The long-awaited buck

In the annual hunting calendar, one of the most popular trips away is the deer rut. The fallow and red deer rut occurs at the same time every year and sees regional economies around rural Australia receive a welcome financial boost from an influx of travelling hunters.

So as April was upon us, my mate Gus from Victoria arrived via plane in NSW. I picked him up at the airport and we were off for the four-hour drive to the deer property.

We had planned a five-day hunt and allowed for travel days at each end of that time. We wanted to maximise our stay in the hills to try and land Gus a trophy red stag or fallow buck for his wall back home. My freezer was also low, so the goal of harvesting free range meat was on the list too.

After setting up camp, our