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Worth the wait, got my eight
Our usual annual Kaweka trip was a bit different this year, I had a new partner and no Eva the Vizsla. The trip in the black bird was a rush as the northerly and cloud made the trip a little bit longer than normal. We stashed out kit in the six bunk hut and then headed out towards the Manson as that was the way the wind told us to go. The trip down and up the short cut track was uneventful apart form the fact that I reckon it gets steeper each year. We made it to the top and sat under the Beech trees, that 100's of hunters have probably glassed up the Manson Creek from. No sooner had my butt hit the deck I said to Ben, there's one, it's got tops, I'm going to shoot it. Where he said! Down there in the creek 700 yards away... we planned a stalk and retreated to buy some cover. Down we went hugging the slope as we attempted to get close enough to measure him. As I popped over the last ridge, the wind swirled around and I could not find him; in the twenty minutes that it had taken us to get down there, he must have moved. Then out of the corner of my eye at 150 yards I spied movement, a Sika stag heading for the bush. I had only enough time to take off my pack, lay down and track the stag in my VX5. At 170 yards he was about to melt into the bush, never to be seen again; I placed the cross hairs between his shoulders and squeezed the trigger, a resounding 'whack' came back as he disappeared into the bush. Did you get him, an excited Ben exclaimed, I think I did I replied.
We walked down to where he crossed the creek and went into the bush, Ben sent in the recently Deer Dog Blueprinted Tess and called out, here he is. I arrived to see a velvet eight point fat young stag laying in the bush 20 yards from where I shot him. I later found the 150 ELDX projectile sitting under the skin on his brisket, after it travelled there from his kidneys, a perfect (under the circumstances) kill shot. The 19 inch Hardy barrelled Tikka .284 WIN had shot its first Sika and a stag at that, it's now my new favourite rifle, but in reality I have a few favourites! To say I was elated was an understatement, I'd been looking for an eight, and turning up other animals for quite some time. We hauled him out of the bush, after taking some photos and took some more photos before breaking him down.
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The rest of the trip didn't matter to me, I would support Ben to get a deer but I'd achieve the goal of getting my first eight - a bigger one would come in the future. I put Ben onto some good animals but unforuntatly we only came home with the one deer; but as you can imagine, we had a great time in some familiar (to me) country.
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We traveled over to the burn and back and I may have needed a sleep after Tess barked at some noises on the deck - bloody possum!
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My mate Ben has an interesting choice in music and this song I chose because of its title... 'Great Relief'!
https://youtu.be/-pCFVZ1qZNw
I booked a trip to Manson with my wife and kids for the last weekend in June to celebrate my 50th birthday and another to the Back Ridge bush bivy site for the next Sika Roar, I might just focus on a big eight now!
