In preparation for the upcoming Victorian high country hunt with Rob I decided to mix things up and throw a new tent into the mix. I’d previously been using a two person tent with a much smaller vestibule and loving it, but having been rained in 2 times in it, I can honestly say the size put a damper on my spirits.

I recently embarked on finding a tent that hit a few criteria; it needed to be well-built, it needed to have more room (3 people) and it needed enough vestibule space to bring the dog along hiking sometimes. After looking around I jumped straight into a Kifaru Sawtooth and I have no regrets on that purchase, however my wife was not a fan and I was back to the drawing board.

Hilleberg are a well-known tent manufacturer from Sweden who make tents like tanks. They’re rock solid, well-priced for what they are, and this 3 person extended vestibule tent packs down far better than I’d thought it would at barely larger than my previous 2 person tent!

The setup on this particular tent is surprisingly easy, especially if you have a second person helping. Simply construct the poles, slide them through their color coded sleeves, then stake the tent out – I’ve literally never put up a tent any easier.

One of the things that stands out on the Anjun design (as with many of the Hilleberg designs) is the ability to put up this tent in the rain. The inner tent and outer tent are permanently connected and as you lay the tent out the entire inside, including the bath-tub style bottom, are completely under the outer of the tent and protected from the rain.

As the name suggests, the Hilleberg Anjan 3 GT is the 3 person version of the Anjan line of tents and the “GT” represents the extended vestibule. The size of this tent went constructed is really impressive, it’s very roomy and not a lot bigger than most 2 person hiking tents, especially once in a stuff sack. The vestibule makes up around 50% of the entire tents size, it’s extremely generous.

As I prepare for my first major backcountry hunt I am beginning to look at a lot of the gear I use and pair down to the things that are actually important. That second fork is out, so is the extra TP (“hello, leaves!”), the spare compound bow is definitely out, but the Garmin inReach Mini is 100% in.

Over the next 12 months I have two major backcountry hunts, several overnight hikes, an adventure taking myself and my wife to Canada, and a trek in the Himalayas — I say this in the hopes that the reader understands I am definitely a person who needs a device such as the inReach, but I never knew just how handy this little guy would be!

Taking the Garmin out of the box and getting it ready takes a little effort and there are a lot of blog articles, documentation and YouTube videos on that. Suffice to say, it takes a bit of effort. I will say that it’s very important to set up your contact list, write your preset messages, change your settings and ensure you have a plan selected before you take it out.

The thing that impressed me the most about the inReach Mini was the way the no-fluff design allowed it to function on the trail. On a recent hiking trip with my wife we tested sending text messages to her phone and reading them made us both feel confident that the inReach Mini would be a massive comfort to her when I was away in the back-country.

Over the last few years I’ve run several different hunting packs on a trial and error mission to find the perfect hunting pack. And, while the mission will probably continue in perpetuity, I feel closer than ever.

The last hunting pack I was using was a terrific single day pack and provided everything I needed, but as I begin to delve into the world of back country hunting, I needed something more robust.

I’d heard the name Kifaru spoken a lot and I’d always associated the brand with the price tag. I foolishly wrote their gear off as I thought the investment was too much, but after a couple of purchases now I can confidently say that the price tags are warranted. Not only are their products awesome, but their customer service is second-to-none.

In my search for the right hunting pack I have previously tried hiking brand packs (Osprey, etc.) and a few other hunting brands and there was always two things that left me disappointed: a general lack of waterproofing and occasionally the packs were a little noisey.

I think I can honestly say that the Kifaru Muskeg is one of the simplest packs I have ever used. It really is one main compartment and some compression and minor external products, but this is actually the reason why the pack is so good. It’s simple, and so far, it’s fool-proof.

The pack is relatively new and I hope to write a follow-up on this review, but I have already put around 50 miles on the pack and I am headed on a 4 day backcountry hike soon with it, I’ll be sure to update with how it performed.

Without a doubt I watch this video at least once a year as a reminder to why hunting is so important to me. That’s not to say I need a reminder, but I think it’s always worth remembering.

Since I began archery 4 years ago I’ve slowly been doing more and more hunting. It started with a few months of practice followed by harvesting my first goat. I’d slowly spent more and more time in the field over the years and I quickly went from a passionate beginner to a skilled target archer and passionate bowhunter.

