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Hunt report
Today was a big day. Not so much for me ( more about that below) but for my hunting buddy Gb and his son. Gb was successful in drawing a ballot block and he invited me to go with him and his son Nick.
Nick is a keen duck shooter and often helps me with culls and is the 4th member of our 'opening day' team. Gb bought him a T3 in 243 and for the last 3-4 years we have been trying to put him on to his first deer.
Although I saw approx 11 deer before 3pm GB & Nick had only seen one. ( They were hunting together, I had some 'other' hunting to take care of)
At 3pm I was set up on a spot I had looked at when placing the hunting block signs out and I called GB on the walkie talkie to see how they had got on. When he explained that they had no luck I told them to head to my position which they duly did. When they arrived I set Nick up and told him where the deer would come out of the thick pines and into an area that had recently been cutover. I then left father & son to wait while I went for a wander.
About 30 mins later I hear the 243 singing its song ( 3 shots) so I hotfooted it back to them and found that Nick had hit a doe hard but it had run off. We followed it up and when I saw it, it was down but not quite out so I took the top of its head off with a 120g Sierra from the 7mm08.
That's when the party started!!!!!! High fives all around, Yahoo's for Africa and a lot of back slapping.
CAUTION
Gory Pic
Didn't have much time for any more pics at the time cos it was almost dark and we had to walk out but here is one I took when we got back...........
You couldn't wipe the grin off both GB and Nick with an angle grinder! Finally he managed to blood his 243.
I didn't have any luck with the deer although when Nick let rip with the 243 I was just lining up a buck......which promptly decided that it needed to be elsewhere and didn't give me a clear shot............
However I did manage earlier in the day to take a wild sheep.........
This sheep had been reported to us a couple of weeks ago and the forestry company wanted it gone as they were about to replant pines. I saw the animal last week when it was grazing with about 5 deer and decided that its meat would make a welcome addition to the 'Take a Kid Hunting' barbeque. I knew I would have my work cut out for me as it was wilder and more 'aware' than the deer it fed with.
I knew where it would be so stalked towards the open area it fed on. Before I got anywhere near the open spot, something spooked it and it ran for cover, lagging behind a couple of does. I saw a doe making a break for the trees and then saw the black faced sheep sprinting behind it. At the time we were in tall pines with small gaps between them. Trouble was the gaps were so small that the sheep was through them too quick for a shot. However I tracked it with the T3 and when it passed through a larger gap I swung through it and touched the trigger, dropping it on the spot. Range was 174yds ( measured with the rangefinder).
Its wool was about 8 " thick and matted with branches, sand etc but the new load of a 120gr Sierra and ( I think) 44.5 gr of Varget didn't have any problem getting through its armour plating. When I gutted it, I blunted 3 knives just opening up the gut cavity! ( Paul, the edge on the benchmade is about as sharp as a wooden ruler now lol.)
It took all my strength to lift it up and hang it on a nearby tree, damn near giving me a hernia in the process.
The shot was uphill at about a 35 degree angle and I hit it a bit high and a bit too far back for my likeing but that little Sierra did a complete pass through.
Here is a shot of the entry side............
And the exit..........
The bullet was not recovered.
It was an excellent day, the obvious highlight for me was putting Nick on to his first deer with his father alongside him watching. It doesn't get any better than that as far as I am concerned.
Its now 1am, I have been up since 3.30am and I have to be at the boat at 4.30am to prep it and take a take a charter trip out later today. Doesn't help that I have the flu and got soaking wet when it rained while hunting. But I think the 'buzz' from today will keep me going for a whole lot longer.
Nick is a keen duck shooter and often helps me with culls and is the 4th member of our 'opening day' team. Gb bought him a T3 in 243 and for the last 3-4 years we have been trying to put him on to his first deer.
Although I saw approx 11 deer before 3pm GB & Nick had only seen one. ( They were hunting together, I had some 'other' hunting to take care of)
At 3pm I was set up on a spot I had looked at when placing the hunting block signs out and I called GB on the walkie talkie to see how they had got on. When he explained that they had no luck I told them to head to my position which they duly did. When they arrived I set Nick up and told him where the deer would come out of the thick pines and into an area that had recently been cutover. I then left father & son to wait while I went for a wander.
