Kicking off 2024 with a double public land first deer
Long time reader and one very excited gent with his first story to post.
After a few paid farm hunts and getting reasonably comfortable with the rifle and a bit of hunting experience under the belt I was itching to try succeed at getting a deer on public land. I'd ventured out a couple of times to some public land spots and while I found some goats and saw one deer and heard another crash off into the distance on various public land visits I hadn't actually got an opportunity to try and take one. I knew it was only a matter of time and with the freezer full from a paid for hunt I wanted to get out and try some more public land hunts while the pressure to get something was a bit less. A plan was devised that worked into our Christmas\ New Year road trip around the North Island and we were off.
My plan was to go to a hut that I had been before which saw low number of visitors, had high numbers of deer, but was also a bit off the beaten track. The previous time I was there I only had one evening hunt and one morning hunt, so wasn't able to familiarise myself with much of the area, but knew of a couple of good spots. The plan was to go back there, explore some more of the area and get more familiar with the terrain and where fresh sign was.
Day 1 was a leisurely start. My wife and I checked all our gear again, had breakfast and then hit the road for a 40 min drive from where we were staying to the start of the track. The farmer was kind enough to let us stop on his farm which got us a bit closer to the hut and saved the legs a bit. The walk was interesting - the dog had limited water exposure, but after a few crossing she got the hang of it and soon looked like a natural. After three hours we got to the hut. Tired from the heat, but with opportunity looming around the corner we were excited to drop our packs. After a refuel and a power nap we started off for an early afternoon explore\ hunt. It was sunny, but the Hut is on a Ridgeline and the wind was howling! We found some good clearings to keep an eye on and eventually settled on sitting in one clearing and watching a clearing on the opposite side of the valley. We sat in the cold and wind, but nothing showed itself. In hindsight (no pun intended) we were sitting quite in the open and any animal lurking the bush edge would have easily spotted us. Next time I'll aim for a spot with more cover when doing some glassing.
Day 2 - We were lying in bed in the early hours of the morning with no light shining through yet and heard something lapping water in the bowl we had left outside for the dog, only problem - dog was inside with us....Could it be a deer, I slowly got up out of bed and tried to peek out the window, before slowly edging the door open to see if there was anything, but whatever it was, it had taken off. The hut book had mentioned a dog that had been lost quite some time ago, so could have been that? We never saw it, but definitely heard it lapping up water again the next night.
Anyhoo, back to the hunt again. As daylight rose we were up and getting ready to see if anything was coasting around the clearings. We scanned around with the binos and despite the sun falling on the right side of the valley there were no animals to be seen. At this time it was still quite cloudy so the sun was coming out in patches and the deer were nowhere to be seen. We gave it a couple of hours before heading back for breakfast. Post breakfast we decided to go explore further down the ridgline track on the opposite way we had come down and explore some new areas. Down the track (and it was barely a track) we went for an explore. We saw some bush that looked a lot more stalk-able and made our way down the river flat. I went exploring up the river flat for some clearing while my wife and dog stayed behind for some R&R and sun. Up I went exploring up the river, nothing was seen and even the small grassy flats next to the river I could spy from the hut had almost no sign. I started making my way back, I was busy thinking how young and fit I was, before losing my grip on a branch and tumbling down the river bank!!! A sore knee, and elbow, but an unharmed rifle and head meant it was more my ego that hurt than my body. I rendezvoused with my wife and the dog before we started making our way back to hut. It was a long and warm slog back to the hut and I was starting to feel a bit dismayed with no animals seen despite the great weather. On the way back we decided to go off the track to check a lookout spot that wasn't far from the hut. Given this was the middle of the day I didn't have much hope, but away we went.
My wife popped up the binos and within a couple of second of the binos coming to her eyes she said "there's a deer" to which I replied "whatever"....."no there is a deer right there". She passed me the binos and low and behold there is a deer feeding in the middle of the day in the clearing. At this point I was so tired I asked if we should shoot it to which my wife said "YES!!" I checked the range - 230 yards. The 7mm-08 is ranged for 200, so the stars aligned pretty well. I pop down, get the rifle loaded and ready. I find the deer in the scope...its looking straight in our direction, but chewing pretty contently. I breathe out and squeeze the trigger. A pill flies straight towards the crease between the stomach and the back leg. It drops on the spot, tumbles and rolls a few meters down the hill before it's head pops up again, but it expires pretty quickly after that. First job DONE! My wife and I get up cheer, hug and can't believe that I just shot my first public land deer. As we settle she goes back on the bino's to see where the deer was lying, a few seconds later she let's me know "there is another deer there". I cant believe our luck and check with the binos. A yearling wasn't sure what was going on and was making his way to where we had shot the previous deer. I checked if my wife wanted to take it and I received another enthusiastic "YES!". She gets in position and lines up the deer. I don't have the binos, but talk her through the process to make sure she is comfortable. The deer is moving she says, I give it a whistle and it stops. BOOM! "Did you get it" I asked. "Yes, and I hit my face with the rifle" came the reply. I assure her that it's nothing but a little magnum eyebrow souvenir. Luckily only a slight mark.... We get up again and do a second round of cheering and celebration. Not only her first deer, but it's a public land deer as well.
We had a break for lunch to refuel our bodies, emptied our tramping packs and then started heading to the deer to start the butchering process. We both got stuck into it and before you know it we both had the backlegs and backsteaks out (both front shoulders were buggered). Back to the hut to further clean the meat and hang it in the meatsafe. We ended a long day with weary bodies, but happy hearts. The time in the bush is always rewarding but getting a couple of animals is the cherry on the top.
Day 3 we packed out and made the journey back to warm showers and clean shave. The packs were much heavier and I made (what I think) was a mistake in packing the heavy load at the top, rather than the bottom of my pack - interested in hearing peoples thoughts on where the best pack the heavy parts? That evening we had the good fortune of sharing some of the backstraps with our good friends that hosted us and their family (who's dad was has played a big part in mentoring me in hunting).
Thanks Vince for always being happy to answer questions and sharing your abundance of knowledge.
