Thread: Quick Morning Hunt With The Missus & Lill Bro

All the Mob have headed home after me & the Missus had our week long 30th Anniversary Bash at the new Bach, so l took the Lill Bro ,(who decided to stay with is family ,for a week longer) ,Missus & Dogs out for a hunt in the Jet Boat this morning as he wanted some Venison to take home & share with his In Laws,the missus packed some goodies for lunch on the river as we planned to have just a nice relaxing morning as the Lill Bro heads off visiting In Laws in a couple of days & will base out of our Farm while we stay at the Bach..

Took the Jet Boat up into a spot l have had a lot of success hunting over the years & it is a really pretty bit of country ,that varies from trickling creek/river side fern choked gullies with hunting at arms length ,to open tops with thick vine & scrub choked dry river beds & wash outs, with cross valley shots being common.

These days l get just as much enjoyment out of a hunt putting others onto them & so this trip l carried the early 90's Vintage Rem 700 Mountain Rifle, in 280AI, l was bequeathed by a mate recently, for its first run hunting in Kiwi Land & more as back up for this hunt than anything else . My mate had the rifle worked by a Gunsmith mate of his in the US & l made the decision l will leave all the rifles he left me just as he hunted with them & left them to me ,to keep his spirit/memories with me on the hunts l take them on ,as l am also determined none will be Safe Queens like l do with all my guns .

I have worked up a few Hunting loads for it that give good Hunting Velocity & Accuracy ,this morning l was loaded with a load that proved to be the most accurate of those l had developed so far ,shooting into just on or under 14mm, for 3 shots & most importantly for me on any load selected for hunting, the cold barrel shot was smack on center each time ,with a Barnes 150gn TTSX pushed along at just under 3100 fps.

We had a great time & a few laughs as l had to push the Jets capability to get right up into where l wanted to try ,while l had Lill Bro onboard to help lift the Jet Boat back into deeper water if we ran aground too bad.

In the end we all scored a Deer, as l put Lill Bro onto one that Muttley the Farm Dog /GSP X was locked on ,but it was partly obscured in a thick Fern choked gully & when it disappeared at his shot, he thought it had run off & yelled for me to Quick F##kn shoot it ,my view had been blocked by trees as l stayed with the hound (l never shoot over a dogs head ,even when suppressed, after guiding overseas & seeing dogs hearing ruined )next thing a hind burst through the Ferns going like the clappers & l dropped it with a running shoulder shot .When we walked up we found out we had the Old 2 Deer on the ground roughly 20mtrs apart ,not 1 SNAFU ,where both had dropped on the spot at the shot ,but were obscured by the thick fern/Bush .

After we carried them down to a spot l reckoned l could reach close to with the Jet Boat ,l was lucky to put the missus onto a beautiful conditioned Hind ,as we worked our way along a little feeder creek with a lot of sign ,for a look around & Sako the Vizsla locked on point after scenting a deer from across the creek ,after we crossed & followed Sako in full Slowly ,Slowly Catch A Monkey mode ,Sako locked on point & after our eyes adjusted to the darkness under the thick Bush ,l spied a Deer's ear flicking & moved my missus around the Bush blocking her vision ,the Doe at first had no idea we were there, as it fed with its head down in a big gully ,doing the usual 8 chews & then a quick look around & back to feeding ,Missus dropped it with a perfect shot smack on the point of the shoulder .

So with 3 Deer down & a couple of happy dogs ,with full bellies from off cut rewards , we decided to take the Jet Boat for a bit of a run & explore some new country & have a leisurely river side lunch & couple of Beers with some Home Made Salami ,Smoked Sausages & Venison Pastrami the missus had packed .

It has been great spending time with Lill Bro again after the Lock Downs have kept us apart for so long & he had a ball enjoying the Diving & Hunting the Bach offers & taking home Chilly Bins busting with top quality free range Kai as all the mob at the Bach had .


Jet Boat loaded to the gunnels on the trip home,with hounds taking advantage of sitting on deer carcasses in the back ,so at the same level of their pet Hoomans, so lots of sneaky face licks were shared .



