I will kick it off.
I was out this morning looking for a deer very early with the thermal imager on private land.
It was cold, foggy and the grass was bloody wet.
I saw a rat walk along the top plain wire of the farm fence for about 50m
Can only assume it was way quicker and a whole lot dryer than going along the ground !
The things you see out hunting
This goes back to a conversation in a thread the other day but was out early in the week and saw a group of wallabies very far from wallaby country
chinese pheasant in the fern up in red deer country a couple of hundred meters into the beech at least 1km from any houses....couldnt work out WHF this red n yellow thing was that kept bobbing up n down.
We were hunting Reindeer on a mountain plateu and saw a cow Moose and Calf.
Which is a bit like seeing a Thar on the Coromandle for example
A few years back was the Ureweras was sitting and having a cuppa. Noticed an old Gin trap. One of the jaws was missing
Had to cut the chain and staples out of the tree to bring it home
years ago walking the track towards the cascade (had come from over the tikitiki) and there was this old guy ,long grey hair and beard packing up his camp ....not odd or unusual except that it was mid april it was cold and he had bare feet and was wearing a blue dress.......(must have been a south islanderr).......mate saw him later in the day heading up the te iringi towards clements.
Anyone know what happened to the old guy (also with long grey hair and beard, and walked everywhere in bare feet) that used to live in the Craigs hut area of the Ruahine's (Makaroro River). Last time I saw him was the early-mid 90's. He was possuming (among other things) and had a biv off Yeomans track. When I stayed at the hut he had a young pet possum that he 'sedated' with a handful of weed :D
A few years ago I was sitting near a clearing that had a few old bleached white bones on it from a previous kill. A spiker strolled on to it and started poking around, he picked up one of the bones in his mouth and then he spotted me and just stood there with it hanging out of the side of his mouth like a cigarette. What a bloody crack up silly looking pose it was, I tried to get my camera out in time but he buggered off. I've seen a few casts with the tips chewed for calcium before, bones are a supplement too it would seem.
This was the best laugh I've had in the bush with animals.
Mate spotted a young scrubby stag and spiker, so I shot the stag and the silly spiker trotted off a few yards and just stared at us whilst we roared, mewed and stood up in plain view. The silly bugger just stood there, got to within 50yds of him. Must never have seen or scented a human before, never had that happen was hard case.
Osteophagia... As a guide in South Africa, I had a hard time with a group of tourists. They thought all the large mammals were carnivores and giraffe were at the top of that list. It didn't help when we saw a giraffe with knees bent like they do when drinking, except it was chewing on an antelope carcass, killed the week before by a pack of African wild dogs... Apparently it's an easy source of phosphorous and mainly herbivores will do it. Needless to say, they never believed another word I said after that, and there was no tip at the end if their week-long stay either.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mathias
Standing in what was clearly human shit in the middle of absolutely nowhere.
Then finding the t.p about 30m away :sick:
There was a good size hind standing under a small tree, mate and I thought it would be good to shoot her. My mate was all lined up to pull the trigger and I noticed something strange about it, she kept turning to lick her arse, turned out she was in the process of giving birth so tapped him on the shoulder in the nick of time.
I was out in a spot a good walk from even a track and came across an empty brief case
Undies. Why are there always random gruts in strange places. Or single shoes/boots.
Driving down the race past the neighbours deer paddock on a block I hunt in Auckland I saw a white spotty fallow buck with a shit head trotting the fence line until he saw us then ran off to the manuka. We continued on and checked out some gullys a good 8/900m further along with no luck so sitting down I let out some fallow calls and waited for a bit but again nothing so we stood up and turned to walk down to the truck only to see a head on the skyline watching us from the trucks direction! The same shitty little buck had obviously made his way up the farm to this end for some reason and must have heard our calls. Ended up with us caught out in the open standing next to each other with no chance of a safe shot so we hit the deck and I crawled on my stomach sideways to change the angle and shoot towards a hill. All the meanwhile he was cutting around watching us. Never seen a deer act like that or heard of one doing that in such open ground and people in clear site. He would have been within 50/60m of us the whole time while this was going on
I saw what looked like a schnauzer up in a big clearing at galatea. Was wild as, as soon as it saw me it took off before I could shoot it.
