This has been posted over at AHN as well so sorry for the double up for some of you.
I have seen quite a few stags over the last week or so. Some of them were in non hunting areas but it was good to see them anyway.
The first one was out on the bush edge a bit after 8pm. Tried to sneak down as close as possible and get some decent shots but the light was fading so all of them turned out a bit blurry. This one was in hard antler and would have been around 27".



This video is of another big one in hard velvet in the same location but the next evening. The velvet was very light in color and the tips were fairly well pointed so it looks like he was about to start stripping.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v81/alpine/?action=vi...2006_1123_200613.flv

This one was 20m away from the second stag. In velvet but only half formed. We followed these last two stags into the bush and could have shot both of them as they propped in the cover and stared back at us.



A better shot using a tree as a rest once we followed him into the scrub.



Also saw a spiker in velvet and another mature stag with velvet bumps. As it turned out all of the stags offered opportunities to take standing shots at them. There were also a few does and young ones around too.

I also saw two more small stags in the headlights on the way into a deer hunting trip. Both were in hard antler but were smaller than 20" and uneven in length.

All the deer seen lately have been around good feed and water, either on creek flats or way up high in the alpine country.

I did see a few more deer on the hunting trip but that story and pics will have to wait till I have more time to tell it properly.

Good Job, Nice picts.

Great story and pics - even the blurry ones.

Thanks for adding to the sambar theme here at present.

any photo of a sambar stag is a good one well done
liked the vid clip as well