Von Gruff
KNIFE MAKER
I met my good friend Foster at the gate to the 25000 acre station where I have a key to the locked gate and after transfering his gear to my landcruiser we headed off up to the first stopping point at the saddle. Having seen deer on previous visits in this basin with its gully system we unlimbered my 6.5x57 and Fosters AR 300BO and set off round to the first vantage point which probably does not convey the type of terrain that is here in the NZ high country with the mataghouri and spaniard that leave you with myriad spike marks up and down the legs by the end of the day. It is just not possible to get to where we wanted to go without pushing through some of the waist high mataghouri (always dodge the spaniard though) unless we spent a great deal more time and endless detours to get around to the set of rocks where we can see the valley in front of us.
This particular area has one gully system that is all within about 300 yds and so anything seen is going to be a reasonable shot but the face goes off with more ridges and gullies that are all too open, so stalking is just not going to be possible if anything is seen, which happened to the case this trip.
We saw the first 3 fallow deer, a doe with last two years young in tow at 450yds but heading away toward another two small groups going out to over 1300yds with 7 seen all together. We may not have had a shot oportunity but sitting there on the rocks and glassing them was a very nice start to the trip.
After returning to the truck we set off round to the bluffs but stopped at the first observation point
You can see the fresh dusting of snow that came through in the previous few days and while it may be mid summer it is high enough here that the wind coming up from the southern ocean often brings a bit of the snow with it.
For the goats I take my 6.5 Grendel-Max and so we walked down to the first of the observation points over this part of the property and saw the first of the goats for the trip. A small mob of 6 was resting in the sun with a couple of the younger ones wandering about among them. They were down about 100yds and the steepness of the slope and fresh legs did not warn of what it would take to get them out after they were shot. After Foster and I were both settled he offered me first shot and the nanny of the group had a big white patch on her side so that was my first target and then it was on, with goats moving in different directions making it a quick reload to get on to the next one which for me was a very pretty mottled grey one, then black one and by this time any remaining goats had decamped. Foster was not pleased with his shooting and didn't report a hit so it was the climb down to gather the ones I had shot.
When I got down there I got another shot at one on a track so that was four and while I was field dressing the firsts two with my mati and buffalo horn mini skinner, Foster bought up the fourth one and set off looking for the third one and while he did see some blood he wasn't able to locate it. This mataghouri is sometimes so thick that you can be within a couple of feet of the animal without seeing it. I was confident that I had got 4 with the four shots but as sometimes happens had to leave one for the hawks
While he was looking for mine he managed to see another one and his 300BO accounted for it so while he was dealing with that I started the climb out with the three I had
We finally made it back to the truck and set up the skinning rack and the boning table and I got the first of the two little ones hung up and skinned. I take the back straps and tenderloins then take the shoulder off and bone it out (one of my boning knives) before cutting the back legs off with a cleaver and leaving the carcase for the birds and worms. I only take the usable off the hill and with 6 one liter salt water bottles frozen in the chilly bin (salt water freezes colder and thaws slower) there is room for meat this way and when I get home there is only the bagging and freezing to be done. Had to split the back legs as I forgot to take the meat saw with me but that is a minor detail and takes little time or effort.
This particular area has one gully system that is all within about 300 yds and so anything seen is going to be a reasonable shot but the face goes off with more ridges and gullies that are all too open, so stalking is just not going to be possible if anything is seen, which happened to the case this trip.
We saw the first 3 fallow deer, a doe with last two years young in tow at 450yds but heading away toward another two small groups going out to over 1300yds with 7 seen all together. We may not have had a shot oportunity but sitting there on the rocks and glassing them was a very nice start to the trip.
After returning to the truck we set off round to the bluffs but stopped at the first observation point
You can see the fresh dusting of snow that came through in the previous few days and while it may be mid summer it is high enough here that the wind coming up from the southern ocean often brings a bit of the snow with it.
For the goats I take my 6.5 Grendel-Max and so we walked down to the first of the observation points over this part of the property and saw the first of the goats for the trip. A small mob of 6 was resting in the sun with a couple of the younger ones wandering about among them. They were down about 100yds and the steepness of the slope and fresh legs did not warn of what it would take to get them out after they were shot. After Foster and I were both settled he offered me first shot and the nanny of the group had a big white patch on her side so that was my first target and then it was on, with goats moving in different directions making it a quick reload to get on to the next one which for me was a very pretty mottled grey one, then black one and by this time any remaining goats had decamped. Foster was not pleased with his shooting and didn't report a hit so it was the climb down to gather the ones I had shot.
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