I thought I was looking at someones Visla for about 2 minutes through a tiny gap in shitty bush.Quote:
Originally Posted by Russian 22.
Finally got closer and realized I was watching a fawn just chilling. Way the light was cutting through canopy it made it look the same colour.
Still, was very nice to see.
Edit, not unusual for me to see fawns from time to time but this one had me convinced I was looking at a dog.
Attachment 109691
Foot of Block XVI track, Tauherenikau Valley
This weekend I was hunting near the Waipaki river and I had chosen a high point to spot any potential deer passing by.
The valley was so full of people that there was no deer to be seen. I still managed to see a couple of hare.
Any way, as I packed up and took a last look, I saw that group of two young lads and a girl. One of the boys had a fully wooded lee Enfield open sight and the other one a sporterised lee Enfield with a scope. I took a couple of pictures through my binocular because it is not that common to see a hunter with fully wood 303. One of the picture shows the girl with her thumb and index spread as if she was discrbing something small... to the two lads :-)
Attachment 109692
This was through some low ferns. It was stalking some piglets. But didn't sneak along like a cat. Reasonably quiet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Preacher
We were in the same area. We even saw the same pretty girl. And good looking 303.Quote:
Originally Posted by Friwi
It had a very light colours wood stock. A number 4 mk 3
When we got there there were so many people the cars were parked down the road.
Was walking up a steep ridge right in back of nowhere and sat down for a rest . Something sharp dug in my arse . On investigation was a full metal 303 projectile . Was quite cool to think I had traced footsteps of hunter maybe 50 yrs earlier ? & was it a hit or a miss ?
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Wisconsin deer opener early 1960's, my dad and I were a long way back on an old abandoned logging road fairly thick knee high brush in the track. We ran into a pretty young lady all dressed for a party passing out business cards for a bar in the local town. She said she just wanders around passing out cards. You have to realize that opening day in Wisconsin there are 500,000 deer hunters in the wood although not many that far off the road. I always wondered what she would have been offering if my dad wouldn't have had his 13 yr old son with him.
A number of traps hanging in trees.
An old abandoned log cabin, not much more than a square of rotted down logs. There was heap of empty pocket sized Prince Albert tobacco tins that was at least 4 feet high.
A 12ft wooden boat on a beaver pond at least a couple miles from the nearest road, most have been some pretty fair fishing to drag a boat by hand that far.
What looked to be a grave again very far from a road , the pick and shovel were in the hole with a sheet of plywood over it. We left a note with a dime in it and asked for a phone call to let us know what the diggings were for, we checked every year for at least 10 year and it was never disturbed again.
Attachment 109699 hard to see in the photo but it's a smoker/cooker carved into a cliff. Bottom chamber for the wood dug about 300mm into the cliff the a 100mm diameter hole in the roof of it through to the top chamber for meat around 150 high. Just off whirinaki river down from Okui hut I think it's called. Next time I'm there I'll make use of it
An older gentleman I hunted with for many years once hunting on his own in remote Otago sat on a ridge to have his lunch. Sitting on the ground he noticed a sharp tip sticking out of the ground. Reaching down he picked up a greenstone adze about 6 inches in length in perfect condition. One wonders under what circumstances it found it way there, and who used and carried it those many years ago.
I was hunting alone in the kaikouras years ago.
Saw a handy hind a couple of hundred meters up from the creek.
Headed up to get a shot and she lead me further and further up.
Finally got a shot away and dropped her cleanly.
Making my way over to her and flushed a decent sized boar.
Shot him with a running shot in the edge of the scree.
Great morning except I had forgotten to fill my drink bottle when I left the creek.
