Wallaby Hunt

The first sign of life was rustling toe-toe.There was no wind so I knew there was life quite nearby.I spent the next ten minutes trying to distinguish what I had heard,but with no success I carried on up the track for a couple of hours and suddenly caught a glimpse of my first wallaby.

I was so intrigued that I just stood there admiring it and then as quick as it came,it was gone! I hadn't even fired a shot!

All that was left was the eerie "thump,thump" and a few moving branches where it had disappeared. The thumping sound I heard frequently before I saw my next wallaby.There were wallabies everywhere and they were so quick!

Just around the next corner on the side of the track,I saw two wallabies feeding.There was no admiring this time.I aimed and squeezed my first shot off and down the wallaby dropped.I had hit my target at fifty metres with my.270 Midland and the sound echoed around the forest for what seemed an eternity.

I went up to the wallaby but was slightly disappointed as it was smaller than I thought and also because my .270 had practically gutted the animal which meant I could not get it mounted as I had hoped to.

I left the forest and camped nearby.The area I hunted was by permit and specified no camping and no .22 rimfire rifles.

The next two days I walked the track with my rifle semi-cocked and saw nothing,until walking back towards an entrance to the reserve.I saw a wallaby sitting on the side of the track in the sun, just a metre away!

There was nothing I could do,my camera on my belt and rifle only semi-cocked.I looked at the reddish brown wallaby for 15 or so seconds.It was a lot bigger than the one I had shot.It was staring at me and I was staring at it when I went to close the bolt,"thump thump" it was gone.

I am keen to go back with a .22 rimfire rifle to get myself a good neck-shot wallaby to add to my taxidermy collection.I can only do this by becoming a member of a recognised club such as NZDA.I enjoyed my hunt very much,but I have found many people are unaware wallabies do live in New Zealand.