Unfortunately due to work commitments my fiancé had a lot less opportunities to spend time in the field. For me, this meant two things. The first is that if she gets an opportunity to hunt it’s my responsibility to put her in the best position to success, and the second was that it was her turn to shoot every time and I wanted to help her with her first harvest.

During a club hunting masterclass washer first opportunity to hunt and after a very skilled stalk she shot her first hog. Barely bigger than a piglet it was a small victory, but I made the effort to butcher and dress the back legs and we ate her first harvest that evening. It was a terrific day in the field which lit a fire inside of her and she expressed to me that evening after dinner that she wanted more hunting opportunities.

Over the next few months we had very few chances to get into the field, but then some friends invited us to join them on a goat hunt. This is exactly what Stephanie was looking for, she was motivated and excited to succeed in the field and we spent the next few days making sure she had the gear she needed.

An old hunting pack of mine, a handful of gear, fantastic new camouflage clothing, and some borrowed optics and she was ready to roll. Not being a morning person I was surprised at her eagerness to wake at 3:30 and go on her first goat hunt and before we knew it we were on the way to our first goat hunt together.

By this time I had successfully hunted several nannies, a few small billies, and my first deer. Stephanie was 1 and 1 with her pig (one shot, one kill — pretty impressive) and she was ready to add to this. Her Hoyt Charger was fantastically tuned, her arrows were perfect for the game we were hunting and her archery ability was without question. Everything was in our favour.

We spent the morning being shown around the property by the hunter who the property belonged to. A few hours later we found ourselves with an opportunity and I was a few metres behind waiting patiently to watch her at work. And I was impressed.

Two nannies sat approximately 60m in front of us as we made sure they had no idea where we were. I followed her patiently as she closed to 50m, and then to 40m. The goats were blissfully unaware of our presence, but Stephanie did everything right and only moved when the goats were engaged in grazing, facing away, or otherwise distracted. Watching a newbie put all of the advice she’d been given to use was amazing and before I knew it she was inside 30m and readying up.

I ranged the first nanny for her. “28 metres,” I mimed. She looked at me with confidence and closed another few metres, pulling herself into about 22m. She waited for the nanny to put her head down, came to full draw and I watched as she controlled her shot with the expertise I’d come to recognise at archery practice and competition.

As the arrow snapped out of her bow and directly into the small kill zone I couldn’t help but admire her patience and skill under pressure. I was glad for her that she had her first nanny and I was even more glad that I had stayed out of the way as she did all the hard work herself. Quickly she put a second arrow on the string, which I assumed was for a very unnecessary follow up shot, and the stillness resumed. A second goat was in range and Stephanie wasn’t done.

Without ranging the second goat and using the first goat as a marker she knew the goat was only 15m away and she quickly dispatched the second of two nannies for the day. Another perfect shot straight into the kill zone and her face looked elated. A goal of 4 years was achieved, she knew she had achieved something terrific, and together we knew that spending as much time in the field like this as possible would be one of the most important things to us.

As a youth I grew up in the small town of Guerie, NSW following my grandfather around his small acreage helping fix fences, harvesting chickens, learning how to grow food and cook, and waiting for the right season to come along when we could go rabbit trapping.

My first introduction to any type of hunting was around 5 years old when I trapped my first rabbit. It was a pretty simple affair, my grandfather and I set a trap just below the earth outside a rabbit warren and we came back a few hours later to a trapped animal ready for harvest.

We checked about 20 traps and about 15 of them had rabbits present. I’m told this is a pretty lucky night, but as this was my first time I just figured it was normal. We arrived home to a kitchen that was prepped with beaten eggs, breadcrumbs, flour and other things. It didn’t take long before we were cooking for the family and everyone sat around praising our efforts.

This was when I realised I was a hunter and that it mattered to me. Not for the adulation of my family, but for the feeling of being able to provide. The pride I felt that night as everyone praised not only our trapping efforts but also our cooking was amazing. I’d never felt anything like that before and I still rejoice it now.

After numerous years of hunting with traps and rifles I’d maintained my love of harvesting from the field, but it wasn’t until I went to my buddy Chris’ place and saw his compound bow that I realised what was missing. His Bear Motive 7 looked to me like something out of a science fiction film and I was immediately enamoured by it’s power and accuracy. A few bullseyes at 20m and I was all in.

On the drive home I googled beginners bows. I settled on a Bear Attitude for myself and a PSE Stinger 3G for my fiancé. We had ordered them off eBay before we even arrived home and so began a few weeks waiting for them to turn up. I was immediately hooked on the sport of target archery and several months of practice later I was hunting my first goats.

