The joys of hunting with a smoke pole.
As I prepare to leave New Zealand for a move to my wife's native land of Canada I was fortunate enough to sneak in one last hunting trip. An old friend and I were headed to a public land area to chase red and fallow deer.
The foresight on my old CVA 45cal percussion had been bumped loose not long before departure so a quick repair was necessary. I placed the foresight as close as possible to the mark on my barrel, used some epoxy putty to set it in place, I then fired a shot to check it. It was very close to bang on and as we were on the way to our hunting area I elected to fire only one shot, my first mistake.
After getting into camp it was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to dump packs and see if we could go find a deer or two. After half an hour or so of stalking along the track I heard movement close by. I eased up the track and there was a yearling fallow deer staring up at me from around 50yards across the river. I raised my rifle and hastily fired before it took flight. The smoke cleared and to my astonishment the deer was running across a slip away from me seemingly unharmed. Yes I'd fired quickly and yes it was a downhill shot, however, at 50 yards I would usually expect a round ball to have torn through that deers vitals. My first miss on a live animal with that rifle but them's the breaks and we carried on.
Later in the evening we eased up on a large clearing and saw 2 red deer feeding. 160 yards away and too far for my front stuffer it was easy work for my friends 308 so we agreed that he should shoot one of the deer. The shot rang out and the deer headed downhill into the creek. We eased up and to our surprise we found a red deer and two fallow deer feeding in the same clearing. 60 odd yards out, I fired at the much larger red deer and once again when the smoke cleared it was apparent that I had not hit the deer. My friend shot the deer with his 308 and we realized later that this was actually the deer he'd originally shot at but had not fatally hit first time around. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The second miss really had me bothered. I'd fixed my foresight that day and had put a shot through it to verify however I now regretted only one shot and suspected that I'd missed both deer high. We attended to the meat and headed back to camp to prepare a meal of fresh venison heart over the fire. I boiled some water, gave my gun a good clean then headed for bed.
We awoke pre-dawn to a frozen world around us and very stiff frozen boots. Once hot coffee and warm porridge was in our bellies we decided the first order of the day was to put a couple of shots through the old CVA and see where those balls are hitting. I loaded the rifle and headed down the track to set up a target, my second mistake, I should have popped a cap on the nipple first.
With my target set up at just short of 50 yards as that is what the area allowed, I put a cap on the nipple and noticed some ice build up which I cleared with my knife. I took my time to settle into a good shooting rest, pulled the hammer back to full cock, took up weight on the trigger, took a breath out and squeezed slowly until.. pop.. but no bang. I knew instantly that moisture had got into the drum and this powder was not going to ignite despite several attempts.
We elected to give the powder in the drum time to dry out and hunt the morning sharing my friends 308. It is a very productive parcel of land and we both shot deer that morning. However, I was itching to shoot another deer with my muzzleloader as this may be my last hunt in New Zealand for some time.
We returned to camp at lunch time and to no surprise found the same result when I tried to fire the front stuffer. I did not have a nipple wrench on me and this complicated things even further. With some kiwi ingenuity and my friends 'farmer engineering' skills we made a makeshift spanner that allowed us to remove the nipple and get some powder into the drum. With the nipple back on and a quick prayer we put a cap on and.. BANG! Rifle cleared. We set up a target and found that I was absolutely shooting about 6 inches high at 50 yards. With that knowledge we headed out once again.
We saw a few deer further away and one more fell to the 308. With our venison needs well and truly met at this stage we agreed that the next deer of the trip would be with the muzzleloader or not at all.
We decided to go to an area at the back of the block that had been left relatively undisturbed. The sheer numbers of deer in this area is nothing like anything I'd encountered before and I was optimistic of finding another deer, although hunting is hunting and it was not a given. After sneaking quietly through an area for quite some time a couple of unseen deer erupted from the bushes below us. They stopped a short distance away and it was clear that they had not caught our scent, perhaps they'd just heard something they didn't like. Although we still could not see the deer I was confident they were close and slowly crept forward over the next 100 meters slowly scanning any clearing in the scrub for movement. I approached a little rise that would fall away sharply to the creek below. Keeping low I peered over the edge and sure enough there was a fat Fallow yearling feeding away, the sights came to rest on her front shoulder and I reminded myself to aim low. The crack of the rifle filled the still evening air and when the smoke cleared the deer was on it's back giving up it's last breath.
After the series of mistakes I'd made on this hunt, I was over the moon to have got the job done once more with that little muzzleloader. I'd learnt some lessons, things cannot be rushed in this game and you will pay for carelessness. It's events like these that make me appreciate the skill and care that the men who relied on these rifles for their livelihoods and sustenance would have developed.
A quick note. The number of deer shot on this trip and the fact that some of the deer were small may be confronting to those who come from countries with a more regulated hunting system. All 7 species of deer in New Zealand are introduced and as far as our Department of Conservation is concerned they are pests. There are no natural predators and hunting is the only way to control population. Hunting is allowed year round and there are no tags required and no bag limits. The great thing is this extends to non residents, feel free to reach out if you would like information on hunting in this beautiful country. I am looking forward to my next hunting adventure this Fall in my new home of Alberta.
BPKiwi.
