A good start | An excerpt from Australian Deer, December 1992

FLASHBACK Kevin Archibald

It was Thursday afternoon when the phone started to ring with inabilities. I wondered if we were going to have a crew for the weekend. It was mid-May and we’d been pretty casual about starting the season. The hounds had had a couple of runs on the foxes recently but not a sniff of deer since October.

But I got a crew, and five of us going up on Friday would be a first for us: usually we’d be lucky to get one car up there that early. I took this as a good sign of keenness.

Even so, we could only manage a couple of hours tracking, so I got Paul to walk one track while Jamie and Chris drove another. Justin and I checked the other tracks in the area and a few log landings – a rushed job as we were running out of light fast.

In camp that night we discussed the situation. None of the marks had looked ‘super fresh’, but not knowing when it had rained last hindered our guessing their ages. Maybe we would have another look in the morning. Light rain fell as we hit the sack about 10pm. But, when Paul II and Julie rolled up after midnight, the rain became heavier and set in for the rest of the night. I began to wonder if there would be any marks left to follow.

We were out of the swags and had dropped the tarp before sun-up, then headed off in various directions to re-check the tracks. A heavy mist hung over us. The marks that we had seen Friday were almost all gone and there were no fresh ones, but after looking thoroughly for six hours, I reckoned I knew where the deer would be camped. The weather was perfect for the hounds: wet ground and no wind. The gully that I believed a deer to be in seemed clear of wallabies, so I decided to let the hounds in to kick the deer out of its bed. 

We had brought only six hounds, having previously had trouble with dissident dogs making noise in the truck when not given a run. Three of the hounds were experienced, the other three young animals.

After putting the shooters in position, I walked the hounds in half way up the gully. Within 200 metres, young Bull the foxhound broke into voice. The other hounds followed him until they realised it was my scent he’d found.; soon they were all back with me and I continued to head up the gully. It was an old logging area with plenty of windfalls, making for heavy going. Finding no sign, I decided to cross a small creek and walk on the other side. The bush was more open then and I began to find marks and plenty of droppings and knew this was the right area. The hounds began to show interest too but the sign was not quite fresh enough.

Eventually I walked out to the top track and became concerned about the gap between Chris and Jamie, who, with one of the Pauls, were placed along it. While heading around to Chris, I saw an old snig track angling down the gully. It was well-grassed and fairly clear, so I went down it with Border ahead of me. I noticed a grassy area towards the middle of the gully and headed towards it. When Border got there, he threw his head in the air and began to bay. Immediately downstream, Bindi (a young foxhound/bloodhound cross) also started to voice. I looked at the ground but saw no sign among the tussocks. Though happy to hear Border really roaring, I was concerned about the younger hounds – heading in the opposite direction.

I regretted having no-one with me there, as it seemed a good spot to get a shot; I wanted to go back to help Chris cover his large area. Border was now voicing strongly right up the gully below Chris, and I was prepared to hear a shot at any moment. Suddenly my radio crackled to life: Chris was worried the deer had crossed the track. I told him to cover it as best he could. Then I called Jamie around to back Chris up. The noise behind me said the young hounds had come off and were making their way back; Merv the young foxhound/bloodhound arrived first, followed by Bindi, Bull and Fanny. That left just Border and Tess still going.

I was making my way towards the track as fast as possible when Border gave voice back in the gully. The pups all stood still and listened; then Merv and Bull ran a short distance towards the noise but did not fire up. It made me wonder what was going on.

A shot was heard and I asked over the radio who had fired it. The lack of an immediate answer seemed encouraging. The Jamie called saying ‘it’ was on the deck. That’s the way to start a year, I thought, until another shot rang out.

****

Apparently when Jamie had walked around to help Chris, he’d heard Border baying in the gully. Seeing no movement, he decided to have a look. After a couple of minutes, and not having gone far, he noticed the rear end of a deer pointed at him. So, after checking the angle and looking for any hounds in the firing line, Jamie took the shot across the gully.

The deer went straight down and Jamie was on his way to it when I called. The second shot was just to make sure as he came up on the stag, lying among fallen logs.

The rest of the team soon arrived on the scene. After the photo session we gutted the deer and gave all of the hounds slices of warm liver. It was a good stag; very fat and with a nice even 24-inch head. And I was happy to hear the little beagle-cross had been at the kill.