Headed up to check the horses as the owners went to the beach for the long weekend and I had a request from a mate to get him a meat animal. Was intending to spend the night chasing pests like possums/rabbits/wild cats so I took the .22, the 17HMR and threw in the T3x 243 and all the thermal gear.
Met BH at 4.30 who was accompanied by a hunting friend and we split up to try for a meat animal. I ended up at the south side of the farm overlooking the lake and the bush covered hill on the far side from me. Saw about 25 deer from my vantage point....all of them were on the neighbours place but there were3 animals including a nice buck mooching around within 10m of the boundary fence. they kept jumping the fence and then going back to the neighbours......I think they were doing it deliberately to tease me as they never presented a shot ( and I dont like shooting animals close to the boundary as its easy for it to go pear shaped)
Looking across the lake to the bush, the wind was howling at about 25knots from my left and bloody cold with the odd scattering of very short showers.
While trying to find a more sheltered place with a view, I saw some movement in the bush about 250m away and saw a nice ginger fallow buck making his way through the bush above the lake on the property I was on. From his direction I knew he would come out into the pines to my left so dropping off the back of the ridge I was on, I stalked to a position where I could ambush him as he entered the pines. Took me about 20 mins and when I came back over the ridge I found he had moved a lot faster than I had and was already past my ambush point and heading for the paddocks. Now began the stern chase. I got into position twice to take a shot but he ( and another buck which I hadnt seen) kept moving through the gullies too quick for me to get a shot. I finally worked out where they were going and dropped into a parallel gully to try to head them off. As I came up a rise to overlook a big bowl I saw them both slow down and commence to feed about 250m away on the far slope.....but from where I was the wind was even stronger and I wasnt comfortable taking the shot as the wind was 90deg coming from my left and about 30-35knots......but I could see that if I could crawl down the slope about 50m in full view of them, the bowl itself was very sheltered.
Dropping my pack to lessen my profile I started crawling down the slope in the long wet grass using small clumps of thistles and lupins to break my silhouette. Finally got to where the wind had dropped and ranged the bucks.....173m to the big ginger one and a bit less to the smaller one. Laying down next to a clump of thistles, I waited a couple of minutes to get my breath back and then lined up on the ginger and squeezed off. At the shot he crumpled DRT and rolled down the slope past the second buck who simply looked at him as he went past. Chambering another round I lined up the second animal and just as the shot broke he moved and I missed. He then ran straight towards me ( one of the things about using a suppressor is that the animals get confused about where the shot came from). He got to within approx 100m before reversing back to where the ginger was on the slope. When he got there he stopped and turned sideways presenting me with a broadside shot at about 160m away. The 243 spoke again and he crumpled and rolled down the slope about 20m.
Picked up my pack, retrieved the quad bike and drove right up to them.
Got to the smaller buck and was pleased to see my aim was good and the 80gr PSP had entered his neck just below the head klling him instantly. Walked up the slope to the big ginger and rolled him over to see that the shot placement was the same.......No Meat Waster Trophy for me!!!
Here is the smaller buck ( in velvet) showing the exit hole.
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Now the work started.... Its always difficult to dress out an animal on a slope so I reversed the quad up the hill and jerry rigged the winch to make it easier to dress it out as shown in the next pic...
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It was dark by this time so using my headlamp and the bike lights I headed back to the car. Rifle was unloaded and velcroed in the rifle rack with the loaded magazine in my pocket. About 5 mins later I picked up some eyes on the slope in front of me and saw a wild cat sneaking its way along the hillside. Stopping quickly, I snatched the 243 off the rack. slammed home the mag, whipped my headlamp off and holding it under the forend I drew a quick bead and squeezed off...cat was about 65m away. At the shot it flew up in the air fell back and rolled down the slope on to the edge of the track. No apologies for the Texas Heart shot.
The pic is a bit gory and I wont post it up. but suffice to say it entered just under the tail, completely dismembered it and its head exploded.....
BH and his mate arrived and BH looked at both deer on the quad and ascertained that neither qualified me for the meat waster trophy...took one look at the cat and said 'Ha, This one is definitely a meat waster winner'!!!
I replied. 'The trophy only applies to deer, we dont eat cats so they dont qualify'.
Thats when the argument started.
He said 'Cats are food in some countries including the USA cos Trump said so'
'You are only saying that cos your son currently holds the trophy, he's sick of being called the trophy holder, and since when have you become a Trump believer' was my reply.
I then added, 'If I am going to have the Meatwaster, you dress the cat out, take it home and cook whats left'
The argument continues today.......( But he didnt take up my offer of eating the cat)
Rifle was my T3X in 243 topped by a Leica Amplus 2.5-15X50 scope and Remington Factory 80gr PSP.
The Leica scope is bloody awesome with very clear optics and is my 'go to' rig at the moment. The 243 also doubles as my thermal rifle and has Leupold QR mounts on both the scope and thermal.