About 30 mins later I hear the 243 singing its song ( 3 shots) so I hotfooted it back to them and found that Nick had hit a doe hard but it had run off. We followed it up and when I saw it, it was down but not quite out so I took the top of its head off with a 120g Sierra from the 7mm08.
That's when the party started!!!!!! High fives all around, Yahoo's for Africa and a lot of back slapping.
CAUTION
Gory Pic
Didn't have much time for any more pics at the time cos it was almost dark and we had to walk out but here is one I took when we got back...........
You couldn't wipe the grin off both GB and Nick with an angle grinder! Finally he managed to blood his 243.
I didn't have any luck with the deer although when Nick let rip with the 243 I was just lining up a buck......which promptly decided that it needed to be elsewhere and didn't give me a clear shot............
However I did manage earlier in the day to take a wild sheep.........
This sheep had been reported to us a couple of weeks ago and the forestry company wanted it gone as they were about to replant pines. I saw the animal last week when it was grazing with about 5 deer and decided that its meat would make a welcome addition to the 'Take a Kid Hunting' barbeque. I knew I would have my work cut out for me as it was wilder and more 'aware' than the deer it fed with.
I knew where it would be so stalked towards the open area it fed on. Before I got anywhere near the open spot, something spooked it and it ran for cover, lagging behind a couple of does. I saw a doe making a break for the trees and then saw the black faced sheep sprinting behind it. At the time we were in tall pines with small gaps between them. Trouble was the gaps were so small that the sheep was through them too quick for a shot. However I tracked it with the T3 and when it passed through a larger gap I swung through it and touched the trigger, dropping it on the spot. Range was 174yds ( measured with the rangefinder).
Its wool was about 8 " thick and matted with branches, sand etc but the new load of a 120gr Sierra and ( I think) 44.5 gr of Varget didn't have any problem getting through its armour plating. When I gutted it, I blunted 3 knives just opening up the gut cavity! ( Paul, the edge on the benchmade is about as sharp as a wooden ruler now lol.)
It took all my strength to lift it up and hang it on a nearby tree, damn near giving me a hernia in the process.
The shot was uphill at about a 35 degree angle and I hit it a bit high and a bit too far back for my likeing but that little Sierra did a complete pass through.
Here is a shot of the entry side............
And the exit..........
The bullet was not recovered.
It was an excellent day, the obvious highlight for me was putting Nick on to his first deer with his father alongside him watching. It doesn't get any better than that as far as I am concerned.
Its now 1am, I have been up since 3.30am and I have to be at the boat at 4.30am to prep it and take a take a charter trip out later today. Doesn't help that I have the flu and got soaking wet when it rained while hunting. But I think the 'buzz' from today will keep me going for a whole lot longer.
Still enjoying the trip of a lifetime and making the best of what I have.....
Replies
Good for both of you. That sheep has some serious fat in it.
Wow, that is a lot of fat, does that ALL have to be trimmed? Do you let it hang and age the meat like that? Sounds like a great day, my mom would be breaking out the mint sauce.get well soon.
Jerry
:-)
― Douglas Adams
Thanks. The fat was so thick I couldn't peel the skin off.....I had to use a knife all the way.
Left most of the fat on the carcase. It will go in a chiller to hang for 5-7 days before I butcher it. When I butcher it I will keep most of the fat separate and look to render it down to tallow for keeping leather supple.
Use a 270.......at the most it will just leave welt.
I am sure we could rig something up for a 'running target' Jerry.
Jerry
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Alec, tell me more. You know when I killed a couple of doe this year, I rendered some of the fat out and put it in jars. I knew it was good for things like this. What else do you use it for?
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
As far as the fat goes, I intend to just cut it into small pieces, boil it then let it cool, scrape the fat off the top and repeat. Warm the leather, rub the tallow on and let it soak in.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Don't worry Chris, I have been looking for one ever since I was privileged enough to be able to fire Woodsrunner's.
( That's one reason why I wanted the tallow)
Unfortunately, the only ones that appear on the domestic market are these.......... http://www.hayesandassociates.co.nz/pedersoli_muzzle.htm ..........
I kinda like the Kentucky rifle......
You know how a New Zealander takes a sheep? .... From behind.
You know how Australians spell 'sheep'.?
They don't touch them for 6 weeks............