Stag no.2

Yeah well, I forgot my camera this time, so had to bring the useless head back to be documented for the cynics out there ha!

We hunted high in the bush for the best part of the day, and it was quiet as, also we had a variable wind which was frustrating at times. A quick conflab with Wilson and the plan was made to hunt our way down and out. We had lunch and set off. After coming well down in altitude It wasn’t long before a well established deer trail was spotted and we proceeded on it with the utmost caution (in police constable fashion.) We were coming up to a spur when I heard a brief roar from the other side and a drumming of hooves. Bugger! I thought in a nano second before being confronted by a hind closely followed by a rampant stag galloping straight toward us. Up with the .243 and, cross hairs on her, willing her, at the same time to veer off at the last second. She did just that leaving the stag chest on in my scope and still coming only meters away now, filling the optic with his bulk. The Timney elite was pulled and the stag shot down a dirty gulch, crashing , through and over wet and rotten windfalls, hemmed in both sides by steep walls of rock and scrub, and around an elbow of the creek and out of sight. “Didja get him” asked Wilson with his eyes. “Reckon so pard” I replied back , though harboring doubts always, until the proof is undeniable.

Some minutes later we descended a steep spur parallel to the creek, and eventually came upon the stag who was wedged solidly up against a windfall and in a foot deep depth of mud. I went for the camera and was annoyed to find I had left it in my “tops” back pack , after a last minute change of heart of venue due to inclement weather. Try as I might I could not prise the hind legs out from under the animal. I chose to take the back steaks instead and take the head for proof of kill. I have left dozens and dozens of better heads in the bush over the years in various catchments through out New Zealand. I doubt I will ever again forget my camera. The bright side is it is the roar and I think pays a little more respect to the downed stag.