Katrhin and I took the young dog for a walk to overlook a clearing where we knew a buck was resident. Its a bit of a tricky spot due to wind and sits in a basin. We circled wide around it to come in from a high ridge that overlooked the spot and as soon as we got there, we saw him race across it to chase a couple of young Bucks. Unfortunately he got to the far end at about 350 meters, and with my little grendel I didnt want to shoot that far without a range finder to be exact on distance. Anyway he didnt give me much time as he chased the other bucks back into the bush.
I used the time to move into a better, closer position with better wind, and we sat away the evening hoping he'd come back. I was just starting to think we'd blown it, when a spiker showed up one end, then from the other out he came chasing a doe. I waited as he walked along the bush edge until he stopped, but sure enough there was a 2 inch thick dead wood close to where I wanted to hit him, that blocked part of his chest. I waited for him to step forward and eventually he did, and at 200 meters the little Amax projectile took him clean through the shoulders. He did not react like he was hit though and disappeared into the now black bush leaving me unsure if something had gone wrong?
We found him though, not far inside the bush edge- maybe 20 meters.

Congratulations on a nice buck!

Nice looking head bone Shanks. Congrats and thanks for the story. The buck looks as if he carries some fat.
Also, Kathrin takes a nice pic.

Great looking rack.

Am happy for you.

Dog looks thrilled huh?

You look like the headlights caught
you with your panties down though.

Hey, thanks for sharing with us.'

George

That's a fine looking pup Shanks...oh nice deer

Good one Craig. I hate being in the pic too.....

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Solid buck from the photo ! Thanks for posting. Nice read too.

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Very nice buck Craig! Congratulations!

Z

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Good one Craig. I hate being in the pic too.....

Yep, think you probably understand. I live for my hunting and enjoy having a moment of my hunts, such as photos, but actually Im always a bit more reflectful than outright happy in the time after killing something. I cant make myself smile even when Im told to so have kind of given up trying and the face you see, is the one you get.

quote:

Originally posted by 30.06king:
Nice looking head bone Shanks. Congrats and thanks for the story. The buck looks as if he carries some fat.
Also, Kathrin takes a nice pic.

Cheers Grant!
He was not what id call fat, but definitely better than a couple of cull bucks shot lately. Two I ended up using for dog food as even marinading didnt produce good results.
In all honesty ill probably mince this guy.

quote:

Originally posted by georgeld:
Great looking rack.

Am happy for you.

Dog looks thrilled huh?

You look like the headlights caught
you with your panties down though.

Hey, thanks for sharing with us.'

George

Yeah, my response to Muzza explains it, jeez imagine how bad it would have been If wed had to use the flash!

Nice buck!

Are they all menil on the North Island or do you get some black and white ones?

Congrats!

Lovely buck Shanks!
BWW Owing to recent illegal releases into the wild like the ones around my hunting block, you get all the colour varieties of Fallow. In the Blue Mountains of Otago they are nearly all black in my experience, as are the ones in the central Waikato. In the Bay of Plenty they were traditionally all Menil but now you get all colours. White ones don't survive long on public land.

Yeah real mix of colours around here. More menil and common, but quite a few black.

Funny looking critter...
Nice Fallow though and looks like fine looking dog as well

That is really cool.

At least where I lived in Germany they were all normal/menil.


The big station we hunted in Australia had a ton of white ones, but they didn't allow anyone to shoot them. The rancher said they were more cagy as they knew they stuck out like a sore thumb.

Super cool hunt! I love seeing rutting Fallow bucks.

Top notch. Looks like Jurassic Park for a hunt area.

quote:

Hide Post
Top notch. Looks like Jurassic Park for a hunt area.

Shanks looks like a jurrassic possum in the headlights, but that is pretty standard West Coast , North Island of NZ forest type

What role does the dog play mate?

Jocks 4. When we first got him I did a bit of work with him on finding shot game for me, but then introduced him to pheasants a bit early and he started getting too eager on deer.
We have just started using him on big game again now and other than just finding dead animals I have not done much with him, but am going to start using him as an indicating dog for a bit of bush hunting over the next few months.
He's learnt a bit more steadiness now.

He will find more dead/hidden deer for you once you have him going good.

Keep on him and he will be a winner mate.

Hes a really good dog. Picked up 50 odd ducks on weekend, and is a fantastic pheasant dog, pushing into the roughest shit blackberry to put up birds and will do it all day.
Its just taken a bit to get him to understand the difference between hunting pheasants and deer.

That requires work,a good dog will know that today its deer we are after and ignore the other distractions. They do pick up on it after lots of work.
If hes eager as you point out he will set you a lot of deer mate.

Yep showing good signs all ready.

Too bad I can’t post pic of my Fallow from last Fall but it is my deal as I refuse to post any pics unless it is one two click otherwise it is too cumbersome to my taste
It’s Saeeds deal so I can’t complain

Nice buck. Love the palmated antlers with the blood lines still visible; gives it a lot of character.

NZ is on my list...