Been trying to jack this up for quite awhile now..like as in over a year,opening day of duckshooting confirmed it forsure...well past time to get @Billbob out for a decent walk and see if could get him a wallaby of two. Today was the day.. the good man arrived at my residence dead on 6am as planned and we set off,stopped at servo for fuel for both his fine automobile and two rather rotund bellies that always seem to scream "feed me" whenever a pie warmer is past,a short drive later saw us arrive at the hunting grounds in perfect timing,20ish minutes before daylight.some rather good shooting stars were spotted"will be a good hunt"says billbob.. bags were shouldered and of we rushed at a sedate plod (did I mention rotund bellies?) running is just not a happening thing.
the bush was awesome in the predawn silence,then the bellbirds started up,a NZ Falcon screamed out his hunting cry to add to the chorus,part way up track the torch got pocketed and we continued up track...a wallaby let me walk past then moved,hopped away a short distance..."ummmm is that it "billbob asks pointing to dark blob all of five yards away...I look through scope just as it bounds away....yip talk about a circus...sitter five yards off track in clear bush,right on first light and its still laughing at the two dopey humans.
We were a lot more careful after that but didnt have anymore encounters untill open country was reached..big crashing away through STEEP undergrowth and a bark over other side..yip right pair of clowns we looked..that circus music was getting louder by the minute,did we care??hell no,a beautiful morning to be out huffing n puffing up a hill.
a lookout point was reached and soon enough the many Australian overstayers were seen soaking up the vibes of a distant hillside,the more we looked the more were seen....450ish yards away..but getting closer is possible,you just have to climb back DOWN hill and loose altitude again and scramble around a bit to a rocky point where barrel is slightly less in danger of stretching.
more big crashing away was heard on way down to said point,but nothing spotted (not surprising as as anything there will nearly need to be roped up) so we continued to the sniping spot.
got there and got shit sorted,I dug around in pouch and found my expendable rounds,all 25 of them...got Billbob in behind rifle in semi comfortable position...oh alright e was hunched up like horn teenager in backseat of a mini,but it was best position available as a sheer drop was not far below us,daybags employed as rest for rifle and prop up for chest...and the barrage began...23 rounds were fired between us at targets from 250-350 yards (yes used a rangefinder) pretty big ask for mainly 50 grn .224 projectiles but there were enough hits to put slight dent in population...if we said between 6 and 10 we wouldnt be telling porkies.
then when all the brass was picked up and my ammunition stash was down to 7 rounds four of which are TTSX for deer....hmmm put the remaining soft points in mag and we RECLIMBED the plurry hill picking up billbobs weapon on the way..wasnt a lot of point lugging it down hill just to cart it back up again so it was carefully placed on clear spot...one of us wasnt to phased about finding it again,its owner got a little flustered but all was good.
Back up to origonal glassing spot and more wallys were seen back in the killing ground except now they were dancing around poking tongues at us...next time you huas,next time.
A light snack was had along with hot cuppa then onwards we strode....carefully as next 7-800 yards gets a bit dodgy in places @Lurch if your reading this,the creek never even got bottom of gaiters damp..bit different from when we waded it just above knee height!!!
a quiet stroll along in real hollywood bush followed with very few hoppers spooking. got along to spots where normally wally is around and nope nothing doing....last throw of dice coming up..a funky wee side gully ,I sent billbob up here alone with instruction to wait just short of boundary ,stay quiet and keep eyes and ears open while I wandered further along and looped back to hopefully spook animals past him...
Well folks its not often a plan works out so well but man did it ever.
I shall let Robin hood/billbob fill in that bit
a plurry great day out,came home with sides sore from laughing and my batteries recharged
thanks mate.