And time flies when you are having fun.
Sidled across and butchered the hind first.
Got down to the boat and it's getting bloody hot and I'm getting bloody thirsty .
Dragged the boat into the shade against a cliff face and started to break him down.
Look across only 2 meters and there is a 750mil pump water bottle full of water just sitting there !!
Tentatively tried it and sweet as.
What's the chance of finding a random list full water bottle in a place like that when you have mucked up and not filled your own !!
True story
Hunting tahr in South Westland in 2009 and about 10 hours solid walk from the road end.
A mate and I were making our way up a scary steep creek into the tops above a impenetrable bush.
Stopped for a drink and a quick break and looked down and in a crack in the rocks was a girdle anodized aluminum whistle .
I gave it a quick test and it was pretty loud.
So I tied it on to my emergency gear pouch and it just became part of my gear after that.
Then in 2015 I had a big fall in South Westland in the mate with me climbed to the ridge top with the PLB so the helicopter could find us in the fog.
Max and I could only communicate via whistle for a couple of hours while waiting for the rescuers.
So my found whistle got blown every 10 minutes as per our plan until the cavalry arrived
Autumn 2011, outback Western Australia. We'd driven east along the Trans Access railway road for a full day, deep into the Nullarbor, looking for camels. Once we hit the station boundary, we took off north along the fenceline heading for a spot we knew, to set up camp, cook some wors in a firepit and drink a few cold ones.
Was sitting on top of the truck glassing with the binos about an hour before dusk. I could see something springing up and down in the long grass, couple of hundred away. Set up the spotting scope on the roof... it was a large feral cat. It would spring high up in the air, and land, disappearing from view in the grass. Knowing we would never get close to, we set up the T3 Super Varmint .223 on the roof rack, with an uncomfortable but do-able prone position thanks to a self inflating mattress and a few pillows. After all this effort the cat had disappeared.
After a frustrating wait, suddenly... spring! It was back in business, now only 150m away. Steve, who is much shorter and better "padded" than me, fitted into the roof rack prone position far more comfortably. He set up on the cat's position, tracking it on 24x mag, as it slowly moved in the grass. I had it in the spotting scope on high magnification, clear as day, could see the tip of its tail twitching in the evening light. After an age of tense waiting, the cat stopped, paused... wait for it... spring! Just as it reached the top of its jump, Steve let one go, aiming just above the top of the grass. The 75gr A-Max hit the cat amidships in midair, red misting it in a halo of goop against the orange sky.
Cue mirth and celebration and big smiles all round.
We never did see any camels on that trip.
This one was not out hunting but only because we had other plans that day. We had ben hunting there before....
Many years ago in about the early 90s (More than I car to count) we were riding our trail bikes up fire breaks and generally having fun. we got to a steep dead end fire break (We knew the area pretty well) and knew it was a bit more challenging toward the top were the skid site was and a good spot to stop for a leg stretch. About 1/2 way up the break we got to a group from the local 4wd club. they were having a great time. Winches were out, ropes and chains were tied to trees and land anchors and they were generally enjoying tying to get stuck and unstuck as they climbed this dead end track. We zipped past (as you do one trailies) and got to the top for our breather. And there was a sight to greet us that will stay with us for ever.......There was a local pig hunter just getting back to his vehicle with his dog and a pig. He was loading it into the back of his vehicle and was about to head back down the track to head home. It was his vehicle that caused the laughter. And to this day I wish I could have seen the faces of the 4wd club as he passed by on the way down. He ad to go pas them the way he had come in as it was (as mentioned) a one way deal. There he was departing in his 20+ year old HILLMAN HUNTER sedan as he toodled off home happy with his morning.......
These guys were driving "proper 4wds" and here was a HILLMAN HUNTER having "been there, done that"......
For those too young to remember them ( probably anyone under 35?) this is what they looked like...
Attachment 110068Attachment 110069
Nice shooting would have looked spectacular
Did my first fly in trip into the Ruahines back in 1990 not long after finishing school.
