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Hunting really gets my goat
I headed out yesterday for yet another hunt. It feels like I've been on dozens of hunts since I got my FAL and got nothing, but the actual number is probably 13 or 14. Every time I've learned something new, often by making silly mistakes like forgetting my suppressor or forgetting to take the safety off, but after some close calls, I finally got my first animal - a little nanny goat, maybe 15kg.
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My friend and I set off from the Remutaka trig at about 1 o'clock yesterday (Saturday) afternoon. My expectations weren't super high - as someone on the forum helpfully pointed out, the Remutaka hill road had a cull in May, so numbers were probably down, or the goats were hiding in the gullies. The Wairarapa weather was perfect - sun, about 19 degrees, light SE breezes and almost cloud-free skies. The plan was to head down a spur for a couple of hours, check out a bushy section then head back up, hopefully with a goat. Looking at the map, the descent down the target easterly spur from us looked far too steep.
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We decided to head back down the track to a saddle, head down a gully (100 vertical metres) to about 600m and then sidle around until we reached the target spur, and head downwards. A good plan in theory, but fate had other plans.
We battled through thick scrub for about an hour, and got to a slightly open, more rocky patch. We spotted the point where we would start sidling. But first, a rest on one side of a small gully that didn't show on the map.
Our battle through the scrub had been a very noisy one, so it was good to get an opportunity to look around and listen for goats. After a few minutes I heard a rustling noise somewhere. At first, it sounded like a bird tossing sticks close by, but eventually I saw a tree shaking about 30m down the gully. I chambered a round and moved to get a clearer view. I don't know what it was, but the rustling stopped. After waiting for 5 minutes I ventured a bleat, which I repeated a couple of times over the next 5 or ten minutes.
Nothing. At some point a NZ Falcon flew just over us. At least we saw something on our trip.
We stood up and started heading back on our way. Five metres on I froze. There was a goat staring at me out from behind a gorse bush across the gully, slightly downhill about 30 metres away! It must have heard us and my bleating and climbed up onto a rocky perch for a better look at what was making the weird noises. I stopped my friend and slowly raised the rifle. Zoomed in a bit for a better look. Textbook safe position to fire - a solid back drop. But I could only see the head and some of the neck. I decided to aim for the middle of the neck, as far back towards the body as I could. Didn't think about point of aim so much - my rifle is zeroed at 100m, and in the event, the POI was an inch or so lower than my point of aim.
BANG! The suppressed shot echoed through the valley - it was so still, just light breezes. The goat let out a goaty yelp and leapt away. How could I have missed? I've been practicing 20m shots offhand with my air rifle and am getting pretty good I think. I hope I didn't wound it - I hear goats make a sound like injured children and I don't want that on my conscience.
"Did I miss?"
"Nah, it just dropped. The bushes to the right are shaking."
"It must be kicking still."
"Yeah I think so. Congratulations, you finally got one."
"Thanks. That's what is called a bang-flop. How do we get to it?"
The little gully was about 3m down vertically from where we were, so we decided to go down a bit then climb up. We fixed some landmarks and headed down. After a 15 minute scramble through some unexpected bush in the gully and some rock climbing up the other side I noticed a spot of fresh salmon-coloured something on the rock in front of me, 5m below where I thought we were headed. Lifting my head I saw some blood, then craning my head I saw it, my first animal lying underneath a gorse bush. Very fat in really good condition to my inexperienced eyes.
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Why did it have to jump into a gorse bush? With its final leap it had its revenge.
After much faffing about and eventually tossing it into the gully, I got under the trees and started dressing it. I hadn't only been able to see its head and neck, I'd been able to see half of it! I hadn't realised the goats were so little... My shot had hit it in the front leg, almost severing it, and ripped through the aorta and finally smashing the other front leg too. There was no sign of the bullet, or even any fragments, but somehow the esophagus had been severed along the way and the reticulum as well - so there was a lot of plant matter and yellowish gunk sloshing around the front of the gut cavity. Lots of contaminated meat in the front section. Rats.
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In the end I managed to salvage the back wheels, the back steaks and the tenderloins. I got some parts of one front leg, the liver, heart, the neck, ears and a horn for the pup (the leg is now buried under the lemon tree, thanks Candace!). After all that work, about 2kg of usable meat, plus 1.5kg for the pup! Now I know why many people just take the back wheels and back steaks off a goat. A lesson for next time.
At 4:30 it was all done. We packed up and fought our way for 16 hours (or 90 minutes, who knows?) up the way we came, with plenty of rest stops. When I got back, my app told me we'd covered just1.2km return for 3 hours walking! Chalk that one up to experience. We got back to the car at 6 after stopping at the top of the track to eat some gingerbread and take in incredible views as the clouds started to form around us.
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A nice drive home through the dusk followed. The three goats we saw eating on the roadside would have stung if we didn't have one of their mates in pieces in the boot!
2kg meat @$15/kg means hunting only owes me $2270! But experiences? Who can put a value on that? I'm exhausted today, but I had a great time with a good friend, saw beautiful countryside (clarification: scrub isn't beautiful). Best of all, I finally got my first animal (and ate some of it for tea).
