My three-peat performance

It was the afternoon after school broke up, and my dad and I were heading down to the south-east of South Australia. I was over the moon with excitement as it was finally my first chance to hunt and shoot my very first deer.

We were staying at a friend’s property, and when we arrived we were greeted by the owner’s son who showed us around their house. He pointed out the trophies hanging up and described the history behind them all; they were amazing. A short time later the owner arrived and after he and Dad had a cup of tea and a good chat, he decided I should sight in the rifle, a few practice shots at 100 metres lining up the bottom of a bucket. After shooting smack on target the owner suggested it was a good time to go in search for deer.

As we geared up for the afternoon hunt and drove out to the paddock, we heard all about the property and the history behind it. Such a beautiful place.

The sun started going down as we spotted a couple of deer in the open paddock, and immediately we knew we were on. Watching the deer as they were walking away, I slowly crept up behind them until I was at a comfortable distance to take a confident shot.

The excitement was building up; finger on the trigger, I was getting ready to take the shot, and then … the deer were on to something and started moving around. 

I no longer had a clear shot at them. Picking our gear up, we moved closer and the deer finally came to a standstill. Dad and I were 150 metres away as I told him I was ready to take the shot. It all happened so fast as I looked through my binoculars to see not one but two deer standing there.

I positioned myself laying down behind the Winchester X-Bolt in .308, resting over Dad’s backpack. I looked through the scope, focusing on the first deer. After I squeezed the trigger, I quickly checked on the second deer, before looking up to see Dad standing, ready to congratulate me. I quickly pulled him back down, telling him to hold off the celebration. As I looked through the scope again, I saw I had a clean shot and took my opportunity to take him. As I squeezed the trigger for the second time, I felt confidence rush through me as I knew I could do it. As the Atomic 29 155gn bullet hit, I was so proud of myself and could tell my dad was extra-proud too.

As we got closer to the two deer, only laying 10 metres apart from each other, the sun was on its last legs and we were steadily heading into darkness. Holding a torch up to help signal the boys in the ute, I was filled with excitement and joy and could not wait to tell Mum over the phone.

After Dad field dressed the deer, he and his friend packed them into the back of the ute to take back to the cool room. 
It was late and I was exhausted, so immediately after dinner I crashed out in anticipation for the morning and the next hunt. It was an amazing sleep as I kept picturing the look on my dad’s face when I shot that deer. Wow.

It finally hit 6am the next day and we were about to headed out to a different paddock when the owner’s kelpies ran out; they were so cute and worthwhile stopping for.

As we went into the scrub searching for deer, I had the feeling another deer was not far away. Sure enough, there was one right in front of us. It kept feeding as we prepared the rifle. This was the moment I had been waiting for. As dad and his friend helped rest the rifle on the standing sticks, I had a look at the deer through my binoculars. I went back to the rifle and looked through the scope. The long grass filled most of my sight, if I was standing it would have gone up to mid-thigh. I decided not to let that stop me, especially with this opportunity. I could see enough of the deer to accurately line up where the front leg met the back of the shoulder, and I gently placed my finger on the trigger, completely confident of my shot.

With a squeeze of the trigger, the shot was fired. As the grass was high, we followed the blood trail left by the deer. It wasn’t long before the animal was sighted. As we neared it, I could see the shot placement had been good.

After Dad took some photos that I was keen to show to my mum, we dressed the deer — well, Dad did — and returned to hang the animal in the cool room along with the other two I had taken the previous afternoon. It wasn’t hard to see that my dad was really pleased I had taken three deer with three shots, my three-peat. 

As the morning was coming to an end and noon was nearing, I showered and changed, deciding to go watch the sheep shearers at the sheds. It was the first time I’d been in a working shearing shed and it was very interesting seeing and learning about this.

We stayed for a bit before heading off on a tour of the property with the owner. It was an amazing piece of land filled with bright and beautiful colours. We also helped round up some sheep for sale, which was fun and very interesting. 

It was our last night and we had started packing to leave bright and early in the morning. It had been an amazing trip and I could tell my father was proud of my effort and I was so thankful for the opportunity. Huge thanks to Dad and his friend.

All the way home we spoke about the last few days, what we had seen and what I had experienced.

As soon as we got home and I opened my car door, Mum came rushing out and squeezed me tight into a big bear hug.
As we finished unpacking, I told Mum all about our trip — and how I am really looking forward to the next one.

Alexis Halman is our latest Young Guns author and we are glad to welcome her on board as one of the regular contributors for the magazine.