Thread: Day Trip With A Mate

Yesterday morning my neighbour and I headed to a spot neither of us had been to before, it was going to be an adventure for us as I was keen on going for a proper day hunt which I hadn't done for a while and my mate was fairly new to the game and was keen to gain some experince having only ever shot one deer.

Target species was fellow deer and wallabie, we left home at 5am and arrived at our destination at 7am.
We unloaded the 4 wheeler from the van and started heading up a track which gave us great areas to be able to stop and look for game.

We were nearing the top of a hill so we decided to stop the bike and walk over the top, my mate decided he wanted to walk down a bit lower than me so I took the top while he went around the side.
It was blowing a gale but the wind appeared to be favourable so we surged ahead, I was approaching a mount just in front of me when I looked across to the oppersite face and there were 7 fellow running upwards so I quickly pulled out the rangefinder only to see they were already at 350 meters and not stopping (bugger).

John and I met back up again and I asked him if he saw anything to which he replied no so I told him of the 7 I had seen and pointed to the direction they had gone, so back on the bike and off we went.

We reached a set of gates where the track went left and right, we parked the bike and decided to walk off in the direction the deer had ran off to, after quite a walk we stopped and had a chat about what our next plan was to be.

Now John being 12 years older than me isn't so keen on walking long distances so I suggested he took the bike and went left while I went over to a likely looking spot with a bit of native but steep hard country just the sort of place I thought fellow would like to hang around.

With radios turned on and checked John headed back to the bike while I progressed to the narley country that lay ahead, I was walking around a steep bluff where I could see the creek below while also keeping an eye on the oppersite face just in front of me.
I was looking down by the creek when I saw a tiny wee wallabie, I stopped to watch it for a while when I looked up and only 25 meters in front of me was a fellow deer.
I lined it up in the scope but he stepped into a bush as he exited the bush I scopped it up again only for it to step down out of sight as the bluff below me now consealed him from view (bugger).

Murphys law was to strike again as John broke radio silence and every animal within ear shot would now be on high alert, John was asking where I was as he decided he now wanted to join me.

I started to make my way back up to a ridge where he would be able to see me and we had a 2 way chat for a bit on the radio, as I made it up to a good vantage point I saw the fellow deer jogging off in the distance at the end of the face I had been watching him on .

By this time I was laying down with my riffle on my pack and my attention swithed to the hilly country on the other side which was the area I had intended on checking out from the start, as I scanned the hills I saw the same fellow deer running up the hill heading to the top of a ridge.

The deer stopped and looked around it must have thought by this point it was as safe as a church, I pulled out the rangefinder and ranged him at 330 meters with a galeforce side wind.

Knowing the capabilities of the trusty 223 I dial up the Z5 to 330 meters, wound the magnification up to 18 and let rip with
a 62gr hornady soft point, no sooner had I pulled the trigger the deer went straight down (dead before it hit the ground) .

6 more deer ran just above where I shot it and looking over to my right I could see another 6 fellow deer standing looking in my direction, John had arrived by now so I gave him a wave and once he spotted me he was on his way over.

We knew we were in for a mission to get this fellow out but once we set off the true task became clearer of the hell that we would be in for, after making it down to the creek and then scaling the oppersite face through spare grass and bush lawyer we were already crying out for mummies tit.

We finally arrived at the deer so quickly gutted it and while cutting the head off I noticed the base of the neck was nothing but minced up bone and meat, the projectile had drifted from left to right so instead of a center shoulder shot had hit right at the base of the neck shattering all the bone which made for a very easy head removal.

With the easy part done off we set back to the bike with everything from John falling 5 meters off a small bluff to us throwing the deer over a cliff to save carrying it, the up hill was just crazy shit with grabing spare grass to having bushlawyer wrapped all around us.

We finally got back to the bike absolutely munted with the whole day getting this animal out and it would have to be a big one too, I guess we have to be grateful for being able to get out and do it but I will be sticking to getting some easier ones for a while.

Back to the van and on the road at 4pm, home at 6pm heading straight into a hot bath while the Mrs made me a hot cuppa.

