A trip to Nundle

On the road

Travelling south, Tim and I had spent much of the drive talking about our next 3 days away. While it was officially a 7 day hunt organised by the Australian Deer Association Queensland ADA(Q), we could only get a few days off work and so were keen to make the most of our time. For both of us it would be a trip of ‘firsts’, our first time to Nundle, our first hunt with ADA(Q) and our first hunt as New South Wales (NSW) R-Licence holders.

For those who are unfamiliar with the R-Licence, it provides holders the opportunity to help with feral and game animal reduction in declared NSW State forests. Something that benefits the environment, agriculture, and much to the chagrin of Queenslanders like me the NSW economy!

The previous week back in Southern Queensland I had taken my first Red Deer Stag. It had been a great experience and something I had worked hard for. However this trip away would be different; I had no real expectations of the days ahead and would be happy just to be out in the field.

Riding shotgun, I looked out at the New England scenery. With its granite boulder landscape, red and gold foliage and deciduous trees; while it doesn’t look that much like England - trust me I’ve been there - it’s certainly different to my part of the world.

Driving down, we took our time and made a number of stops. Our first was Tenterfield for a ‘Famous Meat Pie’ (said so right on the shop front) and a quick look in the toy/sport/fishing/gun and barber shop.

Next was Uralla for a beer in the Thunderbolt Inn Hotel with its heated public bar. Now for some this is no big deal, but for Queensland boys a public bar with the heat on mid morning in April is something you take notice of. Our final stop was a late lunch at a pub about 30 minutes from our final destination.

At the town of Nundle we turned left and began the very steep climb to our base at Ponderosa Park. The park, a small camp ground lies between Nundle and Hanging Rock State Forests along the Forest Drive.

Arriving, we met some of the others we would be sharing our time with over the next few days. The first order of business was to set up and so we all worked on pitching the ADA(Q) HQ tent; an impressive 5 by 10 metre white wedding marquee, as well as getting the hot shower and kitchen installed and fire going. With everything in place Tim and I turned to our own camp and got ourselves ready for the following day’s hunting.
That afternoon around the camp fire we learnt a little about ‘Nundle’, a name used to refer to the town, the State Forest and sometimes the surrounding district. Because of its elevated position Nundle State Forest seems to have its own climate, which for us was cold, wet and windy at night and cool, windy and damp during the day!

Just before dusk we took a quick drive to get a feel for the place and saw rabbits, a fox and a small fallow deer - all which left us feeling confident that there was plenty of game about. We also observed a very healthy population of native wildlife feeding on both sides of the main track.


Into the forest

The next morning we waited for the light and then hit the road. Having a sedan we decided on an easily accessible point about 4 kilometres from camp that we had investigated the previous afternoon. Parking the car, we got our gear together and began by following an overgrown track into the pine.

Very soon we began to see roos and wallabies feeding in the deep pine, we also noticed that the light and wind were lower and the temperature warmer in the pine than at camp. It also became obvious that it would be pretty easy to get lost, so we took a compass/route map approach, marked our start location and turned directly south into the light South Easterly/Westerly wind.

Once you got used to it, stalking in the heavy forest was pretty straightforward as the damp pine needles absorbed nearly all sound. Travelling in line and sight of each other we switched to radio communications to further reduce any noise we might make.
Soon we began to see pig diggings, droppings and the remains of bright red mushrooms the pigs had been eating. At each point of ‘sign’ we would quietly discuss what we saw.

While it was evident there had been lots of activity and lots of pigs in the area, determining their direction of travel was a little harder. We found the answer a short time later when we came to an old forestry track.

The track was slightly below us and so after stepping down we searched the bank and were able to spot a worn animal track, some very fresh prints and some newly fallen earth. Again after some whispered discussion we agreed the game was likely in front and that we were moving in the right direction. Also with the wind in our favour we felt confident we would see soon something.

As part of our approach, we stopped at regular intervals to scan the forest with the binoculars and maybe take a compass bearing.
However as we moved further into the pine I gave the binoculars away as they were next to useless in the low light conditions.

We continued a slow traverse of what seemed to be a long pine covered slope and finally came to another track. Again we took a compass bearing and noted our crossing point. Obviously with GPS keeping track of our location would have been simpler; however I learnt to navigate using map and compass and like to practice as often as I can.

Pigs

After crossing the track we moved down into a small grass and fern covered gully and then up again into the pine. Almost at the peak of this rise we encountered our first pigs.

At almost the same time I saw them I heard a whispered ‘pigs’ over the radio. Lowering into a crouch I turned, noted Tim’s position and realised I was in the box seat. Luckily for me the pigs, oblivious of our presence were to my left and slightly in front, while Tim was ever so slightly behind and to my right.

