I shot My first buck of the season yesterday morning. I knew before I squeezed the trigger it was going to be a problematic recovery due to the gorge he was going to fall down. And he was always going to fall down into it as I had only my little .223 and though I could get a good heart shot in, I knew he would run a bit before falling.
Anyway the tricks we have to take our mind off the pain and effort of the carry had me thinking of a little Poem/ode/something not sure what.
At some points I was reduced to climbing on my hands and knees and the last 10 vertical meters needed a sit down of 10 minutes to accomplish.

Anyway Heres, and good luck to you all this season.

Heres to the hunters that are on the hill early, prepared to walk far.
Heres to the the crisp cool of first light.
Heres to a well placed shot.
Heres to the crash of a falling Warrior.
Heres to the steep hill, and the struggle that lies ahead.
Heres to not being sure if you can do it, but trying anyway.
Heres to cutting off the head half way up.
Heres to collapsing at the top, totally spent but happy!
Heres to feeling your energy return as you sit quietly contemplating your quarry and why you do this.
Heres to all of you and good luck for the coming month!
And finally but most importantly;
Heres to the Deer we hunt. Because without them none of the above could happen.

Yes - had a week in the Kawekas two weeks ago - a group of 4 of us on a recce trip.

Man the hills are steep in there . The deer got the better of us but we caught trout , lost sweat and had a good time .

This stuff gets harder as you get older :-(

Be good to see the pics from both you blokes.

I need to get a new camera- Current one is all but useless in anything but perfect sun.

I managed to delete my pics - trying to recover them but have as much computer nouse as the average wombat . Fingers crossed .

Come on you Kiwi`s it is 2020 you know and those excuses are pretty fuggin weak ha ha

Well Muzz it gives you an excuse to go out and do some more hunting.