John Gryphon
Well-Known Member
We have a lot of contact swapping pics/tales etc and this is from his play time the other day.
NON hunters just dont get it eh!
I had an interesting hunt two days ago. Waded in through floodwaters to some isolated river bends.
Plenty of hoggie tracks and a few Sambar tracks which are what I am hoping to cull out. Found a likely spot and stood under a shady tree for half an hour. Just wallabies so then moved on 200m and 12’ up a gum. One fox picked me as I was halfway up and trotted off. After 10 min another mangy bastard came past and walked right under me. I was wishing I had the bow not the .308. More wallabies moving and feeding.
After an hour I got down and slowly moved down one side of an narrow bend. More wallabies at first. Then I spied a good rub. As I moved closer to check it out a 4 ft tiger slid off a log in front of me. I had thought they would be done for this year. I looked around and checked the rub and then stood in shadow for half an hour and more wallabies plus a couple of Roos showed through the Binos. I then cruised a bit quicker until I found signs of quite heavy traffic so I got up a Blackwood about 15’ and settled in. 2 hrs and just one wallaby later I got down and checked a nearby camera. One fat sambar half grown calf out on the track in the open at 4.00pm the day before. I put in another card and moved it slightly and then moved to the next narrow bend. It has thick ti tree and scrub down it’s middle. As I slowly walked to its bottom I heard a breaking of sticks that got me excited. 10 seconds later a wallaby exited at top speed. It headed to my side of the river bank. I relaxed again. Slowly cruised down towards the end. I then saw light reflecting and flashing off the trees nearby - water ripples. Something was swimming directly away from me to the other bank. I quickened my pace hoping to get a look. Then another wallaby went left to right in front of me. Bloody wallabies.
Distracted and not concentrating as I had now come to the end of the bend. I watched the wallaby and scanned to my right. Something in my subconscious said “left left left!” My head turned and there he was just 25m away crouching and trying to hide in 6” grass that didn’t cover him at all. A beautiful hoggie stag. Head snaked forward white tipped antlers back over his neck and looking straight at me with ears flattened. As my eyes met his he knew he was seen and spun immediately letting out a quiet almost squeal like call and flowed silently like liquid under the fence behind him and was gone back through long grass in an instant. I will never forget that sight! It was like seeing a unicorn or a tassie tiger - my brain just struggled to register what I was looking at. After I calmed down I checked the fence and found hair that he rubbed off when he went under. So I wasn’t imagining it. I then followed his tracks a few metres and found very fresh pellets. A pile of pellets then a line of pellets leading up to the pile. That’s interesting I thought - his pellets are the same size as a sambar pellet. I walked on about 200 metres when from across the river Just 25m away ‘Honk!” - I glassed for 10 min but saw and heard nothing further. I then headed home. As I replayed it all in my head that night it came to me - I bet it was the sambar cracking the sticks and pushing the wallabies. I bet one stood and shat as it watched me and then swam the river which is just 5 m wide. Possibly even pushed the hoggie out to where he would not normally go.
I ****ing love trying to work these bastards out.
NON hunters just dont get it eh!
I had an interesting hunt two days ago. Waded in through floodwaters to some isolated river bends.
Plenty of hoggie tracks and a few Sambar tracks which are what I am hoping to cull out. Found a likely spot and stood under a shady tree for half an hour. Just wallabies so then moved on 200m and 12’ up a gum. One fox picked me as I was halfway up and trotted off. After 10 min another mangy bastard came past and walked right under me. I was wishing I had the bow not the .308. More wallabies moving and feeding.
After an hour I got down and slowly moved down one side of an narrow bend. More wallabies at first. Then I spied a good rub. As I moved closer to check it out a 4 ft tiger slid off a log in front of me. I had thought they would be done for this year. I looked around and checked the rub and then stood in shadow for half an hour and more wallabies plus a couple of Roos showed through the Binos. I then cruised a bit quicker until I found signs of quite heavy traffic so I got up a Blackwood about 15’ and settled in. 2 hrs and just one wallaby later I got down and checked a nearby camera. One fat sambar half grown calf out on the track in the open at 4.00pm the day before. I put in another card and moved it slightly and then moved to the next narrow bend. It has thick ti tree and scrub down it’s middle. As I slowly walked to its bottom I heard a breaking of sticks that got me excited. 10 seconds later a wallaby exited at top speed. It headed to my side of the river bank. I relaxed again. Slowly cruised down towards the end. I then saw light reflecting and flashing off the trees nearby - water ripples. Something was swimming directly away from me to the other bank. I quickened my pace hoping to get a look. Then another wallaby went left to right in front of me. Bloody wallabies.
Distracted and not concentrating as I had now come to the end of the bend. I watched the wallaby and scanned to my right. Something in my subconscious said “left left left!” My head turned and there he was just 25m away crouching and trying to hide in 6” grass that didn’t cover him at all. A beautiful hoggie stag. Head snaked forward white tipped antlers back over his neck and looking straight at me with ears flattened. As my eyes met his he knew he was seen and spun immediately letting out a quiet almost squeal like call and flowed silently like liquid under the fence behind him and was gone back through long grass in an instant. I will never forget that sight! It was like seeing a unicorn or a tassie tiger - my brain just struggled to register what I was looking at. After I calmed down I checked the fence and found hair that he rubbed off when he went under. So I wasn’t imagining it. I then followed his tracks a few metres and found very fresh pellets. A pile of pellets then a line of pellets leading up to the pile. That’s interesting I thought - his pellets are the same size as a sambar pellet. I walked on about 200 metres when from across the river Just 25m away ‘Honk!” - I glassed for 10 min but saw and heard nothing further. I then headed home. As I replayed it all in my head that night it came to me - I bet it was the sambar cracking the sticks and pushing the wallabies. I bet one stood and shat as it watched me and then swam the river which is just 5 m wide. Possibly even pushed the hoggie out to where he would not normally go.
I ****ing love trying to work these bastards out.
