by NitroX

By the end of this hunt, I fully understood the meaning of this quotation.

I had been drawn for a balloted hunt on a property where my local deer hunting club had hunting rights. To be eligible for a ballot there was certain attendance requirements plus the member had to have shot a cull from the property. I had shot a doe from the property in the previous year for venison which also was an interesting little fun hunt.

The hunting area located very near the sea had mangrove swamps running North - South along the coast.  Inland from the mangrove swamps there are some small lakes of shallow salt water with some small islands and inland spits covered with thick scrub. The lakes are very shallow, perhaps only up to knee deep or a little deeper in some parts. Inland from the lakes is pasture and scrub along with a river or creek which flows mainly in winter. 
 

Once numerous the fallow deer herd numbered in excess of 1,500 animals but today probably only number a couple of hundred beasts. Protected until the late 1960's or early 1970's the herd was decimated first by pet-meat shooters and later by helicopter live capture for the deer farming industry.  This herd can be found throughout the different types of terrain but feed overnight and in the early mornings on the better pasture. Good cover is normally quick at hand for a speedy get away.

I arrived at the farm gate before dawn and found it unlocked as had been arranged with the property owner. Driving into the property I headed for a convenient drop off point covered by some bushes near a small drainage creek. Perhaps a little later than I hoped for the light was strong enough to see does grazing in the open sheep paddocks before they fled quickly at the sight of the vehicle. 

Parking the car I loaded up with rifle, ammo, a museli bar and some water. I wasn't very well prepared. Normally I set-off from my farm house where most of my hunting gear is stored, this time I set-off from my town house and had forgotten to bring appropriate clothes and all sorts of stuff. But with ammo, leatherman-knife, binoculars, rifle, camera - what else is needed?

The drainage stream ran perpendicular across my intended direction but also provided some convenient cover to spy out the end of a large paddock where deer often could be found. And found they were - three does feeding in the paddock in the distance. Snapped a couple of pics. and snuck back the way I had come trying not to spook the does.
 

Wading through the thigh deep water I hunted a fence-line with some cover from the open paddock to my left, low scrub to my right. Deer might be sighted in either direction and with the wind in my face the main issue was not being spotted before I spotted them.

"Sprung!" A spiker and a couple of does bounds into the low scrub ahead. I stopped for a while and scanned the surrounding areas before proceeding slowly.
 

Finding a convenient spot with the refreshing salty breeze in the right direction I stopped to sit down for a while and see what was moving and have the museuli bar and a drink (ie breakfast).  I don't believe in hunting by virtually running around. In my opinion a recipe for having to take "Texas Heart shots". I find a slower pace may mean you can't cover the whole hunting ground, but you see more. 

Some deer were feeding some 600 metres across the paddock. Almost impossible to approach, at least if staying in this property and no cover across the paddock. Moved furthur down the paddock.

"Eureka!" a nice stag in the shadows but silhouetted against the pale yellow pasture behind lit by the early morning light. What a magnificent sight! He turned and groaned and grunted. Yes the rut was on. I had heard him grunting earlier on when sitting quietly and knew he was in the area. The stag had been facing me when I spotted him. Had he spotted me? No I did not think so, as when he turned he looked unconcerned and was more interested in the four or five does he was minding.

I needed to move some ten or twenty metres to get a shot at him as he had walked behind some trees and bushes. I could still see some of the does, so a quick move backwards into the scrub out of sight and a brisk move bent well over to get to a point where a shot could be taken.

Emerging carefully from the scrub still under cover I was only a couple of metres from a fence line. I could see some does but where was the stag? Had he made a getaway. No I spotted him further along entering a patch of bush. While I had moved to get into position he had also moved a good hundred metres further as well.

The bane of all hunters, the wind, I could feel a slight breeze on the back of my neck. The wind had changed and the stag emerged running from the bush alarmed and about to flee. A quick shot, placed behind his shoulder angling through to the offside shoulder he was down and out. The 150 gr Nosler Partition in a .30-06 is fairly emphatic on Fallow deer.

Unloading to climb the cattle fence I approached the stag. What had happened?  This didn't look like the large stag I had seen earlier? Obviously I had been outsmarted. Thinking it through I had only seen the stag clearly when he was silhouetted. When spotted entering the bush patch his head was already covered just glimpses of antlers showing through. I had shot the pretender while the master had escaped.  

Such is life and hunting. I had a nice stag with one antler damaged through fighting. Not a big boy by any standards but I was going to get him mounted anyway and the venison would go into the freezer.

********

Now the real work began. After a drink I walked back to get the Landcruiser and returned. Pulled the stag onto some clean grass, took some photos, gutted him but didn't skin him yet as I intended to drive him home where I could butcher him easier at my farm.

The title of this story is "Murder, Bloody Murder". Why, well always remember to put the extra water container in the car. It helps with the wash up afterwards.

Now this stag was really full of blood. I had never had a stag bleed so much before and my arms were covered in blood past the elbows. My leatherman performed as the essential gutting tool (yep forgot a knife as well). When it was time for a washup I found some idiot (me :-(  ) had forgotten to put it in. Oh well make do with the remains of the water bottle plus some toilet paper, I later cleaned up a little in the salty stream. Loading up the deer into the back of the cruiser I managed to leave bloody hand prints on the nice white doors, both sides and back plus the chrome handles. Blood was dripping out of the back and pooling on the back bumpers and from there dripping onto the ground. Add to that a small axe caked with blood matted hair I didn't want a police car to pull me over on the way home. They might think they had pulled over an axe murderer!

Now I also sometimes have an problem with an allergy which is triggered by deer hair where my eyes water and swell up so I could pass for the elephant man. Not pleasant but goes away after a while. Last time it happened it scared a tracker in South Africa when an impala did the same to me.  Makes for lovely trophy photos for the mantelpiece. Ugg. And I am not going to give up deer hunting and take up croquet becasue of this damned nuisance allergy. 

Thankfully the drive home went without incident. I did stop in at a deli on the way home to buy a cold drink as the morning was heating up. Probably scared the owner a little. Home before 9 am with a freezer load of venison.

Rifle used was a Parker Hale 1200 Deluxe in calibre .30-06. Scope was a Weaver steel-lite in 4x with a taper post-cross hair reticle. Bullets were 150 gr Nosler Partitions at about 2,900 fps.

I really enjoy hunting this property. The terain is mixed scrub and open pasture. The land is very flat and the hunting easy in terms of exertion. But the stags just as everywhere else can be smart and outwit the human hunter. That's what makes it fun.