Thread: First public land deer, and a near disaster

Last weekend I headed up to a spot near my place. The goats in the area (with their mates the pigs) are turning a section of regenerating bush into a desert, so I thought I'd smash a few over. I'd also seen deer sunbathing in that spot from a facing ridge, but my focus was goats.
I headed out at about 10 o'clock, with the plan to head up a ridge, then double back along the opposite ridge. From my last trip up there (score 1 billy goat) I knew it would take around 90 minutes up get there.

It was a foggy morning, with a little drizzle and very light winds so it was good hunting day. (Photo of the destination on a finer day).
Once on the target ridge I cruised along quietly. 90 minutes in, a deer burst from cover 20m away. I froze, and 2 minutes later a second deer broke cover about 10m to my right (downwind).
I'd not seen any deer sign in this section last time, so I was surprised. It was getting close to lunchtime, so I found a good spot looking upwind, and had a bite (rifle close by).
Nothing showed up so I continued slowly with my best sneaking. Soon I spotted deer sign: ring-barking. Fresh ring barking. Quite a bit too.

I slowed right down at this point, having read on here many times to slow right down when encountering fresh sign.
This soon paid off, and I soon spotted the first really fresh deer droppings I've seen in the bush.

"But", I told myself, "it's foggy, and they could be days old but the fog has kept them looking that way."

Picking them up I still had doubts. "Are these still warm or are my hands just really cold?"

Putting on stealth mode again, I followed the game trail. Sure enough, there were clear disturbances in the leaf litter. I was proud of myself when the trail forked, but I spotted the intact cobwebs on the right hand fork.

Heading left, there was another fork, and no clear direction. The spiders had inconsiderately not spun their webs, or else they were broken both ways. I checked the scope. Whoops! 9x zoom dialed in.

Looking left, there looked to be a bluff that could provide me a view down the little spur. I headed that way, with the intention of having a quick look, then heading towards my original target spur. I'd seen deer sunbathing that way after all.

Creeping forward towards the bluff I stopped and peered down. Nothing but young black-barked trees blocking the view then the spur. And a lighter brown dead tree about 30m away.

Going through the motions I lifted my rifle for a peek. Sometimes if my binos are in my pack I'll turn my rifle sideways and with hands well away from the trigger and bolt, use the scope as a telescope.

"As I thought, just a dead tree snapped off that looks like a d.... that's a deer!" It was looking straight at me, quartering towards me.

Lowering my rifle, I changed my grip, and tried to locate the deer again. All the trees looked the same! Then I saw her: a red hind, now broadside but still looking directly at me but looking like she was getting ready to leave. I lined up a hilar shot just forward of the shoulder.

The suppressed rifle shot was very muffled, the report sounding more like a pop.

"Did I get her? No, there she is a little to the left looking at me again." Desperately, I raised the rifle, trying to find her again in the maze of identical trees. Too late -
she broke and ran into a clump of dense bush, barking at me.

I mewed back at her, and for the next couple of minutes there was a barking/mewing duet filling the bush.

Disappointed, realising tracking a deer on high alert was a waste of time I went back to the spot I'd shot from.

"I suppose I should check, just in case I didn't miss."

Taking note of some landmarks, I made my way down the steep, greasy slope.
And there she was, my first bush stalked deer (my other deer was a farm shot fallow from 240m).

She was big, not at all as skinny as I'd expected. But then I started to learn my most important hunting lesson yet: finding the deer was actually easier than what follows. In the greasy terrain, alone, on a slope I couldn't move her. I'm only 75kg or so, 185cm, so I'm not big or strong.

Eventually I tired her neck to the ponga tree and dragged her so she was pointing uphill.

Butchery wasn't too bad but I'm slow, and the slope and poor footing made things even slower. By now it was 2pm, and my turnaround time was 2.30.

