Holiday turns out a few surprises !
Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:01 pm
A couple of weeks back we had a long weekend and decided to head off to an isolated farm about 3 hours away from Auckland. I knew that there was a bit of hunting potential here so planned it accordingly and took along the trusty 7mm08 and the ever faithfull .22LR. The wife was told they were strictly for recreational plinking ! That done we got there on a Saturday morning. I was off into the hills within an hour much to the annoyance of the missus but when she calls (the wild ) I go ! We spotted a few feral goats up a ridge but guessed the range in at about a 1000 yards - too long to take a shot so we kinda moved on. David the guy who owned the farm was to take me out pig hunting the next day anyway so we called it a day and headed back. The next morning I woke up at about 7 am and decided to glass the hills surrounding the campsite to see any wild boar activity. Imagine my absolute surprise when I spot a Fallow Deer hind about a 100 yards awy right in the middle of the paddock ! Now I knew that there were some deer around this area but they were apparently hard to find and quite difficult to bag. By now the hearts beating at 150 beats per min and I know that the boomstick is safety stowed away with the bolt in another bag (safe storage). I rushed into the camp hut and grabbed the 7mm08 and ran back to the fence line - it was still there. Phew....loaded.....aimed....count till 3 and settle the heart rate a bit my boy.....gasp...gasp....squeeze....FIRE !
1 Fallow down gentlemen...bloody great animal. Ran down and got it gutted and dressed. I did not take photos as it was the wife's camera and since we were not supposed to be hunting (hahahahaha) I did not want to invite trouble by having an image of a dead and gutless bambi on it !
That done David popped by to take me out pig hunting. We had no luck at that stage - did get a sow that was suckling so we let her go. David then promised to get me out that evening for some goats. That evening we headed off again and as we were in the bush we heard a bit of a grunt ! Looked hard for 2 seconds and out cam a 120 lb boar into the paddock from the bushline. The bug*3r saw us too and started a gentle trot towards the bush line. I scrambled for the rifle. I must have set a new record for aim and fire as I did. The boar was about 300 yards away and moving at a good pace now so I had to anticipate a fair bit in terms of trajectory , windage and distance covered but I managed a angular shot that went through the lungs dropping him right there. Yay 2 in a day. Again no pics of the animal though. I am attaching some general pics we took on the trip.
1 Fallow down gentlemen...bloody great animal. Ran down and got it gutted and dressed. I did not take photos as it was the wife's camera and since we were not supposed to be hunting (hahahahaha) I did not want to invite trouble by having an image of a dead and gutless bambi on it !
That done David popped by to take me out pig hunting. We had no luck at that stage - did get a sow that was suckling so we let her go. David then promised to get me out that evening for some goats. That evening we headed off again and as we were in the bush we heard a bit of a grunt ! Looked hard for 2 seconds and out cam a 120 lb boar into the paddock from the bushline. The bug*3r saw us too and started a gentle trot towards the bush line. I scrambled for the rifle. I must have set a new record for aim and fire as I did. The boar was about 300 yards away and moving at a good pace now so I had to anticipate a fair bit in terms of trajectory , windage and distance covered but I managed a angular shot that went through the lungs dropping him right there. Yay 2 in a day. Again no pics of the animal though. I am attaching some general pics we took on the trip.
i miss the fallow and boar