The start of the month saw us arrive at Toomba Station to have a go at some of the pigs and chital that makes this place famous (and rightly so). If you have ever considered doing a paid hunt, this is the place. The amount of game there is truly unbelievable. Break the cost of the trip down to a day rate, then consider it is full catered, and no trophy fees etc., and it starts to look pretty attractive. Both the wife and I literally had shot opportunities every time we left the accommodation, and as a bow hunter, you can’t ask for more than that. That being said, as anyone who has ever chased these spotted, jump at their own shadow, highly strung buggers can attest, getting in close is only half the battle. Then you have to physically draw your bow without being caught. Good luck.
On day 2, I was lucky enough to get the jump on one of these fellas with an 18 yard shot. He might have made about 60 yards after that and piled up. To say I was over the moon at taking one of these guys with a trad bow would be an understatement.
- Chital taken at 18 yards
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The end of the month saw Karen and I meeting up with some friends from Queensland up here in Darwin, and making the trek up towards the Cobourg Peninsula for a week’s hunting and fishing at Ainsley Point.
June/July in the Territory is very comfortable, weather wise, but there is still a fair bit of water around, and the game is still a little spread out. We still managed to have a great time. The fishing during the dry season is all about the pelagic run. Quite a few of the crew managed either firsts or biggest Long Tail Tuna and Spanish Mackerel. Here’s a couple the Mrs picked up. It was great to see her arms get a bit of a stretch
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- Not Trad, but impressive anyway
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The best morning for Karen and I was on n the 2nd to last day. We wandered along one of the swamps not far from camp with Steve, one of the Traditional Owners for the area. We had just left the car and pretty much walked straight in on a good size pig. Karen put a stalk on it and it turned out to be a big sow. Karen had a shot but went low, slipping the arrow just under the sow’s chest. A clean miss is better than poor hit, so no harm no foul. At least we didn’t have an extended follow up. Not 100m from this pig we saw another. As it was another sow, and not wanting to make too much noise and alert anything better further up, we snuck past and left her feeding. It was a good call as it turned out. 50m past the 2nd sow, a cross wind had a massive Banteng bull charge out of his bed 30m to our left on the edge of the swamp. I saw about 3 seconds of him on the run and he was a very impressive critter.
As we were gathering ourselves after the Banteng bulls exit, Steve spotted a little movement up in front. I snuck in a bit closer, and found myself 20 yards from a Banteng cow. I glanced back at Karen and she was all smiles and thumbs up. The stalk was on. 10 minutes and 5 yards later I was as close as I was going to get. These things are just so alert. Watching her, she was aware of every bird or butterfly that flew within cooee of her. About 20 minutes later, she finally went to turn to graze away and offered the angle I had been waiting for. At around 45% quartering away, the arrow went in behind the last rib, and was pressing on the skin forward of the offside shoulder. She made about 50 yards and piled up mid stride.
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Besides, Ainsley Point is such a great place, we just have to go back now and get a bull next time.
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amazing stuff
). 
