Thread: Just another day at the office for an EBURG

Hadn't been out for a few weeks, weather, stuff to be done and low energy been getting in the way, but a lowering chest freezer level is great motivation, (down to bloody half!) so it's look at the forecast and make a plan to stop the rot (and me from being quite so grumpy). Wind and rain forecast for the wee hrs meant I could plan for a hunt of specific wee gullies that would be off the wind and rain with good tucker in them, and the wind would be my friend for once. Alarm bleeps it's churlish ignorance 2.15am this morning, 5 minutes debating do I go or do I stay....... bugger it, saturday and sunday look rubbish, ok I'll go then. 3.00 am sees me jumping off the truck to trudge off into the dark, into the teeth of a blustery wind and I could smell the rain coming, 3 hrs of creeks, bogs, wind and occasional rain later I'm on climbing on approach to the area I wanted to hunt and was in stalk mode, rain buggers off as the light hardens up, then I see it, a shape that didn't fit, a shape that moved and became a red hinds bum, ranged it and had 180m, tussock was waist high so it was going to be offhand, naah, get closer thinks me, some of the fun is in how close you can get!

Full on sneak mode, wet vegetation and blustery wind helping me for scent and sound, but, there would be multiple sets of eyes in that matagouri filled gut that ran into the gully I was sneaking in from, light getting stronger by the minute, movement had to be really slow and controlled, trying to flow through the tussock hillside rather than walk, bumble, fall over and swear, the whole time trying to keep eyes on the target. Rounds been up the spout for the last 130m safety on, range her at 49m, (cause I wanted to know exactly!) gently ease the safety off and slowly rise to full height and discover about 8 or 9 deer, none paying me any attention, very slowly shifted my aim to a smaller animal that gave me a better angle, and the mighty .243 punched a 95gn sst straight through behind one shoulder and out through the other, bangflopkick and done. I love my .243, has never failed me as a cartridge across three different rifles on all sorts of animals at all sorts of ranges - just match the bullet to the game and range.

The youngsters are easier to carry out and taste better!


Got a brew on and got the knife work going, skinned, hocks off, rears off, one and a half shoulders off, back steaks, gutted and eye fillets out and in time for my brew to be ready, my reward for good planning a hot brew and a solid lump of my homemade muesli bar.


Home in time for lunch!. Now I'm a happy camper again, at least for a few days anyhow!