Stink one

Been struggling over the last year to get out in the hills as much as I would like. With a small window available to me without wifey or kids I headed to a popular roadend for a quick overnighter. I always avoid hunting public land on weekends but desperate time call for desperate measures.

I wasted no time with the drive, arriving with an hour and a half until dark. Leaving the dog to pee and shake off her excitement I got to glassing the front country prior to walking in.

It was head down arse up along the track, racing to my glassing spot for the final half hour of light. The dog followed along patiently one bound behind farting her arse off the whole way. Must be the change in dog food coming out, bloody hell it stunk.

Just prior to breaking through the scrub line I bumped a hind 10m from the track. Her silhouette presented no more than a second before she was gone. I turned to the dog pleased to see she was as composed as ever at my side glancing up at me for her next instructions.

We shared a proud dad moment, leave it … good girl … and a scratch behind the ears.

I pulled back my hand with a wtf!? Her fur was thick with dried shit smeared right in around her neck and ear…the source of the funky smell was finally revealed and it had nothing to do with her dog food. Some Ahole must have taken a dump at the car park after eating one too many back countries.

Only 50m or so from our destination we pushed on and I got to work scanning the slips, clearings and regenerating bush around us. A large bodied stag was picked up just under 300m away however there was no way of taking a shot apart from a Hail Mary standing position. The plan was an obvious one, stalk down to another high point at first light to get an angle down on his feed area and hope he presents himself again.

The hills glowed golden, then red, then the light was gone all too fast. The conditions were just perfect and that feeling of inevitability made me confident we would take an animal at first light.

I cleaned the dog up with some wipes and water but needless to say there wasn’t going to be any spooning action under the tarp. How did she get it inside those floppy ears ffs.

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I will never sleep better then when I’m bivvied out on these clear still nights and I was up and rested before the alarm. The early morning stalk was put on hold as a half dozen or so animals began popping out amongst the landscape. Chasing last nights stag was forgotten when an easy 230m shot and recovery presented itself. Meat is the priority at the moment with the freezer at home almost empty.

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By 8am it was time to pack up camp with a meat animal all boned out and my stomache now rumbling. Not a bad turn of events after my last two trips getting smashed by gales and burnt to a crisp with nothing to show for it.

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wonderful story,nothing like a night out with the dog..... and yes they sure know how to find stinky poop at the worst possible time....I remember taking dog out into lake with a cake of soap for the same reason....

Great photos!

Nice when a plan pays off, shame the dog was a bit off, a good bath should fix that.

We have dog shampoo in the back of all our vehicles just for such smelly dog encounters.

Car parks are full of all sorts of shit! It’s a pain in the arse when your dog finds them first!
Good yarn and great outcome.

Great write up :)
There's nothing quite like a little toot from the south end of a north bound woofer :D
The stinkiest thing any of my dogs have ever rolled in was a big pile of rotting bread. A mate used to get it by the ute load to feed to his emus and I would never think bread could smell like that :wtfsmilie:

What a stink story, at least you got something to fill the freezer.

Good stuff. Dog’s gotta do what a dog’s gotta do.

They can be frustrating at times but it’s just not the same hunting without her

Nice one

Nothing like a bit of k9 aftershave when ya heading out :XD: Great story and pics.
Cheers

Great story mate, reminded me of a time my dog rolled in some dirty bastards shite by a local kids play park back home, and that joke; "you know you live in a rough area when there's a paw print in a human shite".