Cervus elaphus
AH fanatic
If you're a bush hunter like me, walking quietly along, not trying to be a ninja because that only spooks any game, you will soon realise there are two distinctive characteristics of the bush, daytime and nighttime.
I spent a lot of my hunting time alone, which I mostly preferred. In the bush you can hear things, branches cracking, the wind whistling through the tops, deer barking and farting because they can be incredibly noisy in the bush. But it is at night when the action really begins, and my favourite treat was to set up a simple fly camp in deep bush off any trails, with nylon fly overhead, CCF mat and sleeping bag underneath with my pikau as a pillow.
Soon after dark the action begins with a possum snuffling around near my head looking for the biscuits it can smell in the pikau. A poke with the rifle barrel sends it on its way usually to return later for another recce. Much later just as I'm dozing off, a deer approaches along the trail below until it smells me and crashes off in a panic, not so the pigs who couldn't care less and go grunting on their way to grub up some tussock roots below the open ridges at first light. Birds are strangely quiet until daybreak when the call of the Kea mountain parrot comes down from the high places. Down in the lowland forests, it's common to hear bellbirds Tui's and others doing their pre-breakfast routine. During the day in the bush I can whistle up the Mokomoko, a small dull olive bird with a great voice, down from its perch to within a few metres. On a hot day it's cool inside the bush and the wild animals rest and sleep here feeling safe until it cools off and they go out to feed. This is a productive time for me and often I've been able to stalk up to point blank range, wind direction permitting, check out any racks or pick out a food animal that can be carried out. When field dressing a deer I leave the skin on, take off both hind quarters in one piece which go over my shoulders; the forequarters onto my belt; backstraps and eye fillets into the pikau. A small deer I can carry out whole after gutting and cutting off the head and lower legs. Medium sized pigs I find are easy to carry out in one piece, just pretend they're a heavy pack with lice. Not all animals encountered in the bush have to be killed, many times I've forgone a shot just for the sheer fun of watching them playing.
Hunting the bush is not everyone's cuppa but I'll take it any time, day or night.
I spent a lot of my hunting time alone, which I mostly preferred. In the bush you can hear things, branches cracking, the wind whistling through the tops, deer barking and farting because they can be incredibly noisy in the bush. But it is at night when the action really begins, and my favourite treat was to set up a simple fly camp in deep bush off any trails, with nylon fly overhead, CCF mat and sleeping bag underneath with my pikau as a pillow.
Soon after dark the action begins with a possum snuffling around near my head looking for the biscuits it can smell in the pikau. A poke with the rifle barrel sends it on its way usually to return later for another recce. Much later just as I'm dozing off, a deer approaches along the trail below until it smells me and crashes off in a panic, not so the pigs who couldn't care less and go grunting on their way to grub up some tussock roots below the open ridges at first light. Birds are strangely quiet until daybreak when the call of the Kea mountain parrot comes down from the high places. Down in the lowland forests, it's common to hear bellbirds Tui's and others doing their pre-breakfast routine. During the day in the bush I can whistle up the Mokomoko, a small dull olive bird with a great voice, down from its perch to within a few metres. On a hot day it's cool inside the bush and the wild animals rest and sleep here feeling safe until it cools off and they go out to feed. This is a productive time for me and often I've been able to stalk up to point blank range, wind direction permitting, check out any racks or pick out a food animal that can be carried out. When field dressing a deer I leave the skin on, take off both hind quarters in one piece which go over my shoulders; the forequarters onto my belt; backstraps and eye fillets into the pikau. A small deer I can carry out whole after gutting and cutting off the head and lower legs. Medium sized pigs I find are easy to carry out in one piece, just pretend they're a heavy pack with lice. Not all animals encountered in the bush have to be killed, many times I've forgone a shot just for the sheer fun of watching them playing.
Hunting the bush is not everyone's cuppa but I'll take it any time, day or night.
