WA ADA Branch April hunt Part 2

We rose early and ate a large breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and beans, then packed for the day. We then drove about half an hour to a catchment I had seen deer in previously. Steve and I would hunt a feeder creek system that I had not hunted before that ran off the South side of the main creek, whilst Craig and Daren would hunt a dry gully further to the East that also ran to the South. Craig and Daren dropped us off  by the side creek right on daylight and we agreed to meet up again at the drop off point at midday. After Craig and Darren left Steve and I waited a good 10 minutes the started slowly up the gully with the wind in our faces.

Being early in the morning the catabatic wind was still falling and I wanted to use that to get up to an area where I thought the Deer would bed in the head of the gully. We encountered deer sign almost immediately and could clearly see where they had spent the night feeding on grass. We continued slowly up one side of the gully taking note of every bit of sign we encountered and constantly checking the wind direction. As we got higher and into the head of the gully the bush became thicker to the point of being impossible to be quiet, we decided to climb higher and see if it was just a thick band of scrub but it wasn't. We had a glass over to the opposite face and it looked a bit more open so we crossed the gully and found a flat spot to have a cup of coffee and snack.

Steve enjoying a cup of soup.

While we waited for the water to boil we discussed what to do and as it was now around mid morning and the wind was now just beginning to rise up the gully we decided we would hunt slowly down the side to meet up with Craig and Daren. After our rest and snack we slowly set off down the side of the gully, only to encounter more thick scrub so we decided to try and use the creek bed to walk through. This proved to be the best path and apart from the odd fallen log, it was the easiest path back down to where the thick bush ended. About an hour later we emerged from under a couple of Tree Ferns into a clearing and from that point on the rest of the gully was reasonably open all the way back to the drop off point.

Steve under the Tree Ferns where we exited the thick stuff.

We arrived at the drop off point about 5 minutes before Craig and Daren and despite not having sighted any deer we now had a good idea of the layout of this gully and where the deer were moving through for a later hunt. Craig and Daren soon arrived and we discussed each others hunts on the way back to the house for some lunch. They had both encountered multiple deer but had been unable to take a shot.

After lunch and a rest we headed out again back to the same catchment, I wanted to hunt a different feeder creek that ran off to the Northwest while Craig and Daren wanted to hunt the same gully again. My plan was to hunt up the creek to a point where 4 smaller creeks converged and then sit and wait until dark. Craig and Daren dropped us off and we crossed the main creek and headed off up the feeder creek, slowly hunting our way up to the head of the gully. We encountered plenty of sign but didn't see any animals, when we reached the head of the gully we picked a good vantage point that overlooked the game trails and set up for a long wait. Unfortunately we didn't see any animals that evening and we walked out in the dark with the aid of head torches.

Craig and Daren had had a bit better luck with both seeing deer, Daren had a shot at a Sambar Hind but missed. We headed back to the house and after changing and showering we headed off to the local pub for a meal. That rounded out our first full day of hunting and we were all tired but eager to see what the next day would bring as we headed off to bed.