After recovering from a bad cold, Juan and I went on a one day hunt. I had not been on a hunt for a while, I have been dirt biking instead, the funds and time cannot sustain both, but the craving to get out on a hunt has been eating away at me. We Got there just before sunrise, Max (my new Jack Russell) was very eager to get out on his first hunt. A dog makes good companionship in the bush. While still dark we made our plans and headed out as soon as there was enough light to see. Access to the hunting area was via a private property, the owners were already familiar with Juan's vehicle and spotted us as we drove through the gates. It is important to respect the land owners and the land. We only drove on the already created tracks and did not make any new markings on the paddocks. I will not venture into this property alone until I am familiar with the owners via Juan and mates.
We split up and headed up. Max was well behaved and remained close to me. He has good ears and would be alreted by the slightest noise or smell. I found some good sign, various sizes, in all directions. We had a plan set and I was in no hurry to leave the first gully since there was plenty of hiding places for a sambar. Well worn game trails, jelly beans and plenty of food for the sambar and water was a great sign. Juan had hunted the area various times before and had a mental picture of the area and it's inhabitants. One stag and possibly two hinds frequented the area.
Since it was my first time to the area I decided to follow our plan and slowly work my way up to the ridge and then zig zag south. Only 40min into the hunt I heard Juan's 30'06. A single shot. I Turned on my CDMA phone and waited for his call, which is what we had planned on earlier. 10min went by and then a call, yep he had downed a hind. We agreed that I would continue in the gullies for an hour or so before going to meet him. I saw plenty of sign and the little walk would certainly help me next time I came up this way.
I met Juan along the fence after having gone back to the Patrol to get my good camera, Cannon A-1. After congrtulationas and a feed we went up to the spot. Sure enough it was a pretty big hind. He had seen a calf with it big enough to survive. He had shot it low in the chest, through the heart with a 220gr 30'06 and the animal did not drop, he is thinking of rebarreling to a 35 Whelen. It took off as if it had not been hit. Juan tracked it for about 50m over a ridge and there it lay. Max was weary of approaching this big beast. But it was soon munching away at scraps and had a good feed.
We took all we could carry, legs, backstraps, neck meat, and inner meats, nothing left but bones. I put all the loose stuff into my meat back/backpack. One front leg and one rear leg, phew, a long walk to the patrol. I could only carry the rear leg half way to the vehicle and decided to come back for it. Don't know exactly how heavy this load was but I reckon about 40-50kg. We were probably 2km from the patrol. Not too bad really. Juan about 50 years old, handled it ok. He had shot a nice stag just a couple of weeks before. So now with the freezer full he will be more selective. A short but enjoyable hunt. Always good to help on a carry out.
Photos soon
Diary 2000
Diary 1999
Diary 1998
Diary 1997