Hello Everyone , Just back from my St. Jude's Buff hunt in Austrailia with Mick Baker . First I would like to thank Terry , Doug and everyone else for making these hunts and more possible through the Auction . To say it was a great time would not be doing it justice . Mick runs a first rate operation in some of the remotest areas I have ever been in .I flew from JFK airport to LA to Sidney to Darwin and finally to some mining town which took about 30 hours of flying time and several hours of layovers . I've always said I wouldn't bungee jump or skydive but if was the only way to get to a hunt then sign me up . The flight was well worth it . After being picked up by Mick we drove about 2 hourws to the town of Booraloola , to give you an idea how remote this place is there was a notice posted on 2 of the 4 buildings in town announcing the yearly arrival of the dentist from June 25-29 . We fueled up here and headed for camp which was 3 hours away . Between the small airport at the mining town and Booraloola and again to the camp the are no other towns , just vast open country not unlike a Mad Max movie . We camped at an Aboriginal homestead which consisted of 2 small homes ? and hoping not to offend anyone an assortment of people right out of a Geico commercial .Very friendly people who obviously don't get many visitors as I don't usually draw a crowd of kids checking out my bow and watching me shoot , best part they don't know good shooting from bad so I was safe from ridicule .
First afternoon in camp we decided to drive over some of the hunting area and look over the Buff population , Mick wanted me to put the stalk on any Buff we saw so I would get a feel for being close to them and seeing if I could keep my nerve . After an hour or two we saw a mediun sized Buff and I started after him . The wind was steady and I got about 25 yards before a wind shift , a thing that happened more times than I thought possible over the next 6 days ,which brought the Buff about face and staring me down . Grass here is ankle high to shoulder high , trees are mostly just sticks with little chance for cover or protection , which means you are pretty much open to inspection for anything within a few hundred yards . It's hard to tell if the Buffaloes are getting ready to charge or are just curious . This one decided to walk off while keeping an eye on me . It's not a good thing to shoot them when they are looking at you as it gives them a target to vent there anger . There are also countless feral horses and quite a few feral cattle about which managed to screw up a few stalks . Even got to see my first dingoes which looked more like tan dogs than the fox and coyotes over here look . Get back later with more , Fred
Bring it ON Fred!
Did you make some MEAT?
I am looking forward to the photo gallery....
Shoot straight, Shinken
hey fred you should have come down south to see me its only a 3 hour plane trip across the creek LOL!!! sounds like ya had some fun now dont make us wait for pics :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: :biglaugh:
This one is going to be good.
Good to hear from you Fred, looking forward to a lot more!!
Welcome back Fred! I can't wait to hear the stories!
Missed you on our bear quest this year!
Steve
looking forward to seeing the pics Fred
Wow, this is gonna be Goood!!!
AS I was well aware that Oz is in the southern hemishere therefore it would be their winter so I asked Mick what I should expect for weather conditions , his response was that it was a little cool and would get cooler so bring a couple of light jackets ,( I thought for maybe layering) . I was in for a shock . I left our typical Jersey June summer of 80 degrees and entered the frigid cold Ozzie winter of 90 degrees . I never sweated so much in my life . Equiped with long pants and long sleeve t-shirts , including 2 jackets which never saw the light of day , we proceeded to walk about 2-4 miles every morning and afternoon , frequently more , in search of the ever elusive Buff. There were two other hunters in camp , great guys even though they shot compounds , both Austrailians Shel and Alex . The first afternoon I got into camp Alex shot a 90" Buff and the next day Shel got his second Buff a young male with tight horns . That day all I could find were cows with young so didn't get to stalk anything except for a couple wily scrub bulls which didn't pan out . For the next 4 days the weather cooled ? down to the mid 80's and the wind went calm . Dry grass and parched ground don't make for good stalking conditions when cover is almost non-existent . We saw good Buff every day and had more stalks than I could keep track of but couldn't close the distancwe less than 70-80 yards before being discovered . With the dry ground and a few river crossings a day I decided to hunt barefoot and carry my boots over my shoulder . I have found out that there are few thorns in this country but the grass has needle sharp seeds which make walking difficult . Two days of that nonsense and I went back to my boots . My feet were so sore it actually helped as I couldn't walk fast if I wanted to so my stalking was very slow . We had seen several good scrub bulls but they are more nervous then the Buffalo . I was hoping for some change in weather and possibly some more wind to hide any noise made on the stalks but it wasn't meant to be . The next to last day we tried to sit on a good trail leading to feeding areas , a method we had tried without much luck already , when I seen a scrub bull feeding along a dry riverbed . At this point I'm trigger happy so we set off on a stalk . I tried to get ahead of him so he would pass broadside to me but when he was about 40 yards he changed course and headed away from me . I followed him with determination and at about 20-25 yards he turned broadside with the only tall bush for a hundred yards between us . I moved a little to my right and he started to turn quartering away and I shot . He made that welcome little crow-hop like you see in the videos and walked off about 30 more yards and scanned the area . Needless to say I froze in my tracks not wanting to give him a target , Mick was about 50 yards behind me .After about 20 minutes the bull walked off another 50 yards and lay down .Good deal ! I hit him a little further back of the rib cage then I would have liked but it was still angling forward . Mick has one he shot on video that charged him and he was lucky to get behind a good-sized tree and even then the bull knocked the bow out of his hands , they seem to always be in a bad mood and shooting them doesn't seem to improve their disposition .While looking him over a group of Buffaloes come up behind us and run off , so close . Let me try to post pics ,. Fred
:eek:
very cool mate ...pics ! pics ! pics !
