Dreading the heat more than an early start, a mate and I were out the door at 3:30am ready for a day of pre-roar recon and bush stalking.
We reached the bush at 6 and were creeping into a clearing by 6:30, the thick dry leaf litter had us well announced. The clearing looked to be well used but nothing much in the way of hot sign; a fine place to set up a trail cam nonetheless. We continued into the breeze leading us into open bush, crunching underfoot relentlessly. Thinking our efforts were hopeless we sat for 5 minutes to hatch a plan. After a little time had passed we heard movement, sticks snapping and leaves brushing. Out of sight there seemed to be 2-3 deer moving around us slowly making their way further away, so we put a stalk on.
It was a rustling game of checkers until finally a hind broke out and hopped between the trees before I could get a shot lined up, we decided it was time to ditch the boots and if the same thing happened i would let a call out to grab the deers attention.
After another 3-4 hours of slow meandering we came to a creek with a light breeze rolling upstream and all of a sudden another hind bolted seemingly from nowhere, my mate whispered "it's still down there" just as it barked, startled i let out a loud mew and she stopped just in sight a good 60 meters downhill. I crouched down, rested the rifle on my knee and lined up her front shoulder.
She dropped on the spot and the days work had paid off. The butchering made for sweaty work but it was a bloody good day, my 5th deer (first for the new rifle) and my mates first hunt so high spirits all around.
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