Red Fallow Mountain - by Troy Reynolds

The first two day hunt was with Brad on a new property he had secured. Reds and Fallow as well as the odd Boar were about.
It's always a good sign when you see something special...

It was late March and the Red deer roar should have been in full swing, but the hot conditions had them laying low.
The Packs readied as the hill climb layed in sight. A breakfast bar on the run as we lobbed the load on and made tracks. Two hundred metres out of camp and our first contender...

The Buck wasn't the biggest so we let him slide...

We edged further into the head of the gully, two distant bucks and a Red roar. It was the instant adrenalin we needed to push us to the new level. As we edged closer the mid morning sun was a rising and the noise was thinning out. Further along and a few fresh scrapes were noticed, so we pulled up for a rattle. Brad readied himself for a Buck in full flight but was only rewarded with a young up and coming....

The young bloke looked confused as he couldn't see where all the commotion was coming from. 5 seconds later and a bigger buck appeared from Brad's left and trotted straight into range....

With Brad at full draw the Buck looked to be in trouble. He held the dot on the spot but no release followered, that was one lucky Buck. With already a few good Bucks down over a short time bowhunting his sites were set for something decent.
We packed the rattling antlers back in the back pack and continued traversing around the side of the hill. A bit further along and a mid morning snack was spotted. Brad called them prickly pears. They tasted a bit like a sour mullberry...

While we were snacking on the mountain fruits a Red stag let out a roar across the gully. I replied with a hind call and he responded straight back. I continued calling and he continued to reply. This went on for a minute or so. The Red stag was coming, his vocal tune and rack was on it's way. We set up in a prime hollow in the hill hoping to lure him onto the rise in front of us about 10m away. Brad was ready as I continued to call him in. The stag roared once more and he only seemed to be 50-70m away, but it was hard to tell.
The suspence was starting to show on Brads face as possibly his first Red stag gained ground.All of a sudden there he was, I had site of him but Brads view was obstructed by a rock. I told him his coming but didn't let him know how big he was.
The stag now at 30m roared his heart out, 25, 20, and at 15m he started coming into view...

He spotted Brad first, looked at him and then roared again...

After his outburst, he noticed I didn't look right...

We asked the Red stag where his girls were, but we didn't get a response instead he decided to flee the scene.
After that bit of action we decided to lay up and take a break....

After lunch we hunted around looking for that shooter buck or stag but nothing presented itself. A early night was what we needed but a few drinks and yarns flowed first.
We woke the next morning to another amazing site....

The young Buck spotted us first and after a short stand off he vanished into the red morning sun rays. With 2 reds roaring we decided to split up and check them both out. I headed straight up at a decent pace not worried to much what I would spook. The Red stag seemed to be at a fair distance away still. His roars seemed to be going the other way. I picked up the pace and felt I finally was making some ground on this bloke. Another roar echoed across the valley and this rush had me feeling fresh. Closer and closer I got and the intense roar of a red now not far. I was thinking he was about 100m away, I wasn't sure if he had a hind with him but I had to give it a shot. If I didn't I thought he would have made the real thick brush area never to be seen again.
I made a soft hind call, and straight away I got a response. Then another, he turned and he faced in my direction and roared once more. I paused for a moment to see what his next move would be. A few seconds later and his roar was heading straight for me...

This cool looking Red just kept on coming....

closer and closer...

and closer...

until I could of pat him..

He saw my movement as I tried to make my way around the tree for a better view. He backward flipped out of there and pulled up at under 10m to look back...

It was one of the best experiences I've had in the bush, and to see him walk away in the wild, had me smiling for the next few moments until a fallow Buck decided to walk under a log just in front of me...

Without moving a step from the Red encounter, I watched this Fallow Buck cruise along without a care in the world...

Until I made a doe call....

With the hook well and truly in, the distance began to shorten....

He was a coming and at some pace. All he wanted was some freshness...

The young bloke come into 4-5m and just seemed to stare straight through me...

He couldn't see his prize, his interest level dropped and he decided to ventured off....

I asked him what he was looking for, an instant explosion then followed...

And he too couldn't help himself but to pull up and peer back. Silly young buck....

After those epic encounters I sat high on the hill soaking it all in. I had a bite to eat before making tracks back to meet brad at camp.
After a 30min walk back I noticed Brad was already there. We sat and told of our mornings events before kicking back for that mid day break.
The break was had and the deer were once again calling. We made ground up hill to a vantage point, a small Red spiker busted out in front of us. He wasn't hanging around for a photo or a chat. As we made the hill we looked to our left and yep you guested it a Red stag with a few hinds.....

At a closer inspection of the group we noticed that the Red stag had about 6 girls with him that were all bedded.
They all seemed quite relaxed sitting under a large tree enjoying the shade from the mid afternnon sun. Brad had his eye's on the stag and was keen to have a crack.

Brad come up with a plan to come in behind a line of trees hopefully reaching bow range before they moved out for the afternoon. The stalk started and the cover looked promising. We team up with binos glaring straight at them. Only moving when their attention was else where. Good ground was made and a better view was revealed...

And then a sight we all like to see...

The stag was wanting some action off the girls but the girls weren't buying it. He would nose them off the ground and then go on to annoy their rear. With this all happening we made it to the last tree which was about 50m off them. We sat tight behind the tree hoping for a miracle. 10-15min went by and the stag was cruising around quite a bit. A doe broke his bail and come straight for us. She stopped at about 30m. The stag noticed his escapee and headed straight over to round her back up. Brad was ready for shot. The stag now getting into range as the hind broke free again and he wasn't far behind. This was it, now or never, a loud hind call reached his hearing and he pulled up for a look...

Brads arrow launched to his target, a hit was seen and heard and the stag had his final run. A few high fives as we sat tight for a minute or so. We walked down to where the hit happened. No blood was visible and a worrying look on both our faces. The shot looked high lungs as he was alert when the arrow left the bow, so he definately crunched a heap.
We walked to where we last saw him and then Brad spotted him....

The Red stag made 80m from where he took the hit. Brad was howling with his first Red...

It topped off another great day and tommorow couldn't come quick enough....

The next morning I woke early hoping to lay on eyes on a decent Red stag. Brad had to bail so I was hunting solo. I raced up the gully floor letting a few cactus roars as I went. Not one Red. A Few Fallow croaked their tune, so I picked the closer one and headed in. I jumped in the creek and followed it up until I was around the same height then just traversed across. The buck slowed up on the croacking and I was thinking I wasn't far, maybe 80m. I slowly edged closer glassing on my way. The Buck finally came into view and he had two smaller bucks hanging with him. I glassed around for a good while but I couldn't see any doe's. I was thinking rattle. So I picked out a solid tree to get behind. I looked down to where the 3 bucks were and all was good. I plucked an arrow out of the quiver and knocked him in readied for launch. Camera ready check, me to check.
Rattle rattle rattle, and here they come, the bigger bloke led the charge while the younger two just hung back.
50m, 40m, 30m,......

20m, 15m.....

Until Pow,, at under 10m. The buck took a good hit and ran back from where he come from. He made about 60m before passing out. I walked over to see my Buck that I was happy to have.....

I can't wait for next season already, the young bloke has already filled me in on who's shooting this year....

Till next time and I hope you enjoyed....

Good Luck for 2014!