Thread: The week that was roar 2023.....

We discussed options as the light would fade fairly quickly and decided the best course of action would be to get over there gut the stag and then go back in the cool of first light to retrieve him whole if possible. Fortunately there is a track just below the ridgeline if you look close in the pic from my previous post, we grabbed head torches and a knife and drove around the head of the valley to the opposite face.
Again referencing the pic from my previous post if you follow the track from right to left you can see the track splits into 2, 1 track leading up and 1 leading down. Where the track splits is a gut that is reasonably open and steep but easy terrain to access the faces below the scrub line. Sadly my back has been playing up to the point I almost flagged the trip, sciatica pins and needles and the inability to sit up from laying on my back without rolling over. So I waited at the track with the truck whilst Ant and my other friend Lee followed the gut down and then dissappeared below the scrub line to gut the stag, take a couple pics and prop his gut cavity open with a stick to allow good airflow so it would cool down. The temp was dropping fast as was the light so we were confident the deer would be fine where it was till morning propped open just inside the scrub so it would be shaded from the morning sun. Just as the light was almost gone I could hear and see Ant and Lee making there way back up the gut towards me. Lee had a new appreciation for hills and walking in tussocks and was a little concerned how we would get the deer out whole at first light.....I had a cunning plan I hatched whilst waiting for the lads to return....


where's Wally ? Can you spot the lads walking down to gut the stag in the fading light ?



Ant with his pb stag prior to gutting duties in the fading light