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Late last year, due to rain, it’d been pretty quiet on some of our hunting blocks. Either it was very overgrown or swampy. However, I got a phone call from a property owner who had a dog hanging around the cattle.
Steph and I usually go together to see if we can get another tally mark up on the board for our annual pest-management shooting. It was getting towards the end of the year and Steph was in the lead by three. I told her about the dog and started getting ready to go.
“So, ya want to come and see if we can get this dog?” I asked her.
“Good chance it’ll be gone by the time we get there, though,” she said, “and I’ve got a few things to do.”
A solo trip it was, then. I grabbed the rifle and headed out the door.
When I got there the cows were all bunched together, staring at this one patch of tall para grass, so I glassed it with the scope and could just make out a set of ears. But there was no clear shot!
I thought I’d wait this one out and see if the dog decided to show itself. About 10 minutes went past … and I lost sight of it. It was now getting close to 5pm and the shadows were getting longer. I was sure I hadn’t been spotted, the wind was in my face and I had slowly made it to a little mound in the grass about 150m away from where I’d seen the dog, so I made myself known a little.
“Oi,” I called out. Then this sandy coloured dog took a few steps out of the grass and looked directly at me!
“Thank you and goodnight,” I thought as I squeezed off a Fiocchi round. The dog dropped instantly!
After putting the dog down I sent Steph a pic, saying, “That’s another one for me.”
She reminded me she hadn’t thought the dog would still be there and reckoned I was cheating.
She was now only two in front for the year but unfortunately that was it for our tallies. It was a close finish but she beat me. I knew I’d have to pick up my game and as it turned out I got the first score for 2024. I got a dog the day after we came back from our holiday, so I was one up already.
by Luke Jones
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