Thread: Odd, unexpected and interesting things you have seen out hunting

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.

Originally Posted by Russian 22.

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.

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.

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 :-)

Originally Posted by Preacher

I thought I was looking at someones Visla for about 2 minutes through a tiny gap in shitty bush.

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.

This was through some low ferns. It was stalking some piglets. But didn't sneak along like a cat. Reasonably quiet.

Originally Posted by Friwi

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

We were in the same area. We even saw the same pretty girl. And good looking 303.
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.

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...

Originally Posted by timattalon

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

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.

But I digress... back to Hunting stories.

And the buggers just kept on going