WA ADA Branch April Hunt, The final chapter.

We were up early once again, and after a quick breakfast we headed out. Today we were leaving Craig to sit in a gully that I knew was a good spot for Fallow Deer, having previously taken a couple in the area. Truth be known the old guy was stuffed and didn't feel like walking any more, So after leaving Craig suitably equipped with his rifle, arm chair and Ipad we headed back the the logging coup with Steve. When we arrived we checked the wind direction and after agreeing on when to meet up, we headed off in different directions. Steve and I hunted different sides of a long sloping gully and Darren hunted an area he had seen the day before.

A frozen spider web in a clearing early in the morning.

Steve and I both ran into some very thick bush and it took quite a few hours to reach the road we had decided to meet up on. I took the opportunity to take the time to get a couple of really nice photos of things we don't often get the chance to appreciate. Darren had things a bit easier and although we all encountered plenty of Deer sign, no Deer were sighted by any of us. Steve and I met up as we had arranged and had a quick cuppa before walking along the track back to the vehicle.

Once back at the vehicle we had some lunch and while we were discussing our afternoon plan we got a text from Craig saying he had shot a nice Fallow Stag. That changed our plans a little and we decided to call it a day as it would take us an hour to get back to where we had left Craig. So we messaged Craig with a time that we would be along to pick him up, and packed our gear. We had a short sight seeing drive to a nearby prominent high spot to get a better look over the whole area and then headed off to pick up Craig. When we arrived to pick up Craig he was waiting beside the track with a nice looking Stag head, and he told us how his day had unfolded as we loaded his gear and made our way back to the house.

After cleaning and storing our gear we had a few celebratory drinks and a counter meal at the pub that evening before turning in for the night. Craig now had a Sambar Deer and a Fallow, not a bad result for the trip. The following morning would be out last opportunity to hunt before we had to pack for the return journey. Craig stayed at the house to deal with his meat and ensure his capes were looked after well enough to survive the 3 day trip home. Darren, Steve and I headed out for one last hunt in an area we had seen deer in earlier in the week. When we arrived we quietly got our gear sorted before we all split up and went separate directions. Darren headed to an area where he had missed a shot on a deer earlier on in the week. While Steve and I crossed a creek and were promptly barked at by an unseen Fallow Doe before headed up different sides of a ridge.

I  was slowly contouring my way up the ridge staying about 2/3 of the way up the face, when after a few hundred meters I spotted a Fallow Deer slowly making it's way along a game trail. I had a quick look over the animal with my Binoculars and deciding it would fill my freezer nicely, I quietly chambered a round. I sat down next to a tree and waited as the deer cautiously approached, when it entered a small clearing on the trail I slipped the safety off and holding on the animals shoulder, squeezed the trigger.  The deer dropped at the shot and slid about 10 meters down the hillside towards me before coming to rest about 20 meters away.

A nice young Fallow for the freezer.

I kept quiet and scanned the area with my binoculars and noticed another fallow disappearing up the hill.  I made my way over to the deer and having decided to carry it out whole, I used some 3mm cord to hang it from a tree by the hind legs and removed the guts. Then I propped the gut cavity open with a stick to allow it to cool better. Being early I wanted to see what was further up the ridge and having marked the spot I continued hunting. I had gone no more that 50 meters when I spotted a very large Sambar Hind slowly walking through the ferns. I had a good look at her with my binoculars and spotted a very young calf at foot, spotting the calf I decided I didn't need 3 deer and watched as she quietly disappeared into the bush. Having seen her on her way I continued up the ridge.

About 5 minutes later I heard a single shot from a lot lower down the ridge, and thought great Steve has got one as well. Then I head some chatter over the radio and it was Steve and Darren asking if I had a deer and needed some help. I answered I was fine and would carry it out myself, but asked them if they had one as well. It turned out they had shot at one and missed. Darren had spotted a Fallow deer out in the open and they had stalked to within a few hundred meters of it, Darren had tried to shoot it but had a problem with his rifle so offered the shot to Steve. I don't know what went wrong but Steve had missed and the deer had run off unharmed. So I decided to return to my Deer and carry it out, meeting them at the vehicle.
    

Carrying out the Fallow Backpack style.

A side view of the deer, its head is tucked down the far side.

I used what the Kiwi's call a Pikau carry to carry out the deer, I like to leave the hind legs long and rest my rifle on them when walking out, but more often than not you will see the legs trimmed to the knee joint. Back at the vehicle we had a quick chat about the mornings events before returning to the house. We had a solid day of packing to attend to along with bagging up the meat for the return journey. Craig had spent the morning dealing with his capes and meat and was just about done when we arrived at the house. I skinned and dressed out my deer and vacuum packed the meat then placed it in my freezer, while the other guys packed their gear.

When we were all done and packed we had a quick clean up around the house before relaxing on the verandah with a couple of beers for the remainder of the afternoon. We had a great meal of venison and red wine that evening and stayed up a little later than we had previously, reliving the events of the week, and reflecting on the time we had had, before retiring to bed. For the morning would bring the start of the log journey back across the country.