2018/2019

Discussions, Stories, Hints & Tips about everything outdoors. Biking, Hiking, Fishing, Shooting, Camping etc.
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james990
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by james990 »

very nice roe Knut :D

I've always called bushrangers run a stereotype of Australia, it P*ssed me off a bit because that's not what Australian Hunting is about (except for the pigs and goats) When they added Piccabeen I had high hopes especially since they planned to add Sambar Deer. A much better perspective on Australian hunting than Bushrangers, however upon release, the environment still wasn't what I hoped for. I would of much rathered two reserves as the species don't match, a kakadu style with the water buffalo, magpie geese, banteng, chital, rusa. And a Victorian alps map with sambar, fallow, red, hog deer etc... However they combined them into to one to make piccabeen which is most similar to the environment of a north Queensland rain forest such as Daintree, which I've visited.

Anyway, I've been wanting to make this video for a while to show TheHunter community what Sambar hunting is like. Using my phone as a camera, I was limited in what i could capture, but took plenty of photos as well. I hope you enjoy a classic example of Sambar Hunting Australia.

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Re: 2018/2019

Post by MooseHunter330 »

It's roe deer mating season right now, and as a consequence, every hunter is rushing out into the wild to bag a buck- or at least say they have tried. Naturally, I was drawn out into the woods as well.Just the other day, in fact, I decided to venture into nature to get my buck on . I had an excellent evening sitting up near a food plot at the edge of the woods with a harvested canola field in my back. Although no deer came into view, I had the rare luck of observing several young wild boar in good light. With the hogs disappearing as quickly as they had come into view, I kept the spot in mind for future endeavors. Yesterday, though, I decided to sit up at a different spot: A ladder-stand at the edge of the woods, with a harvested barley field in front of me, followed by douglas fir with a thick blackberry undergrowth in 150yds distance. To the right, the two woods joined in a corner with a plot of bee pasture around 250yds out, to the left was a ridge. I left the car in the woods and walked a fair bit through the forest to my stand. Along the way I encountered a lone roe deer doe, which came right towards me from the right, then crossing the road about 100ft in front of me. It wouldn't react to a whistle and a shot at the moving animal was out of the question. Nearing the forest exit, at which the stand was located, I caught a glimpse of a lone deer at the opposite end of the already established field. Supporting my binoculars on a tree, I identified the animal as a female and decided to climb my stand and get settled. I watched the doe for a little while debating on whether I'd shoot her or not. There was really nothing else on stage and after waiting for an hour, keeping an eye out for any fawns, the decision to take the doe for the freezer stood. To my great annoyance, I caught a bad case of buck (doe?) fever after pushing the kickspanner on the rifle forward. As a clean shot would have been impossible under these conditions, I uncocked the gun and waited some 5 minutes. In perfect textbook fashion, a fox appeared at the far edge of the field and strolled carelessly towards me. What fascinates me about foxes is that they always seem to know when they are in season and their sense to „feel“ your crosshairs in time to take off. After I had calmed my nerves a little, I once again cocked the rifle, a .222 / 9,3x74R combination gun, and laid my finger on the hind trigger. Expecting the recoil of a .222 and getting that of the 9,3 would surely be a traumatic experience. I fired just after my crosshair had moved up the front leg and reached the chest. Following the surprisingly loud report of the .222, the deer made off in high flight right into the thicket. Just as I had opened the rifle and ejected the spent cartridge, it briefly came into sight and then disappeared into the woods again. I waited fifteen minutes and then walked up to look for any blood. As night was falling with no blood in sight and considering the small bullet diameter, I saw need for a good flashlight and the dog and that's just what I arrived with around fifteen minutes later. I detatched the scope and climbed into the bush, always on the lookout for any signs. Not long after, I heard the bark of my loyal companion. The stubby Dachshund legs, while an advantage in the burrow, proved impractical in the thorny bushes and I had to help a little, but soon the worst laid behind us. Picking up a nicely visible blood trail, I followed my dog, her nose glued to the ground, and soon the downed game came into sight, proving once again that having a game dog can save any sportsman a good bit of time now and then. Inspecting the year-old doe, I found that the bullet had struck right where I was aiming.

One shot- right through the heart. Worth the effort I'd say.

My stand:
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The doe I managed to shoot yesterday.
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Knut
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by Knut »

MooseHunter330 wrote:It's roe deer mating season right now, and as a consequence, every hunter is rushing out into the wild to bag a buck- or at least say they have tried.
I am still part of the latter type... :D

Nice story! Thanks for sharing and Waidmannsheil!

I am one frequently suffering from buck fever (I think doe fever is more something for a .xxx domain :D ), but interestingly only when doing management cull or freezer shots on Roes. The tiny yearling, the doe etc. always give me the shivers. While fox, boar or the big bucks don't really have that effekt on me -maybe I am more tense, more focussed, more determined then. Those shots I feel I could as wells take another day are always the hardest for me.
But what helps for me is apnoe breathing techniques: I draw as deep a breath as I can, hold it in for a bit and then slowly and controlled let it out until I have to squeeze my lungs empty. 3-5 times and the pulse and nerves are down.

