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Another Night - Two more Deer


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Monday morning and @Southern Hunter had come down from his little alpine village and taken away the three pigs - see 

We now had room to hang animals again so Sharon was keen to get up into the hills again. I had spent the afternoon doing some forestry work for a local farmer and didn’t get home until after 1730 hrs, so that wiped me out for that night. Nothing for it then, Sharon determined, we were definitely going Tuesday night or she would go alone, plus it was going to be an ideal night.

Tuesday night, I’m all rested, the weather is good, Sharon is fizzing to go, so game on. It is a warmish moonlight night with a gentle Northwest wind blowing. We hatch a loose plan. Beautiful night for us to hunt in but with the moonlight the deer will see us from miles away. Northwest wind, the pigs on the first hill will be hard to get to without us giving away our scent; no option but to the hide. So off we go.

Now a bit of detail on the hide. It is situated in a shelterbelt of trees that runs along the divide of two farms, both on which we can hunt on. The front of the hide faces the west to northwest, and is ideal for tonight; the rear of the hide obviously faces east with a bit of a view to the northeast and southeast. Behind the hide we call Boris’s paddock as it is two large paddocks, probably eighty acres in total, sloping up to a steep hillside and some rough country. These two paddocks are the solitary domain of Boris the Bull; quite a friendly chap in most part but I would never turn my back on him.

As we approach any paddock or piece of ground we normally scan ahead just to make sure we are not running into anything. As we approach Boris’s paddock, Sharon scans with the thermal monocular. Four deer up on the hill at 900 odd metres. Sharon is all excited and wants to go after them. From experience I know that on approaching the hill 1/. They have a good chance of seeing us on this moonlit night, and 2/. As we move closer to the hill we will lose sight of them and when we get up there will have no idea which way they went. I suggest we just sit for a while and watch which way they are going to move in. Sharon, who openly admits she is more impatient than me, reluctantly agreed. So we watched for ten minutes, which is a very, very long time for Sharon, especially when she is in Gung-Ho mode. Whilst they were just milling around in most parts I believed that they would head into the wind and go north. I suggested that we move to the paddock in front of the hide where we would again pick them up if they moved north. Sharon reluctantly agreed, she still just wanted to give chase.

So we get to the front of the hide, have a scan, and no deer in sight. I could see that I might be in trouble here. Hopefully, I suggest that we scan the rest of the valley. We do. Zilch. I am most definitely in trouble at this point. I suggest that we could watch here for a while or go back to Boris’s paddock. No discussion here, Sharon has already decided that we are going back to Boris’s.

Back in Boris’s paddock and we scan. The deer are nowhere to be seen. Yep, I’m definitely in trouble, no deer and it’s my fault. But then an ‘olive branch’. There is a big pig out 460 metres away in a shallow water course happily rooting away on barley shoots close to where Boris is grazing.

A strategy discussion commences. We are on higher ground and as we approach the pig, could lose sight of him, especially as I will have to do a roundabout approach to stay downwind of him. Sharon decides that she will stay put to watch and direct me in by the radio. So off I go, not worrying too much about my visual profile as pigs aren’t good in the sight department; hearing and smell are their forte. I am happily traipsing across the field following Sharon’s skilful direction towards and agreed 150 metre shooting point we agreed upon when the radio squawks in my ear. “The blo*dy deer have turned up. They were in the water course all along.” Instinctively I drop to a knee. Pigs may not see me on an open field in this moonlight, but deer most definitely will. Turn on the thermal scope - 13 second bootup time unfortunately - quietly load a round into the chamber and set up the tripod. The radio is still squawking in my ear but I am paying it little regard.

Then just as I am about set up. “No, they must have got wind of you, they have gone again. B*gger.”

I reply back to just sit and wait. They often come to this field to play and this may be the case tonight. Sure enough, 15 seconds later and Sharon is on the radio all excited. “They are back, 11 o’clock to you, 310 metres.” I put the rifle on the tripod and turn to that position. There they are, all four of them, but they are on the move. I watch for a good half minute and true to my prediction, they are playing. Into the water course, out of the water course. Up to higher ground, back to lower ground. They are romping and chasing each other. Sharon is still on the radio all excited….questions, suggestions, why haven’t I taken a shot? I just reply in a whisper for radio silence as they may hear the chatter.