Muttley the Farm Dog /Fence Jumping Horney GSP X, Locked On to Lill Bro's still unseen (By Dumb Hoomans ) Deer in some thick stuff.



Sako scenting a deer on the other side of the creek ,showing Pleb Farm dogs how regal you should look while doing it ,pretty sure Muttley was deliberately making as much noise in the background as possible .



Sako doing the Old Fee, Fi , Fo , Fum ,l tink sumting tasty is on the other side



The pleasure of working over good Hounds, is you get to play I Spy a lot



Jet Boat river side ,while we had lunch & l broke down the carcasses for a not so squeezy trip home ,had these Euro Trash Gate Crashing .

Looks like the Wasps would have kept the Blow Flies at bay
Great pics of the Vizsla

Nice photos of yr dog there.

Great way to hunt and very productive. The dogs sure can make a difference detecting those un seen animals. Those hot arsed wasps are a pain, what are numbers like, haven't heard much talk from DOC about numbers lately?

@Mooseman Yeh have always loved working with good hounds ,the old man was a renowned working & hunting dog breeder & trainer ,that supplemented our farm income when l was growing up with it .
The bloody flying EuroTrash have been as bad as they have been for years here ,as we had the weird weather early last year of basically drought leading up to the Roar & then floods & rain late ,so my theory is the bastards moved nests to be near water during the dry spell & then the floods left good water puddles for months later than usual ,so it meant they have expanded their areas.

It makes you wonder what they do to both Farmed animals & those in the wild in the back country .

Cool hunt and can get into some great hunting areas with a jet boat with less people around. I hate wasps with a passion, a couple of places I hunt has more wasps than blowfly’s and most trips the dog will get stung 5-10 times. Will always have antihistamines with me for the dog.

@tikka Yes we do the same & my missus runs Stables on our Farm as well with horses attracting them , so our Daughter who is a Veterinarian sent us this that may help others with doses of human antihistamine dosages for dogs, as long as the dose measure is correct their is no problem using the human version in a emergency or far away from Vet care : Just like recommending hand loads make sure it works OK for you

dexchlorpheniramine (Polaramine®) – available as 2 or 6 mg tablets. The dose is

one 2 mg tablet for dogs under 15 kg

one 6 mg tablet dogs over 15 kg

promethazine (Phenergan®) – available as 10 and 25 mg tablets and 5 mg/ml elixir. The dose is:

1 mg/kg (round up the dose to the nearest tablet or half tablet)

fexofenadine (Telfast®) – available as 60 mg capsules and 120 or 180 mg tablets. The dose is

5–10 mg/kg (round up the dose to the nearest tablet or half tablet)

loratadine (Claratyne®) – available as 10 mg tablets. The dose is

5–20 mg/dog (round up the dose to the nearest tablet or half tablet)

cetirizine (Zyrtec®) – available as 10 mg tablets and either 1 mg/ml or 10 mg/ml oral solution. The dosage is

5–20 mg/dog (round up the dose to the nearest tablet or half tablet)

It is also important to monitor a dog if it is knocked around by the Stings or more likely multiple stings ,some will have gastro intestine/vomiting problems ,which aids the sting toxin spread, where a trip to the Vet is best .All dogs particularly if stung multiple times should be watched for 12–24 hours min .

Hope info helps someone

summertime I hunt in overalls and gaiters to help combat the hot arsed huas.....

great to hear you have Capt Rons rifle working for you...he will be smiling you took running shot in the heat of the moment and scored..."good work young man" he will be saying,nudging his mates..."thats the rifle I gave him, now pass me another cold beer will you"

Nice trip, thanks for sharing. Sako looks a pretty solid dog, plenty of muscle for a Vizsla

Cool story @bunji how are you finding the AI I’m looking at a .280 here with the idea of when the barrel is shot out step up to AI.

Trouble is the 7x57 is shooting like a trooper…..she’s a heavy sucker though

Another great write up. I have not encounted wasps in the bush thankfully for a long while . Great seeing the hounds work .