I called the wife and kids. They agreed to come and help pack out the meat.
This had always been a plan of ours: if I was close and had too much to carry, I'd get 4 helpers. The wife knew where I was hunting, and I arranged a meeting point. By 3, the family had made it to where Id parked the car. By now I had all 4 legs and the backstraps off and my knives were getting blunt.

Butchery on the greasy slope had exhausted me, but I got the back legs and the backsteaks into my pack and headed for the rendezvous. Leaving everything else except the rifle, the plan was to drop off this meat then return for my gear and the shoulders.

Big mistake. It took me an hour to get to the rendezvous. The family had been on the radio and I could hear them coming. Then I couldn't hear them anymore. The next half hour I spent calling them on the radio and the phone but got nothing. It was now getting dark, and for all I knew my family was lost in the bush. Unscrewing the suppressor, I fired a round into the ground. Getting no response, I was concerned they'd continued deeper into the bush. I dumped the hind legs in a tree, marked the spot, and went looking.
Coming to my senses I called 111. After waiting a minute without the Police answering, I got a text from the wife. "Couldnt find you, at the top of the ridge heading back to the car." She always puts the kids' safety first, and when she realised she'd missed me, immediately turned around for home. Her radio's batteries were flat and she was in a dead zone for her phone. She's careful. I'd also had not taught her how to use the app so she was learning on the fly. Ass U & Me

Long story short, I miraculously found the meat in the dark and headed up the ridge back to the car as well. I was almost out on my feet when I called the wife again, and the family climbed back up a bit and met me and took some of the weight.

The police did call me back, seeing the call location was from the bush, so that was reassuring.

The next day, my mate and I went back up, collected the approx $1000 worth of gear I'd left in the bush overnight, got the shoulders, miraculously not looted by the pigs, and got the neck meat as well.

All up, 27kg of deboned meat vacuum sealed and aging in the fridge, plus 2kg of trimmings for the dog.

And a resolution to always call for help early, make sure everyone knows how to use the equipment before I leave home, leave meat, not gear behind, and to go back again soon!]

well done after 50 years and more of hunting my advise next time - try not to take out to much- only take what you can comfortably carry - or make two trips - this time of year meat will hang overnight - trying to take to much will just slow you down - or just gut the deer leave lying on stomach and take someone back next day - nah ya done good its all a learning curve - but I would never leave my rifle - if in the shit what can you signal with

Well done.

The bush takes on a totally different form in the dark. Wife and I got disoreintated in whirinaki one time when we got caught in the dark. We eventually got out tho. Liked your story all the same...

Good on you, you learnt something and got a load of meat!

Well done mate, it takes a bit of courage for someone to publicly talk about their less than perfect experiences. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger, and in this case wiser. As has already been said, an animal gutted and hung in a tree will be perfectly fine the next day, better to walk back for that and perhaps not be able to find than some of your hard earned gear.

Nice job man, few learning in that one

Nice. You've learned a bit there...

What's the cheekpiece on your rifle stock?

I take a small block n tackle set up (6mm or 8mm paracourd and a couple of very small 8mm pulleys) that way if the animal is too big or in a spot where I canno tget grip or traction, I can hoist it and hold it....Even just a bit of string to hold legs apart while you butcher can make things much easier....

Well done.

I find if lessons are learnt 'the easy way' we tend to be repeated a few times before they sink in, but learn the hard way , and you almost always pick it up frst time....

And yes I always take gear before meat...Ask yourself what is easier to replace....the gear or an animal?

Cheap lessons learnt there,well done getting home.Enjoy yr veni.

Enjoy the venison.look after it well as it's hard earned.

Well done and yep darkness changes things a lot, don't ask how I know though.

Originally Posted by gimp

Nice. You've learned a bit there...

What's the cheekpiece on your rifle stock?

It's a 3D printed one I got off the forum.

Well done. Always learning.

Good stuff, well done on both accounts, disaster averted and some tasty venni

Funny how often the deer are looking right at you, happens to me all the time.

In my experience the pigs don't bother with them until they are almost liquid.



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