So today was the last day for my Lill Bro at the Bach & he heads back to reality in the morning ,so l gave him the option ,as he is a keen & pretty good Diver, we could take my Dive boat out wide & put a big day in the Deep Blu Supermarket ,Spear Fishing or we could go & hunt in the Jet Boat a bit further afield than we had taken him the last few times hunting .
He has always been a keen Pig hunter & with Lock Downs has not been out pigging for a couple of years ,so after hearing my mates talking about the good size Boar they missed a few days back he decided he wanted to try for a good size pig ,in the thick stuff .
I gave him a lend of my Rem Mod 7 in 308 & as we had shot a couple of old 90's deer farm escapee's , Wap /Red X's, in the hidden valley/ gullies where we would be hunting ,which even the Does were really solid lumps ,so we would all be using loads for bigger bodied Deer & Pigs just in case .
While l would normally choose a Snack Pack size Red over a WapX for eating ,as one of my dogs Muttley had only just turned 1 & was excelling at scenting & finding Deer ,l wanted to make sure he had as much reinforcement of his growing ability as possible ,so the instructions was anything he puts us on was to be taken .
Lill Bro would be using my favorite Roar load for our 308 Bush Pig's, of the Barnes 150gn TSX BT doing a bit over 2700fps, a proven load on big pigs & Stags all pumped up & running in on you , in the thick stuff ,but still able to reach out to 400 if needed.
The missus was keen to get another nice fat Red for the Chiller for our Sausage making fest coming up back at the Farm & wanted a go using my custom 284W, loaded with140gn Barnes-X pushed along to just over 3000fps . I would be carrying the "new to me" Rem MR 280 AI , with the most accurate load l had worked up for it 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. I was keen to shoot a good meat animal & have a crack at doing another whole stuffed Venison on a Spit again ,as the one my mates did for our party was fantastic & a game changer on thinking about feeding a large Mob ,that is really set & forget once you have prepped properly ,as the stuffing bastes it from the inside out .
Whole Stuffed Deer On Spit
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So mates who stayed for a Dive ,Feed & few Drinks last night, had to be up at 4.30 am ,to head back to reality ,so while they were getting organized to take off, we cooked up a feed of Smoked Venison, Bacon & eggs for the mob & then set about loading up our Jet Boat & tested to make the light Bars all worked & loaded the gear & hounds & headed off into the Pre Dawn drizzle & low cloud .We had to be back at the Bach in the early Arvo for the Lill Bro to start packing his family up ,so we just took a few packs of our Home Made Venison Jerky ,Biltong ,Pastrami & Smoked Game Sausage's to fill the gap on the hills.
IMO a good Vak Pak machine is a handy bit of Kitt for the mobile Hunter as it means you can just throw sealed Packs of quality food in your pack or Chilly bin for ready eats ,we even just use the Vak Pak itself as plates to eat off, saving any extra weight, rubbish & quick & easy .
Home Made Venison Pastrami Grab Packs
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Home Made Biltong Grab Packs
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We launched the Jet in light drizzle & a chilly false dawn, breeze & the dogs quickly claimed the Engine hatch for warmth & we all wore ear muffs over our Elecky Ear plugs as the spray from the river stung as it hit you, once again it was comforting to have Lill Bro along as it meant l could push the Jet to the limits while exploring some tight water & have him along to help lift/cut the Jet out of a SNAFU.
I let the crew know l was just going to run flat out under lights as l knew the river well now & the extra Light Bar l pinched off the Land Cruiser was doing a good job & stopping & starting was only going to prolong the ice facials. l also wanted to check out some different hunting areas up a lot higher in the creeks.
Jet Boat Exploring likely spots
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After a exhilarating run & a few laughs bouncing over river Pebble Bars,we reached a area l wanted to check out before the sun got up over the hills & the pigs would be looking to have a feed & warm up in a sunny patch.Lill Bro & the Missus were keen as mustard, so grabbed Sako to head off & check out a little lush green gully we had just pasted ,l wanted to check out up a little feeder creek & rock bar where l reckon the Deer would be crossing after a night time feed in the old " Greener pastures always on the other side " . I had Muttley the pup with me as l wanted to steady him a bit while scenting ,without a crowd around him ,bugger me no sooner had l shown the pup some good fresh sign & gave a good Pep talk on what a good job we were doing as a team ,the nose was working overtime & lead straight to a splash of fresh deer crap & piss on the rocky river bank.
Muttley immediately went into what l call Slowly ,Slowly ,Catch A Monkey mode ,with the body tensed up & taking a age to move each foot as they are creeping forward . Bugger me next minute Sako comes bounding up ,with the missus running after ,as she had came back to get her rain jacket to ward of the patches of drizzle .So l thought l will make this into a training lesson for Sako as well & got the missus to make Sako heal & sit at her side quietly while l got Muttley back on the job.