And aren't foxes open for you yet? Or was that a story from July still?
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ― Isaac Asimov
MooseHunter330
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by MooseHunter330 »

Waidmannsdank!
The breathing thing might be worth a try. Thinking an hour about shooting that deer dead just makes it a lot stranger.
Might come from all the possibilities for errors going through your head. Foxes weren't open then. This is from July 31st, so foxes weren't open indeed.
I'm pretty sure that the fox wouldn't have given me the same shivers as the deer since it was there so quickly and gone just as fast.

But I guess it's all part of the thrill of the hunt. And waidmannsheil back to you!
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Jaegerschnitzel1990
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by Jaegerschnitzel1990 »

Nice job everybody! Busy days to come! I´m mainly on the lookout for fallow and reds right now, but I will still take a chance on a buck if I can bring one home without disturbing the red deer too much

Last week

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Yesterday

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Today

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MooseHunter330
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by MooseHunter330 »

Waidmannsheil! You seem to be either very effective or very patient.
I also think it's very nice that you pay a lot of attention to the traditional treatment and presentation of the game.
At least from what I'm seeing on the webs these days, that's not a given.

Also:
Spoiler:
Jaegerschnitzel1990 wrote:Yesterday

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Left side reeeeeeee

;)
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gas56
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by gas56 »

Looking through the latter part of this post I see it's hunting time again........ and also some nice animals taken.
Still a little ways off for big game hunting here where I live in the States.
and hopefully I can get some hunting time in this year as well.
Nice to see the photos everyone is taking.
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Knut
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by Knut »

I've finally broken the spell.

I was sitting yesterday evening on an old ladder overlooking a meadow we haven't really hunted this year. Some winter storms blew our main box stand over and we haven't manager to repair it yet.

The ladder isn't really ideal as it is pretty far to the action, normally. It's normally a backup plan for the odd one coming out at the far end.

Very early a young fox from this year came out at the far end (directly below the old box stand). But that's some 350m. It was roaming the very dry and short meadow for a while, coming only marginally closer and then stayed more or less put.
I ranged it at 280m and tested my gun rest. The crosshairs were steady like a rock, so I though, what the heck, I'll give it a try. 280m is 57cm high or 20klicks according to my dope. Dialled it in, breathed a few times controlled, let it slowly out and squeezed the trigger.
The fox just flipped over, the tail went up once and then it went limb.
I was pretty pleased with myself. That's the farthest shot I've ever taken by a margin -and on a small target like a juvenile fox.

Ten minutes later, a buck and doe came.out at the far end. A clear taker, a meager 2 point but clearly older than 3 years. But way too far for a decent shot and before I could even think of a plan of getting closer, the couple went back into the privacy of the bush.

But half an hour later a yearling came out at the long side of the forest, at 200m. After some scope work, I was finally sure it was a yearling with pretty much nothing for a head.
In contrast to the fox, the rifle rest in that direction wasn't optimal. And every time the buck started to turn broadside, my pulse quickened and the crosshairs danced over half the chest.
And when a shot presented itself (rare enough, as he was moving towards me), I often hesitated a moment to long, trying to be better than perfect with the shot placement and either the buck turned again or my pulse went up again. So I spend some twenty minutes plus aiming.
When finally I thought all was good, I took the shot and down it went in an instant. Shot placement was a bit too high and the bullet touched the spine, probably ruining a piece of backstrap. Bummer!
But well, I probably would not have gotten the buck otherwise. And when field dressing it, I found he was suffering from rectal congestion and the beginning of a (or a previous, fresh) rectal prolapse.
The roes are clearly suffering from the draught and low water content of the plants. Everything is dry around here as I have never seen it.
We frequently see lone does without fawns. Let's hope we didn't already loose too many.

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MooseHunter330 wrote:Thinking an hour about shooting that deer dead just makes it a lot stranger.
Might come from all the possibilities for errors going through your head. [...]
I'm pretty sure that the fox wouldn't have given me the same shivers as the deer since it was there so quickly and gone just as fast.
So you see, for me it's exactly that. A fox, a boar or even the quick encounter with a buck that's an absolute taker don't bring up the shivers, but when I've got the time to think and can try to make it better than perfect, that's when the bumping in the chest starts.


Waidmannsheil @Jaegerschnitzel1990! That's some decent bucks! And all within a few days, that's quite something.
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'" ― Isaac Asimov
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Jaegerschnitzel1990
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by Jaegerschnitzel1990 »

MooseHunter330 wrote:Waidmannsheil! You seem to be either very effective or very patient.
It may be some of both, but after all it is part of my job (which I love ;) )

Shame on me about the left side buck :D ...though I am more focused on making nice pics and therefore resting the buck on the side with the smallest hole ;)

@Knut: Great shooting! A fox on 280m is quite a challenge!
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Jaegerschnitzel1990
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Re: 2018/2019

Post by Jaegerschnitzel1990 »

This mornings goose hunt:

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