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Post by kiwi on Apr 2, 2016 2:59:25 GMT -5
Our season started this week ,Still dry and quite warm . It was supposed to rain Friday night but it was still warm Saturday morning . Ground is hard as anything ,I've been walking the dogs housed at my place at least 5 times a week . We free ran them in sat morning .To cut a long story short . We chased 4 deer , 3 got shot and none were hit . Got all the dogs back and we'll try again next week
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Post by hycohounds on Apr 5, 2016 12:29:21 GMT -5
we are in the middle of turkey season here. still cool in the mornings but don't take long to heat up
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Post by kiwi on Apr 12, 2016 6:20:50 GMT -5
I have every second Friday off work , would be every Friday off but i'm saving my holidays to go back to the US in mid Sept and Oct I went up Thursday night after work . Brian was already up there and had the tarp set up and a fire going .Quick cook up and a couple beers then off to bed.Woke up to Gavan arriving at camp just before sunrise . Fire is soon going great and Breakfast of a bacon and hash brown sandwich is cooked. Dogs are out on the long chain and we start looking . Jack rocks up a little . Heading down a track and near the bottom a red hot doe mark is found . Out of the crate comes Ellen ,Tom and Maggie. Ellen takes no more than a couple strides and starts cold trailing ,Tom and Maggie are soon in behind . Wasn't but 200 yards and they lifted her . Gavan wasn't far away but she jumps in the river out of his sight and climbs high up on the other side.She then swings downstream . Jack and Brian are well position on a track a mile or so away and i'm waiting patiently in a good spot along the river . She get to within 200 yards from Brian and turns back upstream . Heads back the mile upstream and back across the river . She gets past Gavan again and heads upstream in the creek . Tom is putting the pressure on the girls aren't far behind , He pull the doe up and the sounds of a bay up drift back to Gavan He heads off for the walk ,but as hears she breaks and heads downstream and climbs on an angle up the ridge and drops into another creek and heads way upstream . Tom again is getting way ahead off the girls and the doe turns and heads for the main river. We were set up and as we waited patiently for the doe to come into view . 2 and a half hours had gone past . The dogs were voicing well and closing quite quickly .Then I heard her climb out behind me and head upstream into the black berries . The dogs weren't far behind but the berries would slow them up.We spread out upstream and I heard her climbing out around the corner from me . Running around the corner ,just in time to see her crossing the road. The dogs were now stuck in a mess of blackberries . I got 2 leads and had to walk out and get them back .They were still trying but it was time to put them back . A good run anyway Take them back to camp , for a drink and a feed . Their weekend was over , run the other dogs sat. Sat morning and we find a stag mark , a few hours old and hopefully it hadn't gone far . That side was dry and the dogs were struggling to cold trail Em was doing the work and it took over 40 minutes and they started singing . Must have stepped on it . A short run to the creek and it was bayed . They were walking with it up and down a short section of the creek . Robbo heads off to walk in their . Still air and the sounds of Flo, Em and the young dogs were easily heard . Robbo is half way in and she breaks and starts to climb up to the road . The wind takes the scent of a waiting hunter and she swings back in .Em and Flo aren't far behind and the young dogs but 100 yards behind them all going hard. Robbo hears the huffing and puffing of the doe as she gets near . His .35 Whelen speaks and this race is over . Now we walk in to get the dogs and meat . Getting warm so up to camp to feed and water the dogs , have a cook up and head for home . Dogs have had a couple good runs , It is still pretty dry so they've done a god job
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Post by hycohounds on Apr 14, 2016 11:50:52 GMT -5
sounds like yall are off to a good start!!!
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Post by Lanscam Kennels on Apr 15, 2016 17:02:47 GMT -5
Another good story by Kiwi. I just love reading them.
