Thread: Your best hunting trip/outting

Mmmm... hard to pick out a single great trip – so many over the decades! A few come to mind..

Out bunny shooting on back of farm with dad, and up pops a bunny 20m away. Dad says 'here boy – try this one'. I step up, 22 way too heavy so he puts his arm out for me to rest on, and bang, flop, dead rabbit. He laughs, and 6 year old mudz, eyes wide open, shoots first game animal. 65 years ago.... Lithgow model 12 bolt action. 22LR.

Few years later and walking bushline on friend's farm when I see movement, I look and good size pig walking up hill to me 75m away. Up comes the rifle and boom, down he goes. My first big animal. Winchester 94 30-30.

Out deerstalking during roar with old man in bush near Benneydale. Old man and I climb a knoll and sit on top, listening. He's sitting on my left a few yards, looking through scope down gulley in front where some hinds are barking. I look left also and a big red stag steps up onto top of next knoll about 80 meters away. Just stands there. I can't shoot with old man's head below muzzle between me and deer. I watch him and he watches me, standing silhouetted against the sky and the distant farmland. Absolutely beautiful. After a few moments he quietly he turns away and disappears down into bush. Remington 600 in 243 unused. No... it ain't always about the kill.

Team shoot that included a loudmouth Canadian fella. We're after goats for meat and must shoot them in head or neck. He's got some huge expensive US cannon worth heaps, and oh no teenage mudz gets paired with him. He talks all way to shoot, and while we're wandering paddocks/bushline he's still telling me how its done. The man's a windbag. We come on a mob of goats on hillside opposite at about 150m. He stands there and immediately opens up a barrage on opposite hillface – dirt flying everywhere – and confused goats. I go to ground, take a few seconds and drop 6 of them - 5 thru neck and 1 in head. He's used mag after mag and when we get to hillface – which looks ploughed by now - he's gut shot one lone goat. The other boys arrive to pick up goats and having heard all his gunshots they ask what happened. Huge laughter – then sniggers and chuckles all the way home. Canadian fella never said another word... Memorable Remington 600 in 243.

Fast forward 30 years – shooting bunnies in North Canterbury. Boys pop 1000 rabbits in 6 hours, and do it again week or two later... stuff of legends. Evening in rimfire heaven looks like this:



Another evening walked down to small paddock at bottom of hill in pic below, and popped 105 rabbits in the undulating scrubby ground in 95 minutes. Norinco JW15 22LR chopped/tuned. Gadgetman shot our record 100 in 43 minutes bit further along valley. Marlin 980 22 bolt action.



Son does his years learning with us, gets his firearms licence at 16 and does first evening shoot alone. 172 bunnies, a ton of chocolate and grin a mile wide. Very special memory. Superb Marlin model 60DL – lethal little sniper.




Amazing memories – and so many more. Enough!