The power of hunting

 

FEATURE Wayne Hogan

Wayne Hogan tells how his love of sambar hunting helped him overcome some serious health problems.

There are numerous tangible benefits of hunting that are seldom understood by those who don’t hunt. This really came to the fore during the two years of COVID lockdowns and restrictions. Like everyone else we were not immune to these effects. We primarily hunt sambar and those restrictions really restricted us from doing what we love.

We were getting back into the swing of things with a week hunting the High Plains just before the gate closure at the end of last year, and looking forward to a full year of hunting in 2023. Just after Christmas severe chest pains put a massive handbrake on all our plans. My GP quickly diagnosed a heart issue and the next four months were consumed with five stays in hospital, numerous tests and specialist visits. Being pretty well grounded had me thinking and reflecting a lot, and at 64 years old I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to get back in the mountains and hunt sambar. It was this love of hunting, and sambar hunting in particular, that gave me a determination to get my issue sorted, then build my fitness back to a stage where I could hunt them effectively.

In late April I had surgery and the following day I hit the surgeon with a list of questions on what I could do training and rehab wise to get back to full fitness. I was very fortunate not only to have a great surgeon who did an awesome job on me, but I also had a great physiotherapist and exercise physiologist who understood my desire and passion to get back out doing what I love. Between them we built a plan that would get me to where I needed to be.

It was a slow and measured start that I could build on. It was imperative not to work my heart too hard during the first month in particular to allow it to heal correctly. Not only did I have to work on my cardio fitness, I also had to rebuild a lot of muscle strength that I lost during the enforced layoff. The program I committed to was a one-hour six kilometre walk, followed by 40 minutes of weights and 20 minutes of stretching, six days a week. The weights were split into upper body, lower body and core, completing two sessions of each during the week.

It was my passion for sambar hunting that got me out of bed at 5.30am each morning to start the daily ritual. At the eight-week mark I was feeling great and during that third month I walked 230 kilometres. I have to say I could not have done this without my wife and hunting partner Louise, who was with me every step of the way. Another very useful piece of equipment was my Garmin Fenix watch that not only allowed me to track my progress, but more importantly allowed me to track my heart rate as I started to build up my fitness.

After three months I had a follow-up appointment with my specialist and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to tell him how good I was feeling and where I was up to with my rehab plan. A quick ECG that showed my old ticker was humming along perfectly and he said “you’re good to go, I’ll see you for a check-up in 12 months”.

Both Louise and I had all our hunting gear prepped and packed awaiting my leave pass, so a quick check of the weather for the next week saw us in the Landcruiser heading south. I had a good idea of where we were going to hunt as I had scouted the area the previous year between border closures and COVID lockdowns. I had also had plenty of time to study it in depth on Google Earth so I was armed with plenty of knowledge of the terrain and other features.

I thought it was a great omen when I opened the door on our camper an hour before daylight on our first morning to get honked by a hind no more than 30m from where we were camped.

Just as it was breaking day, I pulled the ute off the side of the track at our first-choice spot, with Louise heading off into one gully and me heading off on the other side of the track into another gully. Straight after leaving the track, I was on good sign with plenty of fresh tracks and droppings. I made steady progress working across the face, regularly stopping to glass in front and below me as I expected the deer to be moving up this face to bed for the day.

At 9am I decided to stop at a small clearing to let the bush settle down. It was a perfect spot to sit and wait for a few minutes as it was just below a saddle. After five minutes I heard a bird’s alarm call below me in the gully and thought that something was on the move. A couple of minutes later I heard a stick break and it was game on. Shortly afterwards a spiker materialised about 70m in front and below me. He was slowly making his way up the face to bed. I loaded the rifle and began to track him through the scope. Soon afterwards he paused at a small clear spot giving me a great shot and I placed a 150-grain TTSX straight through his chest just behind the shoulder.

At the sound of the shot the spiker took off up the face before disappearing into the next gully. Louise had heard the shot so called me on the radio to see what was happening. After a quick chat she headed over to where I was to give me a hand finding the animal and carrying him out.

It took us a while to find running marks as there was no blood until he reached the top of the saddle. Once we found blood it was only a matter of minutes until we found him piled up in some hop bush in the gully. When we got to him the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment was overwhelming. All the hard work and training had paid off. I then put my new R &N Blades Small Hunter to work and in no time we had the spiker broken down, all four legs in meat bags, plus back straps and eye fillets in another bag.

It was a pair of very satisfied hunters who arrived back in camp just after dark with all the meat. We then decided that looking after the meat was the top priority, so next morning saw us heading home.

It was a couple of weeks later that another weather window presented, so once again we loaded up and headed to the same area. We decided to start off hunting the same gully systems that had produced the goods earlier, so next morning at daylight we headed off.

This time I had our Drahthaar, Zac, with me. The sign wasn’t as fresh and abundant as earlier but it was still very promising. It took Zac maybe 40 minutes to settle down and hunt slowly and methodically as he was as excited as I was to be out again. We slowly worked around the face and just before lunch I looked up and saw a mature stag that was totally oblivious to us about 80m away in front and below us. I glanced at Zac who was 10m to my left and he was solidly on point.

I loaded the rifle, let the stag take another couple of steps, then fired, putting a 150-grain TTSX from the .30’06 straight through both lungs. At the shot the stag lurched forward and took off down the face. I soon lost sight of it but saw a gum sapling bend then pop back up so I knew the stag had run into it and wasn’t going too far. All this time Zac stood frozen watching proceedings, so I called him over, gave him a heap of praise then waited a few minutes for things to settle down.

I was confident the stag hadn’t gone far, so then told Zac ‘find the deer!’ Starting where the stag had stood, he proceeded to track him down the hill. After what seemed like an eternity but was really only a couple of minutes, I heard Zac bark from the bottom of the gully directly below me. I headed down and saw him with the stag that was piled up against a sapling. I was again overcome with emotion given what I had to overcome to make this happen. I was also stoked with how Zac had performed as he had had very limited hunting over the past couple of years, but he had never missed a beat.

Once again Louise headed over to where we were and after the obligatory photos, we commenced breaking the stag down. He was in a very steep spot but that wasn’t going to stop us recovering all the meat. We decided that there was no way we would get it all out that day so we ferried it to the top of the ridge and carried out what we could, then went back the next day for the remainder. We finished up leaving all four legs in meat bags in a tree in the shade and carried out the head, back straps and eye fillets that day.

All four legs were recovered over the next two days as I was much further into the bush than I’d been when I shot the spiker two weeks earlier. It was two very tired but happy hunters who once again packed up and headed for home that afternoon.

The stag and the spiker both ate really well and we gain huge satisfaction when our family tell us the awesome meals that they are making with it.

While most hunters appreciate the satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment that comes from hunting, sadly very few non-hunters understand. I can almost guarantee that if it wasn’t for my love of hunting sambar that I wouldn’t have had the necessary motivation to work as hard with my fitness. My story doesn’t end here, I’m now training even harder to get out backpacking again, and of course it will be after the mighty sambar.