Thread: Weekend Walk - Spring is here

Having to do a mad rush on Friday night to pick up the ute after having the engine repaired meant we were late getting away and it was just after dark by the time we reached camp, The weather was mint, warm and calm, we had already seen 6 deer on the drive in various farmers paddocks and it seemed the deer were out enjoying the weather and the lush spring growth.
It was just after light broke the horizon , Dave was the first to start scanning the bush edge with his binos soon calling he had spotted animals , two hinds and yearlings were out taking in a last few mouthfuls before retreating back into the scrub cover . After a quick coffee we started climbing to the bush edge to glass more country, on the way up we spot a lone stag feeding along a face about 900m away, by the looks of him he was sporting a good solid rack for this time of year and I’m sure he was a 12, but was safe as we weren’t shooting velvet stags, another hind and yearling were feeding in a gut further round.

We made the top look out with abit of heavy breathing. It was only 6.30am and the temp was already hot, two small stags were spotted feeding across the face where the 4 deer were first thing and we watched as a 6pt bucked around trying to clear some foliage that was wrapped around his antlers, I rang my mate to fill him in on the trip he was missing, not sure if it was the fact he was stuck at home or that I had woken him up that he was pissed at  .
Along the ridge track we spy a spiker feeding the bush edge and the plan was hatched to sneak in abit closed and get Dave a shot to check out the new hand load performance , unfortunately even though he was looking into the rising sun he still spotted us and moved off over the ridge , not been too spooked we followed and he was soon spotted feeding into some scrub in a creek below us , we sat for ages keeping an eye out for him to reappear but either he had bedded down or snuck away without us seeing we decided to leave him and return in the afternoon for a second look.

We returned to camp for a break from the heat and soon were dozing away, only to be woken by the sound of rain on the plastic roof. About 4 we again climbed to the bush edge but this time we were greeted by a cold southerly and bands of rain blowing across so decided to drop down to another lookout and watch a clearing in the valley , it was a lot more sheltered and the sign was good . Soon we glassed a hind bedded down in some scrub 350m across the valley and it was decided that she was coming home for Xmas, Dave settled in and soon had her on the deck. After retrieving her the wind had dropped and we again climbed to the top, two spikers were spotted in the same area as the morning one and we made the move to get in closer before dark, unfortunately they must have caught out scent and made a retreat leaving us the long walk back to camp.

The next day was like we were in a different world , the weather was cold and damp and not a deer was seen for the morning so we were happy to pack up and head for home , We will return in a month to chase a few more around and hopefully catch up with the big boy.

sorry about the quality of the photos , distance was abit much