a day hunting new zealand style

[caseynz]

my father asked if i wanted to sneak away from work for the day and go for a walk with him and a friend,an offer i couldnt refuse, so after a quick gear check that night,we were off to a local forest park in the morning.we all headed in different directions,planning to meet back around dark.
I headed off up a spur and started sidling into the wind once i had gained some height. seeing a bit of sign i slowed down straight away,and there above me on a small terrace was a yearling standing broadside on looking at me.i already had my rifle on half cock so just shut the bolt and slowly shouldered the rifle and bang,one dead deer.
since it was still early in the day,i hoisted it into a tree,and boned it out completely.i forgot my meat bags so i had to wrap it in my raincoat ;D .
I thought since its still early i better carry on hunting ,and im glad i did.after another hour of stalking through mahoe tree gully heads i started seeing a lot of pig sign. i came across a freshly used wallow and thought the owner wouldnt be far away.suddenly i heared a twig snap,and i could hear something walking towards an opening in the bush.it was so close i could hear it grinding its tusks.just when it should of stepped into the clear bit,it must of smelt me and bolted a few metres.i could hear it sniffing the air.i froze for a good 15 minutes,but it must of snuck off.very exciting stuff.
after that i carried on a bit and ran into the rest of the mob of pigs on a steep ferny face. i could hear pigs in all directions,but it was very thick,so hard to stalk in.I managed to spot one through an allyway in the bush,and bang my second animal for the day.it dropped on the spot,a small blue boar.i chopped it up and headed for home now with a fair load of meat to buckle my legs a bit.heading back i spooked a couple of hinds in a gully,unable to sneak properly with a load on.
all up we had a pretty sucessful day.dads friend getting a nice eating pig,and my father shooting a hind too.not too bad for a public land day hunt.

[MikeC]

Meat haul, looks like y'all had a great trip. Congrats!

[sherlockbonez]

What rifle and calibre are you using for those?

[caseynz]

hi sherlock, its an old military 98 mauser cut down. and caliber is 8 by 57. its very loud with the short barrel,but nice for sneaking round in the tight undergrowth.

[Yorkshire Boy]

Kiwi's are great.

You said you were stalking on a local forest park, please could you explain NZ licenses and shooting etiquette.

A very stupid question... how come you wore your vest over your t-shirt?

[Charlie Choil]

Nice pics....thanks for sharing!

[sherlockbonez]

Very classy looking setup.

[caseynz]

hey yorkshire boy,
i know it looks a bit strange,but its made from rough wool and is real itchy on ya skin. the deer dont care what it looks like

[Planetcat]

I like your hunting rig. Nice brush gun. I've always wanted an 8x57 for hogs. I bet it's devastating on them. Oh yeah, great pictures too. Congrats.

[RussMo]

Any day hunting is better than any day at work and Brother that is a find score!!! I love the old 8mm myself and that's a nice cut down rig there. Great pics and thanks for sharing...

[rwc53]

Looks like you had a great time! And I really like that cut-down Mauser! Might have to try making me one to use as a brush gun for the wild hogs here in Texas.

Ron