Ben
:banghead: I'm waiting
wow... can't wait to see pics...
Pics,Pics, Pics! Come on Fred, stop teasing.
:campfire: :coffee: enjoying the hunt
Sounds like an awesome experience. Congratulations.
still no pics thats just not right tell us a great story then run. :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: come on bro. LOL!!!!
Glad you had such a great hunt Fred, and glad you sweated more on a hunt than at my house :D
Looking forward to some pics.
:campfire: :coffee: :coffee: :coffee:
we're sit'n on the edge of our seats!
Great stuff, Fred!!
:thumbsup:
Good the see you made it back OK Fred looking foward to the rest of the story.bd
Oh man, oh man, I wanna see some pics!!! Australia is awesome, keep the story coming!
We had first rate accomedations . (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad069.jpg)
private shower facilities
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad060.jpg)
both of which kept me looking fresh and alert .
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad076.jpg)
This place looked like a graveyard with all the temite mounds (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad057.jpg)
The object of my desire ,Sorry for poor photo but I couldn't get much closer
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad038.jpg)
WE had a chance to fish a few afternoons when we camped alongside a small pool . I was told not to stand in one place too long as there are crocs about .
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad044.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad068.jpg)
One night Mick and I roamed along the banks of a pool of water along a riverbed and caught some of these . Very good eating . Oh yeah , one word of caution , if your're ever given the chance to eat vegimite pass on it . Shel told me some US GI s were stationed near his home in Tasmania and after tasting vegimite they bought a tube and put it in a glass case with a note saying "In case of starvation don't break glass , starve " That sums it up very well .
Best kind of scrub bull , a dead one .
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad091.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad089.jpg)
Awesome!! Congrats Fred!
The fish we caught were Baramundi and fileted , breaded and fryed along with some chips is very hard to beat . Right up there with the "shore lunch" of northern pike and walleye at the Bear camps . Austrailia is a fascinating place and far more desolate then I ever imagined . I brought along my Black Widow SAIII with 2 sets of limbs , 66# and 76# . I tried out the new Aboyer heads and they are everything they claim to be . They come sharp and are easy to touch up . Quartering away I penetrated up to the fletching on the Scrub Bull . I also brought along my all time favorites some 160 grain Interceptors , I have had a lot of good luck with them over the years and was hoping to use them on hogs . More about that later .
Great story Fred...awesome pics.
Fred, I hear those scrub bulls have a "belligerent temperament" :scared:
Fred I am glad to see you had a great time. Thanks for taking us along.
Sounds like a fun time! I think I would rather hunt a buff with a knife than go barefooted over there.I guess you never watch Discovery channel much. :D
Awesome Fred!
Good stuff. See any snakes? Heard those wild bulls are bad scary. How about it?
Great story so far Fred, keep it coming. Glad you had a good time and made it home safe. I don't even want to think about walking around barefoot with all those criters nearby. Nice bull too! :thumbsup:
hey fred vegimite is yummmmmmmm much better than Grits thats for sure :p :scared: for those poor animals :biglaugh:
Thanks for the good read Fred. I wouldn't go barefoot over there for all the tea in china.
