avon_7
AH member
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2014
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 89
- Location
- Northern Territory
- Media
- 9
- Hunted
- NZ, Australia, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, RSA
The Late Dry Season in the Northern Territory always signals the peak of the local hunting season for me. This is the time when the head high spear grass has been burnt off, a lot of the ground water has dried up and the relative high temperatures and humidity drive the animals towards remaining pockets of water for shelter, cooling, and thirst.
This year my good friend David would travel up from NSW for a time to catch up and share another hunting adventure.
David has hunted all over the world and has a lot of experience.
Also joining us would be my friend Aaron from NZ. Arron and I first hunted together when he was 18 and I was about 22 so we go back a long way.
Arron is a very experienced and accomplished Sika hunter, but this was his first-time hunting in Australia. Regardless it was awesome to have two experienced hunters with me to share the burden of decision making, this can help with the success of the trip.
This year we were to explore some new country only a few hours from Darwin. After a lengthy but uneventful drive we arrived at the property and met the Owners. We discussed the boundaries and protocols, said our goodbyes’, and then piled back into my Navara headed off up a dirt road to find our proposed camp. Anyone familiar with Australian Station Country knows that they can be big properties and this one was no exception. We drove for two hours over good dirt roads until we arrived at camp with only an hour before dark.
We managed to set up camp quickly and I cooked a meal of Nachos was washed down with a cold beer or two.
This would have to be the first camp In the NT I had been to where we were not bombarded by hordes of mosquitos once the sun went down, so we elected to sleep out under the stars on our camp stretchers.
The next morning I was up early and checked our Yabby traps which I had set the night before, all to no avail. For those overseas hunters who don’t know, Yabbies or Red Claw which is what we were targeting are a form of freshwater crayfish. A lot of outback dams and waterways hold them, but not the one by our camp apparently.
We didn’t get going from camp until about 10.00 am but that’s fine because our Strategy is to look for Buffalo and Pigs sleeping beside or in small pools of water and creek beds.
Since we were new to the property we drove around quite a bit, checking out dams ( a lot of which were dried up) and walking along through the open bush which mainly consisted of open timbered areas and Savannah country. Following cattle pads which would take us to very occasional water holes and listening for bird life which would also indicate near bye water.
It was on such a water hole where David and I were walking in the creek bed and Arron with his muzzle loader was up on the bank.
It didn’t take long before Arron, using hand signals, indicated he has spied some pigs. David got ready also and before long came a boom and cloud of blue smoke as Arron let rip with my .50 Percussion Lyman Deerstalker
David followed up with his Steyr .375 H&H and we were off to a good start for the trip with two pigs down.
Arron with his Boar taken with a .50 Percussion rifle
Davids first pig of the Trip taken with a .375 H&H Steyr
After some banter and photos we were off again, but this creek system soon ended so we were back in the Navara, pouring over the map and looking for our next spot to try.
A similar process was followed except this time we spotted Buffalo droppings of various age including some fresh, The ground was very random with the creek beds ending suddenly and then starting again several hundred meters away.
After an hour or so I dropped down into a promisingly looking creek bed. High steep banks of over 15 feet, afforded a lot of shade as did fallen timber and the occasional pool of water, that had not dried up. All in all it was perfect country to find either a Pig or a Buffalo.
We had not gone far when Arron indicated he had spotted a Buffalo. It was only 20 odd meters away from us and mostly concealed by fallen trees across the creek bed. David assessed the bull in his Swaro Binos and concluded he was a good one. We had a quick debate about who wanted to shoot it. Arron was easy and these blokes were my guests, so I was also keen for one of them to take the shot.
David hit this Bull twice with the 375 and we had a lovely Trophy Bull Water Buffalo Down.
He later measured at 100pts even SCI
Thankfully the car was only a few hundred yards away but even, so it was a big job to carry the head back as well as the meat we had taken off the animal.
They guys were not conditioned to Late September heat but they dealed with it really well with no complaining. You can’t take these conditions for granted and de-hydration and heat exhaustion is a real risk at this time of the year. This is one of the hottest climates in the world for hunting.
Later that afternoon we checked out another area and we saw a nice Trophy Boar, but he was over the boundary in the Neighbour’s property.
The rest of the evening was spent back at camp cleaning up the Buffalo Skull and general camp duties, as well as a bit of plinking with my Diana Air Rifle.
The next day was more of the same, exploring new country and checking out water holes and creek beds. I got the impression that we had been lucky to some extent because there was not an indication of large numbers of pigs in the area that I had hoped for.
That afternoon we drove up to the Northern Boundary and once there drove along the boundary track
We did spy two Buffalo but once again they were on the neighbour’s place so out of bounds. On the way back we spotted a mob of Feral Donkeys and David took one as he had never shot a Donkey before. Interesting animal particularly how they have populated the area.
It was another big day, and we didn’t drive back into camp until well after dark.