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

summertime I hunt in overalls and gaiters to help combat the hot arsed huas.....

great to hear you have Capt Rons rifle working for you...he will be smiling you took running shot in the heat of the moment and scored..."good work young man" he will be saying,nudging his mates..."thats the rifle I gave him, now pass me another cold beer will you"

@Micky Duck Thanks MD l like to think so ,I have used a Lam SS Mountain Rifle in 06 around the world for Decades ,so already had a soft spot for them ,this is the Old School deep blued Rem finish, with a nice figured stock & when l was deciding what to build for what ended up being my 284W using another 90's MR action l had ,the 280AI was the other option to build on the action , as l like both for all round Kiwi Hunting cartridges ,so it will get a good work out

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Nice trip, thanks for sharing. Sako looks a pretty solid dog, plenty of muscle for a Vizsla

@chainsaw Thanks ,Yeh l waited 2 litters to take the pick off a mates dog,we have over 200Ha on the Farm for the dogs to exercise so they get a fair work out every day ,as they get ran next to me while l am on Horse back checking fences or get spells running with the SXS or ute .

During winter l have always done pre Alpine Hunt training & same with Roar running with weights & the missus made up doggy training coats out of old Swannies, that carry up to 4kg of weight in the pockets & the hounds run /spend time with me working in the paddocks carrying them to build muscle & condition for the hard yards while hunting .It is a old trick my Old Man who was a renowned Farm & Hunting dog Trainer & Breeder use to do & they are fed on his old home made "Hard Yards" Dog Tucker, basically a Old School Rabbit & Beef,Venison off cut, Farm House Vegetable Stew with added vitamins for the hounds ,it always keeps them in good condition & coats in good Knick & we are lucky in that our Farm is surrounded by prime hunting country ,so we are deer hunting at least once a week ,mostly at least twice, as l have supplied local charities with Venison for over a decade now & just signed on to a new agreement with another charitable group in the run up to Xmas .

Originally Posted by Sideshow

Cool story @bunji how are you finding the AI I’m looking at a .280 here with the idea of when the barrel is shot out step up to AI.

Trouble is the 7x57 is shooting like a trooper…..she’s a heavy sucker though

@Sideshow ,I have always liked the 280AI for Kiwi Hunting ,l just had my latest build finished for the Roar in 284W & it was a close call between the 2 as to what it would be, as it turned out with being left a mates hunting rifles by surprise, including his 280AI l was lucky l went with the 284W.

It really does suit a light all round Kiwi Hunting build, as even though it is getting up near 7mm Rem Mag territory , but has way less muzzle blast and recoil .From hunting with one before l have a couple of great hunting loads that are really mild to shoot in the field ,that l have taken a lot of game with . As well as the mentioned Barnes 150gn TTSX load l used on this hunt ,the Barnes 120gn TTSX doing just over 3300fps absolutely smashes Goats ,small pigs, Fallow & Red Snack Packs & the Hornady 140gn GMX doing just under 3200 fps is one of the best all round Kiwi Hunting loads l have ever used, capable of taking anything that walks here & shoots 3 shot groups into 12mm with this rifle ,l will be hunting with this load tomorrow as we want a couple of whole, head shot deer for cooking on the spit .

I am old enough to remember back when the 280AI, was the Creedmore of its day & a lot of 7x57 rifles were rechambered for the.280AI as it is a quick & easy job,that was offered cheap back then as a means to keep the Gunsmiths in work .

@Sideshow Why l like the Barnes offerings, particularly for these types of Calibers that perform in the field way above their fighting weights.

Mates are taking a couple of Deer from the Chiller home with them after they had been hung for a week ,we were just cutting them up to fit in their Chilly Bins & found the bullet out of my 284W load ,the 140gn Barnes that was doing just under 3000fps was buried in the bone of the Off Shoulder after smashing the on side ,showing why l like the Barnes bullets so much for a lot of my hunting, this was hit at 284 mtrs & was standing just inside the bush line, where l had to wait for the shot to be offered from amongst the branches as it mooched along feeding.