Molesworth hunt with my boy
My son K and I got away late November to hunt on Molesworth and with fair weather we had a great time with good hunting. With K's job being demanding it's been quite some time since we hunted together so this was something of a renewal. Actually, he is now obligated to use some of his accumulated holiday time and wants to do some hunts in January, February and March and possibly May. So soon we will be discussing some potential plans.
I had first hunted this Molesworth block last year when I hunted solo, and already had our camp site sorted which is quite a central spot to access the two main watersheds. Available game: Red Deer ( mainly stags ), Pigs, Chamois, Feral Goats, Canada Geese plus Hares and Rabbits. The forecast we checked before leaving home looked good and in the event proved pretty accurate. The only notable rain we had was a couple of hours overnight on the day we arrived and apart from that only the briefest passing showers. We saw a bit of distant rain that didn't bother us. Temps were warm apart from one still day particularly which was just too hot with temps we estimated at low 30 degrees C, and humid, which we didn't hunt until very late in the day as game moved only very little until the shadows were getting quite long.
All game was reasonably plentiful and the animals we shot most of were Feral Goats. I don't have an exact count but between us we probably accounted for around 20 to 25 total. These pest animals are found almost everywhere here but densities can be quite variable. It's funny how in one little creek you could find the odd single or pair and then walk over the creek head or cross the spur into the next creek and find several mobs of around 10 or 15 Goats. Mostly we were attempting difficult, sharply uphill shots which in several cases were just not possible. We did much better waiting for the more horizontal shots. One afternoon we surprised a small mob that quickly dived out of sight into a thick gully and might have eluded us. I saw a small open spot in the gully and we positioned ourselves there as I told K to watch below as the goats might emerge wanting to cross the stream before climbing the opposite slopes. It took several minutes but about 6 Goats suddenly popped out at the stream, 200 + yds away, steeply downhill. I told K to hold low for the shots ( can't help dispensing fatherly advice ). He had his favourite Blaser R93 270W which he shoots well, aimed at the feet of the first Goat and promptly shot just over its' back into the stream ( big splash ! ). For the next shots he held under the Goats feet and quickly got 4 of them. It was quite a good display of shooting. I felt quite proud of my boy. The pic shows how small some Goats were.
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I was shooting my Tikka T3X barreled in Blaser 300 Mag which I thought was possibly shooting a bit off. That puzzled me as I shot it at the range only a couple of weeks earlier and it shot well but on the hill it seemed to shoot distinctly left with the first few shots although elevation was perfect. When loading ammo for this trip I did open a new bottle of AR2213sc powder and don't know if this could have been a factor. Anyway as the trip proceeded the rifle did shoot much better so maybe it was only the nut behind the butt as I have not used this rifle much lately. My longest Goat shot was 350 yds which hit the gut instead of the chest. The billy ran off a bit but went down. We had to walk up wanting to put a finisher in but the Goat expired just as we found it.
On pigs we accounted for four, all on the same day. On our way campwards from out of a long valley we explored all day 2 young pigs trotted towards us, unaware. K got 2 for 2 with close shooting. Further along we sprung a mob of 6 or so young pigs. I first shot the largest, aiming at the shoulder but gut shooting instead then killed another with a neck shot. I thought I then shot a third but it turned out to be the same pig I shot first. The better second shot finished it, hitting behind the shoulder.
Other pigs were encountered as we hunted but didn't present good shooting opportunities.
The most unusual pig encounter resulted in some tent damage. After returning late one evening we were preparing dinner by headlamp when K heard something close. He looked up to find a pig standing only 5 yards away staring at us. He shouted and the pig scarpered, joining another in the scrub as they scuttled off. Later, after falling asleep in bed I was woken by noise outside the tent. Rapid pounding noises. Listening, I realised it sounded like an animal running to and fro close to the tent. This stopped and started for a couple of minutes before there was suddenly a violent whack against the tent. Now I was fully awake and asked K "what the hell was that .... ??" I was thinking maybe a rock had rolled off the hill above us and hit the tent. I jumped out of the sleeping bag and checked around outside with my headlamp but didn't notice anything. Only in the morning did I find the tear in the vestibule wall along with a mud smear and slowly realised that that damn pig must have returned and somehow managed to collide with our tent while running around. Guess I'll be emailing Kuiu for some advice.....
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We shot only 3 Canada Geese although we might easily have shot more. We saw hundreds in total and found them in every valley with a stream and in several instances very high up the slopes. The annual cull deals to numbers of them but the farm is so big that I assume only portions are hunted every year. They make such a racket when alerted and put other game instantly on guard. If we saw them first we attempted to bypass without disturbing them but mostly they saw us first as their vision is excellent.
