Red deer backpack hunt.

[Kapow]

Got a nice little hunting trip planned for late March. Getting dropped off into some wild bush where the red deer roam. The aim is to camp rough and travel light so that I can keep moving. I'm taking a small pack with the bare minimum so that rather than set up a base camp and return to it each night I can rather keep hunting all day and set up camp where the sun goes down. That way I can follow the stags roars until dark an be amongst them in the early morning.

I am taking my Lyman GPH in .54 and this will be the first trip I have done of this kind with a black powder rifle so am really looking forward to it. I'll share the details with you in due course, knowing that it is your 'off' season.

 

[oletymepreacher]

Sounds like something I would do. This year's elk hunt will be like this.

Good luck and keep us up to date.

 

[gsday]

Sounds like a good hunt.

Can't wait to hear your post hunt report.

Good Luck !

Greg

 

[caddo]

Let us know how you do and have fun.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Envy :bow: Envy :bow: Envy :bow:

LD

 

[omarick1948]

Good on you!...My kind of hunt 30 years ago! Don't forget a Flint and Steel fire kit, salt and a good knife!

Rick

 

[ny griz]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:Sounds like a great hunt.Good hunting.Like ta see pics of your hunt.Griz

 

[Idaho Ron]

Sounds like fun. What other animals will be available for hunting at the same time? Good luck. Ron

 

[Kapow]

In that area, red deer are it. They are a very vocal deer, similar in their behaviour to elk. In fact they will readily interbreed with elk.

Rather than bugle they roar like a cross between a lion and a bull. They can be roared in which can be quite hair raising.

Straight after that I have a two week camp set up a bit further south for fallow deer. They are a smaller deer with palmated antlers, also very vocal and can be called in with hind calls. Last year I patterned a very big stag and know where his main scrape is now so he may have a problem. In that area I will also see wild pigs, goats and small game.

April is definitely the month!

 

[Vaino]

Wish I were going. How big are the red deer...kilos? What weather and temps do you expect? How is the meat preserved and taken out? Did a solo MLer elk hunt a few yrs back in the Zirkel Wilderness Area of Colorado and enjoyed it tremendously. Good luck....Fred

 

[Kapow]

Honestly never weighed one. Probably about 3/5 the size of an elk. Similar antlers with brows and trez but with (hopefully) a crown of three points on the end of beam.

It can get a bit warm which can make the hunting hard but means I can carry a lighter load. Will cache some salt on the way in. If they are rutting hard it is a very vocal and exciting hunt.
As far as meat goes, you just do what you can but it can spoil pretty quickly. It is really a trophy hunt and doesn't always taste the best when rutted up anyway.

 

[BillinOregon]

Kapow, we're all envious on this side of the Pacific pond. Can you make biltong (dried meat) this time of year in Oz?
Watch out for the bloody snakes.

 

[Kapow]

To be honest, we don't really do biltong but there are enough Sth African people around to show me how if I went that way. I must admit we are a little bit lazy in recovery of game meat from trophy animals, an area we could definitely improve on.

As far as snakes go, yep there are some nasty taipans in that area. Multiple lightning fast bites, each one capable of killing several men. I think they are about number 3 in the world for toxicity. Just part of the way of life here. Now if we saw a bear or a cougar there'd be mass panic!

BTW I am typing this (and enjoying a beer)sitting on the bank of the River Kwae in Thailand, right next to the famous bridge of WWII for all you oldies. That's gotta be a first, surely???

 

[Kapow]

What an awesome trip! Think I'll have to make this one an annual event. I drove through the night to get to the friend's place by morning. After sorting out my gear he dropped me off into the bush. Hoping I hadn't forgotten anything I set off into the unknown.

The first evening I just sat and listened for any roaring. I had a bit of a roar through a piece of pipe i had brought but got no response so set up camp for the night. Imagine my surprise when my airbed didnt inflate! I was in for some rough nights.

The following morning I was awoken to the welcome sound of several stags roaring but by the time I had camp packed and got rolling they shut up.. typical. I started to roar to get a couple more groans out of them, just enough to pinpoint them.

I snuck in and kept roaring and found some rub trees and began to rake them with a stick. I looked up to my left and saw a nice stag looking at me from about 60yards. Unfortuneately his body was covered by a large tree. He was long and thick with crowns on top so wouldve been a great head but it wasnt to be as he never gave me an ethical shot.

The next few days were tough with very little roaring. I had to be patient and make some opportunities so I sat on funnels and that sort of thing. I covered some amazing country and found and marked some awesome spots on the GPS for next time but before I knew it it was time to leave so I walked out at night and camped close to the pick up spot for the next morning. On the way out under moonlight I came across the most beautiful python, glad it wasn't a taipan!

The last morning I crisscrossed a lush gully system where I had seen the first stag and let out some roars, sat and listened, winding down the clock before pickup time. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a young stag cruising towards me looking for my scent.

I confirmed he was missing a brow tine which made him eligible for culling and lined him up with my now cocked Lyman. At 40m the bullet took him on the point of the shoulder and he took off on a death run. I did a quick bone out job and powered out of there to meet my transport with no time to spare.

A great ending to a nice hunt in beautiful country. I got bitten to hell by the usual bugs and leeches but it was all worth it. The Lyman GPH was a joy to carry and the Lyman Great Plains bullet performed perfectly smashing through both shoulders. Can't wait for next year. Now have two more weeks after another species in a different area.

 

[chance]

Great hunt and Pics!!!!!

 

[Idaho Ron]

Way to go on the stag! :hatsoff:
Ron

 

[KHickam]

Nice deer = didn't know New Zealand had snakes though. :thumbsup:

 

[pargent]

Australia

 

[hawk]

good stuff! :thumbsup: :hatsoff:

 

[gsday]

BEAUTY! Thanks for the pics and story.