Thread: The ones that got away

My family and I were invited to do an overnight tramp with another family to Kahikitea Lodge just south of Oamaru. It was nestled in the middle of a hunting block I haven’t yet explored, so I gained permission from the wife to leave her looking after the kids that evening while I went for a cheeky hunt.

The weather was not playing ball that evening, with low cloud and a decent Southerly. Nonetheless I headed out and climbed up the adjacent hill. Some beautiful country up there. Lots of very likely deer spots with thick bush bordering on tussock tops.



Visibility was coming and going, which gave me some opportunity to explore properly. The wind however made it pretty impossible to sit and glass comfortably. I got pretty wet in the long tussock, and found staying warm a struggle.



I headed back down towards the hut via a different route, and into some eerie Manuka forest. Undergrowth was sparse, and there were very clear animal tracks leading up to the tops.
This bit of bush was about 100m from the hut and completely out of the wind, and the silence was deafening.

I started to creep through the trees when I heard the distinct sounds of hooves departing ahead. I had bumped something, but not scared it off. I went into complete stealth mode and began to creep forward. I have to admit it was exhilarating. Every sense I had was on extremely high alert. I am normally a tops hunter where sound management is Important, but being out in the wilderness masks lots of the sounds you make. Not so in the bush!

I crept forward until I could see the deer through a gap in the trees. I could see its whole back and the beginning of the creases going to the legs, but I couldn’t tell which was front and which was back. As I was waiting willingly it to take a step either way, my wife let the kids out of the hut for a last energy burn off before bed, their yells and general noise seemed extremely loud! The deer bolted and I missed my shot. No deer down, but I will never forget that feeling of high alert, willing myself to quiet as I stalked in!

The next day dawned bright and clear. I woke about 6am and just pinged awake. The rest of the cabin was sound asleep, so I crept out and headed back into the hills.

I had not gotten clearance to head out for a morning hunt, so was definitely pushing my luck with my wife. It was just too good an opportunity to pass up though!

I headed back up the hill to where I was the night before. I got the sunrise from the top and it was stunning.



I had a look at the country I saw last night, but nothing. I tried the other side, walking over to a nice rocky outcrop. There two ridges away slowly feeding its way down the hill was a nice young stag. A small crown of velvet on his head.



I ranged him, 380m. Doable now I have the CDS set up. I had all the time in the world and a decent rest, but the wind was still too strong. The ridge between us was 180m. If I could get down to that ridge without him seeing me he was toast.

It was 0800 by this stage, and I was feeling the pull back down to my wife and kids, as I wasn’t supposed to be out at all this morning. But there was a deer! To get to the shooting ridge would be at least half an hour as I had to go up and over and be sneaky. To get to the downed deer and searching for it in the long tussock another half an hour. An hour to bone it out, then half an hour back to where I’m I first saw it. It would have been at least 11am by the time I was back at the hut, provided nothing went wrong.

I wanted to remain in the good books and make sure my wife supported me for future hunts. I made the agonising decision to let it go. I watched it for 10 mins, then headed back down to the family to help get ready for the walk out.

I will definitely be heading back there again in the future, next time with more time to explore!