Huntin with your Traditional Knives

Cambertree, sweet rig and awesome pics!
Did you use your #53 to clean out any of those doe? What would be the dressed wait on them?
That's ebony right?
 
I have a 4in Tim britton lockback that should be here tomorrow! Our rifle season in Louisiana starts in mid November but I'll be in Georgia for the opener next month!

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johnny twoshoes said:
Cambertree, sweet rig and awesome pics!
Did you use your #53 to clean out any of those doe? What would be the dressed wait on them?
That's ebony right?
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Cheers Johnny - yeah that's the ebony 53. Such a great tool, I have it with me nearly always when out in the wilderness. Sorry to say it didn't do any real work on game that weekend, as I didn't fire a shot myself - it cleared some light brush for my firing lanes and helped pop this spent Federal projectile out from under one of the deer hides but that's about it.



As to the dressed weight of these sambar, I'd only be guessing, but I'd say the largest of the two adult does would have been 140-150 kilos gutted, say 310-330 pounds, maybe more. They are a very heavily muscled, powerful deer that have adapted successfully over millennia in their native Sri Lankan habitat to evade three main predators: tigers, wild dog packs and humans. (They are also native to India, but nearly all Australian Sambar originate from the Sri Lankan herd. A handful were apparently also introduced from Sumatra.)

It's not uncommon to take two or more hits from a 30-06 class round to bring one down.

I shot a large stag broadside from about 25 metres away the last time we hunted this property, the 180 grain .308 projectile passing through the top of his heart and both lungs before exiting and he still ran about 200 metres down the gully before a mate downed him with a neck shot. Their thick hides and fur can matt up over bullet holes and kind of act like a temporary pressure bandage until they bleed out internally. That old boy would have been pushing 250kg - 550 pounds or so. I used a custom Loveless drop point from a local knifemaker on him.

Here's a pic (sorry had to use the crappy iPad camera as my phone was flat).



And another of the hills these deer came out of:



http://www.austdeer.com.au/deer-in-australia/sambar-deer-rusa-unicolor/

Here's what I tend to use for field dressing duty, in combination with a couple of other knives. Adam Parker Loveless style drop point in CPMS30V.



 
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Camber, thanks for the pics of Australia, looks like some great hunting and your custom knife is really nice. I love the burl wood!
 
Enjoyed the photos, something different than the 'video production' type on the cable channels. I enjoy squirrel hunting but have never learned to clean them without making a hairy mess. Wild hogs are becoming a big problem all across the southern U.S. they do lots of damage. I will carry some type of larger Buck folder and skin with a Buck 121. 300Bucks
 
Thanks fellas, glad you liked 'em. I'll put up some more hunts down the line sometime. I love seeing how people hunt in other countries, myself.

Good luck this coming season Jake. Yeah I forgot to mention the handle material's California Buckeye burl: it's what first drew me to that knife; then when I picked it up - Wow - that balance and poise, I had to have it. Ol' Bob certainly knew what he was doing when he designed that pattern. That Dozier of yours ain't too shabby either. Be sure to show us if you take it out and get some blood on it this season.

300Bucks, I must admit I'm kind of fascinated by the whole squirrel huntin' thing. We've got nothing like it here. So you're using rimfires mostly? Do you actually fire up into the trees using the trunks as backstops, or is waiting for them to get on the ground the thing?

Huntin' rabbits (cottontails to you guys) with a tack-driving .22 is just about my favourite thing, besides maybe whistling up foxes with my .223.

Lately I've been refining my fieldcraft and marksmanship by - don't laugh - stalking bunnies with my .22 springer air rifle. Here's the Weihrauch HW97k in a little bush camp. If you look real close on the chair you can see ol' trusty, the GEC Stockman 53 with another little custom fixed blade.



Here's a closer pic of the custom in CPM3V by ZJC Australia. I'm gonna call it a traditional of sorts, as Zac based this fixed blade design on the lines of the Canoe slippie pattern.



Feral pigs are a massive problem here too - but generally up further north than where I am. I've seen massive areas of rooted up ground from feral hogs while hunting wild goats in the outback, but never seen a pig yet. The crews up north love huntin' them with dogs and knives. You can see how much damage wild goats do too in this photo I took out near Cobar, New South Wales. This shows the erosion where a mob of hundreds would come down from their rocky ridgelines to water at the farmers dam every morning. I actually ran out of ammo that hunt, and I took something like 80 .243 handloads with me.



Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing more of your pics as the seasons kick off for you guys.
 
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Wow Camber, I think you and I would be great hunting partners lol. I love hunting from the ground, even during whitetail deer archery season when most guys here are sitting 20ft up in a tree. Not that I don't do that, but there's nothing better than stalking around the woods, for big or small game. Rabbits sure are hard to sneak up on!

I'll be sure to take lots of knife pictures this season!
 
Jsega51 said:
Wow Camber, I think you and I would be great hunting partners lol. I love hunting from the ground, even during whitetail deer archery season when most guys here are sitting 20ft up in a tree. Not that I don't do that, but there's nothing better than stalking around the woods, for big or small game. Rabbits sure are hard to sneak up on!

I'll be sure to take lots of knife pictures this season!
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For sure Jake, ha ha. Tree stand hunting's almost unheard of here. My bro and I fooled around with a camouflaged German style hochsitz or highseat, in a mountaintop cloudforest a few years back, but never shot anything off it. Come to think of it, I should head back out to that property and give it another go...

Well, if you ever make it Down Under, you know you're always welcome! :)
 
Annual squirrel hunting tournament was today. Carried the Browning 20ga., the Reese Bose WT and my new Semi-Skinner made by George Herron in the mid 80's. The Herron worked very well (so did the trusty Browning).

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Jsega-love that Dozier. I don't know if they come any better, unless you have the Loveless.
Thanks, Neal
 
Johnny and Kent...great stag!! Congrats on the deer as well. I really like that Steve Johnson...he's for sure on my short list!

Neal...I got a good one for you...my Loveless is actually with Bob Dozier having a new sheath made! But I agree, Dozier's handmade knives are tip top quality!

Here's the Loveless Semi Skinner I picked up. Sold a lot of knives to pay for this sucker lol. The new sheath on the way from Dozier is so that I don't have to carry the original signed by Loveless.

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Oh damn. That's what it's all about really, isn't it? Good move on the sheath, not using the old, and having Bob do a new one. The man is a fantastic leather-smith(skivver?), in addition to his knives. Talent just runs in the man it seems. I don't want to sound un-appreciative of some of the other blades, George Herron, Tony and Reese Bose anyone?, but the two Bobs are what it's all about. (Although a front and back nude would be nice):D
Thanks, Neal
 
Jsega51 said:
Here's the Loveless Semi Skinner I picked up. Sold a lot of knives to pay for this sucker lol. The new sheath on the way from Dozier is so that I don't have to carry the original signed by Loveless.
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Wow. That's a grail if I've ever seen one. Very nice!!!


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Kent that Johnson is wonderful. It's nice to see it being used.

Jake, I really like that Loveless! Hope to see many more pictures of it.

I carried my Bose fixed blade hunting this evening. Didn't get to use it, but was sure ready to.

Chris
 
Figured I'd take a pic while I was oiling the 20 ga in preparation for some Grouse hunting.
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