The next morning we drove back up to the Northern Boundary country before dawn and Arron also shot a nice Donkey with the Muzzle loader.
We spied a few Buffalo on our side of the fence but none of them were what we were looking for.
We spent the day up in that area fishing and exploring and arrived back at camp late again.
The following morning, we packed up and drove out, said our thanks to the Property Owner and headed back to Darwin
The next day we were to do a Day hunt about an hour’s drive from Darwin
My friend Frank turned up and he was to take Arron to one location and David and I would hunt together another creek.
Once again, we headed off down the creek, our day packs loaded with 5lt of water in frozen bottles and water bladders. 38 degrees C it must have been pushing as we worked our way down a creek.
This was different country, and you could walk for several kilometres down a single creek that would be mostly dried up. The pigs would be asleep under the banks and the idea was to shoot them as they come bursting out of cover.
There are not a lot of pigs in this area but the ones that do tend to come out are large older Boars, by themselves.
For this trip I was carrying a Beretta BRX1 straight pull, in .308 and a 20” barrel, fitted with an aim point and 3 Moa dot.
David was borrowing my Kimber Hunter, also in .308 but fitted with a Leopold Scope, wound right down to 3x.
We had to cover a lot of ground quickly to reach where we had left the car and so travelled light and needed rifles that came up and tracked targets fast.
We had gone about 4km before the first pig burst out of the creek bed and I only just managed to get a shot away at his rear end as he disappeared into the long grass in literally just a couple of seconds. The shot anchored him though, so we had our first boar down.
Not long later David and a Boar saw each other about the same time but David was quicker, and he had a nice Brindle coloured boar Down.
It was several kilometres later on that we were approaching an area that holds water where I have always shot pigs before. Sure, enough there was a Woof as a big boar came belting out of the creek bed and up the rocky adjacent hill. It took me two shots with the Beretta to get him and the Aimpoint was the perfect optic for this job.
The rest of the walk was extremely draining as we had to climb up into a saddle and then down the other side and then another 5km before we reached the car. 13km covered in total in very hot humid conditions, navigating with an App on my Mobile Phone.
We caught up with the other blokes and they had shot 5 pigs including one Boar that Arron had rolled with my .50
8 Pigs for the day, not bad but did we work for them!
We ended up at the local Pub and I think the two Schooners David and I had each didn’t even last 5 minutes.
We were back home in an hour, and it was wonderful to lie in the AC and enjoy a cold drink and comfortable beds that night.
The trip wasn’t over though as we spend a couple more days waterfowl shooting and day in my boat where we caught a great feed of Mud Crabs.
It was sad to drop my mates off at the Airport the following day, but all good things come to an end, and we vowed to rebook for next year.
Thanks for reading….
This year my good friend David would travel up from NSW for a time to catch up and share another hunting adventure.
David has hunted all over the world and has a lot of experience.
Also joining us would be my friend Aaron from NZ. Arron and I first hunted together when he was 18 and I was about 22 so we go back a long way.
Arron is a very experienced and accomplished Sika hunter, but this was his first-time hunting in Australia. Regardless it was awesome to have two experienced hunters with me to share the burden of decision making, this can help with the success of the trip.
This year we were to explore some new country only a few hours from Darwin. After a lengthy but uneventful drive we arrived at the property and met the Owners. We discussed the boundaries and protocols, said our goodbyes’, and then piled back into my Navara headed off up a dirt road to find our proposed camp. Anyone familiar with Australian Station Country knows that they can be big properties and this one was no exception. We drove for two hours over good dirt roads until we arrived at camp with only an hour before dark.
We managed to set up camp quickly and I cooked a meal of Nachos was washed down with a cold beer or two.
This would have to be the first camp In the NT I had been to where we were not bombarded by hordes of mosquitos once the sun went down, so we elected to sleep out under the stars on our camp stretchers.
The next morning I was up early and checked our Yabby traps which I had set the night before, all to no avail. For those overseas hunters who don’t know, Yabbies or Red Claw which is what we were targeting are a form of freshwater crayfish. A lot of outback dams and waterways hold them, but not the one by our camp apparently.
We didn’t get going from camp until about 10.00 am but that’s fine because our Strategy is to look for Buffalo and Pigs sleeping beside or in small pools of water and creek beds.
Since we were new to the property we drove around quite a bit, checking out dams ( a lot of which were dried up) and walking along through the open bush which mainly consisted of open timbered areas and Savannah country. Following cattle pads which would take us to very occasional water holes and listening for bird life which would also indicate near bye water.
It was on such a water hole where David and I were walking in the creek bed and Arron with his muzzle loader was up on the bank.
It didn’t take long before Arron, using hand signals, indicated he has spied some pigs. David got ready also and before long came a boom and cloud of blue smoke as Arron let rip with my .50 Percussion Lyman Deerstalker
David followed up with his Steyr .375 H&H and we were off to a good start for the trip with two pigs down.
