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Finishing 24 and starting 25 right!
With the family away for new year I was free to head to the hill's. I had been keen on exploring some new country for a while. Packing light and taking the better behaved hound for company I set off new years eve in the late afternoon. Arriving at camp just before 9pm I dumped my pack and headed out to the clearing for a quick look. Three deer were out feeding and dinner was secured
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For the first time in years I actually saw in the new year in style - Venison and Yellowstone on Netflix
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2025 got off to the right start too. I do not do morning hunts anymore. Awakening around 9am a brew was on the cards
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Recharged after a lazy morning Ruby and I set off . We headed up the valley we were in and climbed through the bush to the saddle dropping into the next catchment . Descending 1000m into the tributary below we timed it perfectly . There were some clearings in the middle of the bush i had been wanting to check out for a long while . They did not disappoint . 6 pm and there were deer at all angles of the compass . 2 quick shots and we had another 4 back steaks in the meat bag.
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The second deer took some finding. Despite having a massive hole through its vitals it had still crossed the river and made it 50 metres from where id shot. Ive been using these 120gn barnes ttsx in the 708. I am currently on 9 one shot kills with them. I have noticed a few walk a bit rather than drop on the spot.Still it keeps the dog employed.
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Carrying on sidling through the bush i made the main river at 8pm . I bumped into a mum & dad out hunting with their two kids. We sat and chewed the fat for a bit as a few deer were wandering out onto the slip. Credit to them they were after yearlings to shoot and there were only hinds with fawns while I was there . I was feeling a bit jaded so left them to it and did something else I have not done in years . I crashed in a doc hut for the night .
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I outdid the previous days effort and woke up around 10am . I had a fair bit of real estate to cover and as the sun beat down was cursing myself for sleeping in. No matter back in the bush under the canopy made it bearable. I bumped into two deer in the bush but they had the drop on me . 3 hours later I was back in the open country and deer were popping up everywhere . I couldn't be bothered with any more weight so they were safe from me. Id already covered 10km that day and had another 5 km to go.
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Apologies for the photo quality but they are just taken from my iPhone
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I quickly detoured up to my camp and replenished the food supplies as I was getting low. Grabbing a couple of back countrys I made the river flats around 8pm and set up camp for the night . I got dinner on had a wash and hit the scratcher. It had started to rain .
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I was lying in my sack watching Yellowstone again. I had just finished an episode and happened to glance out of the fly across the river. Bugger me is that a deer . It was 9.50 pm and even though we have very long days over summer it was getting dim . I grabbed my rifle and sat up in the sleeping bag. Putting the scope on it confirmed a yearling out enjoying the rain all of 50 yds away . I quietly loaded the sako and shot it. It even did the decent thing and lurched across the river to my side and died just out front of the fly . First time thats ever happened - Dinner coming to me.
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If you look in the tree's behind the carcass you can see the black fly:thumbsup:
So a reasonable amount of meat and some wet gear made for a heavy trip out today. I saw another 9 deer on the way out today .
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I have a book here called the golden years of hunting in NZ. It may have been premature. I think the golden years are here now . All this was on the DOC estate and I honestly lost count of animals seen. If you are prepared to walk there are adventures out there .Go find em !
