Bondi State Forest branch hunt

The annual mid-September sambar hunt for the Australian Deer Association’s Hunter Valley branch relocated to Bondi State Forest this year.

The Hunter Valley branch members usually find themselves camping at Bennies in the Alpine National Park in Victoria mid-September for their annual sambar hunt.

With the borders closed due to COVID-19, there was to be no Victorian hunt this year.

Branch secretary Geoff Esquilant had the fix, recalling another branch having a hunt down south at Bondi Forest Lodge.

With part of the forest damaged due to the bushfires, and another part unavailable due to state border closures, the Hunter Valley branch found themselves in the remainder of the forest, which allowed about 20 hunters per day, with the areas huntable bordering farm fringe to the north.

With plenty of feed and water throughout the forest, fallow, sambar and reds can all be found within Bondi.

Over the week members took four fallow, spotting a number of sambar and fallow in between this as well.

One of the four successful hunters, and subsequently new member, Dave Mann took a doe on the final day of hunting.

Earlier this year my mate Des suggested I join the Hunter Valley branch and it turned out to be a brilliant decision as I was new to deer hunting and had experienced limited success over the past couple of years on solo hunts throughout the region’s many state forests.

The mid-September hunt was my first contact with members, and it was hands down the best hunting trip I’ve ever been on. Not because I took home a trophy (I didn’t) but because of the camaraderie that so quickly developed amongst fellow hunters from all walks of life and experience levels.

I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to tap into probably hundreds of years of experience other members willingly shared with me, a freshly minted member but virtual stranger — at least at the beginning of the week.

Despite the challenges to the forest from the recent bushfires and logging activity, the forest held great potential, with some beautiful scenery and, most importantly, deer!

By the first day there had been numerous sightings of fallow and the first harvest of the week was deservedly chalked up by Geoff.

Two other guys also took deer, but it looked like I would be unsuccessful myself.

It wasn’t until the last afternoon of hunting, after a quick bite to eat, that I decided to head out to an area that had shown plenty of fresh sign all week.

I was moving carefully through a copse of young pines and came to a shallow grassy gully channelling the southerly wind — blowing at about 10 to 15 kilometres an hour at almost right angles.

I had never seen this phenomenon before where, if I took three paces one way the wind blew from south and three paces the other it was coming from the west.

I made a mental note that it would be a bonus to make my way back to my vehicle with the wind in my face by heading west up the gully.

I moved off and scouted an adjacent copse of pines, and glassed the open country along a nearby river.

As the time passed with no sightings, I had resigned myself to heading back to camp to pack up my gear — including a very empty car fridge — in preparation for the following day’s early start and journey home.

I began making my way along the gully to my vehicle as planned, when there was a flash of movement on the edge of the pines, about 50 yards away.

Dropping to the ground, I crawled forward about 10 yards, spotting a fallow doe quartering away. Lining up my shot, I took a deep breath before firing my new 7mm-08.

The doe quickly vanished into the copse of pines. The blood at the scene showed what looked like a solid hit, but after searching until almost sunset I headed back to camp empty-handed and pretty devastated.

The following morning, after a reasonably cool night, I was humbled by the assistance offered by a few other members who helped do another search.

We found her about 30 yards from the point of impact and to my relief the shot went clear through her chest and exited out of the right shoulder.

So, I came home with a full car-fridge and a week of priceless memories.

The Hunter Valley branch will definitely be getting back to Bondi next year once the southern sections are opened, and people are able to cross into Victoria.