Well done Elvis...and Meg. A good hunt mate.

we have had rain rain and then even more rain as of late,interesting start to the SUMMER!!!!! Ive been very busy at work spreading fertilizer so havent been out hunting.

the weather forcast for yesterday didnt look too bad so got up earlyish and headed away with Meg.
we got up to our usual spot,walked past where we shot our stag with devine assistance(there are more deer grazing the same place)and carried on up to the lookout.the sun was shining and day was looking great,ground conditions were saturated making traction....interesting.

nothing doing at the lookout or the two wee clearings we walked through to get there,grass is knee height so deer wont be hungry this year.we carried on plodding up ridge,dont know what was going on but I didnt really feel the best so was taking things very slowly,think the spare tyre Im carrying around my waist must have something to do with it.
any way I was working hard on keeping Meg in close 5-15yards infront,and kept stopping her with whistle if she got out of sight,I find after a bit of this she gets the hint and we can mooch along in our "groove" slowly and quietly.as we got up towards the Jelly fern clearings Meg was winding strongly down to our left off side of ridge we walking up...but the breeze what little of it there was ,was uphill so traveling in same direction as we were climbing(taking the skinny breeze)so I didnt want to drop over side of ridge as we know from past experience the clearings run along side of ridge and get better the higher up you go,if we drop over too soon our scent drifts up and all we hear is deer moving off in distance.....very frustrating. So any way we carried on slowly and carefully up ridge looking all around with Meg scenting on and off as we went,finally got up to where best bit starts and by this time Megs snorer was going overtime so I was on high alert and keeping her in real close,looked ahead and saw a yearling red stand up and move a couple of meters forward out of sight behing fern....kept Meg in and moved forward a couple of steps...yip there is its rear end seen through fern...can see enough of chest to place bullet before it gets out of sight...and then it moved off...stuff this says trigger finger and lets drive through fern just as bum dissapears from sight...big solid whaaack sound comes back. "get in here" I says to now hyper excited dog.we move forward knowing Ive shot the thing up the jacksee and will need to take another shot,I glimpse it moveing off slowly down hill no chance for shot,get to where it was and big blood trail...small animal,hit hard,dog keen...hmmm me thinks this might be good learning curve to see what she will do...spot deer again so I tell Meg to grab it (she normally NOT allowed to scrag anything or chase anything) she off down and just stays along with deer and keeps within sight of me.... not quite with the programme but did the job.deer stopped,dog in clear,stop whistle obeyed,high neck shot finished the job.

now Meg more than happy to get mouthfull of fur and give wee yips of joy,she knows that part of job,take Dad to dead deer. couple of quick photos on phone...will post later... and got out knife. lost half of one rear leg which is completely understandable with shot placement,My Hornadies finest did what it was supposed to do,femur was pretty much gone,only wee bone chips left,and due to close range we got the blowback thing happening and it sucked crap back into cavity....never mind the rest fitted into my pikau bag for slow plod homewards.

halfway down ridge Meg was winding back down where she had earlier,no silly dog Im not interested in carrying two deer... then further still she stopped beside tree right where Im going to walk past and got all goofey like,she would peer at tree then look away and wag tail.peer at tree then at me.peer at tree,peer at me look away,wag tail...comical as hell to see,I had fair idea what was going on,moved forward and said"leave it" in stern voice,trying not to laugh,sure enough not 8" from where her nose had been there was a opossum inside cavity of tree roots woken up from his sleep,"leave it" was said again and we moved off .stopped further away and gave her a pat(,she knows when I told Mum and son this story as her tail wags) all in all a good wee wander,the opossum incident reinforced that our training is working,she knew she not alowed to pursue them but being right there she just had to tell me LOL.

