Thread: Taking a new chum out for a first hunt...and the stupid shit they do.

Sidling around a spur about a click below the hut where we were staying. I wanted to drop down into the creek where a stag was roaring and my mate wanted to go back to the hut. I said just keep going in the up direction and you can't miss it as its above the bushline on this spur. See you there later. Twenty minutes later, 3 shots rang out followed by a shot every few minutes. I raced back up and found him apparently 'lost' He was used to the open Australian desert shooting from a 4WD and the NZ bush was a bit too much. Still enjoy my trips with him and he is learning every time.

Another interesting one was in the Ureweras in the early 80's. Took this guy who found navigation a bit of a challenge for a day trip. Got to a favourite spot in a saddle and I heard some movement above us. I told him to wait and watch as it seemed an animal was moving down toward us. He was about 10m away from me when a hind and fawn popped out. Before I could say don't shoot, he did and missed from around 20m. The hind decided she didn't want to stick around and ran in an arc around me. He was shooting as she was running and I suddenly found myself between her and him. I dived to the ground and heard the shot that finally connected with her. Needless to say, I read him the riot act. The poor fawn was bleating further down the gut by this stage and we couldn't get close to it. I never took him again.

I've been the new guy and chipped about the noise my stiff shanked alpine boots make on logs and roots. And also about my heel scuffing the inside of my leg as I step over things - that nagging sticks in my head now everytime I go out.
Funny enough, the same mentor that chipped me on these things, cannot navigate his way through the bush in any other fashion than bush bashing. Five minutes struggling along with him and I mutter something about his long legs/pace and leaving me behind, offer to take the lead and BOOM we're consistently on game trails walking with ease. The second I lose a game trail I'm looking for the deer shaped hole in the bush... He's noted several times now that I get us around in the bush pretty well. Maybe its because I'm closer to the ground

took a guy out years ago, just got his fal and 1st rifle . cnut kept working the bolt every few minutes with him walking behind me. had a short discussion on safety and where the bolt was going to put if he done it again made sure he was infront rest of the trip . Another time had a young guy come out said he wasn't that fit , get out of the ute and he's gone .found him much later way at the back of the block past where most of the deer were. was good tho he could carry a horrendous amount and be happy doing it. once we got him to slow down a bit .

Ive had a few over the years. 3 that come to mind.

1. I got asked to take a guy out to get a pig. he had a 222. I told him to shoot for the head and he ignored me and shot high shoulder which did drop it but it was getting back up when I sprinted up and grabbed it. He asked what he should do and I said shoot it in the ear. He then put a nice neat hole in its earlobe and I had to re instruct him to put bullet into skull.


2. I took a school mate goat shooting up a bush stream. He shot and wounded a goat across the river. I took gun and jumped in and was half way across when he yells to me and I turn to see him standing on the bank with a wad of cash. He asked me what he should do with his money? To this day I have no idea why he had it there or what motivated him to ask that question at that moment.

3. A girl who was staying with me decided she wanted to try hunting. I forgot what she shot now, probably a pig, But I do remember afterwards that she broke down in tears. I thought she must have hated the experience but it turned out she had expected to hate it and had shocked herself that she really enjoyed it, and thought something was wrong with herself.

Newbie I took up the Blueies got back to his newish car and threw his bumbag and swanni into the boot of his car and shut the boot then realised the car keys were in the bumbag - in the boot!
As car was still locked I had to walk to the ranger HQ to use the phone to call a mate to bring up newbies spare car keys.

It was a long 13km walk to the HQ in my gym shoes…

Never got caught out that way again.

Took a uni mate out for an overnighter. The area I took him to was about 4 ish hours walk in. I thought id carry in some bacon and bread for the first afternoons feed before the evening hunt.
I get my frypan (tin plate) out, set the stove up and leave it to preheat for a minute, saying to my mate to chuck the bacon in the pan while I get the bread component sussed.

A couple of seconds later could smell burning. I turned around and he’d chucked the bacon in the pan still in the packet. I still give him
shit about it now.

@hebe i would have left it in wrapper if you made me walk four hours for my first hunt

We all have got to start off at the beginning in deer hunting.?
Human nature is what it is with some times a few lemons biffed in there as well.
It simply boils down in some cases weather they are interested or not?

The worst situation you can get yourself into is going on long trips with strangers and it all goes to custard
But how many of those new chums are hunting now?

