Went in for an overnight.
On the way in got replied by a mature stag but couldn't hunt him as my sleeping bag was over at the bivvy where I was heading.
Only carrying light gear. A waist bag and a pikau, that's just a fabric sack with a harness.
Me and Star hunted around the bivvy. Calling plenty to amp up the stags for the morning.
It worked or there was a hind on heat. They were calling well all through the night.
I had planed to hunt south into the breeze. But changed that plan to make use of the activity only a few hundred yards away.
So before dawn packed up and stalked to be near a clearing and down wind of any stags that often roam through or near it looking for hinds.
We called, got some responses back but looking at the ground it wasn't wasn't well used. Just felt this wasn't the place and had seen better used trails on the way in so we turned back up the track I'd made many years ago. To the place I had shot a few stags.
Snuck in slowly in case a stag was already close. The wind when was in the face. So waited and called. The sun came up warming the air starting to disrupt the Katabatic flow, the wind started playing up in different directions so and had to move over closer to a stream gully that was still funneling the cool morning wind down. This only offered a limited field of view. But the tracks were well used. Recent.
Still nothing was happening and the minutes of the morning were ticking. I needed to catch the deer before they spread out into the bedding areas up on the hill faces.
So moved forward to where the bush opened up due to years of deer browsing and there was cover about 40 yards away that the deer like to use. Air was strong in the face and it offered both directions to shoot in. Any deer heading along the trails to the bedding areas would step through that undergrowth and into the clear area. This was perfect.
I sat down on a log and had Star sit beside.
Called and wasn't long before the light on the top if the hill flickered. Something was moving.
A hind bounded forward and stopped, she saw us. Her fawn ran up to her and she bolted away with it. Something had made her run in my direction. Deer don't run, they move quietly along unless disturbed. Another hunter? A stag? Those are two things that will stir things up for a hind.
After another 20 odd minutes the wind started to blow into the cover. A stag and a hind started warning whistling. I repeated back to them their calls to confuse them and maybe pull them in for a look. Sika are inquisitive.. I could see a little movement. Then they moved away. Bugger. He sounded big.
Wind went back to in the face so decided to stay and wait .
After half an hour Star started indicating. She could wind and hear movement. Then a dark young 8 pointer steeped forward stopped in the clear and I fired directly into his front chest.
The 350 Legend simply made him fall over. He barely kicked.
For a little cartridge its terminal power is way beyond its size!
I hung up the legs to cool on tree branches and sat down to enjoy the perfect satisfaction that comes from knowing the family gets fed.
Have often wondered what it must have been like for our ancestors who maybe were close to going hungry if the hunter didn't succeed.
When my freezer is low there is a sense of very real pressure to take home food.
Even though I can fill it up from the super market. There is this probably primordial desire to get that animal on the ground.
Packed into the pikau. The waist back supports it from underneath, so its a fairly comfortable load. We made good time with the load out.
