After chasing them on and off for 40 years and more, I finally shot a stag worth mentioning last Thursday. At 25 inches he's not big but at least stood long enough to get a bead on. I've seen and even shot at bigger ones but they were always demonstrating why they got that big.

Still doing better than me.

Pete

Maybe not, Foxhunter: somehow I wrote the length was 25 inches when in fact they're only 24 but even and quite heavy, though a couple of inches overspread. Sorry about that.

Well done, Sman338.

There’s more of them around these days but the big ones are still just as hard to nail.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Maybe not, Foxhunter: somehow I wrote the length was 25 inches when in fact they're only 24 but even and quite heavy, though a couple of inches overspread. Sorry about that.

Still better than me, I have not shot any Sambar !

Pete

Finally eh mate,pics please. Hi

Pics or it didn't happen

I hope it wasn't that image moving scope and the image moved at the wrong time

Well done Paul! Any Pic's?

Congrats! Pics please!

Congratulations! I've seen a great many in India but never a one in NZ. So satisfying after hunting them for so many years then getting a good one. I've seen a kid shoot a 14 point Red stag as their first deer and then never bother again.

Thanks guys. Yes, if I never get a bigger one, I'm content.

I used my Zastava 9.3x62 (stock restyled) and a Woodleigh 286-grain RN soft. The scope, Eagle, was a little reticle-movement Nickel Supralyt 2.5x21 (with German #1 reticle) in Burris Signature rings using the offset inserts to keep it centred.

Sorry you asked, aren't you?

JFE, I think I sent you some pictures. If you have the skill and can find them, would you put them on here, please?

Cheers
- Paul

quote:

nd a Woodleigh 286-grain RN soft

What did you think of the 286 Paul? It obviously yielded a result but would you input on bullet performance?

I found the 285 Normas were killing well but not as well on sambar as the 232 gr`s were/are. The bigger were punching through with smaller holes and I believe taking energy down range with them.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
Thanks guys. Yes, if I never get a bigger one, I'm content.

I used my Zastava 9.3x62 (stock restyled) and a Woodleigh 286-grain RN soft. The scope, Eagle, was a little reticle-movement Nickel Supralyt 2.5x21 (with German #1 reticle) in Burris Signature rings using the offset inserts to keep it centred.

Sorry you asked, aren't you?

JFE, I think I sent you some pictures. If you have the skill and can find them, would you put them on here, please?

Cheers
- Paul

I was sure that you would have had a 5-20x56 illuminated Nightforce.......

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:

quote:

nd a Woodleigh 286-grain RN soft

What did you think of the 286 Paul? It obviously yielded a result but would you input on bullet performance?

I found the 285 Normas were killing well but not as well on sambar as the 232 gr`s were/are. The bigger were punching through with smaller holes and I believe taking energy down range with them.

Well, John, the Woodleigh exited but I found the 286 Hornady I used for the coup de grace, though probably not needed. It was under the skin on the far side of the heart but probably went another foot before the skin pulled it back.

Though I guess 200 grains remaining at 10 feet is not bad, I was surprised it didn't expand more than 1.5 diameters.

I don't mind penetration; if the critter runs before or after the shot, it can help.


Jason, yes, I must get something made by Nightforce, if only because it is the most prestigious Australian brand ever made, as Australian as Bushnell is American at least. I did come on an old Raven 4x24 recently,though, and am surprised how good it is. It was made in Punchbowl and Mark Heron once told me his father's factory used to assemble Pecars nearby. So, I guess Punchbowl is as close to Wetzlar as we've ever come.

Folks below are some pics and a write up Paul sent through to me.



For once I actually stalked the stag for a short distance. Seeing a kind of ghost image of a small stag's head crossing the hill above me, I sneaked up to where it had been and looked in the direction it had gone. And there he was, 40-plus yards away, looking at me. Since he was around the brow of the hill a bit, I could only see the head and neck properly. For the first time I can remember, there was a sappling handy to lean on, so I aimed for the neck, having missed various critters because trees and long grass deflected bullets over the years. One shot saw him bolt, so I collected my empty case and moved up slowly. In his place I then saw a hind, who started ponking at me. I was sure I'd killed the stag and knew my hands would be full dealing with that, so I ignored her.

He'd gone only about 15 or 20 yards and was to all appearance dead, but when he moved slightly, I stuck some toilet paper in my ears and gave him another one, through the heart from 10 feet. I later found that bullet, a pointed 286gr Hornady Interlock, under the skin on the other side. It was expanded to about 1.5 calibres and weighed exactly 200 grains - the Woodleigh had gone right through.

Onya Bakesy.

Thats a very respectable stag Paul, he`s even all over,low inners,big tops,brows are right..good onya! I see Terry in the pic too,I have one from the 80`s also.
Taxidermist?

A wonderful stag and fully deserved I suspect. Congrats on a great and successful hunt.

Very nice Stag! well done.

That's a great representative Sambar stag Paul, the head and skin will make nice trophies, well done on the hunt, your rifle and scope look the part too.

Unfortunately our sambar deer along with rusa and sika all live in the North Island of NZ so I have never got to go after these deer.
Of course our chamois and tahr are exclusive to the South Island so I suppose us Mainlanders can't complain too much.

Thanks Bakes and everyone.

Yes, John, that pack actually belongs to No.2 son, who lives in Tassie these days and doesn't get out much. The other one has the smaller version but I find myself carrying too much stuff for that, in the winter at least. The little red-tartan
pack my sister made for me in 1980 doesn't get out much, either, these days.

I rang Mark Celia in Kilmore, who hunted with us in the NT in 2019, but he was full up and a bit far away in such warm weather. So, he put me on to Shawnty at Alpine Artistry at Mansfield. She measured the antlers and found them a very even and precise 24 inches but a couple inches overspread.

In case you find my shirt a bit loud, I was actually wearing an ADA blaze-orange mask with ghillie-suit trimmings as well. Maybe that's why the stag stopped to look at me, wondering what clown would get around the bush dressed like that.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:
In case you find my shirt a bit loud, I was actually wearing an ADA blaze-orange mask with ghillie-suit trimmings as well. Maybe that's why the stag stopped to look at me, wondering what clown would get around the bush dressed like that.

I`m into wearing both leaf and/or orange when it suits mate.

Something you do agree with KP about then, John

He and I may not agree on politics but are big believers in being seen in the bush by hunters, and actually accept the science that deer only see the blue end of the spectrum in colour

Thinking Terry Allen packs, that one was bought some time early this century, after the owner turned 12.

I wear more 3d than blaze as I am a very firm believer in good camo..yeah yeah I could wear a pink tutu and still shoot deer..I have heard it all before.
A tip cobber,that compass around your neck is a light reflector, little things like that will bring the hunter undone.

Yeah, John, that did occur to me. But I think that compass only came out when I was trying to explain to my mate where I was. It was a bright, sunny day and I generally don't use a compass then.

I tend to think that the biggest factor that spooks animals is the human face. An example is the duck hide where guys are really well hidden and in camo, yet from quite a long way off you will spot thier face shinning and moving about as they look for birds. When Im bowhunting I religiously wear a veil above all other methods of concealment.

Face and hands shine are no no`s even when fishing for human shy wily trout.

Interesting you mention that, Craig. My brother-in-law gave me a sit-down duck blind last night. It was not a Christmas present but something his elderly Italian neighbour passed on to him.

I usually just walk along the river when we go out but I guess I might need such a blind if I make it to real old age.

Paul, that’s a nice even head and well worth having mounted.