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Andy the Aussie

Andy the Aussie

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Well just spent another wonderful week up in the mountains near where I grew up ... :) :)

I was chasing deer but the reality was that the rut is mostly over so it was only going to be for a couple of meat culls. There are always a good number of hogs around this area and this trip was no exception. The son of mate who was there at the time shot a really big well fanged boar !!!! I should have snapped a pic of the head he carried back to camp (he is doing a boiled skull/jaw piece out of it).

I actually took very few pics this trip as there was lots of walking (as opposed to riding my bike out and parking to walk the best areas as I normally do) involved thanks to lots of rain on and off all week so the big camera and tripod stayed at camp or where I left the bike.

Now May here is COLD...the rain kept the temps up a bit but I was certainly not out hunting in my Speedos either !! Took the chainsaw and chopped nearly two tonnes of wood in a couple of loads the first afternoon. Then had to split some (well I didn't have to but it is therapeutic)...




About the only pic I snapped out bush, just about to walk away from the bike as the clouds rolled in...



Now, this trip I decided to carry the .375H&H a little to make sure I was still comfortable with it and see how the loads worked (no pressure signs and shooting OK etc). I came off the mountain and got about 400 yds above a spot where I normally find hogs (down on the creek flats). So I walked down for a look around. Sure enough a lone boar was roaming around and after a bit of cat and mouse he lost...



.... that pic was taken in almost complete darkness (flashlight to allow the auto focus to catch and then ISO 640 and a long'ish exposure off the tripod, I only had the built in flash and this alone looked crappy).

There is lots of predation up here and if you fall and bump your head there is a good chance you will wake up partially eaten...!!! I rode back past this hog the following morning on the way back from another hunt....I have removed the hide from both sides but the rest was nature.
 
At one point I was sitting over a gully and a small group of hogs appeared, I was actually hunting a doe but it was too good to pass up. In all there were 6 hogs and 8 rounds later they were all down. I could not be bothered dragging them all together but snapped three that were close enough... ;) The other guys back at camp made the comment about how the booming of the .375 carried down the valley :) :)



Now the down side of this, as I was snapping that pic I looked back down there gully and around 30yds away was a BIG boar that had just winded me...!!! I literally snatched up the rifle and ran (dropping the camera) but he got out of sight and into the tussocks too fast for me....!!

Got about 200yrds back from the bike and spotted some more hogs, they were a bit small but I have shot plenty of rabbits with the .375 and this was about practice right....right...!!! Had to negotiate the wind and that they were feeding along, i ended up almost back to the bike and around 30yds from them when I fired first, this one went down just there....



and right after this shot another black hog took off, I was swinging through and squeezing the shot and there right then BOOM....just as the crosshairs drew level with a tree !!!!!! A saw a great mark appear on the trunk and thought at least I can dig one of those big Woodleigh's out and see..... ummm.... no...



.... the arrow closest to the rifle is the entrance, the one to the left is the entrance on the bigger tree behind....!! I dug in as far as I could and could feel in the full depth of a finger and was unable to get to the projectile, it has passed through that one at the front (12-14 inches diameter) turned UP and smack that tree behind. Can't complain at all as that is just what these pills are supposed to do...!!

Lost a full day to rain.... heavy driving rain and wind along with some small hail (this all hit just as I was packing to head out bush thinking "it is only going to sprinkle")... there was 10cm of water in the bottom of the trailer when that storm eased.

I put the .375 away and took my Sako back out for the last couple of days....damn it is easy to carry by comparison !!!!

Weather was still not kind but on the last afternoon I took a walk just after a storm, plenty of deer coming out but they are very very shy at the moment (lots of hunting around the area at this time of year). Managed to take a couple of doe culls and then walked back along the creek flats toward home, it was cold and I was soaked through up to mid thigh from the wet tussocks. I took a rest on a log and was about to make off again and then this little boar walked out around 40yds away ...



Just as he dropped I saw a bigger black hog break cover on the oppose side of the creek and figured why not, so from about 60yds running....


... she is actually about twice the size of the little boar.

After this is was a cold wet walk home and to start to pack up. Left the following morning and had a 5hr drive home in some horrible weather. As I was unhooking the trailer I realised that one tyre was in the process of disintegrating, steel belt was evident and lots of unusual bulges, it was the smell of burnt rubber that made me look. Can't complain, they were old and only a stop gap set till I replaced all the tyres on my truck and moved the best of the old ones back to the spare and trailer.

All in all a good week away.
 
Nice job Andy. That black and white one looks like one I ran into here in Texas last year. I got up early to go stick a doe, but just as u got comfy, I heard a deer do the snort/stomp thing white tails do. I was busted so I jumped down Ann belly crawled to my friends deer feeder and got to a cedar about 15 yards away and it went off right when I got there. That's when I heard that long snort thing pigs do when they know your there but not where you are. Well I was on the other side of the Cedar. Normally I bring a pistol when I bow hunt that area. All my hand found was a black Jack number 7. Thought I was going hand to hand with the hog. As it turned out, we thought better of it and parted ways. Hope I bump into him again this year. Nice haul there. I'm jealous.
 
Thanks all..!!!!

You can really see the difference between the pics taken with the pocket/waterproof Pentax and my Nikon, I hate the Pentax more and more each trip but I have to upgrade the Nikon first !!!!
 
Please excuse my ignorance, but other than salties and I suppose dingoes, what other predators/scavengers do you guys have down there? Goanna and tas devils? I guess I was under the impression that the croc was the only large predator.

Thanks in advance and thanks for sharing. :thumbup:
 
In this area, dingos, wild dogs, foxes (lots of foxes) other hogs and, the most destructive of all things that lay dead on the ground, Wedgetail Eagles.

From last month here....

 
Andy the Aussie said:
In this area, dingos, wild dogs, foxes (lots of foxes) other hogs and, the most destructive of all things that lay dead on the ground, Wedgetail Eagles.

From last month here....

Click to expand...

Didn't realize there was such a thriving fox population.

Were they introduced years back as a means to combat the rabbit abundance? Wasn't aware foxes were native to Australia.

Cane toads still wreaking havoc?
 
From your ballistic testing on tree trunks and local vermin, looks like you're ready for the Dark Continent. :D :thumbup:
 
trevitrace said:
Didn't realize there was such a thriving fox population.

Were they introduced years back as a means to combat the rabbit abundance? Wasn't aware foxes were native to Australia.

Cane toads still wreaking havoc?
Click to expand...
.... yes lots of them here... a huge issue. They were introduced by the British for sport and took right off !!!! And the toads keep spreading across the north... :(
From the same set as that single fox pic, two fighting over the hog, two more were just about 40yds away..!!





Hard Knocks said:
Love reading/seeing it. Thanks for sharing once again.
Click to expand...
.... thanks mate....!!!

Will York said:
From your ballistic testing on tree trunks and local vermin, looks like you're ready for the Dark Continent. :D :thumbup:
Click to expand...
... yeah so far so good mate. I have a couple of trips planned before heading overseas to get everything in order ... :)
 
I always enjoy seeing your pics and reading your hunt recaps. Helps me bridge the gap till my next hunt. Thanks:thumbup:
 
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