Thread: Trials and tribulations

Well have been away hunting this last weekend as I was hoping to put another meat animal in the freezer before the roar where I'll likely have a break till things settle down again.
With our block booked I set off for a leisurely afternoon hunt, driving my truck to a point then walking up to a spot x I have seen a few deers on in recent times.
It should be said I've yet to drop a deer on this particular spot but not for a lack of trying I've had a couple of misses which I am now putting down to awkward shot position, sitting on a steep hillside covered in very long tussock which means my usual prone shooting position is impossible.
I've tried shooting off shooting stix with no success missing a deer at 340 yards about 3 weeks ago and then another at 200 yards in the last 2 weeks
I just can't get the nack of shooting off those rotten sticks have been back to the range to confirm the rifle is on target which it was.
Anyway figured I'd try shooting off the top of my tatonka bison pack instead
Parked up at spot x and waiting for the deer to turn up but the wind was quite squirly and shifting about which was less than ideal.
After an hour a couple of mates turned up as I'd arranged to meet them up there.
We discussed the wind and agreed it was probably in our best interest to move on to a more sheltered spot.
Whilst waiting for my mates to turn up I had spied a red feeding out on a spot I've harvested a few deer on, but its a bit unpleasant to recover animals from with a big steep side hill through thick monkey scrub and a couple creeks that eventually opens out onto a big patch of chest high gorse.....that's my chest height @Ryan_Songhurst so would be over your head
Anyway I mentioned the deer to my mates and suggested it was getting a bit late for a shitty recovery but undeterred they said we should go and get it.
It was a good 1000yards from where we had set up but we could jump in the truck and get to within 300 yards pretty easily so off we headed.
Parked up behind a ridge crept up to see if the deer was still there and she was, not a big animal she looked to be a yearling hind.
I was still having second thoughts about shooting her because of where she was and it being quite late in the day, but I'm not one to pass up a sure thing.
Again the long tussock was a problem and there was no way to take a prone shot
I set my pack up in front of me ranged the deer and she was 240 yards away (remember this part for later), she was aware something was up and stopped feeding to look over in our direction for a good few minutes.....we sat completely still not daring to move knowing we were well obscured by the cursed tussock.
Finally she went about feeding again so I waited for what seemed an eternity for her to present a broadside shot.
She finally obliged and a let the 270WSM do the buisness but I had foofed it (shooting off the top of my pack was only marginally better than the stix) and hit her low in the front right leg, I quickly chambered another round and put one in the boiler room tipping her over on the spot......bugger now I knew what lay ahead
We grabbed head torches and emptied packs before setting off to battle dense vegetation and steep slippery slips knowing time was of the essence and wanting to get to the deer before we lost light completely, whilst she had tipped over she had rolled a couple times like a rag doll down into the dreded gorse patch that dominated most of the opposing face she was on.
So after about 30 minutes of swearing and pushing through the undergrowth we pushed out onto a clearing just above the gorse patch we quickly oriented ourselves to a landmark we knew the deer wouldn't be far from and sure enough we found blood, the light was already starting to fade so we wasted no time pushing down into the gorse following the blood and sure enough we found a big puddle of blood and then the un mistakable scent of deer, she cant be far away we thought. The gorse was almost impenetrable but we pushed on down and then just barely visible was the back leg and arse of a deer.
It was a very steep face with nowhere really suitable for butchering duties so I held onto the deer whilst my mate set about removing limbs and passing them up to me to bag up.
Working by head torch as it was now completely dark we were well aware we weren't alone on that steep shitty gorse face and in reasonable close proximity we could hear squealing and grunting of numerous unseen pigs, occasionally you could hear the gorse russle as they went about doing whatever they were up to, neither me or my mate said it but we were both a little uneasy knowing the pigs could literally be right next to us in the gorse and you wouldn't know it.
Butchering completed we beat a hasty retreat back across the clearing through the monkey scrub and back to the truck.
Well the next day I had a sleep in and had planned another afternoon hunt with my Dad to try and find a slightly easier deer but mother nature had other plans and it hosed down from mid afternoon and all through that night so we spent the afternoon breaking down the deer that was retrieved the previous night.
Plan was hatched to go out for a morning hunt with my Dad the following day as the weather was predicted to improve overnight.
Up at the crack of dawn, picked up my Dad and got up to our glassing possie and as a matter of course even if I know an area I like to get out my rage finder and just range a few landmarks for reference...... (remember what I said earlier) I went to grab my range finder out of my bino bivvy only to discover it wasn't there, fuck !!!!! checked my pack, nope not there fuck !!!! hot footed it back to where I'd parked the truck and emptied the truck out searching for it fuck !!!!! I already had a sinking feeling I had left it in the long tussock 2 days earlier when I had ranged the yearling. Well only one thing for it, packed up the truck drove back up to where I had shot the yearling 2 days earlier and was immediately aware that finding my range finder in tussock nearly 2 foot high was gonna be a big ask but never the less me and Dad dutifully grid searched for about 35 minutes before calling it a vain effort.
I drove back to town to borrow a metal detector then returned to the block with a bit more confidence.
Parked up the truck and whilst I was setting up the metal detector my Dad who is half blind takes a dozen steps bends down and picks up my range finder before I had even managed to to turn the metal detector on, fuck I was relieved you wouldn't bloody read about it !
I was even more relieved as whilst we were in town picking up the metal detector I checked online for replacement cost of my leica 2000b and was immediately sick when I saw the current retail of $1328.00 can't remember what I paid for it but it was considerably less than that as I bought it off a mate who had upgraded to the 2500b.
So there you have my latest tale of woe and trials and tribulations all up happy with a tasty yearling but it nearly ended up being a bloody expensive bit of venni

Sorry no deer pics in this story it wasn't really the spot for taking pics with the time crunch and steep conditions, but I have now tethered my range finder to my bino harness to avoid ever leaving it behind again.

The cursed tussock I lost my range finder in



The eureka moment of finding it....and yes even after being out in the weather weather and pouring rain it still works perfectly



The solution, now safely tethered to my bino bivy.




Ironically on my way out of the block to pick up the metal detector I spied a deer at approximately 600 yards away it was a spiker and likely I could have cut the distance to 300 yards fairly safely, but without a range finder I wasn't willing to leave it up to guess work as undulating ground can really be tricky to guess ranges on.

Lucky you didn't find it with the wheels on your truck.....

Originally Posted by 223nut

Lucky you didn't find it with the wheels on your truck.....

Very very lucky wouldn't have missed it by much

Lucky find indeed.

alls well that ends well Mate.... good writeup.

I usually have a length of pink flagging tape tied to all my gadgets.

Easier to spot things when out of pack, and put back in when done... less likely to go MIA.

Actual picture of @dannyb (right) and normal 6ft person hunting