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Post by kiwi on Apr 17, 2016 21:35:25 GMT -5
Again Saturday morning was dry , not too warm but the ground is dry . Plan is to free run them in and see what happens . There are only 4 of us . Up the top of the hill we go and there is a series of tight ferny gullies the deer like to bed down in ,if they are in the area . Out go 6 dogs and within 150 yards have jumped one. The still morning air is filled with hounds voicing on a red hot deer . To use our lingo " right up its clacker ". The bush is thick , better for the dogs than the deer . Within a mile they've caught it . They are 950 yards or so below the road and singing the same song ,we are looking at you. They stop and start over the next hour while Andrew and I figure how to get into them. The main ridge is a shocker to walk on and so we go back a bit and get on an old road , takes 30 minutes to cut our way in and we are now less than 500 yards off them . They are in the creek but we have a dry open face to walk down .We get to 200 yards away and I grab a bit of video footage trying to capture the sounds . it's awesome. The last 100 yards is absolute crap to walk down .dense undergrowth and steep . Andrew gets in and finally gets to see a big old doe bailed up . Clear shot and it's all over except some meat recovery and the dogs. We get the meat up out of the creek to where it is relatively flat . got 3 of the dogs but 3 have gone away looking for something else to hunt . an hour goes past from that point and we finally have 3 dogs and the meat back at the truck . Part 2 when I get home tonight anyone on facebook . look up John willaim McCall The video footage is on there sounds of the hounds isn't as loud as I thought it would be
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Post by kiwi on Apr 18, 2016 4:31:48 GMT -5
So as we are getting meat dogs back up to the truck , Flo . Ellen & Sid wander off and start looking for another deer to play with . We take little notice as we have a lot of work to do . We get to the truck with some meat and 3 dogs ,they are loaded up and back we go for the rest of the meat.A quick check of the GPS shows they are over 800 yards away but not doing much . Picking up the last of the meat ,they are swinging back around and starting to voice . Mick and Brian are moving positions as Andrew and myself have 10 minutes left before we can drive out . They can be clearly heard now as they swing around the bottom of our ridge and their run will take them up on the other side of our trucks . We get back and jump in but they have crossed over the top . But this is not a bad thing we should get out in time to help cover the spots . Andrew is off and gone and I can't get up the hill . backing back I get out to see what is wrong . Far out only 1 front hub is in . Moments later ,i'm off . Andrew , Mick and Brian now have it covered . I wait for any change of direction .The dogs are climbing up to the firebreak where Andrew is waiting . The deer's huffing and puffing as it races across the fire break . Andrew fires and hits it hard , It stumbles but carries on . Mick is back stop just around the corner .The deer is still moving but has slowed. It allows Mick to take an easy finishing shot and it hits the deck just above the road . Easy carry out . The dogs are but a minute behind . 2 deer down ,dogs back and it is just after noon
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Post by hycohounds on Apr 19, 2016 12:36:22 GMT -5
nice!!! 1 hard kill and a easy kill and got all the dogs back. aint nothing wrong with that!!!!
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Post by hycohounds on Apr 19, 2016 12:42:43 GMT -5
which video? didn't look like you've updated your page in a while......
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Post by kiwi on Apr 19, 2016 19:11:29 GMT -5
Go to my home page , should be open to the public otherwise send a friend request . There should be some trail cam photos and about 4 posts down should be the video
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Post by kiwi on Apr 23, 2016 5:37:06 GMT -5
Found a fresh stag Friday morning . Only Jack and myself . Got Ellen and Tom out of the crate and put them on the marks . Didn't take long at all for them to lift it . Climbing up above a long tight creek system ,Jack followed them up the road while I crossed over the ridge , through the creek and headed upstream . Dogs were making good ground and making plenty of noise . Plenty of sweat was coming off me as I climbed higher up and contoured along . The dogs now were well out of hearing but still on the tracker . Took me a while to reach my spot and I settled in for the wait to see if the deer turned to come back down . The dogs were now right up the head of the creek and I hoped Jack was in front of them . I had lost signal of them for a while and next thing I saw was they'd turned and headed back my way . Where I was waiting was the main game pad , I had this deer shot , cut up and carried out in my mind . However the splash of the deer trotting down the creek brought me back to earth . Getting along the old mule trail ,I saw enough to have a crack but all I did was put it into overdrive . Looking at the tracker ,the dogs were 800 yards behind and running in the creek . getting along the mule trail I was near the bottom when the dogs caught up to me . Jack was unable to get back down in time to get back in front of the deer . So I caught the dogs and walked them out . Looking at the tracker this deer had run the creek for over a mile and a half Sat morning we free ran them in a big long ridge into a big creek system . Took a long time to find a deer but the young dogs finally got a little stag going , Down through the creek and the 40 minute run to the bottle where Jack ,Dick and Brian were waiting . Dick is 75 and was waiting patiently ,sees the stag running the river , one shot puts it on the ground and the dogs aren't far behind . Tom and Ellen are deep inside the system and I could hear her cold trailing , Soon Tom joins in and we have another race .Down towards the creek before climbing and contouring down stream then they climb a big ridge and cross over into the next creek .Heading down for a few hundred yards they climb back over and back into the original creek . The long run down and across the creek . The previous days run has taken the edge off them but they press on . Over 2 and a half hours has gone when they cross back over the creek and head up into a big basin at the head of the system We lost them for an hour and finally got them about to go across the top road and around the head of another river system . Another crew are at camp , their day finished when they hear the dogs go around underneath . They figure they are our dogs and join in the hunt to help get the deer and our dogs back . Finally after over 4 hours they bay it up . Takes Brendan 15 minutes to get in there and the deer is taken and our dogs are on leads . By this time I arrive at their camp and wait , They arrive with our dogs and the meat from the deer . I open my beer cooler and hand out some beers Several deer have been taken by both crews and we have all the dogs back . Roll on next week . Hopefully get some photos in the next few day
