In light of the recent fair chase discussions i thought that this article from a NZ forum would be well received....attn 280 owners take note of the ref to the calibre`s effect.

http://www.wildhunts.co.nz/page_wapiti.php

The way I read it, the guy with the .270 win took four shots at a stag, of which at least one hit, but he made no attempt to follow it up?

I am not sure thats something I would be bragging about in print!

This is what i read Pete

His .280 cracked three times quickly with a slightly delayed fourth shot. He stayed down on the rifle before finally raising his head and saying ‘He’s down.’ A smile came to his face. Lewis had his Wapiti bull.

Lewis recalled the stalk. ‘I put three shots into ‘es shoulder and it didn’t seem to affect him. So I put that fourth shot a little further back to make sure it was a killing shot.’ True to form, there were three shots in the bull’s front shoulder, which a coffee cup could have covered, and a lone hole just behind the shoulder blade. ‘Aw, I couldn’t believe it, for a moment I didn’t think ‘ed fall. Big animal aye.’

Fjordland must be one of the last great wilderness hunting adventures left.

gryphon1,

Read on from that part of the story...The other chap then goes off for a couple of days fly camping on his own..He goes on to say:

"I fired three shot’s at the Red which all seemed to miss. The wind was so strong the deer couldn’t even hear them. Both males stood up, the hinds and cows kept grazing away as if nothing had happened. My .270 barked again, I held a little higher with the shot and had definitely hit the stag. He burst off down hill and out of sight, the other animals still milled around. Now what, I thought, try and find that fella or keep heading into the basin.

An awesome day turned to a truly awesome day in just five steps. That was all it took for a massive bull to come walking through the saddle. No way I’m going to risk a four hundred metre shot at this fella I thought to myself. I needed to get right back into the hollow of the saddle behind him."

All thoughts of that first animal are gone as he chases after the "massive bull" that came walking into the basin above him...

I have no problems with him shooting that second bull, but no where does he give any indication he followed up the first...

Regards,

Pete

i see where you are at Pete and do agree with you to.

quote:

Originally posted by Pete E:

I have no problems with him shooting that second bull, but no where does he give any indication he followed up the first...

Unfortunately where deer are regarded as a pest species by the government and also some hunters/shooters, sometimes a more callous attitude creeps in. The same occurs in Australia with feral pigs and goats.

Also in Fjordland only a small amount of meat is going to be used. Most of the animal is likely to be left lying. So shooting a second will just mean a little more wastage of meat of a "pest" animal.

Of course ensuring the first animal was properly dispatched would be proper (IMO).

quote:

Fjordland must be one of the last great wilderness hunting adventures left.

Without a doubt it is a huge challenge to take a representative "Wapiti" trophy from Fiordland.
I've been down there 12 times and taken only two. The one reasonable trophy that I have hanging in my trophy room is one of my most prized trophies. It is a huge shame that this resource (The present from Teddy Roosevelt) has been allowed to degenerate to it's present state, and seems highly unlikely that we will ever resurrect the bloodlines (Without new releases.) to their former glory.