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Showing posts from December, 2017

Mountain Hunt

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Queens birthday weekend and an rdo on the Tuesday means a four day weekend to get away. Having such a vast array of hobbies and living in a country that provides so much meant a difficult decision decided what to do. After narrowing it down to Tuna fishing, deer hunting, or a pig hunt. After much consideration we decided on a trip up the mountains to get our 6 month old pups onto a few pigs. After organizing our arrival with the property owner we loaded the Ranger and starting our 11 hour journey to our destination. We drove through the night to arrive there around 9am and be greeted with the very welcoming land owners. After a good yarn we unpacked, collared the dogs and made our way in as far as the 4x4 could go, which meant walking from here on in. The dogs we had on this trip was my main bitch of 6-7 years Xena my dog Brutis and two 6 month old bull arab pups. We stopped on a ridge with a gully on either side, We originally decided to hunt the east side but h

Stormy Questions

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Looking in the freezer to see a shortage of meat doesn't mean quickly running up to the supermarket and buying meat in our household. It means its time to organise a hunt and go find ourselves some meat.    Being a bit too cold for our kids down here in Victoria at the moment i decided to go with a couple mates this time around. Its never hard getting a couple mates together for a hunt.   I was second to arrive and Dave already had the campfire roaring which was very welcoming. Not long after Lou joined us and we began to plan our hunt.    By the time we had settled we only had about an hour of light left which we decided to use and quickly grabbed our stuff and headed to the nearest gully to glass over.    It had been raining on and off all day and continued to do just that whilst we were sitting there. Lou had the gun as he has never shot a deer before.     After sitting for 20 minutes or so i noticed some movement behind a small bush only 80m away. Quietly t

Popping George's Tuna Cherry

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We find ourselves in the fishing town of Portland on Victoria's west coast, this time chasing Bluefin tuna. Its Friday night the weather is perfect for the 3 days that we plan to fish, we setup up the boat do the final touches setting up lures for to make it all easy for an early morning start.        We awake to the alarm, eat some breakfast before loading the boat and making our way to boat ramp. For anyone that has never launched from Portland there is 2 separate boat ramps both very good and accommodate for all sized boats. We launch the boat and make our way to where we think the tuna might be holding        We decide to head west from Portland toward just Bridgewater, we get past the cape nelson lighthouse and begin to set the spread. We opt for 2 divers in close and 2 skirts out a bit further. We continue west along the 50m line when we see some bird activity out a bit deeper.        Trolling over we see dolphins, seals and 4-5 different types of birds fee

2017 Duck Opening Weekend

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March for allot of hunters signifies the start to the duck season, for me that means carrying on our family tradition that i have been apart of for the best part of 20 years which is only just a fraction of the time we as a family have been going to the same spots year on year.    Friday the eve of duck opening i finish work at lunchtime, ute is already packed and i start making tracks towards our destination.    Upon arriving to the lake i set up my blind and throw out the decoys, then make my way to camp and greet family and friends, some i only see once a year for this occasion.    Its my 15 year old cousins first time shooting an opening and he has been so keen for this day for months. He has studied every birds flying patterns annoyed his family and neighbors trying his best to imitate the calls from every bird with his newly bought duck caller. All for this day. Reminding me of exactly how i was when I was a kid asking a million questions about everything hunt

Family Deer hunt

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Driving home from a busy week at work i was in need of some stress relief and what better way then a night out under the stars.   I called Emily and with our meat freezer nearly empty we decided on a camping/hunting trip up the hills with our boys.     Arriving to the property we only had a bit over an hour  of light left so quickly setup and headed for a quick hike up the mountain to view a small gully with the boys.   We only seen a few roos and a couple of wallabies. With the sun setting fast we made our way back to camp not wanting to be walking too much in the dark with 2 young kids   Back at camp and light almost all gone we finished setting up camp and lit the fire as Taj was all to eager to roast some marsh mallows.    With the boys getting restless we put them down in the camper trailer for some rest before a early start to try get ourselves a look at a elusive sambar deer.   We were up before the sun, filled our bellies, loaded our back packs and we were

Robe South Australia

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 After some planning we were off again, this time we were trecking 7 hours to Robe S.A. with a convoy of 10 4x4s.     We arrived in Robe, helped each other set up the camper trailers and caravans and began planning how we will spend the next few days.   1st day and we were off to do some 4wding along the coast, we dropped tyre pressures and began our journey through one of the many tracks surrounding Robe. The terrain wasn't too difficult but the views were amazing. Seemed every corner presented your own little cove and fishing hole.   Second day and the weather turned out pretty bad, really limiting what we could do. The wind was blowing straight into our faces so casting a line in was near impossible. So a day spent at camp was done creating our own little bits of fun from playing cards to a various amount of others games.    Third day and the weather wasn't much better, but we decided to take a drive up to a town about an hours drive away named 'Beac

kingfish trip

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Here i was sitting at home looking at weather reports to find the next few days conditions will be perfect to chase some victorian kingfish.   Spent a short while doing a bit of organising with a few good blokes and before we knew it, the boat was loaded and we were heading to western victoria.   We got to the house late, unloaded the car and boat and began rigging up our rods and planning the following day.   Alarm sounds, we have a quick bite to eat and we are off. Get to the boat ramp and away we go. We stay in close to try and catch some fresh bait. With a few squid swimming in the live bank tank we started heading straight for where we thought the kings will be.   After seeing a small school of tuna and not being able to entice them into taking a lure we make it to where we planned and drop the anchor.   Lines in, berley doing its thing now we wait. After waiting 45 minutes the first reel screams off. Steve grabs the rod and the battle begins. Fighting t

Enchanted Forest

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Always up for anything that gets our bodies moving we decided to go for a walk through the the enchanted forest on victoria's south west coast with our boys. After a short drive from where we were staying we parked the ute and began walking the track labelled 'enchanted forest'. This area was simply breathtaking; as soon as you entered the forest you had magnificent ocean views. Once you walk in a few hundred metres its obvious why its called the enchanted forest. You have thick overhanging spinach leaves from the moonah trees leaving just a tunnel to walk through, a cliff face on one side with vines scattered all over it. And on the other side you get small windows through the trees that present the bright blue of the ocean where you can watch the waves crashing, covering all the cracks of the rocks below.    The walk was a bit hard with a pram at times but well worth it once you're down the stairs. The kids loved walking through the 'jungle'

Overnight deer hunt

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I received a phone call from my mate Dave and from that a hunt was conjured up for the weekend. We arrived there late friday arvo, set up camp and had a feed, then went to bed.  We woke up early, put on our hunting gear and started our treck up the mountain. It was very hard going as the ground was littered with dry sticks which made it very noisy under foot.   We found a nice gully and viewing point and decided to sit on in it for a while. An hour goes past with only seeing a couple of wallabies. We continue on to a number of good viewing points along the gully without any success, so decided to head back to camp for some lunch and rest to get a hunt in before sun down.    After a bit of a kip and dinner we decided to Hunt the another gully for the last few remaining hours of daylight. On our way there we seen allot more sign, plenty of foot prints and a small wallow. So we knew we were in a better area.   Still Dry under foot we decided to stop and sit on a rock