Turkey Hunting With A Bow
With the bull hunting behind us our next challenge was to go after a management Fallow Buck at another property.
New Zealand Fallow Deer
This fallow Buck was part of a herd that is used to stock wilderness areas to try to establish good self-sustaining populations. I was given the option of hunting in a fenced area to take this buck that didn't measure up as good breeding stock.
Remember, none of these animals had ever been hunted by bow. Bowhunting was totally new to this area and not common at all anywhere in New Zealand.
The Fallow Buck hunt was not a classic wilderness hunt but there was satisfaction in finally figuring out a way to get this buck and in making a good shot.
Wild Sheep
New Zealand is a land of sheep. Neil's holdings have hundreds of feral sheep and goats roaming the hills.
A bowhunt for turkeys was also in the plans but a local taxidermist was still trying to locate them for us so we headed off to pursue the fallow buck.
On the way to the other property a flock of turkeys crossed the road ahead of us in a remote area and an opportunity was born.
I won't claim any great hunting poweress in this regard as the turkeys in New Zealand are virtually unhunted and do not possess the wariness of our birds in the U.S.
They may roost on fence post along roads and also may venture in close to farm buildings almost as domesticated birds would.
This tom flew up on a fence as we approached and presented an easy shot --- end of story!
A couple days later we did go to a very remote area and stalked turkeys. There I shot a hen just before dark that was also perched just a few feet off the ground. She was with 8 or 10 other birds and they all sat and watched as we approach wihtin bow range.
When my arrow hit the hen she dropped and locked her wings and sailed far down the steep mountainside. I thought the bird was lost but Cassie took off in pursuit. We search on foot for a half hour and then as dark settled in Cassie returned --- with the bird in her mouth!
I have never hunted behind a fenced area and the idea didn't appeal to me. However, after seeing how large the area was and also seeing that the fence in this particular reserve was only 5-feet high I decided it would be a challenge worth pursuing.
We scouted for this buck on quads and soon located him along with a herd of about 15 other deer.
There were small hills and ravines but precious other cover in which to provide concealment for a stalk. I attempted following the terrain in a crouched position but the deer always spotted me well before I could get into bow range. During these attempts several of the deer leaped the fence and were gone from sight. Picture hundreds of acres of mostly open hillsides and a single hunter trying to sneak up on a deer while Neil gave hand signals from a higher perch to direct me.
Here again, I won't claim any hunting poweress but I will say that it took many hours to finally figure out where the deer were running to when spooked and to lay a plan to intercept them.
I was just about totally worn out by mid afternoon and ready to quit. But then realized there was one area that they always seemed to go past that had a slight depression that may provide me an ambush site that was not visible to them.
They were in the habit of making a huge circle of about 1-1/2 miles when jumped and then returning near that depression.
Once again, we found the herd and I stalked within 75 yards. This time when they ran, I also ran, down the mountain to the depression in the side of the hill. I nestled in as best I could and waited for about 15 minutes until I saw Neil on the opposite hilltop giving a hand signal that indicated they were headed my way.
The herd blew past me so fast that there was no chance of a shot, but the buck pictured above stopped about 35-yards out and looked back at me. I wonder what he thought as he saw the skinny arrow zipping towards him?
This animal is a ram but is descendant from a domestic variety and did not produce horns.
The sheep are nearly everywhere and can be approached within bow distance with little effort.
I got within 50-yards of this ram and missed the first shot. Actually, I made a decent shot but the arrow did not penetrate. I was experimenting with an expandable broadhead at the request of a dealer and decided this wooly ram would be a good test.
The result was that the arrow became entangled in the wool and never penetrated the body -- at all! No more expandable broadheads for me!
Fortunately I found some good cover in a wash and Neil had Cassie herd the ram into my range. This may not sound ethical but I was concerned about having a wounded animal and wanted to finish the job with no fooling around.
My second attempt was with the Satellite Straight Razor 125 broadhead. The shot was a clean pass-through of the vitals and the ram dropped within a short distance.
My arrow went so far down a steep hill after passing through the ram that we could not find it. Neil then had Cassie "smell" my bow and sent her off on a search. She returned in 5 minutes --- with my arrow in her mouth!
Talk about an amazing dog!