Hey Jeff Mick told me I might be scaring them Buffs with my white legs , they don't see the sun that often . I have never been concerned about my safety anywhere I've been as long as the locals aren't nervous about conditions . One day we passed by a large brown snake and Mick went on High alert . That got my attemtion . Another time we were walking in chest high grass and Mick stopped and took a little detour , when I asked him what was going on he said you listen for snakes in the grass and let them crawl off and then give them some room and walk around them . He says that when I walk about and especially when I'm stalking to listen for snakes , when I told him my hearing is about shot and that I can't hear them he made a comment about me being screwed . About mid hunt we were crossing a grassy plain called the grasshopper and came to a water hole about 50yards wide and a couple hundred yards long . On the other side was a large feral hog walking along doing whatever hogs do when we decided to put on a stalk . The ground around the waterhole was dried up and cracked and felt like omne of those rasps I shape wood with . Of course I thought it would be quieter to go barefoot . After the first 100 yards I knew I made a mistake but along with being foolish I'm also stubborn . Anyone who knows me will be surprised to hear that . After another 50 yards I got close enough to miss . Twice actually . But in my defense I usaully plant my feet before I shoot and now I couldn't even stand . I kept rotating my weight around trying to find something stable but it wasn't meant to be . After the two shots the boar started running off and I let fly again and bounced and arrow off his back , it was his day . I wasn't going to move an inch until Mick drove the truck around to pick me up but the boar wasn't done with me yet . He ran the couple hundred yards around the waterhole and started nosing around so I started back the 150 yards to cut him off . I wasn't really walking just moving along , I'm glad Mick wasn't trying to video me , I think he was laughing too much . By the time I got around the pool I lost sight of him and figured I had enough pig hunting for awhile . That was the last day I went barefoot , but the damage was done . Six days later my foot swelled a little and I thought it was just sore but upon inspection I had a thorn festering in the middle of my foot . Not being able to remove it I made the mistake of asking Mick for help , I think he enjoyed himself too much cutting and digging it out . That said three days after I got home my Goodwife had me soak my feet in Epson salt and took out three more smaller thorns . I'm nomne the worse for wear but when I go back (Lord willing) I will bring moccasins and sock savers . And yes JC if you can believe it it was hotter then Georgia and it is their winter . Mick sleeps in his swag inside his sleeping bag with sweatpants and tee shirt on , I'm in my boxers and just have a light blanket over my middle with legs hanging out . They think I'm crazy but if I was over there in the summer then they would see crazy . I would probably die .
We had a ham that we cut pieces off every day for lunch and after about 6 days I was about hammed out . When we got near a town Mick asked me if I liked corn beef and I thought that would be great , I also said I eat a lot of turkey . First mistake was not being more specific , second was not going along to the store . My visions of thin sliced corn beef were shattered when for lunch we opened a can of corned beef hash and spread it on bread . Another surprise was the turkey , I didn't know there was such a thing as turkey spam . Now I do . I'm not complaining as I really enjoy a rough camp . Makes the memories last and lets you know you're alive . Mick is a great cook and dinners were always delicous . We had pork chops , spaghetti , roast lamb and his best stir-fry chicken to name a few , and yes the best was the fish and chips with the fresh Baramundi .
Thank-you for sharing,sounds like a great time. Did you bring the meat back with you?
Leland
Where would this be without one of these .
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad113.jpg)
I wasn't worried about the snakes or the crocs or the spiders but I was a little concerned about them monitor lizards . Mick says they call them guanas ? not to be mistaken with iguanna . He said they almost never come around camp and don't bother with people , one morning rising early and walking out to take a leak I came across this
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/dad082.jpg)
I showed Mick and he was surprised one came so close to camp but wasn't too concerned . I guess that's why they wrap themselves up at night , I felt like I was left for bait . Even though we saw several tracks over the hunt we never did see one . Leland the best beef cattle are between one and three years old , this one was about twelve to fifteen . Not like chewing on a boot more like chewing on the sole of the boot . There is no way to keep meat at those temps and since they are feral animals which compete with native species both government and landowners want them thinned out . Hardest thing now is figuring how I can get back there . So many places and so little time .
and ya don't like vegemite ? say it ain't so !!!!
great story mate ..... glad ya trip was a good one down here .