During the next fear years I had grown my skill, upgraded our bows and equipment, and developed an even greater appreciation for the outdoors and providing food for my family and friends. I had also developed a love of watching mountain hunting and admiring their harvest in the field – it was time for me to hunt my first deer.

In the start of 2017 during archery training I complained loudly to some fellow archers that I had yet to make arrangements for the rut. I was in the middle of planning a Whitetail hunt in the mid-west of the US, but I wanted to get out on the field during the rut and it hit me that I had missed my chance to make arrangements.

A few days later I saw someone advertising a 5 day rut hunt in Glen Innes they were unable to attend and I knew it was mean to be. I immediately jumped on the hunt and contacted some other keen hunters and began to prepare with just a few months lead time on my first deer hunt.

I began tuning and re-tuning my bows, I build dozens of matching arrows to ensure I would not be in the field and confronted with the idea of not having enough, and I worked hard on my archery form and increasing my accuracy range. I figured if I could hit a deer-sized kill zone at 50m constantly that I could ethically hunt to 30m and be confident in my ability to bring the animal down quickly.

A few months later my Ranger is packed full of gear and the boys and I headed up to Glen Innes. On the drive in to Severn River Bowhunting Park we all remarked at the amount of deer we saw. There was fallow does running in front of our vehicle and despite the small size of the property we were confident we would be able to have success in the field. We settled into the cabin, got our gear ready for the morning and slept restlessly as we anxiously anticipated the first morning hunt.

I wasn’t 200m from the cabin on my first morning that I encountered my first doe. I considered not bothering with her as it felt as though it would mean ending the hunt sooner, but instead I decided to test my stalking skills at least and pursued her until I was within 20m. My rangefinder tells me I am at just 18m as I snap a twig, spook her and she leaves the area. I’m not worried, it’s early days and I have only just started.

My first day was spent mostly watching deer. I saw two more beautiful does that I could not get close to, so instead I watched them and learned about their characteristics and behaviour. I later would see what appeared to be two twin brother spikers having a small wrestle. Their behaviour was incredible to watch and the more curious of the two knew something was going on, but could not be sure of what. I was hidden behind a bush with just enough area to view in and he walked into 10m.

After my first day I was aware of two things. Firstly, I had underestimated how much I would enjoy just watching deer and peaking into their behaviour, and secondly I had underestimated how hard it is to find a mature buck. Especially since it appeared that our pre-rut hunt was looking more like a pre-pre-rut hunt.

The next two days were master classes in dealing with disappointment. It rained so hard we were pinned into our cabin eating chilli over the gas cooker and watching a little bit of television. The torrential rain meant that the deer would likely move off and we waited patiently. On the fourth day I woke up with a renewed spirit. Today I would stop trying to find a mature buck and make the effort to find us a meat doe as we were dangerously low on food and our access to town had been cut off by rain.

I walked to a new part of the property I hadn’t hunted yet and and went slower and quieter than I had ever gone before. I found a gully headed up the hill and noticed a few does were using it as a path back up the hill. Once their small pack had cleared I moved in and found a spot with a good view to sit and watch. I ranged the gully and a few key markers, nocked an arrow and hooked on my release aid and sat patiently for the better part of 90 minutes.

I had almost lost focus on what was happening when I looked through the greenery that was shrouding me and noticed three does with fawns headed up the exact path I had intended on watching. I watched them carefully and quietly, I reminded myself of the hours of practice I’d put in for this moment and that I was ready, and as they neared my shooting lane I came to full draw.

In all the time I’d spent practicing at my local archery range, away shoots, and even hunting goats in the past I had not experienced what happened next. I felt like I was at full draw for a very long time, I carefully kept my pin on her rib cage, and I made a sound to pull her up. “Meep,” I said, as she stopped and looked at me. My back-tension was already built and I knew my shot was ready to fire as I gently increased and pulled through.

As if time went slowly I watched my arrow fly. I knew before I saw it leave the bow that it was a perfect shot and I watched the green X nock on my Easton Axis N Fused arrow disappear into her rib cage exactly where I’d intended. I sat, waited so as not to bump her, and 10-15 minutes later I recovered my first deer.

I didn’t get my first buck when I’d intended, which was an obvious disappointment, but the hunt taught me so much about animal behaviour and how to behave in the field. And to my own luck I’ve had several days in the field that have taught me even more.