We were at the highest area of the Ruahines and hunting the tops and came across a large patch of snow. Sticking right up in the middle of that snow was a used tampon...with one set of boot prints going in.
I once had a drag race against a work colleague in his Hillman Hunter. It had a 1700cc motor, extractors and twin-throat webber carbs so was pretty fast. He was convinced he couldn't be beaten. I took him on in my ol' mans brand new 1985 Honda Accord which was a stock standard 1600cc. It was neck and neck for the first bit but I beat him in the last few hundred meters down Boundary Road in Papakura. The race was stopped by the need to brake for the S-bends before we hit the railway lines. We started on the straight at the gorge end heading towards town. No idea what speed we were doing when we got to the point of braking... i was just holding on for all I was worth. I think having 5th gear made the difference... the Hunter would have been screaming.Quote:
Originally Posted by timattalon
But I digress... back to Hunting stories.
Waiting for some ducks tonight and blow me down, a white swan comes swimming cooly down the creek past me and snuggles up to one of my goose decoys. :) Did'nt shoot it of course.
Well you cant once it is on the water beside the goose decoy.....:thumbsup:Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody
I saw it ladt year also. Has a tiny black feather on left cheek and the bill is pale yellow,not red. Might be an albino swan. There is also an old hen swan that nests every year in our swamp. Sometimes we see her flying with one other. Have never tried to shoot her or her mate. Just regard them ad resident old friends :)
And the buggers just kept on going
Was once out hunting goats with a mate whose a careful but not so confident shot.
He was lying down shooting off a bipod laying into some goats 10 or 20 m away, when a nanny popped up onto the road just in front of him.
He looked at the goat and the goat looked at him and it made a run for it towards us - jumped right over the top of my mate !
He was lucky to escape with his virtue intact .
Was out with one guy and he was telling me of what happened last time. He had his rifle all set braced on a log and about to shoot at a pig some 200m away in a clearing. Just as he fires the scope goes completely black and after the shot the pig is still standing there. He reloads and drops the pig as though it had not heard the first shot. He stands up and looks down at the rifle and about a foot in front of the muzzle is a black goat in pieces strewn about in front of him. It appears that just as he was about to take the shot, a black goat that had been lying asleep in front of the log decided to stand up and check out the clicking noises on the other side of the log. .......My mate guesses that the reason the pig was not startled was because the goat took the whole force, muzzle blast and all much like sticking a pillow over the muzzle.
haha goats are the unwitting butt of so many hunting jokesQuote:
Originally Posted by timattalon
One of my mates used to put AC/DC on his shitty old boom box while out hunting. I though he was joking but No S*** they would come to have a look (much to their loss).
Walked up on to a flat and then around a hill into some bush. Crashing through thick forest bush and come across a small 2m squared area fenced off with that green plastic netting stuff, a bucket and a watering can. This place is handful of km's away from anywhere.
used batteries and drink cans everywhere. It ticks me off to find plastic bottles and drink cans in the bush. leave no trace fools!
crayfish in puddles in a couple of locations.
an old abandoned broken swing bridges down in the river at cross creek.
A single thick wire rope coming down about 5m from an escarpment and buried under the riverbed below it.
feral cats crossing river beds.
large feral sheep mob on DoC land (not in the places generally known about).
suicide possum teams screaming and charging at my tent just after dark.
Sat down in thick trees on a goat track talking to my friend a few feet below me as he's following a blood trail of a goat we think he clipped only to look to my right and see the goat in question sat calmy 5 feet away watching me. He casually got up and turned his back on me when I turned to notice him and walked off with an air of arrogance. This old goat was cooler than the fonze.
All of this stuff may be pretty standard but I've only been hunting for a year.
Yet to see:
abandoned undercrackers
fabled Swedish tourists washing clothes in a river.
Well there's something to tryQuote:
Originally Posted by 300CALMAN