Most of the resident Red Deer we encountered were stags. Hinds we saw were definitely the minority. Maybe this block is a preferred finishing block for stags to grow out their velvet. We encountered deer daily but did not see as many as when I hunted solo last year. Still good numbers though. K wanted to shoot one deer for meat but due to the warm days didn't want to shoot anything until the last couple of days as there are no facilities for good meat storage. There are barely any decent trees in this block. On the second to last evening I sprang two yearling stags and tried to give K the shot. Unfortunately they heard me when I called K and had turned to flee when K attempted the difficult downhill shot. The first shot at around 200 yds went under the deer's belly and it took off but slowed at about 400 yds allowing another shot but K missed again, going behind. He wasn't happy with his shooting but honestly I'm not sure I could have done better. The awkward rest and shot angle were not conducive for straight shooting.
We had an opportunity to search for a deer the last morning before packing up to head out. The handiest spot was the small valley behind camp where we had already seen deer and after a quick coffee we set off very early heading up to check a couple of small guts that are not viewable from below. The morning was humid and remarkably still. I had high hopes of seeing deer within and that we might get an easy animal with a close return to camp. I was surprised to find nothing in these ideal feed guts so we cautiously continued sidling up the valley face. Another series of larger guts were checked as we climbed but, to my disbelief, all were empty so we stopped just over a small spur where we had a good view of most of the remaining terrain to the valley head. I told K we should just wait and glass until something appeared at which point we would make a plan. Over the next hour we had to rug up against the chill of the breeze and apart from some nervous Canada Geese we did not see a thing move. Across the valley I saw something I was trying to make out, but couldn't. I decided the colour was not quite right for deer so didn't inform K. When K also found it he informed me it was a stag with decent antlers. K's vision is much sharper than mine and when he guided me on the details I could see it was indeed a stag resting in the scrub. Then he saw a Chamois high on the opposite side, more than 1 km away. While I could tell it was a Chamois I couldn't tell if it had horns or not. But K could see horns, just not the size. Makes me jealous of young eyes.
I had been keeping a wary eye on these Canada Geese as they sat right above two ideal feed gullies and I was worried they might deter animals from wandering into the guts. However, while they knew we were on the hill I think we were distant enough they weren't overly concerned. Then K checked these guts at precisely the right moment. He saw two young stags wander in and start feeding and they were just over 900 yds away, straight line.
We started stalking in immediately along a well used deer track traversing the hill. K reached the ideal point on a blunt spur on which to set up the shot. He ranged 320 yds and questioned me about the distance, a little concerned. More fatherly advice as I told him a high shoulder hold should work and to shoot the best presented animal. He settled, lined up and let the first shot go. I saw the impact. The stag limped a few paces then flopped down on its belly, still alive. I said something about shooting again and K was already onto it. I think he adjusted his hold as the shot went into the high shoulder. The hit was good but not immediately fatal. As insurance K decided to shoot again. This was the definite finisher. Whacked through the lungs just behind the shoulder the stag suddenly expired.
When we got to the stag we discovered the first shot had dropped lower down the shoulder than anticipated and as the stag was below K the shot angled downwards of course. Impact was very low on the right shoulder, shattering and completely penetrating the leg bone, continuing through and shattering the left leg bone below the brisket. Two broken front legs. No wonder the stag could hardly walk. It was hard to believe it was a 130 gn SST that caused all that damage. Not my favourite bullet at all but K likes them. I went through an episode some years ago shooting 150 gn SSTs in my 30.06 and must admit to some spectacular kills, including a one shot kill of a bull Tahr at 300 yds. But, I've also seen some wounds that didn't impress me favourably. We quickly took pics and conscious of our dwindling time retrieved only backsteaks and filets before beating a hasty retreat back to camp to pack up and depart. It was a great morning and finale to our hunt.
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As we set off on the four hour walk out I had five rounds remaining of the twenty five I started with. Hares were plentiful and we sprang several from the grassy valley bottom. They tended to run to the nearest hill and bolt uphill a bit before stopping to watch us warily. K and I took turns shooting and the 300 Blaser Mag got two for two, with the best being 175 yards. K nailed two or three as well with solid, straight shooting. I was looking for more Hares for my final three rounds but we stumbled into a Rabbit colony instead. K let me do the shooting while he spotted. Tiny targets but the Blaser Mag managed thre for three, the furthest being 130 yards. I think on varmints the main difference between the 300 Blaser Mag and a recognised varmint calibre is probably the loudness of the "boom" that echoes back off the hills ! If you don't mind that the Blaser Mag works damn well on varmints !
With a rest stop or two thrown in we made good time walking out and were congratulating ourselves when we saw the final gate just ahead. Thinking it was all over I got one hell of a fright as a piercing scream erupted right next to me as I passed a small scrub patch. Suddenly a baby pig bolted away shrieking it's little head off. It must have lost mum and I guess I frightened it as much as it frightened me. Gave us a bit off a laugh anyway but I came very close to needing a change of undies.
Molesworth is a neat place. I love hunting there and will return as soon as I can. Would love to figure out how to win a Roar block too. Ah ... maybe one day ....
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