The venison now sitting in fridge waiting to travel over to other side of island to our mates place where we are headed for Christmas.
take care folks

we have had rain rain and then even more rain as of late,interesting start to the SUMMER!!!!! Ive been very busy at work spreading fertilizer so havent been out hunting.

the weather forcast for yesterday didnt look too bad so got up earlyish and headed away with Meg.
we got up to our usual spot,walked past where we shot our stag with devine assistance(there are more deer grazing the same place)and carried on up to the lookout.the sun was shining and day was looking great,ground conditions were saturated making traction....interesting.

nothing doing at the lookout or the two wee clearings we walked through to get there,grass is knee height so deer wont be hungry this year.we carried on plodding up ridge,dont know what was going on but I didnt really feel the best so was taking things very slowly,think the spare tyre Im carrying around my waist must have something to do with it.
any way I was working hard on keeping Meg in close 5-15yards infront,and kept stopping her with whistle if she got out of sight,I find after a bit of this she gets the hint and we can mooch along in our "groove" slowly and quietly.as we got up towards the Jelly fern clearings Meg was winding strongly down to our left off side of ridge we walking up...but the breeze what little of it there was ,was uphill so traveling in same direction as we were climbing(taking the skinny breeze)so I didnt want to drop over side of ridge as we know from past experience the clearings run along side of ridge and get better the higher up you go,if we drop over too soon our scent drifts up and all we hear is deer moving off in distance.....very frustrating. So any way we carried on slowly and carefully up ridge looking all around with Meg scenting on and off as we went,finally got up to where best bit starts and by this time Megs snorer was going overtime so I was on high alert and keeping her in real close,looked ahead and saw a yearling red stand up and move a couple of meters forward out of sight behing fern....kept Meg in and moved forward a couple of steps...yip there is its rear end seen through fern...can see enough of chest to place bullet before it gets out of sight...and then it moved off...stuff this says trigger finger and lets drive through fern just as bum dissapears from sight...big solid whaaack sound comes back. "get in here" I says to now hyper excited dog.we move forward knowing Ive shot the thing up the jacksee and will need to take another shot,I glimpse it moveing off slowly down hill no chance for shot,get to where it was and big blood trail...small animal,hit hard,dog keen...hmmm me thinks this might be good learning curve to see what she will do...spot deer again so I tell Meg to grab it (she normally NOT allowed to scrag anything or chase anything) she off down and just stays along with deer and keeps within sight of me.... not quite with the programme but did the job.deer stopped,dog in clear,stop whistle obeyed,high neck shot finished the job.

now Meg more than happy to get mouthfull of fur and give wee yips of joy,she knows that part of job,take Dad to dead deer. couple of quick photos on phone...will post later... and got out knife. lost half of one rear leg which is completely understandable with shot placement,Mr Hornadies finest did what it was supposed to do,femur was pretty much gone,only wee bone chips left,and due to close range we got the blowback thing happening and it sucked crap back into cavity....never mind the rest fitted into my pikau bag for slow plod homewards.

halfway down ridge Meg was winding back down where she had earlier,no silly dog Im not interested in carrying two deer... then further still she stopped beside tree right where Im going to walk past and got all goofey like,she would peer at tree then look away and wag tail.peer at tree then at me.peer at tree,peer at me look away,wag tail...comical as hell to see,I had fair idea what was going on,moved forward and said"leave it" in stern voice,trying not to laugh,sure enough not 8" from where her nose had been there was a opossum inside cavity of tree roots woken up from his sleep,"leave it" was said again and we moved off .stopped further away and gave her a pat(,she knows when I told Mum and son this story as her tail wags) all in all a good wee wander,the opossum incident reinforced that our training is working,she knew she not alowed to pursue them but being right there she just had to tell me LOL.

The venison now sitting in fridge waiting to travel over to other side of island to our mates place where we are headed for Christmas.
take care folks

Good yarn mate, and hunt...I’m jealous as I haven’t been able to get out yet.

Great work mate...and Meg of course...she is really learning and turning into a great hunting dog. Shame your shot had to be hurried and was a little off ideal, but these things happen, at least you have venison for Christmas lunch.

