I managed to get in a few days hunting while home in Australia a couple of weeks ago. Shot two dingoes, and a small stag on the last morning more or less in the last gully I was seriously going to hunt. I'd been hunting hard for the previous 4 days in productive country but without much luck. So while this guy is pretty small, he was well earned (and he taste good too )

Stu

Well done. Many people believe any sambar is a trophy.

Lots of nice venison and a real change from Switzerland eh?

Nice work Stu, what rifle and load did you use ??

quote:

Originally posted by NitroX:
Stu

Well done. Many people believe any sambar is a trophy.

Lots of nice venison and a real change from Switzerland eh?

That's the way I figured as well. I shot that deer at about 10:30am. I'd been hunting since first light about 6:20 that day plus the previous day's mornings and afternoons. That morning I'd been walking up and across a bunch of blackberry choked gullies and was ready to head home. I was planning to drive back to Sydney about lunchtime that day. That plan changed once I got the deer down and I spent the whole afternoon packing out, luckily I had another bloke's help. He got most of the meat.

The rifle was my re-barrelled Sako in 308. Ammo was plain-Jane 150 gr. Winchester Power Point factory stuff. One shot from under 50 yrds into the chest, deer ran 30 yrds or so and keeled over just as I was ready to put another one into him. I didn't get off the second shot. It wasn't needed.

Wow, nice stag, they are a very unique looking animal!

stu
good feeling isnt it
i had a poke around last week and didnt see much jumped in the truck to go home drove about a kilometre and here is a stag walking out of some t tree on to the side of the road...he s sure to get a visit from me one afternoon
he was about the same size as yours stu
regards daniel

I need to visit Melbourne for a day in either May or June and also drop off a rifle for some simple work at a gunsmith. Also drive home three crates of African trophies from the taxidermist if they haven't been sent already.

I was thinking while he works on it, two or three days in the bush would be nice. Good timing for your post.

What are the chances?

Not a sambar stag, but getting the gunsmith work done in two or three days!

NitroX,

John, if you have a couple of days to 'kill' why not go up to Mansfield and hunt with Ken Leatham for a couple of days. Ken has a large cabin and will take you out and put you into some good country for a very modest fee. How Ken operates is to pick you up from the cabin at around 5am and drop you into likely spots and tell you where to go and how to hunt that area and he then drives around to a rendezvous point and will be waiting with a fire and a cup of tea/coffee. When you arrive, Ken has a good listen to how you went and what you saw and then works out the next area to drop you into. Normally you can do two or three such hunts a day - depending upon the distances and terrain involved. I haven't hunted with Ken for a couple of years but he used to charge $75 a day for this service and this includes the use of the cabin and kitchen/sleeping bunks. Ken will also guide you one-on-one but at a greater cost.

Nice stag Stu

Well done Stu. look forward to hearing of your hunting exploits in Europe.

Regards
JohnT