It's been over 2 years since I've been deer hunting. My Game Council Restricted Licence lapsed and although my rifles are more ready than ever the family and a lack of access to deer properties has also been a factor. Then at a party on Thursday night a mate who has teased me with pics of tons of deer invited me to go with him on Saturday morning. No licence and a new baby meant I said no sadly.
But when I told the missus she was amenable so long as I wasn't away for a weekend. And on Friday morning it suddenly came to me that the Game Council will do express processing for people wanting to hunt. Sure enough I called them, the emailed me a renewal form, I filled it out, scanned it and sent it back and by 5pm I'd been emailed a letter of authorisation to hunt. I love the Game Council. Unlike the Motor Registry and the Tax Department and almost every other government authority, whose job it seems is to obstruct and infuriate applicants, the Council wants to HELP hunters do what they love.
But I digress. So I called my mate and it was on! I'd like to say I was quickly organised and got plenty of sleep ready for the 4:15am pickup on Saturday morning. I didn't. Our new baby girl wasn't keen on settling, it took ages to locate all my hunting gear after moving house last november, and then my 3 yr old son woke up at 3:15am screaming from a nightmare and took half an hour to settle. But, 1 1/2 hours of sleep under my belt I jumped in and we drove out.
The prediction said rain 60% and only 1mm but it drizzled all the way there and continued to until about 10am. A heavy mist was also sitting all over the fields. It was encouraging to see a herd of a dozen does with a buck as we drove in the back way to the property but first light came later because of the heavy cloud and mist. When we finally got out it was really wet under foot and my boots and the bottoms of my pants were soaked in about 15 mins. Fortunately I was wearing excellent socks and good thermals so I wasn't cold.
We stalked along and glassed about but there were no deer to be seen early on. We did get within 10 feet of a fox before he suddenly realised we were there and ran like crazy. It's good when you get that close as it means you're being stealthy but the poor visiblity and lack of game in the locations he's seen them numerous times before was disquieting for my mate. Plenty of roos but nothing else.
Here's my mate, camo'd up. The poor visibility is obvious.
Throughout my mate was saying "This weather is a pain and so is the mist." At that point, having remembered my past experiences in the field, I said "Ummm, sorry, you brought a rain god hunting." We both had a chuckle and then began to climb to higher ground in the hope of coming across bucks on the high ridges. It was a sod of a climb and slippery the entire way.
Roos in the mist.
Yours truly camo'd up.
Heading up the ridge.
We finally got to the top of the main ridge and took a break for an apple and a drink. It was surprisingly windy despite the fact the mist was still solid and it was cold right up there. We then hiked along and around 11am the mist began to lift.
Finally a good view as the mist disapates.
I was surprised to see how high up we really were. But my feet were now completely soaked and my socks were rubbing my right heel and forming a blister. Constant glassing revealed nothing but roos and even when the sun finally came out around midday there was nothing. Tons of droppings.....sheep, roos, wombats and deer, but no game. My mate had a bit of a tanty at this point and stomped about in frustration but nothing came up. He even apologised that he's misled me that nailing a deer would be easy and that it was his fault. I was philosophical. I've come back from a number of hunts with zip and it's good exercise and always educational.
So we turned and began to work our way back to his truck. Then, in the broad sunlight only 200m away from the truck we spied 3 does in a treeline only about 150m away. I dropped onto my butt, stuck my 8x57 on the shooting sticks and had a bead on the biggest doe ready to drop it. My mate said "Woah, woah, just let them settle....." and then they fled up the hill and crashed away into the timber!
I turned to him and said "Y'know how before you said it was your fault I hadn't shot a deer? Well now it's STILL your fault I haven't shot one!" He shrugged and smiled sheepishly. But I wasn't infuriated or frustrated. And he was perplexed as to why we'd only seen 3 deer in the light and they were skittish as all heck. So we trudged back up to the truck and took a load off and a long drink.
He said "How about we drive about and see if there are any about you can shoot?" At that point the fatigue dropped on me and between it and my blistered feet it was almost too much for me to get out and open gates. I kept nodding off and could barely hold a coherent conversation. My mate said if he hadn't known I was so tired he would've thought I was drunk. But we found roo carcasses without legs all over the place and it was clear what the problem had been. A professional roo shooter had been out during the week, banging away and killing roos all over the place to stop them eating feed and getting meat for the farmer's dogs. The deer were terribly spooked and although none had been shot they weren't hanging about.
So we'll head out in June and try again. I actually really enjoyed the morning. We did a hard 9km up and down hills in 7 hours and with packs and rifles. Based on the amount of wildlife which wasn't spooked we moved quietly and effectively. You can't pay for that sort of exercise. I also proved to my mate that I'm a safe and thoughtful hunter who doesn't complain or chatter. I've spotlighted with him before but on foot on his property it's a different situation and that can be a deal breaker. Plus he now feels he owes me a deer.