That eerie metallic click. Just cannot tell some bastards about safety.

when I was a newbie I went out hunting with a guy who is really experienced. His dog got onto some goats, he shot one and the other got tangled in some supplejack. He said I could shoot it, I was about 5 m away trying to see where I could shoot it in a vital area . I hear a bang and he shot it, said he was getting worried it might escape . Me and the goat were directly in front of him and I was 5m to one side of the goat. it didn't sit right with me that he took the shot and a week or so later I described the scene to another hunter I knew. He was furious, wanted the guys name and warned me never to go hunting with him again.
A more experienced hunter probably would have dropped him for doing that, he probably knew I wasn't experienced enough to be 100% confident on calling him on it.

A salient lesson learned. Just because you are a tyro and some older dude takes you out doesn't mean he's experienced or more importantly SAFE.
This thread is biased against the newby but there must be many stories of bad experiences with "experienced" hunters. Also, if your impressionable, could be the start of learning bad habits.

On my first experience possum shooting as a boy I was climbing a tree to recover a possum a family friend had shot. When I was near the possum I heard another shot.
"It moved" was the excuse. Back then I thought it was funny (after I'd recovered from the shock), and there was no questioning the guy who had pseudo hero status with me.
Looking back as an adult parent, FAL holder and hunter, I am appalled. He was a trusted adult. If my parents had known about that....

Identify your target beyond all doubt because you never miss (right?) and I'll be missed.

Couple spring to mind.
After tormenting my sister for years by shooting sparrows on the back lawn (she hated it so much she called the police once) she asked to come hunting.
Managed to catch a couple of velvet stags way out in the open at first light. I took my time getting lined up, was my longest shot by far at the time, at about 250 m with 4x scope. Shot the first one. The other started running away from us at an angle, my sister immediately hissed, “shoot the fucker”
I couldn’t believe it, firstly because she wasn’t known for swearing, but mostly because I was fully expecting her to yell out and scare them.

Second one. I took a mate with a lifestyle block hunting. He had a 22 and shotgun, loves his meat and bbq, and in his circle is considered an outdoorsman. Man of the land.
You can probably see where this is going already.
We did an overnight fly camping mission. I had a spot I hunted a bit, there is a main ridge running parallel to the road, on the other side I’d found a razor back ridge which looked onto a nice feed face. Was very unusual not to get an animal there. I call it my meat safe.
So we hunted our way over, set up camp at a little open patch nearby, and staked out the face. Didn’t see anything which surprised me. On our back to our fly camp I found a super fresh gut bag. I couldn’t believe it. I clearly wasn’t the only one who hunted it…
Anyway, next morning we did a fairly big circuit back up and along the ridge top a bit, then down into the stream. I noticed he was fairly quiet, the whole, trip. Where we popped out eventually, it was literally within 100 m of the car. Not one meter of our hunt was on a track.
He practically dropped to his knees and started praying, he was so relieved to be back. He told me it was the most hardcore extreme thing he’d ever done!
It was a 5 or 6 k loop over a main ridge and back. A night under a fly in the warm spring weather.
His wife later told me, he talks it up like an expedition conquering Everest, while slaying elephants with spears.

I should have mentioned. I shot the second stag too, running full tilt at 250 plus, clean through the head!
I may not have mentioned that was unintentional

Many moons ago took a relation out hunting Sika. He'd hunted bunnies on a family farm as a kid, but never been proper hunting. I asked if he was fit, got the "yeah, do marathons, played squash competitively for the past 10 years etc etc. He had the typical 'Norwegian racing sardine' body type.

Spotted a nice fat Sika hind about 100m up out of the Rangitikei river at about 6pm (Dec hunt). So down we went, popped the hind and boned her out and filled the one back pack. He took it for the first haul back to the top...lasted about 200m. Then I took over. Its normally about an hour with an animal back to the top, but we were still on a gnarly spur come dark. Despite numerous stops on the way up he was close to expiring by the sounds emanating from his body and I still had the pack and his torch was flat.

We got back to the tent, and I had to make like it had been a particularly arduous retrieve, despite it being pretty standard fare for those days. So he didn't feel too outclassed for a marathon runner.

The next morning as he slept the sleep of the just my two mates asked what had I done to him! They just couldn't equate the expedition he regaled them with, to the typical Southern Kaimanawas evening hunt I felt we had done.

And no, he never asked to do another hunt with us