For some reason I really love hunting in the rain, especially if you stay dry. I also find it can be a very productive time to hunt.
A mate and I had organised a Goat hunt for yesterday. The forecast was for rain but we were hopeful it would hold off
Unfortunately, or fortunately as it turned out for us at about the same time as we left from home the rain started, just a light drizzle at first but increased in intensity the closer we got to our block.
As luck would have it about a week or so ago I had swapped an East Kaweka Voucher for a Swazi Torrent Jacket and thought to myself on the way, "Geez I'm glad I have a good coat with me" :thumbsup: as this is shaping up to be a real wet trip.
On arriving at our destination we got our gear on, Me with my shiny new Swazi jacket, while my mate was relying on his military issue Gortex gear to keep dry.
The rain was steady throughout the day with the under canopy getting a good old soaking. These conditions made travelling very quiet underfoot and gave the bush and eerie yet strangely comfortable feeling.
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For this trip it had been decided it was AR15's only and as both of us hold E Cat, big mags were the order of the day.
I was also keen to try out my new DPT suppressor as it had arrived a couple of days before hand.
It wasn't long after we had set off when my mate who was beside me seemed to have an air leak, kinda like this,
"pssst boom boom, did you see them two? Well I can now!, mostly because one was in its death throws tangled in blackberry while the other was rolling down the hill eventually dropping onto the track near to where we were standing.
Two down and only five minutes into the hunt. Shortly after with me on point I spied two more checking us out while poking their heads around a tree trunk, so up with the CMMG, target quickly identified in the scope, cross hairs on the brain, followed by an almost undetectable take up of pressure on the wasp trigger a gentle squeeze and "CLICK" wtf!. Rifle down a quick pull on the charge handle, rifle up, target identified again, cross hairs centered a squeeze on the trigger and "CLICK" :yuush: this fiasco was quickly remiedied by Boom, Boom, from my Mates AR. After which a more intense inspection of my AR was carried out only to find an real Newby mistake, I had not inserted the mag fully. :oh noes:
With this basic error rectified and my arse suitably kicked we carried on into the block ever hopeful of encountering more goats, and now possibly a deer, a stag in fact as he had left some rather sizeable prints and unmistakeable piles of semi fresh stag shit. We were now on high alert for Mr Staggy. Not long after this I was again on point and carefully popped my head over a rise to look into a small gut when I saw a mob of 10 or so goats resting and grazing on a knob about 80 meters out. I slowly backed down from the rise and signalled to my mate. A detailed plan was quickly hatched, you start on the left, I'll start on the right and we'll meet in the middle :thumbsup: , let's go. Quietly making our way up to the rise again my mate took up a prone position on his bipod, I stood resting my AR against a tree trunk then quietly on the count of three we opened up, man are AR's effefective when in the hands of competent shooters!, within a minute or so all of the goats in this mob had been cleaned up with both of us claiming hits on this Big Boy. Generously my mate gave me the honour as he couldn't be sure his hit took him out cleanly and I was sure I had hit him hard with a neck shot.
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After the photos were finished, the mags were reloaded and a quick drink was taken we were off again in the now pouring rain. A bit of a steep hill climb followed to gain some height which was immediately rewarded with the spotting of another mob of 15 or so goats about 100 meters off slightly below us but on the same ridge. Again a plan was quickly hatched which pretty much followed the previous plan. A ain the AR's spoke up and again the goats started to fall, however this time there were some escape attempts underway. My mate quickly head off two escapees and after a short chase, yes this fat boy can run and still shoot when he has too, I cleaned up the remaining three goats.
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By this time we had been hunting out in the rain for a little over four hours, Mr Staggy had not been sighted and my mate was beginning to grumble about being wet, seems his Gortex jacket and pants was soaking up the rain instead of repelling it as intended. I on the other hand was as dry as a dry thing inside my new Swazi jacket.
As we had over 30 goats on the ground, a little over two kilometres walk back to the car and the rain was becoming more persistent we decided to call it a day and head back to the car to dry off, well at least one of us needed drying off that is, as I was still as dry as a dry thing :)
Once back at the car, with gear stowed and with my mate feeling better once he had changed into some dry clothes we set off for home, stopping for a short while at a country watering hole for a quick one to quench our thirst after a successful day out. I was also well pleased with the performance of my DPT suppressor. And after the number of rounds fired today I'm pretty sure my hearing will thank me for it. My mate was also impressed with the DPT too, impressed enough to order one for his AR as well.
Once home I discovered that my wife had given into the rain and had lit the fire, first fire for the year, even though it wasn't really that cold. However never one to miss an opportunity and look a gift horse in the mouth I very quickly turned our lounge into a respectable impersonation of a Chinese laundry laying out all my gear to dry off in front of the fire also hanging my Swazi Jacket from the lounge doorway in order to dry the outer shell as it was the least I could do seeing some it kept me dry all day in what was some quite persistent steady rain. @7mmsaum very much appreciated thanks.:thumbsup:
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Our next trip into this area is already booked to occur in a couple of weeks time, hopefully Mr Staggy will be speaking up and will be easier to find.
As for the rain ...... I love hunting in the rain, especially when you stay dry.
Cheers
Pete
