Friday June 23rd to Sunday June 25th 2023
By Christian Renfrey
A group of 10 members enjoyed another great weekend away at Woods Point on the weekend of 23rd to 25th of June. It was the 2nd Woods Point Club Hunt for the year and everyone enjoyed the good company, good hunting and good weather considering the rain and wind that had been forecast.
Friday night was spent discussing and planning where everyone was going to hunt. On Saturday it was an early start for most as we each headed off to our selected spot to track down a deer or two.
After much effort and trying over the last 4 years I managed to take a nice sized hind around 9.30am. It is the first deer I have taken from the Woods Point area and something I have been working hard on and am proud to have finally achieved. I was contouring along some game trails and was just coming up to quite a tight gully when I noticed a ginger rump on the other side of the gully at a slightly higher elevation than I was. I put up my rifle and was checking the deer in the scope but I could only see the rump and was waiting for it to move and give me some sort of broadside shot. After a couple of seconds I noticed a second deer standing broadside slightly above the deer I had spotted so I quickly decided to take that shot. I saw the deer go straight down so knew it was a good shot. The second deer did not spook from the shot but only moved off once the deer I had shot went over. I made my way up to the deer and saw that the shot had gone in at the top of the rib cage/lungs on one side, through the lungs and out the other side taking out part of the spine with it. The left hand back strap was undamaged but half the backstrap on the other side was pretty much destroyed. Marcus helped me breakup the animal and we went and left the meat on the track as we wanted to continue in and pick up a camera I had left on a wallow. We went and collected that then came back for the meat and made the long carryout back up the hills and to the car. We got back to the Lodge where luckily some of the others had the fire going so we could dry off and get warm again and enjoy a beer.
Only the one animal was taken for the weekend but everyone who hunted had a good day out and added to their knowledge of where and how to hunt the area. I would encourage all members to get up to the Lodge and enjoy the Woods Point area. It’s steep and difficult terrain but a very rewarding challenge. With the pub rumored to be reopening in July well worth the trip up.
Keep an eye out for a date in late November when we’ll have a Working Bee to replace the floor coverings in the Lodge and do a Wood Chop to replenish the firewood supply.
