Last Saturday a mate, Peter, and I headed north west to a property some distance from Warren, NSW.
We knew there were bunnies and foxes and probably hares but had been told about the feral pigs that were on the place.
Peter had been out there 12 months back with his son and it was really dry.
But rain 2 weeks before our visit had everything fresh, green and in some places still a little muddy because of the mild winter weather.
We arrived on Saturday arvo around 3:30 and were out at the house by 4:30 just in time to set up camp.
Driving toward Warren on the Oxley Highway.
Arriving and unpacking at the house we were staying in.
The camp kitchen set up.....complete with electricity! Yay!
Pity we left the microwave at home.....
After chowing down on an early dinner we set out with the spotlight.
First up was an unwary feral cat drilled by Peter's Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe in 243.
No more bowls of milk for this moggy.
Next we spied a fox and I took a shot at it with "The Judge" (my T3 Lite Stainless 9.3x62) but it ran off and disappeared despite an attempt to trail it.
From there we soldiered on and I skittled a hare with The Judge.
This pic is the nice side....the other was all intestines!
Then Peter nailed this little fox with his T3 Hunter in 30-06.
One of those 30cal 125gr Nosler BTs is bound to give you a tummy ache.
We returned and hit the sack after that.
Peter got up earlier than me (nothing new there!) and did a bit of a reconnoitre to the river and around.
There were plenty of pigs signs but no pigs to be seen.
Yours truly sitting with a cuppa keeping a log of the trip.
Mild weather, a comfy seat on the verandah.....peel me a grape!
After a lengthy breakfast we set out in the early afternoon for a bit of a drive and a walk.
Pete opening a gate with the sheep round it.
There were signs of bunnies...but none about.
There were roos around and I even saw these emus grazing in the distance...
But no amount of whistling and watching summoned any foxes.
So we returned to the 4x4 and headed across country to the road.
Suddenly in the grass in the middle of a paddock lay the body of a big dog fox!
He was still in rigour so newly dead and had not died of old age or a heart attack.
Also the GPS in the 4x4 showed he was within metres of the path we'd taken to track the fox I missed the night before.
But there wasn't a mark on him aside of a scrape on his nose.
Maybe there was an in/out bullet hole somewhere in his thick winter coat but foxes stink so we weren't going to mess about.
It was enough to know that my first shot for the trip was true and The Judge was in form.
Can't be sad about a fox that big!
After our fruitless search we returned to the house and then as dusk came on head out to the river to search for feral pigs.
This time I took my newest rifle, a Ruger No1 Tropical 450/400 NE 3" I was hoping to blood on a decent sized boar or sow.
There were roos and emus about.
We even found an old Triumph Herald rusting in the bush.
And there was lots of pig signs...prints, diggings and poo....really close to the house but no pigs.
Honest Pete's Used Cars...care for a test drive?
Prints around a waterhole.
Diggings within sight of the house....literally 20m away.
After dark we had a good dinner of chicken curry and headed out to spot again.
Two foxes out on a newly planted wheat crop gave us the run around something shocking and we finally caught up with the second in the next paddock down.
A dose of 30-06 and "Goodnight Nurse!"
I was up next to shoot and we spied a fox and called it in to within 200m.
But I was reluctant to try The Judge (the smallest cal I took) at that distance so it then slipped away.
Another fox popped up on the other side of the road but I missed it and frustration got the better of me.
Peter kindly set me up with his 243 but my confidence was gone and I missed 2 foxes just down the road.
So we returned to the house and had some port, tea and cheese & bikkies before bed.
We were up late on Monday to counter the late night we'd had and decided to go into town for fuel and other stuff.
We didn't get into Warren until 3:30pm and it was dark by the time we returned to the house.
We had early dinner and I had a nap to be better ready for the long night of spotting.
When we headed out I tried a hare early on but I missed so I retired and spotted instead.
Peter subsequently found the 243 was a little out when he tried his luck on a hare.
So he switched to his 30-06...which a betrayed him on one fox.
From there Peter used his single bbl Bentley 12g shotgun and took a hare...
And then another:
And then 2 rabbits:
And a third!
But the foxes were still eluding him and 2 way out across a grain field were missed.
But with the Bentley in hand he put the hurt on a small fox which limped away under a pile of logs to die there within Peter's sight.
But then light showers had begun to fall so we returned around 4am and slept.
Tuesday, being the 13th of July, should've been an omen.
I'm neither superstitious nor do I believe in luck but things went from bad to worse.
At 6am we were wakened by a pesky mouse which was scratching around in the wall cavity, presumably trying to get in.
Finally, when we rose around 11am, the rain was patchy but ominous.
We set out to new territory north and parked the 4x4 so we could walk along the Macquarie River in search of pigs.
The Macquarie with water, a rare sight.
It's usually a dry river bed with the odd pool.
However just like the stretch near the house there was lots of sign but no animals.
We returned to find the farmer fixing a trough.
He said the rain, which had been falling on and off, was setting in and we should move to a cottage near his house at the other end of the property.
We decided to have dinner first and then pack....bad move.
It was dark by then and it took ages to stow everything, and even then it was a hasty and disorganised pack due to the constant rain falling.
The tracks were fine as we drove out but being the passenger I opened all the gates and I was pretty damp by the time we reached the cottage around 9pm.
After some discussion with the farmer we decided to drive back to Sydney that night as the weather was set in and we reached the big smoke at about 4:30am.
It was a day and a half early but we had little choice.
Amazingly it rained for all but the last 1/2 hour of the drive home and Peter heard from the farmer the next day that Warren had had 30mm of rain that night!
So, no pigs....AGAIN!!
We did come away with a decent tally....3 bunnies, 3 hares, 4 foxes and a feral cat, which was an amazing score because cats are so cagey.
But was it worth the 6.5 hour drive each way?
Well, if you never have a go you can be sure you'll never succeed and hunting is not a guarantee.
Maybe next time.
