For the last year or so I have been using a Frisky longbow but for this trip I decided I'd take my old bow. I put a few heavy arrows in my back quiver and grabbed my hunting gear which I always keep packed ready to go. Topping up the water bottles and adding a few days food to the pack and I was all set.
15 minutes later this was my view.
Have to be some ferals in there.
I drove in to the property and had a chat with my mates wife at the farmhouse. She gave me the usual josh about "cowboys and indians" while we had a cup of tea and then I was on my way down and over the first river I needed to cross. A couple of hours and two more good river crossings and I was where I would leave the vehicle.
From here I would be walking about 6kms to the hut I would be spending my first night in.
The hut is down across the creek and then around behind the ridge in the foreground. This is around 1150m above sea level and the wind is chilly. Sometimes there are fallow deer in here but I see none today.
I take my time just wandering and see a few pigs. Only middling size sows with suckers. I try a few stalks but the wind is chancy today and I want to be at the hut well before dark. There is a chainsaw waiting and I have promised to add to the wood pile before winter.
Some pig diggings.
I wasted an hour here but had a good time. No pork for dinner.
This is behind the ridge in the last photo.
I kept walking for the hut and then there it was. It's tucked down near a nice creek. Snow's here in the wintertime.
This hut has one amazing feature. It's on the left in the photo. A flushing dunny!
My mate's wife wouldn't come up here until he put it in.
Malcolm Naden spent a few nights in this hut over the years btw. He ran out the door and off down the creek to the left one time straight in front of my mate as he arrived in a 33 tonne excavator...
I cut some wood and enjoyed the evening. The peace of the bush is why I hunt. I enjoy immensely the thrill of the hunt but just being in the bush by myself or with like minded mates is what it's all about for me.
The other side of the big hill behind the hut is where I will be heading tomorrow. This is where the red deer live and I will be off early.
My second day started off wonderfully. A beautiful sunny morning in the mountains. I headed off and climbed through some lovely country for a few hours.
Caught up with a mate. I always think I should drench him. Lots of little ones around so he's still on the job.
After cresting the top of the hill I sat and glassed the valley below me but saw nothing but cattle. As expected. No deer. Still enjoying myself I headed down to where I would make an early afternoon camp.
The cool temperate rainforest creek where I will camp tonight. The hill behind often has deer on it.
The pool where I will camp. Checkout the tree ferns. I have seen this pool frozen and everything covered in snow. 1375m above sea level.
I setup my hooch and organised camp and had a snooze.
I will be 49 in October and an afternoon nap is always on the cards. I went for a wander in the late afternoon and the whole valley seemed to be rubbed out.
These were everywhere but no deer.
I slept like a log as I always do in the bush and was up early to hike higher up this valley where some small gullys ran into it's head. More climbing.
I walked until midmorning and sat and had a good glass while I boiled the billy for a cup of tea and spotted a small group of hinds across and up a gully about a kilometre away.
I got all enthused and headed up towards where I had seen them, moving quickly when I was in dead ground. I cut to the left as I climbed the face of the gully trying to get the wind in a better position for when I reached them. I was in some scrubby regrowth as I neared the top of the gully and I stopped and slipped off my boots. Travelling really slowly I moved until out ahead I saw some movement. Waiting and watching with the wind moving nicely across my face from left to right I saw a pair of young stags about 30 metres away head down feeding with a group of 6 hinds about 20 metres further on. Over the next 5 minutes I slid about 8 metres closer through the scrub squatting on my heels. The two stags continued to feed happily until I drew and released, still squatting, straight at the front stag's sweet spot. With nothing more than the sound of a magpie swooping the arrow was straight through him and gone.
He spun on the spot and went straight at his mate. He gave him two great whoofs to the side while his companion backpedalled like crazy wondering what was going on. I'd reached for my backquiver automatically as I released my first arrow and was nocking, drawing and releasing a second while the drama was playing out in front of me. Crack. This one went in quartering away and something had broken loudly. He dropped away and then ran with a tumbling gate straight down the gully towards the creek.
Deer were scrambling every which way at this point and I just stood up and watched.
I sat down, boiled the billy and had a smoke and thought about how beautiful a deer looks in the bush. I thought about the first time I'd seen a fallow deer near Canberra. The first time I saw a sambar in the Buckland Valley or the wild New England reds that haunt the mountains near where I live. They just look like they belong. Those of us who try to chase them are very lucky.
I followed his tracks and blood trail down the face of the hill for about 200 metres. He hit the creek but there was no sign of him crossing. I started to work both sides of the creek in both directions. Well to cut a long story short I found NOTHING. Not a sign of him. I have to say it confused the hell out of me. I pride myself on reading the ground and I was stumped. It wasn't till I realised it was nearly 4pm and I had a very long walk out that I really got upset. And I did get upset. The air was blue as I humped towards my vehicle.
5 days later I returned with my secret weapon.
Millie has one awesome skill. She will always find the smelliest, nastiest thing in a paddock to sample.
About 140 metres down from where he'd entered the creek we find.... deer soup!
Just the antlers poking up and nothing nice to photograph and no skin to tan. I was excited though.
And finally, this is what is sitting behind me as I type. Pretty clean and soon I will mount them on a nice piece of timber. Not the biggest deer I've ever seen but definitely the one that I have snuck up closest too.
I used my Banshee Warrigal made by Paul Wheller in 1986. 72# at 28. The two shafts were barrel tapered victorian ash, antler reinforced self nocks, turkey feathers and tusker aztecs with a drop of lead up front for a total weight of about 750 grains. The first shot was an unrecovered pass through and the second one was still in him when I fished him out of the pool. His offside shoulder blade was completely smashed. The aztec was fine.
Anyway I have been trying to get a deer with my longbow for nearly 10 years... I have been close to lots of deer over that time but as those who have chased them know 40 metres is VERY tricky but doable. 15 metres has proved very hard.
Ok... thanks for reading and good hunting to all.
Mick.
Well done Mick.
