see she had a developed fawn inside which had me standing back scratching my head. I made a decision at that point that I needed to re-assess the time I take hinds. Ive only decided since last year id like to avoid pregnant hinds where appropriate. I know a red is pregnant for roughly 7 months of the year which puts her at August/September for being knocked up. I know it comes down to individuals ethics and beliefs when it comes to hinds. I'd like to hear if any one else has been in this situation before so late near the roar. There's also the chance she couldn't give birth to this fawn and wil pass it soon but I'm no expert on these matters. Spoke to other hunters at car park and they too were stumped. Now that meats in the freezer I can focus on tracking down a stag in a months time.
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Ready for the carry out:
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