Thread: First public land deer, and a near disaster

Originally Posted by timattalon

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?

Yes, a small block and double pulley system is on my list of must haves from now. A second person helps a lot but is twice as noisy.

look honestly a block and tackle system just something more to carry - no - just not needed - work out how far to home and carry out what you can - if you need help leave it and come back next day- thats when you can take in a block and tackle with ya mate - every thing you carry in you pay for in effort - most hunters carry way to much - you need to lump it all out later - learn how to bone out your meat - like this as a policy -how far out - do I want to come back -no -then what are the best cuts thats what I will take - I take no more than about a kilo out hunting and that's a drink as well

Back wheels in one lump and front end boned out into daybag takes care of all but a big stag. There are a couple of really easy ways to carry out back wheels. Like giving the kids a shoulder ride is my usual method. There is another way with two long strips of skin as straps...haven't seen that first hand.

Block and tackle as mentioned is light and about as bulky as a muesli bar so can be useful, especialy for those of smaller/lighter stature. Couple of things stood out for me though. A decent knife wouldn't go astray. Even a Mercator pocket knife, which some on here rubbish, is good for dealing with a couple of deer without needing a sharpen. Secondly, as others have stated, you take your gear with you. Gut the animal and leave propped open, it'll be alright left overnight for retreival the next day or take what meat you can comfortably carry - don't be greedy.

That was a good outing , lots of learning and plenty of meat to enjoy at the end , well done.

A red hind on the ground is a surprisingly big animal, stags even more so. The most important thing to get is a photo, everything after that is a bonus. Well done.

What an awesome yarn! Your wife is a keeper! Lots of learning. Two things I always carry, a Buck sharpening steel (might be a diamond sharpener?) The handle unscrews and the steel goes inside. Small and light. Back in my day Boy Scouts always carried 2 or 3 metres of cord on their belt, I still carry a bit of strong 6 or 8mm soft nylon cord with me, even when rabbiting. You can thread they cord though the hock and carry, or drag, a heap of rabbits. Also handy to secure the deer or goat to a tree while you gut it or joint it on a slippery slope.
Good hunting, good shooting and good meat recovering, well done!

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

look honestly a block and tackle system just something more to carry - no - just not needed - work out how far to home and carry out what you can - if you need help leave it and come back next day- thats when you can take in a block and tackle with ya mate - every thing you carry in you pay for in effort - most hunters carry way to much - you need to lump it all out later - learn how to bone out your meat - like this as a policy -how far out - do I want to come back -no -then what are the best cuts thats what I will take - I take no more than about a kilo out hunting and that's a drink as well

My one fits in the palm of my hand and weighs less than my knife. In fact if weight was an issue I would leave two rounds of 303 at home and be lighter...... Even if I didn't take it, I would carry the paracord as part of my safety gear anyway (Broken slings, broken straps / laces / belt and thats without any first aid or shelter type uses....In reality I am not lifting the animal up as most of the time there is no tree or anything in the right place to do so. I use it to hold legs etc where I can access the places I need to cut with less strain which reduces the liklihood of an accident with a sharp knife....... That is a 223 case beside it, a green river skinning knife and a 12g 2 3/4 shell for size. The shotgun round is heavier than the block and tackle. It is capabale of holding a whole animal up, but I have never needed to do that with it. But when I have lifted an animal, a trick an old timer showed me was to hoist it by its anus through the pelvis that way you can more easily manhandle the back legs about....

Nice! Its all learning and you are wiser now. Also you will get a hundred different bits of advice from us all. Try different stuff and see what works for you. Heres mine.

A havalon scalpel blade knife as an extra will solve the blunt knife problem with minimal extra weight. Im kind of of the same opinion as Barry that a block and tackle is of limited use Unless you want to hang the carcase overnight. Just practice leg removal and Boning out the legs. That way you can take the best meat and leave hocks etc behind if needed.
You should be working on having a load of about 30kg including meat and your gear.

Reminds me of a story my brother tells.

He took a mate deer stalking for the first time when he was at Uni.

His mate shot a stag and was over the moon! So much so he wanted to take the whole thing back.

Well that lasted about 10 yards and he was forced to accept my brothers advice that boning out the back steaks and taking the hind quarters was a much more doable idea, he also still wanted to keep the head as well.

They were somewhere in the Ruahines so fairly steep going, anyway by the time they got back to the carpark he had discarded everything but one back steak.

As you noted shooting them is actually the easy part.

Congratulations on stalking your first deer in the bush. That's an awesome achievement. That must have been a pretty big hind! Loved the detail, spiders are so helpful (when they are not close to me).

Un suppressed or otherwise, the noise of a round fired into the ground doesn’t carry very far in the bush, better to send it upwards.

Originally Posted by 7mm tragic

Reminds me of a story my brother tells.

He took a mate deer stalking for the first time when he was at Uni.

His mate shot a stag and was over the moon! So much so he wanted to take the whole thing back.

Well that lasted about 10 yards and he was forced to accept my brothers advice that boning out the back steaks and taking the hind quarters was a much more doable idea, he also still wanted to keep the head as well.

They were somewhere in the Ruahines so fairly steep going, anyway by the time they got back to the carpark he had discarded everything but one back steak.

As you noted shooting them is actually the easy part.

Yep, it was my first so I wanted it all.
I used to criticize people who said they only took the back steaks and back wheels of a stag, but no longer. Now they have my respect for their strength...

Originally Posted by Hugh Shields

What an awesome yarn! Your wife is a keeper! Lots of learning. Two things I always carry, a Buck sharpening steel (might be a diamond sharpener?) The handle unscrews and the steel goes inside. Small and light. Back in my day Boy Scouts always carried 2 or 3 metres of cord on their belt, I still carry a bit of strong 6 or 8mm soft nylon cord with me, even when rabbiting. You can thread they cord though the hock and carry, or drag, a heap of rabbits. Also handy to secure the deer or goat to a tree while you gut it or joint it on a slippery slope.
Good hunting, good shooting and good meat recovering, well done!

Yes my wife is a keeper. Now she's extra keen to get her own deer!

I'm thinking about changing the edge of my knife. I have a Svord skinning knife that was a gift from my hunting mate. I want to keep that, but it has a convex edge. I haven't figured out how to sharpen it well, so may end up making a bevel edge so I can sharpen it in the field.

Go buy a $20 bacho and put it in your daybag. Svords are NOT hard to sharpen or keep sharp. A consistent angle on oil stone is the key. I will use a steel on mine in the field,but use steel at small angle to blade nearly laying along it,if that makes sense? I find I have to use stone much less often that way.