Now what follows are two classic mistakes that I make in quick succession. I don’t believe that I any longer get classic ‘Buck Fever’, the pounding heart, the jumping crosshair, but I can still suffer feeling the pressure and making the hurried shot when I should have waited. This was the case here. The deer came out of the water course at 165 metres. I line up on one for a good broadside shoulder shot when they turn back and head down into the water course again. I should have waited, but no, I pulled the trigger on a target that has half disappeared from my view. I had instinctively aimed too high, not wanting to shoot into the ground at the lip of the water course. The shot went right over the hinds back. I should have been aiming a couple of inches into the ground. Sounds silly I know, but with the bullet trajectory going high until 230 metres, that’s where I should have been aiming. The deer all disappear out of sight.

What can I say now? Only ‘THANK GOD FOR SUPPRESSORS’. These devices are magical, Why? They suppress recoil, they suppress the noise, and in a lot of cases, deer have no idea where the shot came from. This is exactly what happened here. All four deer came up out of the water course at about 280 metres away. They just stood in a group looking all around them trying to see where the danger was and where they should run. This gave me another opportunity to line one up again. She was the biggest and standing most prominent broadside onto me. I cycle the bolt, aim carefully and ‘CLICK’. Empty chamber. Long story short, I have had all my experience is cycling short chamber rifles until I bought this .270 . To add to the problem I am left handed and it is a right hand bolt. And then one more issue - I have to elicit sympathy somehow ?image.gif.25b6ab3ff8b9d36d24d7c263bab40a0e.gif - the battery protrusion of the thermal leaves very little clearance when cycling the bolt. I have been missing cycle rounds a bit too often recently; I need to practise more.

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I cycle the bolt again, sure this time that I have put a round in the breech. I line up the same large hind again. She is no longer broadside unfortunately but quartering away from me. It’s doable, I decide. Just as I was getting ready to pull the trigger they started moving off again. When in doubt the deer will move towards high ground and this is what was happening. I should have let the shot go, but no, I thought this was the last chance I would get as they were already on the fringe of the distance I felt comfortable shooting at. So once again, I made a hurried shot. Stupid, stupid, stupid, just stupid of me. Hindsight is easy when looking in the rearview mirror.

Anyway, the shot is fired. I hear a resounding body hit. Sharon 150 metres behind me also hears a resounding body hit. All four deer just pickup speed and start running towards the hill, none of them looking like they have hit. As Sharon catches up to me I am just watching them pick their way up the side of a small ravine towards a small plateau about 150 feet above them. Then I notice it. The big hind that I was aiming at is starting to lag behind the others a little. Slowly the gap widens. Three get to the top but my big hind just stops three quarters of the way up. And she just stands, looking around a bit, but just stands. She is about 450 metres away at this time. Some of the other deer came back to her but then return to the high ground, and still she just stands.

Sharon is at my side now. She is all keen that we follow and try and get another shot at her. I advise not. She is hit, I am certain as we both heard the body hit. On this much, Sharon agrees. My thoughts were that she is not well and that is why she is standing put. If we chase after her she may get a spurt of energy and we could easily lose her in the myriad of little ravines and water courses in the hill behind her. If we just wait a short time she will lose blood and most likely go down on her own accord.

So we waited and watched. Slowly she got lower. Was she going down or was she just moving that slight bit further over the ridge and out of sight. After fifteen minutes a small deer comes back down the hill to her. Very soon after that they both disappeared out of sight. Strategy meeting commenced. Sharon, using the thermal, was to keep sight of the point in the ravine where the hind was last seen. I was going up there being directed by Sharon via the radio.

