For those of you who have been on the various forums over the last decade or two. The name Zeeriverrat might ring a bell.
I first got too know him through the old H&F forum and we have stayed in contact, probably for 15 years or so. Chatting hunting and fishing, rifles etc.
Well after 15 years I finally got to meet him after a generous, longstanding offer to come and Hunt his patch was finally taken up.
My trip started with landing in Chicago, and visiting my partners sister and family who live in Michigan. Before we separated and I took a couple of connecting flights down to Memphis where Bob and his Wife Raye, also a keen hunter, picked me up. Before you knew it, I was at their hunting cabin in the middle of the Ozarks, Arkansas.
The muzzle loader season started the next day, so before dark He showed me around the block, and the stands. A mix of ground blinds, boxed high seats, and ladder stands. He also showed me how to use a doe call, and a buck call. And how to put the two together. I also, having never used a muzzle loader before, got an initiation into how to load one of the newer, straight line jobs, which was to be my weapon for the week.
Id arrived with only a carryon bag due to muck arounds with flights and short inter-flight times, so decided just to travel on carryon bag of 7kg. Luckily Bob had enough spare kit for me to walk in and start hunting.
Now one of the first things they told me was that it was going to be a tough season. It was meant to be the start of the rut, but high temperatures and a super full moon had shut things down. The expectation was that it would be very difficult to find a buck in hunting hours. They showed me the heads that had been shot in the area, and that gave me a reasonable idea of what Id be happy to take should the event arise. I enjoy the hunting more than looking for monster heads, so would be happy with a representative head from the area if I was lucky.
I was also told that the neighbour was a keen turkey hunter, and Bob had an agreement to share the deer hunting if they let him hunt Turkeys on their place. But that the Coyotes and Bobcats were wrecking havoc on the Turkey population. That it was unlikely to see either. But if i did it would be considered Unneighbourly to pass up a shot. We heard Coyotes every day/night and saw a big Bob cat on a game camera, But they are incredibly clever, and only 6 Coyotes and a couple of cats have been shot there in over a decade.
An early start next morning and I approach my initial stand. Id been given a can of synthetic doe oestrous urine, and told to spray it on some trees 40 meters either side of my boxed high seat. I did this but didnt quite understand and the result was I used a weeks worth in the first morning. Plus it had a weird locking cap that I could not work out in the dark, and the damned thing went off in my pocket too. Resulting in me walking about smelling like a horny doe, and taking a gun to bed for fear of being molested by a buck as I slept.
The box stand was set up in the forest, on the edge of a bush trail that intersected about 40 meters right, with a fire break. Fifty meters left was a timed feeder right on the edge/just inside the line of a large undergrowth thicket.Once up in the stand, I had an office roller chair to sit on, and 3 opening windows situated front, right and left. Its a very clever set up. You close the window where the wind comes from, and your scent just does not disperse, while the roller chair lets you comfortably sit for 6+ hours a day, and move your position to cater for the windows you wish to shoot from.
In my time there I had upwards of 20 deer come within 10 meters of me, and only one smelt me! Bob would be hunting the other end of the block while Raye was holding out for the rifle season after Muzzleloader season.
Daylight slowly filtered through the canopy and as a kiwi, I was really interesting to see a northern hemisphere forest wake up. Chipmunks, squirrels, Armadillos. Small songbirds, owls, crows etc. All making noise at some point and bustling about. Lots to keep one interested and entertained. Once close too shooting light I did exactly what Bob had told me and used the doe and buck callers in sequence.
This is an important tip, and one I was fortunate to be told on my First overseas trip many years back by another recognisable name from Aussie. Gryphon. He told me to listen too the local guy and do what he recommends, even if it doesn’t seem to make sense.
So I called how I was shown, and then as told, called again 15 minutes later.
Id hardly put the caller down, when a noise too my right drew my attention. Immediately out walked Buck! he was coming straight in fast and searching. As he got closer i realised he was incredibly, a nice representative head for the area. My inexperience didnt allow me to judge age of finer factors. Just that he was big enough and met the legal requirements. Given the tough conditions I decided pretty quickly to take him rather than risk seeing something else later.
It was difficult getting the gun out the window and levelled without him noticing. By this stage he is within 15 meters, and quite focussed on my direction. But I got it there and as I drew sight on his shoulder and clicked off the safety, his eyes went wide and he stiffened. At nine yards I squeezed the trigger, and the gun went click-hissssss- bang! As much as I tried to keep the gun still, I had the sensation Id moved a bit.
There was no wind, and the cloud of smoke obscured everything for quite some time. I heard something crash off in the direction I fired, and then another noise right and behind the blind. Slowly the smoke cleared and I was very surprised to see no dead deer in front of me.
Bobs voice came through on the radio, asking if id shot? yep, but im unsure if I got it, due too it not laying there and the hangfire. He decides to come over, and I climb down from the stand and take the short walk too where the Buck had stood. Scuff marks on ground. No hair, blood or body parts, No bullet impact crater. I decide to wait for Bob before going any further and reload the gun. He arrived and I tell him I’m unsure and why. He says that they hardly ever fall on the spot with the Muzzle loader. Even though its 50 cal, and its usually a tracking job. So we start.
The ground is very dry and prints are hard to follow, but we soon pick up a small smear of blood, followed by the odd small drop. Dark blood but not much. So we know Ive hit it. The blood doesn’t last long though, and we are tying blue ribbon at each spot to get the line, looking for scuffs and running marks. Probably 40 minutes gos by and we have covered 60 meters. Then another spot of blood which leads towards a line of low brush and potentially a bit that looks like an animal might have pushed through. Sure enough there is a big smear of blood between knee and waist high, with some more spots on the ground and another smear on a leaf with a bit of bone attached. Bob is tracking well, so I start to survey the area incase a wounded deer presents. About 60 meters further down the hill I spot something white. I glass it and its the belly of an upturned dead deer.
Hand shakes and back slaps as we get up too him. A nice representative head for the area. Im pretty stoked! Cant believe my luck.
https://i.postimg.cc/wTfdCyq0/Me-and-Buck.jpg
We go through the tagging process etc and get him back too the cabin for processing etc before the heat of the day builds. Its opening day and there are maybe 5 hours between ringing in the tag and a call back too take details. Thats a lot of deer killed! But Arkansas Is a big place full of hunters. The projectile has gone in mid high shoulder breaking the leg, angled down through the lungs, cut the aorta, and just broken the skin but not exited on far side a touch behind the shoulder.
That afternoon we head around to Bobs mate, Kens place for a beer and chat hunting. Ken asks me if Im hunting again this afternoon and I reply that i’m on lawn mowing duty for the rest of week as Im tagged out. Turns out id misread the rules and they tell me, no, I have another Tag for another buck I can fill. Thats an awesome bit of news! and so unexpectedly I find myself back on the stand that evening.
Im sitting watching and waiting, not expecting much, when movement out of the corner of my eye makes me look too my left. Just in time to see a large grey Coyote slink across the track. No time to get the gun up before it’s in cover again, so out comes the phone and I quickly get a youtube vid of a squealing rabbit playing. The yote doesn’t come in, or at least I never see it anyway.
Back at camp that Night , Bob tells me they wont come in too a call, and that I should have whistled and sometimes they will stop long enough to get a shot.
To be continued....
