FEATURE Cameron Ball
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It all started with me sitting down to watch the ballot draw, hoping that this was the year I’d finally hear my name called.
As the draw was coming to the end of the Snake Island periods my wife walked in and heard the name Cameron drawn, but unfortunately not followed by my last name. I’d told her before that my hopes lift every time I hear “Cameron” and then fall as a different last name is added. Well, the next name drawn out was, you guessed it, my name. I had been entering the ballot for quite some time and to finally have my chance I was ecstatic to say the least. From there the planning took over. I had never set foot on the island so many an afternoon was spent poring over maps of the place.
After being sent all the other hunters’ contact information, we started a chat-group and discussed locations we would like to hunt. Most of the other hunters planned to hunt the southern section of the island but, me being me, I decided to hunt the northern part.
I attended the education weekend put on by the ADA and Para Park Cooperative on Sunday Island and met other hunters from my period. If you ever get the opportunity to attend the education weekend, I couldn’t recommend it highly enough.
The day finally came for us to head to the old ferry terminal for our pre-hunt information session where we went through the no-go zones on the island, were issued with our tag packs and from there we could depart for the island. After a quick lunch at the pub, I launched my tinny and headed for the Swashway Jetty, having to walk my boat into the inlet as there was not enough water to run the outboard on the final approach.
My plan was to hike in and camp about a kilometre back from where I planned to place my hunting stand in a clump of tea tree in a marsh. The 4.5-kilometre hike in was challenging dragging a trolley behind me and wearing a pack. The sand hills were testing and having passed a main waterhole it was time to take another track that did not look like a track at all. I set camp up and after an early dinner went to sleep.
Waking early and eager to get out and see what Day 1 would bring, I set off to set up my stand. On the way in I thought to myself “You know you don’t do sitting still very well, how are you going to go all day?”
At 8.00 am I could start hunting. I climbed to my high-seat and got comfortable, noticing a hind and calf grazing 80 to 100 metres away. I watched them graze and work their way back into the tree line.
It was amazing to sit there watching and hoping for a stag to appear, however it wasn’t to be. I spotted the hind and calf a few more times that day grazing just inside the tree line. Right on last light more hinds and calves worked their way out into the marsh and mangroves to graze. Being Day 1, I didn’t want to pull the trigger unless it was a big stag as I was there for the adventure and to watch the amazing little deer doing their thing. Hiking back to camp under headlamp I upset a dozen or more kangaroos.
Day 2 was another cold and early start. The wind had got up and it was a very slow day in the stand with the hind and calf spotted grazing again around lunchtime and a spiker that came out and fed away from me. Although the wind had picked up it was still warm in the sun and at 2.30 pm I decided to move and focus on a water source rather than a feeding area.
I carted my stand back to camp, packed, and headed back towards the boat, setting up my stand at the waterhole on the way and then continuing on looking for somewhere to camp. Finding a small patch of ground distant from the waterhole I set up and straight away was swarmed by mosquitoes, something that hadn’t been a problem previously. To escape them I grabbed some food and a milkshake and retired to the tent until the next morning.
Day 3 was cold but the wind had died down and once the sun pushed up over the trees it was beautiful and warm. I settled into my stand which was tucked into a clump of tea tree at the end of the waterhole. With the water level low and a good bit of bank exposed, the deer were going to have to walk into the open to drink. The first animal to show up, other than the extensive bird life, was a wallaby. I had never realised how much water they could hold - it drank for what felt like five minutes.
After the wallaby a kangaroo came in, ending up only a metre or two away from me and by staying super still I watched it drink. Then shortly after a hind appeared on the water’s edge and as she settled to drink I took the opportunity for a shot. The shot was good but in a last effort to flee she leapt forward into the water.
A wet deer never looks great at the best of times but after I retrieved her from the water, I realised that she was not in great condition and that I had probably done her a favour. As I had taken a small hog deer stag the year before and not needing another taxidermy bill, I was happy with my hind and decided that my hunt was over. I had time to get to Port Welshpool that afternoon, check her in, and then head for home.
I walked back to camp to grab my trolley to cart her and my stand back to camp, where I quickly started to pack everything for the push back to the boat. It was over three kilometres to the boat and I thought that there was a closer point I could get my gear to and ease my load. However, the tide was still way out at 3.00 pm and the checking station closed at 3.30 pm.
The GMA suggested that I check the deer in the next morning and at this point a heater, hot shower and a feed sounded fantastic so I booked a cabin at the caravan park for the night. It took another hour to get enough water to float the boat and get out of the Swashway. Leaving, I thought to myself “You’ve been and hunted Snake Island and may not have left with a stag but you have loved every minute off it”.
After a hot shower it was off to the pub for dinner. Another hunter had been trying to get off the island on the same tide as me, but he was in The Gulf and had to wait hours for the tide and by the time he got back to the ramp it was dark. He was planning on sleeping in his ute but I mentioned that I had the cabin if he wanted a bunk it would be warmer than the ute.
The next morning at the check station we met with the GMA. My hind weighed only 13 kilograms and I was told that she didn’t look great and I had probably done her a favour. As there was a group of us to check in deer we stood there guessing deer weights and ages and getting a lesson on ageing deer by their lower jaw teeth was interesting. After all the deer had been checked it was time to say our goodbyes and head for home and back to reality.
It was a trip I will never forget and I will definitely be in the ballot again!