Sure enough as soon as we were tracking properly again after about 30mtrs of Slowly ,Slowly ,Catch A Monkey mode ,Muttley locked on & raised the tail up like a quivering flag pole ,a sure sign Muttley knew a deer was close ,so l had Muttley stop & l slowly creeped past with the rifle up, (I never shoot over my dogs & have them trained by hand signal to stop on the spot ) ,1/2 a dozen steps past Muttley a nice Doe bust out of the thick river side Bush & headed for the other side of the river ,it made the fatal mistake of doing the old just one last look back, as it reached the other bank & offered a difficult shot for me , in that only its head & couple of inches of neck were visible in the Scope ,over the top of the river stone piles, but the light colored river stones on the other bank silhouetted its head perfectly & meant even in the gloom its head stood out clearly ,so l took the shot.
There was a satisfying Womp & the deer reared up on its back legs with its front legs stretched straight out in front of it like Superman & it tipped perfectly backwards into the river, disappearing from our sight .Unbeknown to me the missus had just dug her camera out of her pack & got a great action shot of the Deer reared up at the hit , she gave a Yahoo loud enough to echo through the river valley & after celebration hug ,us & the dogs all ran over & there was the Deer doing what l now call a " Been Nath'd " in honor of the bloke off the forum who apparently carries a mask & snorkel in his hunting pack ,the good bugger @ Nathan F , whose ears would have been burning this morning as l waded in to drag the deer out of the water :P .
Head Shot Up & Over
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I Blame @ Nathan F :P
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Lill Bro of course only reached up once l had got the nuts wet so we did dealt with the carcass quickly ,threw it into the back of the Jet & head up stream to a promising spot on the Toppo maps 1/2 hour upstream ,this time Lill Bro headed down stream looking for pig sign & l just carried a rifle as back up to the missus & was testing Muttley at heal while Sako got to lead the hunt, a hour in l was very pleased with how Muttley was calm & settled while we watched the missus & Sako hunt . As we entered a lush little washed out gully, Sako went into Slowly ,Slowly ,Catch A Monkey mode & 30mtrs on locked on to a deer ,sure enough up ahead up on a rise from a rock slide , was a nice Doe slowly feeding head down for 2 steps & then head up on a swivel . I made Muttley sit & stay & l got the camera ready & told the missus to give Sako the hand signal to hold & walk up & take the shot , l was pretty proud she weighed up the shot options & decided to drop & get a better steady position to shoot, over her knees , the 284W boomed up & down the gully & the Barnes did its job & the deer just melted into the ground ,this time we both let out a Yahoo echoing down the river .
Sako Locked On To A Deer ,you can see deer up hill / left
Attachment 188457
Sako taking the hand signal to Hold & Stay for the hunter to step past & shoot & giving the Old Wish l had thumbs so l could shoot look .:P
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Barnes Cricket Ball Exit
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So after a rocky carry back to the boat with both dogs trying to see who could make us laugh loudest with their nut job antics ,we loaded up the Jet & took off down stream to where the big Boar had been seen ,to see if we could get Lill Bro onto one .The little damp creek bed we had found good pig sign in last time was not far from the only decent place to moor up the Jet Boat in the fast flowing water of this little feeder creek, so l idled it in & we had a feed of Pastrami & cheese sandwich & some Biltong & a cuppa from the thermos while we waited for the sun to get up from behind the hills & burn through the clouds ,giving any pigs a perfect excuse to have a little sun bake on a full belly after last nights feed.
About a hour later we had pushed through the thick scrub into the valley we wanted to hunt, l got everyone to look for some fresh diggings so l could get the Hounds clued into what we wanted them to hunt this time .
Lill Bro soon found a tree that had blown over & the pigs had been ploughing the root ball up looking for grubs, after getting the dogs switched on to what smell they needed to follow .Muttley led the way & 1/2 hour later we found a series of Boar tusk marked tree butts & had sighted a Sow making its way to a thick patch of tangled Bush, reed & vine in the bed of a creek wash out ,sure enough both dogs locked on & propped to a halt ,l trusted them totally that a pig or pigs was holding in the thick knob of scrub ahead .
I got the missus to stay with the dogs & lead my brother to what l hoped was a good spot to see into the bush & get a good shooting position ,as l crept up from behind a tree ,what l first thought was a log ,suddenly flicked a ear & through a gap in materialized into a solid pig laying down having a snooze ,l crept back to my Lill Bro & after checking the wind what seemed 20 times ,l got him a bit higher up for a clear shot at around 140mtrs & where he had a solid rest on a stump . Boom & the pig just rolled over dead the Barnes leaving what we call a " Cricket Ball " exit wound ,something the Barnes do often if you smack bone with them as designed .
So another shout & round of back slapping went around & the dogs were just as excited as us ,but not so much licking of the carcass as they usually do with Deer .
So all in another great hunt with the Jet Boats able to get us up to where humans rarely go & in to good fresh hunting grounds .Lill Bro was wrapped to end his break with us at the Bach with a good hunt & it was great sharing Diving & Hunting time in the field with him again after the Lock Downs kept us apart for so long
Lill Bro's Pig
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Lill Bro's Pig Cricket Ball Exit wound
Attachment 188460