So off I go. With Sharon’s guidance I am at the ridge in short time. I am using the whitelight of my headlamp now as I am not wary of spooking animals but am on a search and recover mission. Just as I get over the ridge I see two bright eyes looking back at me from some bush about 10 metres away. The eyes are looking very much alive thankyou and they belong to a deer. Initially I think, this is my hind and I was starting to get confused, but then I see the hind to my right, slumped down on all fours on an old ATV track. The deer in the bush is another one altogether, probably the small one we saw earlier. I stand perfectly still keeping my headlamp directly on this deer. I cycle a round and start to slowly raise my rifle. Just as I bring my rifle right up, so I can look through the scope, my head moves, along with the headlamp beam. The deer becomes agitated and looks as if it is ready to bolt. Quickly I finish bringing the rifle up, see chest in the thermal and let a shot go. Thump of the body hit, the deer makes a noise, jumps back and is out of sight. I am not worried, it has to be down taking a shot at that range. I then look at the hhind. She is on all haunches and barely keeping her head off the ground. I am saddened, this poor girl has suffered enough, so I put
a quick shot to the head.
 
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I then go and look for the second deer and find him 15 metres away. I believe he is dead and just going through the last reflexive movements of death but I quickly put a shot to his head as well.
 
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The radio is crackling. “What is going on up there? It sounds like war breaking out. I’m coming up.”

So now I will cover the rest of the story quickly.

Sharon joins me up on the plateau and we assess the situation. We think that the second deer is the hind's yearling buck and he has hung around to be with mum….so while the whole scenario saddens me, he really is with mum now, best way really.

To recover both these deer whole, as we normally do, is going to be a massive undertaking as there is 700 hundred metres between us and the closest we can get a vehicle, plus we have to come out of a ravine, up and over to the top of a bluff, down the bluff and then 400 metres over a very wet rain sodden paddock. There is discussion about leaving to waste, worst scenario, just taking legs and back steaks, better scenario, or putting in a good few hours to drag them both the full 700 metres. I put my hand up and say that I will drag them the distance but will need some things from home. Sharon has to do her final security round anyway, so off home, to have a cup of tea. Sharon goes off on her round and I get dressed appropriately for a long night. We have decided I will do it by myself unless I get stuck and then need Sharon’s assistance. Character building stuff.

So I am off back up the hill and have them both gutted out and ready to move by 2230 hrs. Here they are, mother with son lying at her back.
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One after the other I drag them out of the ravine, up to the top of the bluff, drag and tumble down the 150 foot high bluff and across the sodden paddock to the awaiting Escudo. I get the hind to the Escudo first, leaving the little buck back at the base of the bluff. I try to lift the hind into the back of the Escudo but just can’t do it by myself. It is now after 0100 hrs, two and a half hours since I started dragging deer, and I am shattered. Reluctantly I get on the radio and call Sharon. She is more than happy to come back out and help, though it will take a little time as she has to walk the last 1.5 km in as it is too wet and muddy to take anything other than a 4x4 vehicle.

I go back to the buck and drag him back to the Escudo. I get him there just as Sharon arrives. Good timing. We both get behind the hind and only just manage to lift her into the back of the Escudo. She is definitely a good 100 kg dead floppy lift plus her coat is now sodden with water and mud which would definitely make her heavier again.

Anyway, we arrive home at just before 0200 hrs. Both deer hung in a tree each and hosed down and we go to bed.

In the morning straight after breakfast we skin both animals.
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Sharon then has the large hind cut up and processed as in bagging cuts, mincing others and vacuum packing them all and having it picked up and in the local community before the evening. I had the easy part, I went and did some forestry work for the day.

The young buck stayed hanging in the tree until being picked up whole this morning.

We now have space for animals again - we are ready for our next adventure image.gif.c572b1c3260a325c580f015c80e243b8.gif.

Cheers
Phil
Edited by PhilH
Speeling mistake
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Just an update to the post - the shot to the poor hind.
As stated above I was attempting a raking shot. Well it failed. The bullet entered a couple of inches below the spine on her right side and excited just to the rear of her left shoulder. In other words, I 'gut shot' the poor old girl. A shameful shot on my part....

Cheers
Phil

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