Ben
Hey Ben , Shel and Alex figured I wasn't getting a buff because I wasn't eating my vegemite so the last day I choked down a sandwich for breakfast . An hour and a half before dark I put the final stalk of the hunt on a medium Buff . He was feeding along a dry riverbed but when we got close to him he crossed over the other side and we had to scurry back along the riverbed about 100 yards so we could cross quietly on the rocks . He was feeding along making a lot of noise and the wind was favorable and I got about 25 yards away . I could see his back in the tall grass along the river and tried for an 11th hour shot and neatly put an arrow over his back . Faster than it takes to tell it the wind blew on my neck and he ran out into the open looking me straight in the eyes . They have a white triangle in the middle of their chest which Mick said if things got hairy to aim for . He was bobbing his head and I wasn't going down without a shot so I put one right in the triangle almost up to the fletch . He starts my way but veared off after two steps , maybe he felt the arrow , either way he ran to my left putting me between him and Mick with the backup gun . We tracked him till dark when the blood started to show signs of congealing . He just walked off and never stopped . He was headed for a saddle between two ridges but that was over a mile away . We had to leave for Townsend the next morning early as we had to pick up another hunter , Luke , at the airport which was 1800 kilometers away . Mick was going to be in the area this or next week and said he would look around . I can only pray he finds him . Mick said the shot looked so good he didn't want to shoot him and a second later he would have had to shoot past me . The right call . Maybe I should have ate my vegemite sooner.
Great job Fred. Marlon
Been wondering how you made out down there mate! Great story and pics! :thumbsup:
Fred,
The Adventurous Bowman,sounds like you had a blast.Congrads on the scrub bull and hopefully Mick will come across your last minute Bull.
Thanks for reliving the hunt for us.
What is the ingredients of Vegemite sandwich ?
Great tale Fred...I hope he finds him too.
greyfox- you say that the top end is desolate, and it can be, but you wouldn't recognise the place during and after the wet season, december to march. the place is transformed into floodplains and verdent green.
glad you had a good time. australia is certainly very unique.
Greyfox54, Thanks for the great hunting story, good read and pictures too!
Hey Fred. I get Marmite sent to me every once in a while. Good stuff. Of course everyone knows that Veggienite is the evil red headed step child of Marmite. I`ll be sure to have a hunk of bread and some Marmite on the boat for you whilst we`re chasing lizards. If those monitors freaked you out I can`t wait to see you looking ata 10` `gator
Ozy Clint , I hope you didn't take me wrong , I like it best where there are no people and the northern territories were perfect , just not what I expected , again I'm not sure what I expected . I most definitely want to go back .
Tom , They put vegemite on almost anything , they say they like it but they put such a small amount on toasted bread with butter it doesn't seem worth the effort , until you taste it then you understand why they spread it so thin . We got bacon and egg sandwichs at a coun
try store and even they had a light spread of vegemite on them . Boss I never heard of Marmite but they also eat something called promite over there . I always thought mites were bad for you so I steer clear of them both . By the way this Vegemite comes in either a jar or a squeeze tube like toothpaste , that just ain't right .And I'll be fine with the gators as long as I don't have to swim with them . I hear it's been hot down there too . I can't seem to get away from the heat .
Thanks JC , It's out of my hands . Not that I need one but it will be a reason to go back , Mick Baker runs a first rate operation and gives that extra effort I always appreciate. If anyone wants contact info he operates Trophy Bowhunts Austrailia , you can get on his web-site and see some incredible photos of nearly any species Austrailia offers . I'm planning a combo hunt I for either Buff and goats or maybe RedStag and something else . It's a good idea to plan to go for 2 weeks so you can hunt different animals but it's tough to cover ground between areas . It's a big place over there .
After another trip to Africa, Australia will be next on the list. May be awhile though... being a union construction worker and going on big hunting trips can be tough. But somehow I find a way to do it. Even if I am broke!
Sounds like an excellent time.
Congrats :thumbsup: on a great trip
Nice bull, Fred! Well-done!
Sounds as if you had a fine trip mate, well done on the scrubber too.
JC.... no shoes is the only way to hunt where I'll take you mate! Just put me in your will huh! Did I mention I like Morrisons....lol
Too cool Fred....congrats :clapper:
Thanks for sharing-great adventure.
What a fine adventure, thanks for sharing - you tell a good story. Such a hunt is on my "to do" list. I would enjoy all the critters, especially the really dangerous ones :eek:
I'm sure I'm not the only one who really enjoys a hunt , most times I have more fun then the law allows . I really appreciate all the kind words and comments made by everyone , I'm afraid I"ll never fully comprehend the impact this site has had on my life . Okay enough mush , I have to plan what I want to kill next .
Thanks to all , Fred
Didnt hear much about the Chital hunt fred.
Geez,I enjoyed this ! Felt like I was right there wiyh you .Thanks for the good time ,and a Merry christmas.