After getting married in March of this year and not really thinking too much about a honeymoon ,after having spent the previous year flat out saving for a wedding, this year we decided we would be saying “yes” to more trips.
So, while this isn’t a writeup of your stereotypical golden sand beach, 36-degree honeymoon, it’s a tale of redemption from my story last year titled “chasing ghosts’, where the only thing missing from our Chew Tobacco Bay, Stuart Island honeymoon was the 36 degrees!
The 6 of us, Sam, Cody, Goose, Donna, Ben and I set sail over from Bluff thankful that today, Foveaux Strait was being relatively kind. We were super excited to see what the next 15 days of island paradise had in store for us.
After unloading and settling ourselves into our new home, we pointed to areas of interest on the map and took off in our various directions. A quick hunt to get the lay of the land and gain some practice in walking on debris that sounded like cornflakes. The evening consistied of reporting back to the crew with varying amounts of promising sign and big plans for the days ahead.
Day 2: Ben and I were up early and out and good luck to the others. We had a bit of walking and tide dependent rock hopping to get to where we intended to hunt for the day. Right away we encountered plenty of promising sign and got into stalk mode early in the piece. Less than an hour later we stumbled across our first deer, a doe feeding nicely amongst some windfall. We saw her at about the same time, with me thinking ‘is that what I think it is?’ and Ben saying ‘quick put an arrow on’ it was go time. She was walking nicely along a game trail, and I knew that as she walked behind a tree, I’d be able to come back to full draw and she’d pop out at 20 metres. Full draw, but where is she? Living up to her name, she had ghosted us and disappeared.
We battled along a bit further, arguing with crown fern and fallen pungas until we came across an arrow sticking out of a tree, the plaque beneath it informed us that this arrow had belonged to a man named Greg Darrach who had unfortunately passed away 10 years ago. After thinking what a lovely message it was to find in the middle of nowhere I said “well mate, it looks like you’re the man who looks after these parts, could I please shoot my first whitetail deer this trip?” we mooched along a bit further and hilariously after my chat with Greg we spooked a deer! Ha!
In good spirits we ventured on, and after a few more choice words with the crown fern, we popped up into a nice flat. Looking down we could see 3 very prominent game tracks and plenty of sign! I turned to range behind me and froze dead in my tracks, deer number 3 had snuck in behind and was challenging me to a staring competition. Back at the hut swapping tales it was clear everyone had had a good day, and Cody was on the board!
The next few days passed and consisted of a lot more of scoping out of areas, finding what sign was around, and taking some time to stand in the tree where the Doe had busted us on the first day. We saw deer (mostly bounding away) and to my excitement plenty of Kiwis. Goose had shot a deer and had an awesome encounter with a buck, Cody had shot another, and both Ben and I and Goose and Donna had the pleasure of meeting Chew Tobacco’s famous sea lion Merve. For future reference he doesn’t appreciate being called “sea puppy” but will back down when called a “bad dog!”
Day 5 rolled around, and I was excited as I’d planned to stand up in the tree where we had seen all the sign on the first day. We arrived in good time and got ready, ranging areas where I thought a deer might approach from and was confident when I saw the area with the most sign would be no more than a 15 metre shot. Now it was a waiting game, knowing the couple of hours before dark would likely be when something wondered along the game track.
I think I hear something, look at Ben, and hear it again. Then out of nowhere a doe’s head pops out from amongst the crown ferns.
My heart is pounding!
She’s scoping out whether she’s wanting to step out into the open and I’m quietly having a panic attack. Have you ever tired slowing your breathing, by taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly but also while making ZERO noise? It was tricky to say the least! Eventually she steps out but doesn’t give me the broadside shot I was hoping for, instead she’s quartering on.
Deciding to be patient and wait for the broadside shot, I begin to worry this could be a repeat of my buck from Christmas , that the wind may swirl and blow my scent. Concerned about time, I say to myself ‘you can figure this out, if she gives you the quartering shot again be confident and take it, but if she doesn’t, there’s every chance she’ll be forced to give you the broadside shot as she walks away. But you need to be ready, and you need to be quick’.
As if reading my mind, the doe starts to walk off. I draw my bow back as she’s looking in the other direction. Ben also reads what’s happening and lets out a perfectly timed doe call. It’s exactly as I’d thought it would happen and I’m ready! My arrow hits, and she’s down within 5 metres. A perfect heart shot!
After some yahooing and fist bumps it was time for some photos before boning her out and heading back to camp to pop some bubbles and celebrate with the rest of the crew, followed by a couple of Sheep Dog whiskeys.
After completing my goal of shooting my first whitetail deer within the first 5 days of the trip, it was time for my next goal: to shoot a buck, and preferably from the ground. However, with the yarn already this long, you all will have to wait until next month to read how we got on!
