Thread: Black dog hunt (look after your mates)

So I was meant to be at Owen's memorial this weekend, leave booked well in advance, approval from her who must be obeyed granted etc etc.
Then a week ago one of my closest mates told me he was struggling with a few things that are going on in his life and he was fighting "the black dog"
We talked about what was going on, I listened and reassured him everything would be OK eventually even though things right now were a bit shit (or a lot shit).
In the end I asked him was there anything I could do to help him ? He said he's been stinging to get out in the hills for a hunt but wasn't in a space were he wanted to be alone, he then told me he had booked a weekend up on a station in the Mt Sumner area for the following weekend but was having second thoughts as previously mentioned he didn't want to be alone with his problems.
He then asked if I would come. Well immediately I said of course as that's what mates do. When I got home later to check the planner I realized the clash couldn't really pull out on my mate as he's the kinda guy that would only ask if he really needed the company (we have a very close relationship and know that one only needs to ask and support will be given).
Sorry jakewire but knowing you I'm sure you'll forgive me.
So Friday rolls around and I get up and get packed anticipating a couple nights in the tent and some character building walks and talks, picked up another mutual good mate and we head off towards Lake Sumner. It was a bit of an awkward trip up, not much talk, it was obvious something was up as normally when the 3 of us are together it's all banter and bullshit
TBC....

Hope yr mate managed to turn things into a positive.

GOOD ON YOU MATE....... was wondering what had kept you away...

Top man danny !!
I'm crossing my fingers that the ride home was....all banter and bullshit

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So we pulled into the station and caught up with the owner to discuss which parts of the block were allocated to us, he gave us a few tips as the area we were going was new to us (even though we have hunted on this property a few times).
After a bit of banter we parted ways and slowly made our way through the property carefully following the map so we didn't stray into areas that were off limits.
Eventually we found a track that climbed up the side of a hill about 100-150m to a flat ridge that looked like an ideal spot to park a couple trucks and pitch tents, as an added bonus there were a couple clearings that looked to have promise that could be glassed from camp.
We got our tents set up then went for a short walk up to a high point on the ridge we were camping on that gave us good views in all directions.
We sat up there on the high point glassing into the early evening when I spotted the first deer of the trip.....up much higher than us near enough to 1000yards was a mob of 4 reds on the move on a scree face way too much real-estate for us to cross to get to them, plus they were on the move so we watched as they disappeared into the scrub before turning our attention back to deer we could feasible get to.
We spotted a few more deer on the block next to us, but we didn't have permission to shoot there so discounted giving them too much attention but still nice to see a few animals.
As the wind had really picked up and it was getting pretty cold we decided to head back to camp for some dinner and a couple beers (not too many as we had to be up early the next day

Didn't get many pics as it wasn't really a trip I intended to do a write up for, but here's a pic of the trucks parked up camp is directly behind where i took the pic from.

We hatched a plan for the next day and decided we would push up to the saddle on the large mountain you can see behind the trucks in the previous post, knew it would be a bit of a slog especially for me as I'm not particularly hill fit at the moment but we had all day to get up there and there was a track all the way up (not suited to trucks, you could get a 2 wheeler up there but it would be a bit sketchy in places).
Up early the next day we made a decent breakfast and did a bit of glassing from camp while we ate, chewing on my breakfast burrito I noticed a young stag on the face opposite us mooching along, he wasn't hanging about but seemed oblivious to our presence. We watched as he disappeared over the back of the ridge, knowing none of us were prepared to shoot our rifles etc were all packed away in the truck.
We took it as a good omen and figured from now on when in camp we'll keep at least 1 rifle handy.
After breakfast we got our day packs sorted and began the long walk up to the saddle, there were lots of breaks....mostly instigated by me but we made good progress, we were almost at the saddle when we came to a bend in the track where it followed the contour of the mountain which created a blind spot where we couldn't see the track ahead, I had dropped back a wee bit (getting ready for another enforced break ) when I saw one my 2 mates ahead freeze.....I kinda knew what was coming so when the shot rang out I wasn't surprised but I did think it was a weird time of day for a deer to be out it was about 230pm it was hot and dry with a bit of a nor wester to make it just a little bit hotter
I quickly caught up to see what had transpired, turns out a wee boar came trotting down the track towards my mates so he was dispatched at about 20 yards with an un suppressed rem 700 in mighty 270win.



Never a bad day when you can shoot em on the track it was my mates first ever pig so he was stoked, we quickly set about gutting and skinning the wee boar then chucked it whole in a meat bag (probably about 12-15kg gutted and skinned) in a nice cool patch of scrub before heading up the last 200m of track to the saddle, about 50m further up the track we spotted another much larger pig, caught us all of guard as it was fully in sight of were we had dispatched and processed the last pig, unfortunately by the time any of us got our shit together the pig had wandered off into the undergrowth, we sat there for a good 30-40 minutes but the pig did not re appear.
Once reaching the saddle we climbed up onto one side to give us a good vantage point to the opposite face and planned to sit there till dusk.



