posted
anybody else notice how "YOUNG" those boys look to be... And Clint, I believe it was a steep jaunt up that creek...it surely looked steep enough to me and you guys looked like ants along the edge... crickey!
-------------------- The words "Child" and "terminal illness" should never share the same sentence! Those who care-do, others question!
TGMM Family of the Bow Sasquatch 60" T/D, R/D LB Posts: 11116 | From: L@ncaster County, PA | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
this is me all rugged up ready for a days hunting.
mark takes in the scenery.
this where we camped as viewed from the ridge above camp. the tents are circled. it looks alot like 'machu picchu' i reckon. that's what we called it. mark on top of machu picchu.
-------------------- "white man walk lot, see little. indian walk little, see lot."
The mountains song is not heard by all But the lure is strong who hear it's call.
Bob Lee t/d signiture recurve. 57# & 69# Posts: 1724 | From: in the hills south of Stanthorpe, Qld, Australia | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
paul taking in the view. his KUIU gear is perfect camo for this rocky country we were in. he is very happy with it too.
we'll just stalk in and get him right. WRONG. try getting close to this fella. the have a habit of bedding in postions that are very difficult to approach.
mark called this guy his nemisis. he hunted him for a few days but things never worked out for him unfortunately.
-------------------- "white man walk lot, see little. indian walk little, see lot."
The mountains song is not heard by all But the lure is strong who hear it's call.
Bob Lee t/d signiture recurve. 57# & 69# Posts: 1724 | From: in the hills south of Stanthorpe, Qld, Australia | Registered: Mar 2008
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Was it cold mate ? I am there this Sunday for 8 days so I am taking the woolies !
Great pics Clint ... inspiring stuff eh !
-------------------- " All that is gold does not glitter , not all those who wander are lost " J.R.R TOLKIEN Posts: 2552 | From: australia | Registered: Jan 2005
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tahr country- this is the big bowl i walked across to go and stalk some tahr that i glassed. they were in the saddle on the far side. as i said on page 1 of the thread , i got to within 20m of a good bull but couldn't get a shot. i experienced the very essence of mountain bowhunting that day. the weather was perfect, the terrain a challenge, the quarry was without equal. just me and the mountains and that animals that live there. i was one very happy hunter that day. this is looking towards where the tahr were from the ridge above camp. i got my tahr stalk on the ridge line that goes up from the left of the saddle. the tahr were on one side i was on the other.
this is looking back to where the previous pic was taken. camp is beyond that ridge. i was sitting in the saddle having a bite to eat.
one of the 2 young bulls that i glassed originally from the ridge behind camp. when i got over there i spotted the mob that i had the stalk on. i had plans of hunting this area quite a bit over the course of the trip but after that we had a few foggy days and plenty of snow which made the trek over there too dangerous. there where a few gnarly sections in order to get over there and fresh snow and wet rocks that get frozen and covered in ice completely changes things over there. even snow on the tussock was slippery. what took you an hour yesterday in good conditions now takes 2 or more hours.
oh well i suppose i should hunt chamois instead.............. got to love the choice over there.
-------------------- "white man walk lot, see little. indian walk little, see lot."
The mountains song is not heard by all But the lure is strong who hear it's call.
Bob Lee t/d signiture recurve. 57# & 69# Posts: 1724 | From: in the hills south of Stanthorpe, Qld, Australia | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
and on the 9th day we awoke to a fresh fall of snow. the weather had cleared, a welcome change to being fogged in like the previous 2 days. it was time to hunt and hunt hard. when the weather is good you must hunt. i was not going home without having hunted as much as i could. a year is a long time to wonder if i could have done more. if the weather allowed i was out there. i had ventured far from camp over the last few days and today was no different. we had been glassing chamois the entire trip on a ridge across the face of the range we were on. none of us knew what lay beyond. all we knew was that there was always chamois over there. i decided to make a day of it and check it out. the snow had made the tussock very slippery and it was hiding the holes between the rocks and clumps of tussock. i slowly made way down and crossed the head of the creek that we had walked up from the river bottom. then i made my up the ridge that the chamois we could glass from camp would appear from and dissappear to. my anticipation was high as i poked my head over the ridge.
more little spurs and ridges. this looked more like trad bowhuntable country. it was more broken and not so open like the bowl we had been hunting where they can see you a mile away. every time you looked over the next little ridge or in the gully you might see something. the sort of topography where you could poke your head over a ridge and if you don't see something you walk a few hundred meters and check out what is over the next one.
i slowly made my way to the next one and peered over........ straight away i laid eyes upon a lone chamois only 40 meters away. i dropped back over the ridge in suprise. "whoa, this is the real deal" i thought to myself. this could be the best chance i might get. i dropped my pack and made a start at getting close. i had to climb down some monkey scrub down a 2 meter drop off to get on the little spur that led down to where the chamios was. once there i snuck down through some knee high brush while it was out of view in a little rock slip. i got to about 20 meters from where i last saw it then waited. i caught it's movement up towards me then it came into view and i could tell it was a nanny. then it slipped into the tussock again and out of sight. i kept trying to find her but i couldn't see her moving. then i caught movement. i almost got busted as she had fed up towards me up another little slip. she looked my way but turned around and fed back down. now or never! she was at around 13-15 meters quartering away at a steep downward angle, about 40 degrees. i hit her a little far back than i wanted and she ran off and stood on a little knob at 30 meters. i had another shot but missed. she took off again and pulled up about 60m away. by now she was getting reluctant to move and i managed to get in and put another shot on her. she trotted off about 10m and went down. i got in closer still and not wanting to take any chances on what could be a once in a lifetime thing i put one last arrow in her chest. then it hit me, there was a dead chamois at my feet. i couldn't believe it, a dream had been lived. i knelt down beside her, placed my hand on her soft tan fur and took a moment to give thanks to her and the mountains. the mountains are often reluctant to share their bounty and when they do it's special. this was something i had dreamed of doing for years. more importantly i did it in the manner that i had always wanted to do it. packing in and out and with a trad bow.
-------------------- "white man walk lot, see little. indian walk little, see lot."
The mountains song is not heard by all But the lure is strong who hear it's call.
Bob Lee t/d signiture recurve. 57# & 69# Posts: 1724 | From: in the hills south of Stanthorpe, Qld, Australia | Registered: Mar 2008
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posted
What a great trip!! Some hard work and it took more than one trip, with a rifle it would have been over early and you'd miss the feeling of truly accomplishing something difficult. Thanks for the story and taking us along on your adventure.
Posts: 813 | From: canada | Registered: May 2007
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-------------------- Hunting was hazardous, but at least it guaranteed the freedom of the individual.
There is no doubt that the onset of farming saw the end of leasure for the majority of people, who were destined to toil in the fields. Posts: 291 | From: Wales UK. | Registered: Nov 2008
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posted
Amazing Adventure! A well earned hero shot like that deserves to be the best it can be. I ran it through photoshop for you Clint and lightened it up some. Here you are. Just right click on it and "save image as" to your computer for future use if you would like.
This filter is kinda cool to.
-------------------- "Dog on Point" or "Deer on Ground?" Posts: 6453 | From: Kentucky | Registered: Jun 2007
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You did it your way enjoy the reward.Kip
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