May 2002 (II)
Sambar hunting
PhotosForecast Rain, all week. A few days before John and Juan went hunting and John shot a Sambar Hind. I went over and got the smell of fresh venison, I felt the need to hunt in the bush. I decided for certain on Friday before lunch and invited Jerry from work. We took off Friday night.
Got to camp pretty late, no time for a fire, a perfectly still night, the air crisp and clean, not sounds at all. The creek was obviously dry. It had rained a couple of days ago, still a few puddles around. It was great to feel the night air in the bush.
Not a very good night sleep, woke up with a headache. I tried out my new Trianga cooker, Ex-military, to cook up some porridge. After packing the majority of our stuff into the vehicle we took off at an easy pace. We planned to be back for lunch but, anything could happend to lure us further.
There was plenty of sign around, one very fresh, so we followed and pressed on. Got pretty rough. So quiet, no wind, pretty hard to sneak up on a sambar without wind. Had some lunch in the hills, some bread and one can of fish, it went down very well, hey, don't waste the sauce. We stuck to the plan and headed east along the ridge. Thick, thin, on hands and knees at one stage. Slipping on moss covered rocks and logs. Up top we could see some wind now and then but nothing reached the gullies.
There was some good sign around, but we did not put anything up. We did have a good walk, we got back to the vehicle about 4:30pm. I was still not feeling my best and took a few more tablets for my head ache, in preparation for the drive back. We stopped for some Fish N Chips. About half way home I had to get Jerry to drive and a little while later he had to stop on the highway, I chucked. The tablets are very strong and I had acid pains and got some milk down, felt better after that. Over all we enjoyed the day, there is always next time ...
May 2002
Rabbit hunting - Jerry's first hunt with Ferrets Photos
At last, the stench of ferrets in the car heading for one of my favourite rabbit hunting properties. Actually they are pretty clean and relaxed and don't smell too much. I had called the farmer and asked for permission. Just curtious and they appreciate it.
Jerry,("Yerker") a Swedish workmate and hunter/target shooter came along for the hunt. He has hunted small game as well as moose and was eager to try hunting with ferrets.
This was the first hunt for the ferrets, so I expected a test of patience. They did not take to the burrows quickly at all. Exploring heaps outside the burrows. Finally a bunny made a break for it and I was able to hit it and then present it to the ferrets. The Albino male changed personality as the predator insticts came alive. He knew exactly what the rabbit was for. I let him hang on until he fell off the bunny and I let him continue exploring the burrows, although I reckon he still did not understand that the bunny came from underground.
Ok Jerry, your turn to retrieve the ferrets, want the welding gloves ? He did well, a fist full of ferret in each hand.
It was pretty warm for autum, even the dog was out of breath, he even had the cheeck to stand in our shade to cool off.
Soon enough in another burrow the ferrets did their stuff and two more bunnies ran for it. Good to see that Jerry had patience and waited for the opportunity for the bunnies to stop running. We were positioned in the shade of a tree and when the bunnies made a run for it. Head shots only were the goal. Jerker pinned his first bunny in Oz and a good clean kill, neck shot.
Next was Jerry's turn to clean out the bunny. I showed him how I do it and he did well. Start by cutting from just under the rib cage and cut all the way down without puncturing the stomach or intestines. Then hold the bunny from the ears and rear legs and flick the bunny, pretty hard. With practice you will manage to get all the insides out and stomach in one go, I managed to show Jerry that the stomach can also be "thrown" out. More importantly, with practice you won't get it all over you or your hunting mate !; Jerry did well and didn't get is all over me or himself. To skin the bunny I make a small horizontal cut in the fur on the bunnies back and put a finger in and tear the hole bigger until I have a couple of fingers from each hand, then tear it appart. The skin comes off nice and clean, then cut around the feet, neck and remove the reproductive organs and you have a nice clean bunny ready for the curry.
After a good rest and a feed we headed off again, this time a longer walk. I had taken the .375 H&H and .375 Win to burn off the rest of my old practice loads. I had a few 'silent' loads for the winchester, experimental loads. unfortunately one of the loads was so silent the projectile stopped abour half way down the barrel. I got it out at home the next day.
After a long walk up a the hill we got the ferrets out. There were very few bunnies about. At this stage I had not been using the welding gloves for a while and the ferrets seemed happy. But when it came to Jerker turn to grab them, the male albino got a little set and scratched Jerry. I was walking up to Jerker and I could see the ferret was huntched and ready for a fight, too late. Jerker tried to grab him and the ferret got a mouthfull of sweed. Lucky for him it was not on a nuckle, just in the webbing. But the ferret dug in deep, I held the ferret softly, while Jerry became ... louder. The ferret removed his fangs and plunged them in again. The third time I reacted by spitting on the ferret's nose, I has worked for me. A few seconds later and he was off, poor ferret was very upset, not to mention the sweed. It took a while for the ferret to calm down. Jerker had a nasty wound, just puncture marks though.
It was an experience he will not forget. I have had plenty of bites, be thankful it was not under you nail and slowly penetrating to yout bone, yes I yelled! He was worried about and infection, I had not had an infection from the ferrets, but he might get one from me (my saliva)! We washed the wound and it closed nicely and stopped bleeding quickly.
I shot only one other bunny on the walk back to the vehicle. Not many about, we did manage to do a good amount of target shooting. Hopefully next time the ferrets with this experience under them will perform a bit better.
I look forward to the next rabbit hunt and Jerry was pretty good about the tasting the ferret had. Hope his pistol shooting was not affected too much the next day.
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