Here is a photo marking where the deer was shot then one of the original photo which if you zoom in you can just make it out and finally a photo of the deer itself, quite a large fellow (very heavy)







I think this one will taste extra nice after that effort, 2 very sore hunters today

Just to add insult to injury We had a bit of the back steak last night and it was as tough as an old boot, the first one I have ever had like this (double bugger)

Cool.
Was the back steak just one day old when you ate it? No aging?

fat looking bugger next time if you do try backsteak fresh give it a massage with a bottle or meat hammer not bash it massage it gently until its just holding together egg and bread crumb it and it should eat okay but great story and well done

Originally Posted by Tahr

Cool.
Was the back steak just one day old when you ate it? No aging?

Yes correct, in the fridge for one night. I have sampled all my deer the same way and this is the only tough one I have come across, is like eating rubber.

That environment looks so benign in the photos from a distance, but up close its a real bastard, tough going alright.

When I read the recovery part of your story my brain was shouting BONE IT OUT! It just seems like common sense to me especially as we get older and our parts are easier to damage and a lot harder to fix.

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

Just to add insult to injury We had a bit of the back steak last night and it was as tough as an old boot, the first one I have ever had like this (double bugger)

give it a few days in fridge....

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

Yes correct, in the fridge for one night. I have sampled all my deer the same way and this is the only tough one I have come across, is like eating rubber.

my rule of thumb is do not eat if between 12-36hours from death or therabouts,having sampled the jandle rubber effect before.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

That environment looks so benign in the photos from a distance, but up close its a real bastard, tough going alright.

When I read the recovery part of your story my brain was shouting BONE IT OUT! It just seems like common sense to me especially as we get older and our parts are easier to damage and a lot harder to fix.

Well done 7mm mag n mate,bloody hard going in there.Id just whipp the back wheels off n steaks.Yrs ago i shot a big fallow like that down the river about 8am.i thort il tie the whole thing up on the bullbars and take home to show the wife.Well what a mission to get it up a metre off the ground whole.Bits of rope every where,never again.

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

fat looking bugger next time if you do try backsteak fresh give it a massage with a bottle or meat hammer not bash it massage it gently until its just holding together egg and bread crumb it and it should eat okay but great story and well done

Light hammer job and sock in beer for a few days,yum.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

That environment looks so benign in the photos from a distance, but up close its a real bastard, tough going alright.

When I read the recovery part of your story my brain was shouting BONE IT OUT! It just seems like common sense to me especially as we get older and our parts are easier to damage and a lot harder to fix.

Hi mate, what you say is correct and I would have boned it out without hesitation however farm owner gave specific intructions that what we shot had to come out whole or we were never to set foot on his place again.

I can tell you we thought long and hard about it several times, we are both still hurting after that experience.

We are heading out to my normal spot tonight so hopefully an easier animal or 2 to be had.

Originally Posted by Trout

Well done 7mm mag n mate,bloody hard going in there.Id just whipp the back wheels off n steaks.Yrs ago i shot a big fallow like that down the river about 8am.i thort il tie the whole thing up on the bullbars and take home to show the wife.Well what a mission to get it up a metre off the ground whole.Bits of rope every where,never again.

Hi mate, yeah boning out would have been the ticket but as per reply to Flyblown, Farmer insisted it came out whole.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

my rule of thumb is do not eat if between 12-36hours from death or therabouts,having sampled the jandle rubber effect before.

Thanks MD, I have never had this issue before and I have a couple of theories of my own after reading others reports of tuff deer meat.

1 - I think sometimes you just strike a tuff animal.

2 - Maybe high country deer are tuffer to eat than deer shot on grass or crop fed farm, the deer I have shot at my usual spot on farm living off grass and sweeds have all been very tender boned out and frozen the next day.

Originally Posted by 7mm Rem Mag

Hi mate, yeah boning out would have been the ticket but as per reply to Flyblown, Farmer insisted it came out whole.

Why? Why does he stipulate that condition? Blowflies? Pigs?

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Why? Why does he stipulate that condition? Blowflies? Pigs?

I think pigs, with being new to his property I had to respect his request. I just wish I had of taken one closer, this bugger couldn't have been any further from a track.