Well it was bloody hot, the blowflies were intense and unrelenting and the norwester seemed to intensify the later it got, we tried to catch a bit of a nap but the flies made it impossible and we were quite exposed so we were getting through a fair bit of water to keep hydrated.
Eventually we made the call that with the worsening wind and extreme heat we were probably wasting our time up this high so we packed up and headed back to where the wee boar was stashed, flies had blown on the outside of the meat bag but the wee piggy inside was safe and cool.
We grabbed him and decided to get back to camp have an earlyish dinner and hunt the river flats were it would be cooler and less wind for the evening.
We made good time coming down and soon enough were back at camp where the wee piggy was removed from the meat bag and hung in a portable hanging meat safe in a grove of trees that stayed cool even in the hot sun.
We got the BBQ fired up and put some music on the Bluetooth speaker to lift our spirits as we were all a bit hot and tired.
Here's where things get really interesting we were all sitting in the open on the ridge in our folding camp chairs taking turns to tend to the webber q and talking, joking being generally not very quiet when a yearling appeared out on the opposite Ridgeline learning from our previous mistakes, rifles range finders binos etc were all on hand, while we got a rest set up my mate ranged the oblivious yearling at 420yards unfortunately it fed behind some trees so we waited to see it walk out from the other side but it must have bedded down cause it did not re appear.
Then we noticed another yearling on the opposite end of the same clearing definitely a different deer as there was no way it could have moved that far in the time given unless it bolted and even though there were a few trees and shrubs it would have been seen.
Another quick range check, confirmed 470 yards Metallica still pounding outta the Bluetooth speaker I dialed up the required 30 clicks and sent a 175gn Targex on its way thwack!!!!! Solid hit the yearling sort of jittered around in a circle on the spot before tipping over legs up dead perfect shot in blustery conditions the Targex pill did the buisness.
One of my most memorable shots I reckon, literally shot sitting in my camp chair off the tripod, listening to Metallica, tending the BBQ

Good man @dannyb you made the correct call, hats off to you not something I would look forward to do but would if needed.

Good deer and music.

On ya Danny. When a man needs a mate and a mate steps up, that is pure gold.

Well the other 2 lads were keen to go get it whilst I finished cooking dinner so they beat the feet over to the next ridge to process the deer, only took them 15 minutes to get there, I watched whilst the gutted the deer, then to my surprise sat down and had a beer each
Well the rifles were all away so I cracked a tin of panhead sandman myself sent them a big cheers.
Took them about 25 minutes to bring the deer back once gutted and beers consumed.
We got the deer hung in the meat safe then sat down to eat dinner with another beer.
The guys were telling me how they could hear the music clearly while they were gutting the deer and how weird it was that the music hadn't spooked the deer infact quite the opposite, then to all of our amazement standing almost exactly where I had shot the yearling was another bloody deer you couldn't write this stuff I swear literally 45 minutes earlier the lads were sitting there drinking a beer after having gutted the deer and this deer was standing were they had been sitting the guns were all safely away cause we were having a few tins and talking about life but it was just the most bizarre series of events I've ever witnessed on a hunt.
We stayed up late that night and talked for hours about all sorts of things and made plans for future trips it was truly one of the most satisfying hunts I've ever been on no tropies just epic memories. I crawled into my tent feeling very satisfied that night and slept like a log despite my back and legs giving me shit.


Here's a pic of the ridgeline the deer was on opposite us, i shot the deer in the middle of the clearing furthest to the left of the pic, very pleased with the element optics hdlr helix scope, it dialed perfectly


And literally the only pic of the deer obscured by the meat safe but you get the picture (you can see the camp chairs and tripod in the background)

I take it the new,no longer green machine .308 did the business???

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I take it the new,no longer green machine .308 did the business???

Correct first blood for it in my hands, 1 for 1 so far

Deer walks out....hears Metallica....looks up....sees zombies....pretty sure it dies of fright !!!

Good shit Danny, great read

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well done danny.as a retired psychiatric nurse and also a depression sufferer ,Im familiar with the bastard black dog and its million faces -sometimes i get the feeling itds lurking and can manage my way through it -othertimes Ive got a great mate (ex nurse like me)who se bloody invaluable as it also impacts on my family .
Mickey duck helped me out recently when i was drifting in and out of one -.a great weekend in his possie/s yarning hunting ,a bush walk -tillyours sincerely took as bath in arseup creek and a dandy wee evening on the possums with me Joe90 .22 although i was iwtness to a .270 weilded very proficiently to turn that bugger into b lood &bone .
I drove home feeling 100%refreshed,and many lasting memories .sometimes the simple is the most effective .
finally if anyone does want any help /info on mental health ,feel free to contact me -no question is too "stupid",Idont judge people ,and ive nursed em all from elderly through to a decade in the forensic psych setting . just keep your eyes peeled cause this time of year is a bugger for aggravating these types of syndrome due to the multitude of pressures we face from all points of the compass .anyhow seasons best to all.

Yeah that "black dog" do sneak up on ya when life get hard and lost,
We don't need many friends, only a couple of good fulla like yourself is all a man need.
your mate is lucky to call you a mate.
Good read and great music Dan.