bacpack hunt

[Kapow]

Greetings fellow smoke makers. Heading off this Sunday for a four day pack in hunt for red deer. Looking for a trophy first three days with a meat deer on the last day. Had a great time last year, shooting a small stag on the last morning.

This time of year (Autumn for us) the stags are roaring and looking for ladies. I saw a nice one last year but couldn't get a shot at him. I GPS marked his rubs though and a swimming pool sized wallow I found so I will spend some time set up on that.

After that I am travelling south to my fallow deer property for two weeks of camping and stalking. These deer are also rutting and expect to connect on something. Hopefully I will get at least some of the action on video and of course will take plenty of photos. Stay tuned...

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Good luck to you.Dream of a life time for most of us.Griz

 

[gsday]

Yee Ha! Looks like fun. Great photo.

We still got 6 months to go til we can chase elk.

Good luck to you!

 

[cynthialee]

Good luck!

So what all do you hunt down there besides them Red Deer?

 

[Silex]

Hey that sounds like a wonderful plan.
Good luck and keep the pics coming after you're back :hatsoff:

Silex

 

[Bob J]

Sounds like a great adventure and lots of fun!! :hatsoff:

 

[Kapow]

From the bottom up: rabbits, hares, foxes, wild goats, pigs, 6 species of deer - hog deer, chital deer, fallow deer, rusa deer, red deer, sambar deer, buffalo, wild cattle, horses, donkeys, camels. Think that's about it! There are no bag limits, very few restrictions, and there is nearly always something in antler. Oh yeah and we don't trip over each other while out hunting. Surprised more yanks don't come down here hunting. Oh by the way the huge red stags you see in New Zealand are mostly pen raised steroid fed animals that get released just prior to your arrival. Another SCI farce!

 

[cynthialee]

I expected to see some kangaroo species in that list.
Are they off limits?

 

[Moose Guide]

I'm gonna guess that you won't have any snow for tracking :rotf: Good luck and shoot well!

 

[Kapow]

Officially they are off limits but that is to keep all the bleeding hearts happy. The reality is that they are in plague and make for good target practice. Not me of course, but everybody else. :grin:

They are mostly shot on licence for pet food but some suckers in the cities buy it to eat as a new boutique low fat meat source. They can have it! On a typical days hunting you might see between 50 to 500 kangaroos and/or wallabies (smaller version of roo). They don't really have any trophy or other value but most farmers are happy to see a few hit the deck.

I once got asked by an African PH how we hunt the kangaroos. I told him that they are just like giant mice so we put a big block of cheese on a fence post. Much to everybody's amusement he fell for it!

 

[Kapow]

In the sub tropics so definitely no snow! Just heaps of mosquitoes, ticks and leeches. The warm climate definitely allows for lighter travel so I can keep moving with roaring stags and set up camp after sunset each night so will be amongst them each morning. (that's the plan) Tomorrow is the day and I am getting itchy feet, just about to clean out the rifle (Lyman GPR in .54). Can't believe a whole year has passed since I last did this hunt?

 

[steve free]

Good luck! Keep us posted. :thumbsup:

 

[majg1234]

yep keep us posted. nothing like smoke in the air and meat on the ground :thumbsup:

 

[Sean Gadhar]

In the sub tropics so definitely no snow! Just heaps of mosquitoes, ticks and leeches. The warm climate definitely allows for lighter travel

What about when the deed is done? I get frantic if I have an elk down & there isn't frost in the air.

How do you care for meat in a sub tropics back pack hunt?

 

[cynthialee]

I was wondering similar things, so I'll ask also:

How do you keep the meat from spoiling in that environment?

 

[Kapow]

It is a constant worry. A lot of it comes down to only shooting a meat animal in a situation that allows you to recover the meat, ie near a road or close to pick up point. As far as trophy animals go it is not always viable to recover the meat. The cape and antlers are more than heavy enough. We dont have te resources of pack horses etc that you do. If I shoot a trophy I will often just take the backstraps as a lot of the time the meat is rank during the rut. I usually cache salt for capes.

In this case it is a redundant point because I didnt get a deer. I worked hard and called a few in but they didnt want to play the game this year. Better luck next time. Next week I am in fallow deer country for two weeks so stay tuned. That is a much higher success hunt as they are much more vocal and predictable.

Hopefully my feet will have recovered from this weeks boot camp!

 

[Carl Fowler III]

WOW...sure looks like a roaring good time...as far as meat spoilage goes hate to lose any meat...having lived in N. California during the 80's and taken deer in very high day time temperatures...we would gut, get the hide off and hang in the shade leaving it to cool till the next morning...then we would wrap it up in a sleeping bag all day to retain the cold and repel the day time highs. Usually getting it to a storage facility ASAP!

But we did have cooler temperatures at night, sometimes dipping to around freezing...not so sure you have these types of day time versus night time variables, and the humidity level will play a role as well.

Sounds like you could use a good videographer next year....I'm open for interviews!!! :v

 

[bigbore442001]

Congratulations to a wonderful hunt. I suspect that more hunters from the US don't go to Australia is because they aren't sure how to go about it. I know one could go with a guide and outfitter but that would add up to a large lump of cash.

 

[Kapow]

Yeah well it is too easy to organise a hunt and if any American traditional muzzleloader shooters on this site ever find themselves in Australia, I would consider it a personal insult if they didn't look me up. I get access to so much good deer and big game country that I don't get time to follow it all up. As far as tags and licences go it is not an issue.

I've been at the beach all day swimming the soreness out of my legs and I'm looking forward to my hunt starting next week.