As I prepare to leave New Zealand for a move to my wife's native land of Canada I was fortunate enough to sneak in one last hunting trip. An old friend and I were headed to a public land area to chase red and fallow deer.
The foresight on my old CVA 45cal percussion had been bumped loose not long before departure so a quick repair was necessary. I placed the foresight as close as possible to the mark on my barrel, used some epoxy putty to set it in place, I then fired a shot to check it. It was very close to bang on and as we were on the way to our hunting area I elected to fire only one shot, my first mistake.
After getting into camp it was getting on in the afternoon and we decided to dump packs and see if we could go find a deer or two. After half an hour or so of stalking along the track I heard movement close by. I eased up the track and there was a yearling fallow deer staring up at me from around 50yards across the river. I raised my rifle and hastily fired before it took flight. The smoke cleared and to my astonishment the deer was running across a slip away from me seemingly unharmed. Yes I'd fired quickly and yes it was a downhill shot, however, at 50 yards I would usually expect a round ball to have torn through that deers vitals. My first miss on a live animal with that rifle but them's the breaks and we carried on.
Later in the evening we eased up on a large clearing and saw 2 red deer feeding. 160 yards away and too far for my front stuffer it was easy work for my friends 308 so we agreed that he should shoot one of the deer. The shot rang out and the deer headed downhill into the creek. We eased up and to our surprise we found a red deer and two fallow deer feeding in the same clearing. 60 odd yards out, I fired at the much larger red deer and once again when the smoke cleared it was apparent that I had not hit the deer. My friend shot the deer with his 308 and we realized later that this was actually the deer he'd originally shot at but had not fatally hit first time around. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The second miss really had me bothered. I'd fixed my foresight that day and had put a shot through it to verify however I now regretted only one shot and suspected that I'd missed both deer high. We attended to the meat and headed back to camp to prepare a meal of fresh venison heart over the fire. I boiled some water, gave my gun a good clean then headed for bed.
We awoke pre-dawn to a frozen world around us and very stiff frozen boots. Once hot coffee and warm porridge was in our bellies we decided the first order of the day was to put a couple of shots through the old CVA and see where those balls are hitting. I loaded the rifle and headed down the track to set up a target, my second mistake, I should have popped a cap on the nipple first.
With my target set up at just short of 50 yards as that is what the area allowed, I put a cap on the nipple and noticed some ice build up which I cleared with my knife. I took my time to settle into a good shooting rest, pulled the hammer back to full cock, took up weight on the trigger, took a breath out and squeezed slowly until.. pop.. but no bang. I knew instantly that moisture had got into the drum and this powder was not going to ignite despite several attempts.
We elected to give the powder in the drum time to dry out and hunt the morning sharing my friends 308. It is a very productive parcel of land and we both shot deer that morning. However, I was itching to shoot another deer with my muzzleloader as this may be my last hunt in New Zealand for some time.
We returned to camp at lunch time and to no surprise found the same result when I tried to fire the front stuffer. I did not have a nipple wrench on me and this complicated things even further. With some kiwi ingenuity and my friends 'farmer engineering' skills we made a makeshift spanner that allowed us to remove the nipple and get some powder into the drum. With the nipple back on and a quick prayer we put a cap on and.. BANG! Rifle cleared. We set up a target and found that I was absolutely shooting about 6 inches high at 50 yards. With that knowledge we headed out once again.
We saw a few deer further away and one more fell to the 308. With our venison needs well and truly met at this stage we agreed that the next deer of the trip would be with the muzzleloader or not at all.
We decided to go to an area at the back of the block that had been left relatively undisturbed. The sheer numbers of deer in this area is nothing like anything I'd encountered before and I was optimistic of finding another deer, although hunting is hunting and it was not a given. After sneaking quietly through an area for quite some time a couple of unseen deer erupted from the bushes below us. They stopped a short distance away and it was clear that they had not caught our scent, perhaps they'd just heard something they didn't like. Although we still could not see the deer I was confident they were close and slowly crept forward over the next 100 meters slowly scanning any clearing in the scrub for movement. I approached a little rise that would fall away sharply to the creek below. Keeping low I peered over the edge and sure enough there was a fat Fallow yearling feeding away, the sights came to rest on her front shoulder and I reminded myself to aim low. The crack of the rifle filled the still evening air and when the smoke cleared the deer was on it's back giving up it's last breath.
After the series of mistakes I'd made on this hunt, I was over the moon to have got the job done once more with that little muzzleloader. I'd learnt some lessons, things cannot be rushed in this game and you will pay for carelessness. It's events like these that make me appreciate the skill and care that the men who relied on these rifles for their livelihoods and sustenance would have developed.
A quick note. The number of deer shot on this trip and the fact that some of the deer were small may be confronting to those who come from countries with a more regulated hunting system. All 7 species of deer in New Zealand are introduced and as far as our Department of Conservation is concerned they are pests. There are no natural predators and hunting is the only way to control population. Hunting is allowed year round and there are no tags required and no bag limits. The great thing is this extends to non residents, feel free to reach out if you would like information on hunting in this beautiful country. I am looking forward to my next hunting adventure this Fall in my new home of Alberta.
BPKiwi.