Remaining still I watched the small black female and larger black male with white socks continue their search of the forest floor. Cycling the action I then shouldered my Tikka T3, aimed squarely for the body and squeezed the trigger. Hitting the smaller pig squarely with the .30-06 150gr Accubond - it dropped immediately to the forest floor.

Its companion, raised its head as I cycled the action, took aim and fired a heart/lung shot - which produced the same result as the first. However a larger pig, a true boar, burst from cover and moved directly in front of me.

Firing 2 quick shots at the fleeing boar I felt that I had missed with both. Tim, not so sure and hearing a squeal asked if I was clear. Giving the thumbs up, he bolted forward and crested the rise.
After checking the pigs I started to think over what had just happened; twice in two weeks I had been successful on my first outing, however in both cases I had not been fully aware of the situation.

With my Red Stag the previous week I had ‘missed’ seeing a smaller Stag and while I got the better, I hadn’t had a full impression of the situation. With the pigs I had missed a much better boar by focusing too quickly on the obvious. I decided it was something I needed to work on.

Tim, returning after about 5 minutes was been unable to pick up any blood sign, or get a clear shot though he did hear another fleeting squeal while in hot pursuit. Hauling the pigs together we took photos and relived the event. After a little crowing on my part we moved off to further search our new hunting area for more pigs!

Coming to another very overgrown track we found that the pine was divided by a wide, shallow scrub covered gully. Turning West, we moved slowly down the track and at the bottom found a small water hole. We also saw how the area opened up into a long wedge shaped meadow separating the pine from a eucalypt forest.

Not wanting to move too far away from where we had taken the pigs, we slowly retraced our tracks finally arriving back at our starting point. As we were still pretty excited by the morning’s events, we spent about an hour exploring a new area closer to camp where we again saw plenty of pig sign - though no pigs.
Over the next 3 days we would hunt a similar pattern until around 11am. While we did hunt other parts of Nundle, we decided to spend our mornings working and learning more about the area that had already produced good results.

Deer

Our approach paid off on each of the two following days. The next morning we moved to the meadow after again trying out the pine. Standing under cover on the fringe of the open ground we realised the wind would be blowing over our shoulders. Deciding to push on anyway we slowly moved into this new area. Tim stayed in the shadows of the pines right on the edge of the meadow, while I stalked in a more open position. Coming around a slight bend we saw a Hind. Unfortunately neither of us was able to get a clean shot. The Hind eventually broke and I fired, but with no success.

Discussing what happened we decided to push on and see what else was about. Back at camp a couple of hours later we talked to the others of our encounter and after some campfire encouragement decided to try the area again.

So on our third and final morning we skipped our usual pig search in the pines and spent about 2 ½ hours slowly getting ourselves into a ‘wind friendly’ position for the meadow. Under some heavy cover we had a quick feed, gave ourselves a chance to get refocused and began a very slow and deliberate stalk. Tim again stayed in the shadows of the pine while I moved closer to the fringe of the eucalypt. Slowly moving through the meadow we would constantly stop, look and listen before moving on.

After all of the effort, planning and patience I let the side down. At the crucial moment I got distracted and turning casually to look over my right shoulder discovered I was about 10 metres away from a trophy Fallow Stag. Standing still, or best you can with your heart racing; I cycled the action on my Tikka T3 and watched the Stag, startled by the metallic sound disappear down a creek and into the eucalypt.

The Mob

Each afternoon, Tim and I would team up with Clinton and hunt other areas of the State Forest. On the third and last outing we hit a mob of pigs. I wasn’t even ready to shoot at the time and so ended being a very amused observer of all the action. Clinton, first seeing a small black flash called cat - however after the second flash we in unison called pigs!
We had inadvertently intersected the mob’s escape route and so in order to the get away they either has to perform an about face, or run right past Tim and Clinton. Choosing the latter they fled through the ferns, darting in and out of cover. It was like a scene from a monster movie with the ferns alive with movement, noise and lots of excited shouting.

The action lasted about 15 seconds and included a couple of quick shots and one either very brave or confused squealer charging straight at Tim before changing course almost under his feet!

The whole event provided a great story back at the camp that evening and gave Tim and Clinton a change to really get amongst it.

The final tally

For the rest of our group Nundle also provided some great hunting. Our combined total included two good sized boars, four smaller pigs and two Hinds. A few days later I did hear that another pig had also been taken. It seems two of our party both aimed and fired on the same sow, leading to an overall count of 7 and a very entertaining camp fire discussion about who shot whose pig!

While our 3 days away ended up being far too short, our first trip to Nundle provided us with some real excitement, a chance to make some new friends and plenty to talk about until next time.