ADVICE FROM A HUNTING NEWBIE PART 3
In 1918 the owners of the station where Scott now works were forced off the place by a plague of rabbits. They literally dropped tools and left the stock to fend for themselves. Some of the hardy Merinos survived and bred in the harsh conditions to become the wild Clarence Merino flock.
Eventually, keen new owners came in and farming operations resumed, with small groups of wild Merinos continuing to survive in sheltered pockets near the Clarence River. From the moment I’d first heard about this rare flock, I was intrigued by the history. Coupled with the fact that wild mutton is quite tasty, a Merino made for the perfect objective for my first animal.
One weekend Scott and I went in search of the wild woollies, notably a mature ram. It was a sweltering day in early autumn and the heat radiated off the rocks as we picked our way down a stream bed. There was enough of a breeze heading downstream that we hoped to sneak along below the hill faces undetected. This would set us up to hunt into the wind, towards the gullies where the sheep were likely to be sheltering.
A few kilometres later we reached our turning point, had one last splash in the creek, and