Arron with his Boar taken with a .50 Percussion rifle
Davids first pig of the Trip taken with a .375 H&H Steyr
After some banter and photos we were off again, but this creek system soon ended so we were back in the Navara, pouring over the map and looking for our next spot to try.
A similar process was followed except this time we spotted Buffalo droppings of various age including some fresh, The ground was very random with the creek beds ending suddenly and then starting again several hundred meters away.
After an hour or so I dropped down into a promisingly looking creek bed. High steep banks of over 15 feet, afforded a lot of shade as did fallen timber and the occasional pool of water, that had not dried up. All in all it was perfect country to find either a Pig or a Buffalo.
We had not gone far when Arron indicated he had spotted a Buffalo. It was only 20 odd meters away from us and mostly concealed by fallen trees across the creek bed. David assessed the bull in his Swaro Binos and concluded he was a good one. We had a quick debate about who wanted to shoot it. Arron was easy and these blokes were my guests, so I was also keen for one of them to take the shot.
David hit this Bull twice with the 375 and we had a lovely Trophy Bull Water Buffalo Down.
He later measured at 100pts even SCI
Thankfully the car was only a few hundred yards away but even, so it was a big job to carry the head back as well as the meat we had taken off the animal.
They guys were not conditioned to Late September heat but they dealed with it really well with no complaining. You can’t take these conditions for granted and de-hydration and heat exhaustion is a real risk at this time of the year. This is one of the hottest climates in the world for hunting.
Later that afternoon we checked out another area and we saw a nice Trophy Boar, but he was over the boundary in the Neighbour’s property.
The rest of the evening was spent back at camp cleaning up the Buffalo Skull and general camp duties, as well as a bit of plinking with my Diana Air Rifle.
The next day was more of the same, exploring new country and checking out water holes and creek beds. I got the impression that we had been lucky to some extent because there was not an indication of large numbers of pigs in the area that I had hoped for.
That afternoon we drove up to the Northern Boundary and once there drove along the boundary track
We did spy two Buffalo but once again they were on the neighbour’s place so out of bounds. On the way back we spotted a mob of Feral Donkeys and David took one as he had never shot a Donkey before. Interesting animal particularly how they have populated the area.
It was another big day, and we didn’t drive back into camp until well after dark.
The next morning we drove back up to the Northern Boundary country before dawn and Arron also shot a nice Donkey with the Muzzle loader.
We spied a few Buffalo on our side of the fence but none of them were what we were looking for.
We spent the day up in that area fishing and exploring and arrived back at camp late again.
The following morning, we packed up and drove out, said our thanks to the Property Owner and headed back to Darwin
The next day we were to do a Day hunt about an hour’s drive from Darwin
My friend Frank turned up and he was to take Arron to one location and David and I would hunt together another creek.
Once again, we headed off down the creek, our day packs loaded with 5lt of water in frozen bottles and water bladders. 38 degrees C it must have been pushing as we worked our way down a creek.
This was different country, and you could walk for several kilometres down a single creek that would be mostly dried up. The pigs would be asleep under the banks and the idea was to shoot them as they come bursting out of cover.
There are not a lot of pigs in this area but the ones that do tend to come out are large older Boars, by themselves.
For this trip I was carrying a Beretta BRX1 straight pull, in .308 and a 20” barrel, fitted with an aim point and 3 Moa dot.
David was borrowing my Kimber Hunter, also in .308 but fitted with a Leopold Scope, wound right down to 3x.
We had to cover a lot of ground quickly to reach where we had left the car and so travelled light and needed rifles that came up and tracked targets fast.
We had gone about 4km before the first pig burst out of the creek bed and I only just managed to get a shot away at his rear end as he disappeared into the long grass in literally just a couple of seconds. The shot anchored him though, so we had our first boar down.
Not long later David and a Boar saw each other about the same time but David was quicker, and he had a nice Brindle coloured boar Down.
It was several kilometres later on that we were approaching an area that holds water where I have always shot pigs before. Sure, enough there was a Woof as a big boar came belting out of the creek bed and up the rocky adjacent hill. It took me two shots with the Beretta to get him and the Aimpoint was the perfect optic for this job.
The rest of the walk was extremely draining as we had to climb up into a saddle and then down the other side and then another 5km before we reached the car. 13km covered in total in very hot humid conditions, navigating with an App on my Mobile Phone.
We caught up with the other blokes and they had shot 5 pigs including one Boar that Arron had rolled with my .50
8 Pigs for the day, not bad but did we work for them!
We ended up at the local Pub and I think the two Schooners David and I had each didn’t even last 5 minutes.
We were back home in an hour, and it was wonderful to lie in the AC and enjoy a cold drink and comfortable beds that night.
The trip wasn’t over though as we spend a couple more days waterfowl shooting and day in my boat where we caught a great feed of Mud Crabs.
It was sad to drop my mates off at the Airport the following day, but all good things come to an end, and we vowed to rebook for next year.
Thanks for reading….
