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Bunnies and a Fallow Buck.
Last saturday the 3 of us decided to head back up to the 'cull' property to deal to the rabbits. We decided it would be a rimfire hunt only so we took our17's and .22's along with the thermals and the quad bike. After doing our usual 'meet and greet' with the owners and having a shooting competition with the family ( will post that up in a separate thread) we headed out as the sun went down to deal to the rabbits......
Got a couple before the sun disappeared and then went back to the trucks to 'tool up' with the thermals....
The plan was to ride around on the quad to various points after dark, stop at vantage points while I located targets of opportunity with the thermal monocular, Bh would then use his 17hmr with the thermal scope to take them out or D would take them using his 17hmr with the spotlight. I was simply the driver and spotter.
So BH attaches the forward thermal to the scope on his 17 and we set off. Spot the first rabbit at around 100m and BH takes the shot....dirt erupts about 4" low.....What!...It was a chip shot for him.....Second shot is closer but no cigar.....3rd shot is good. We continued our trek with Bh knocking over a few and missing some......which is very unusual for him. We stop to have a break and suddenly he realises whats wrong......He had forgotten to adjust his scope up for the attached thermal....as it shoots 12 clicks low with the extra weight on the front of the scope. He adjusts it and then like clockwork he is head shooting bunnies out to 140+m........
D is dealing to the close ones with his 17 and spotlight and all is good with the world. Saw a few deer in the thermals wandering the property including a couple of nice bucks with good racks.
As we headed back to the trucks, I suggested we take a detour to the area where we shot the 2 reds and they both agreed.
As we crested a small rise with a deep basin on our right and a ridge in front of us I stopped the quad to have a look with the thermal monocular. A rabbit shows up about 90 m away on the ridge so we get off, BH takes a rest on the fence post at the top of the basin and drops it with a head shot. I turn to the right to look into the basin and see 3 fallow deer sneaking down the fenceline towards the bottom obviously alert but not panicking. I point them out to BH and we crept along the ridge to a point where we could see them climbing out of the other side. They were about 80m away. The lead animal is a good sized buck followed by 2 does......
A quick discussion ensued between BH and I with the result that he gets down and lines up on the buck which is side on and level with us.... At the shot I saw a white spot appear on the deers head through the thermal and it staggers before turning and stumbling towards us almost falling over as it takes its next step. Bh sends another 17gr ballistic tip on its way and the buck collapses down the hill into the scrubby lupins. We watch it for a minute or so but it doesnt move again. While Bh heads over to it I guide him in using the thermal....
"Go up the hill 3 metres....Now turn to your right....No turn to the other right damnit.....Thats better....keep going........What are you stopping for?" .....I didnt realise that the thermal didnt show up the scrub as everything had cooled down by this stage and BH was shoulder deep in lupins and having to pick his way around the bushes.......I wont repeat the language he was yelling back bearing in mind this is a family orientated forum!
Finally him and the deer merge and D heads over to BH while I get the bike as close as I can to them. I get halfway down the slope with the bike, turn it around and step off it......take one step and trip over a lupin root and fall flat on my face before rolling 5 metres down the hill. Didnt break anything luckily. They both drag it to the bike across the steep slope and tie it to the towbar so I can drag it to the top of the hill.
Bh then starts field dressing it........and we are all surprised when he opens it up and there is blood in the gut cavity!! His second shot head on had travelled down through the head, followed the deers oesophagus before punching a hole in it and taking out the lungs and completely severing the heart from the other organs. The heart was undamaged though so I kept it to eat...
Here is a pic of the buck after I had dragged it to the top of the basin....
BH has his first deer with the 17hmr!
Ended up taking the deer up to marks to put in his chiller as BH's one wont hold temp. Will process it on saturday......
As for the heart, on monday night I prepared it and pan fried it in bacon fat for about 90 seconds, fried some bacon in the same pan after removing the heart then added it all together and made a pan full of chips to go with it..
Food for the gods I tell you....
And yet again, what was supposed to be a short bunny busting outing turned out to be much much more.....I didnt get to bed till just before 4.30 am........and not mentioning that it would be nice to have an early night didnt damn well work!!!!!
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
It’s a °IIIII° thing 😎
hesrt looks awesome! I’ve never added bacon. I will now. Though!
Thanks.
Except vodka.....I still cant get the taste of that crap out of my mouth from the SE about 10 yrs ago... We never expected that, especially considering it was a 17gr ballistic tip !
It’s a °IIIII° thing 😎
"The Un-Tactical"