You and Becs and the kids enjoy Christmas mate.

still waiting for the pictures.

hmmmm cant promise quality or orientation,but here goes

Thanks, Elvis. I am always impressed with the dense ferns you have in your area.

that photo doesnt show it very well,those are what we call jelly ferns. very soft and dont handle extremes at all. the ground is an old slip so is either clay type soil or shingly rock...makes it intersting to try to walk quietly across....by late summer all the jelly ferns will have died and slip will only have a few grasses left on it,the deer still hang out there though.

a month ago I pretty much duplicated that hunt above...except it was 10AM and shot a hind this time.....within 75yards of where the stag fell in October....google earth says its 399mtrs from car!!!!

last weekend....11th August
Meg n I hunting up through cold wet crown ferns,breeze consistant for a change,couldve been the snow just above us...kept following her but she couldnt quite get a line on where animals were...heard noise up and across from us...one of the few places where bush was open enough to see across gully.spotted arse of one deer dissapearing and 2nd close behind doing same ,up with rifle led the rearmost bum and fired....
calmed dog....crossed down some near verticle bits down into creek,up otherside,also steep and crown fern now up to chest as heading uphill,Meg keen but unsure of the where to go bit...got to where though I should be and between Meg n I found clear spot deer was in when I fired...blood..big patch bright red....so flesh wound....them bigger patch 5 yards away...this should be easy I think to self.......1 and half hour later.Im about ready to give up. Meg is too. she had wanted to head up over ridge to begin with...but deer dont go uphill silly dog...looked anyway,no blood at all...but there was none anywhere else either...we had covered the 20 yards to ridge top 3 times and just about every other possibility same amount of times... we went up onto ridge and Meg kept leading me down towards car...I kept sharp eye out for blood,turning ferns over but nothing...really pissed off with myself,dont often wound a deer...get 4-500 yards down ridge and look ahead to see deers head looking at me 50ish yards ahead,up comes rifle and I fire,deer lurches forward and keeps going drunkenly...reload and poke 180grn through shoulder...stopped all further movement permanently.....Meg leads me to very dear deer. get out knif and cut throat...cant see buller wound in head anywhere???????must have missed,so why the lurching gait??? must be deer I shot at earlier....cant find another wound...did the poohs n wees bit and dismantled my pikau ,placed it inside plastic bag,inside deer and used strap to lace up deer (look up Alex Gale carry strap method) and carried WHOLE deer- puku down to road some 300 yards below with one breather stop...not bad for a semi old ,overweight truck driver.
when got home I spot bullet wound across rump...took out coffee cup sized hunk of back steak and must have shocked spine somewhat.
all in all lucky to catchup with her.
I shouldve trusted Meg....
that said the hour n half to stiffen up no doubt helped to slow hind down.

Gee mate, that’s not like you to jag a shot like that. I’ve never been an exponent of the “Texas heart shot”... poking a boollitt up the “tan track” is sorta undignified for the poor old deer. Oh well, at least you have filled the freezer, albeit minus a bit of backstrap. One should never doubt a dog’s nose...they are rarely wrong. Good work Meg...once again.

mate is wasnt a texas heart shot...Ive done many of them over the years...this one was hurried shot at deer moving up and to my right,broadside on sort of but only bum visible as I fired and I led that....
I dont often shoot freehand past 50 yards...but was in a hurry and the 08 being heavy is quite steady.
its plurry tasty all the same. SWMBO minced up last of it today...nearly 15ltrs worth.....we rather fond of venison mince in risotto.

todays effort is the 2nd time Ive fired a single shot from the new howa for a deer.
was a bit of an over cast day but for once the wind was steady so wasnt swirling... got up to our jelly fern clearing,worked 3/4 of way up it and I was about ready to flick over spur onto next clearing but Meg said NO we need to keep going up...10 yards further on,I look up and spy hind with head down,I duck back behind very large "grisillinea" tree,take 4 steps forward till Im able to lean against side of it,put Xhair on her and let fly...she went down like a lead balloon...2nd unseen deer that sounded VERY large,may have even been a stag stood 75-80 yards away unseen in the thick bush and barked at us for a good 10 minutes...poor Meg didnt know what the heck was going on,she took a lot to calm down as she hasnt heard that before and man it was deep growly bark....150grn winchester power point went in half way up shoulder as I had aimed and exited through far side back steak!!!!! I hadnt compensated for the steep angle....sure was effective at dropping her on the spot.

Nice!

Well done Meg, and good work listening to her Elvis. More venison for the freezer mate.