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Post by kiwi on May 2, 2016 6:10:49 GMT -5
Got to camp Friday night . Gavan and Ian had a good fire going . Dogs out on the long chain . tarp set up swag and sleeping bag set up on the camp stretcher . Time for a beer . Starts to rain steadily after a while . Dogs put away , We sit up and talk for a while and have a couple more . Bed is calling . Rain comes through in patches during the night . Robbo arrives an hour before daybreak . fire comes to life again. Dogs out for a stretch and the smell of bacon soon wafts around camp . Sitting down by the fire as the sun rises eating my bacon sandwich ,great start to the day . Boots laced up collars on the dogs . Let's go find a start . We spread out and I end up on a track way across the creek from camp . Spot a set of marks , from last night . got a bit of rain on but we'll get them going ,I reckon . We all meet and set up .Robbo ,his son Brad and I go around to start the deer . Out come Ellen and put her on the marks , she is getting scent so out goes Tom . he goes in and we put the rest in behind them . The dogs go down under the road by 300 yards and then start contouring around. Ellen hasn't started voicing at all yet The dogs stay bunched up with Ellen just in front . Around the head of the gully they go and getting a fair way out but no sounds yet . 40 minutes go by and they are now under the top road ,still bunched up behind Ellen , no sounds yet . I'm confident they're cold trailing but the marks must be a bit older than I thought . They get on a ridge by the walking track and now Ellen starts to move along a bit but no sound . Getting down toward a known bedding area and only 800 yards away from Brad and myself . The volume goes from 0 to full noise ,they've stepped on it Hound music fills the still morning air , we have a race on . I leave Brad and go and cover a ridge as the dogs close quickly . Hearing the deer climbing up , i'm waiting but a breeze pops up and turns the deer . Running down the road I signal to Brad to get ready . It's only his second hunt and he has a shot The distance is about 70 yards but the deer is really moving . The dogs aren't far behind . We run down the road but the deer beats us and the dogs sweep across the road . Their usual run is over the saddle and into the main river but she swings up the ridge . Brad and I go cover the bottom while the others cover the top .It's about 3/4 of a mile uphill in a straight line and quite steep . The dogs have her down to a walk and Mick can't shoot as they cross the road all around the deer . Down into the creek they go , pausing for a moment before climbing slowly up the ridge towards the "pine tree" a well known crossing spot . Their progress is real slow and she is just walking . Takes best part of 30 minutes for the dogs to get to the flat spot on top of the ridge near the track .The deer comes into sight and has the dogs all circling around it , all in full voice. Mick waits patiently until the dogs have grouped up behind her and this race is over Mick and some of the dogs , Mary ,Em and Flo .Dogs are fed ,and taken out to the truck , meat is carted out and as the weather is about to close in we call it a day and head for home
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Post by hycohounds on May 9, 2016 12:37:01 GMT -5
keep knocking them down!!! dogs seem to be starting off well too..............
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Post by hycohounds on May 9, 2016 12:37:25 GMT -5
do yall run them much in the summer to keep in shape?
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Post by kiwi on May 15, 2016 21:08:09 GMT -5
The dogs get walked 3 or 4 mile a day , at least 5 times a week during summer Sat week ago we had marks on the side of the road that were a day old . These were the best marks we had ,so the dogs were walked in .Andrew walked them in through some known bedding areas . Was over an hour before they opened up and the dogs split . Jack and I got around to a crossing point just in time Patiently I waited until finally a stag appeared out of the scrub into view . Front on he stood still looking back towards the dogs .The red dot found his chest where the neck joins and a 180 grain 30-06 bullet was on it's way . He reared up and turned sideways and tried to run . The red dot was quickly on him again and 2 more bullets quickly found their mark . This race was over with the dogs less than 2 minutes behind I cut up the deer and had loaded it on the truck ,Checking my GPS I saw Tom & Eve headed for another crossing point further down the road . Racing down , got out of the truck but I turned the deer . They crossed over lower down , Gun was put away as a small town is nearby and after this the next spot is too close to shoot a deer . Getting down to the river I watched the dogs go through so I drove around to the next spot . I watch a doe and yearling come through heading towards the river , They slowed right down and mum led the way across a steep face . Sneak mode was their go now and I watched as she looked around , forward and back for any sign of danger . They went through and I went up and waited for the dogs .They were soon on leads and put in the crate . So we had the dogs back and a deer ,a 23" stag This sat I had my cousin Ross over from NZ ,We found a fresh stag mark ,Andrew walked the dogs in on them . The wind was all wrong and was blowing the scent of the waiting hunters into the side where the deer was . However twice he came up near the road and went back in as he got scent of a waiting hunter. He ran around up high for half an hour then went down towards a creek junction . Even in the windy conditions we could hear the sounds of dogs bayed Ross and I got the job of walking in , a mile down a dry ridge . getting near the dogs we could hear that they weren't bayed in the creek but up on the ridge . Sneaking through the creek and up the other side ,making sure that the wind didn't take our scent to him .Slowly we closed the gap to within 30 yards . The noise that these 6 hounds were making covered any noise we might be making Slowly inching forward we could see a couple dogs but no deer as yet . Then it happened wind swirled around and in an instant deer and dogs were off .Climbing straight up and leaving us behind . We had another mile walk out .The deer got over the top road and into the other side .This creek is easily covered for a tired deer and soon Brian , Andrew , Gavan and Dick could hear the dogs . They had bayed him again now he was walking slowly down the creek. Took Ross and I a fair while to get out to the top .Just in time to hear Brians shots way off in the distance . Deer down and dogs on leads was the message over the radio . Time to go around and help load up the meat and dogs .
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