Just got back from a trip to northeast Vic chasing sambar. The softies from up north would have found it a bit tough as it snowed the first day and the second day it reached -6C. It was quite crunchy walking around for a while !
On the second day I wanted to get to some river flats that required a very steep climb above a bend in the river, it needed lots of hand holds. I took a rest halfway up, I am getting old, and started to glass while catching my breath. Sunning himself in the open on the opposite bank was a large sambar stag, he would have gone 26-27 inches with big brow tines. As I discovered later he was invisible except from my position up high above. Not being sure of the range and not wanting to wound him I flew down the hill and tried to cross the river but that was too dangerous so I then drove down the river to a safe crossing point and tried to approach him from there but the going was too slow and it was getting late in the day.
Overnight the boys and I managed to get a boat of sorts in the hope we would get another chance. I climbed up with Tim from McDonalds Guns in the hope of getting a shot but the stag had'nt returned to the same spot. Tim used his rangefinder and measured the distance to where he was lying , near a dead tree and it was only 180 metres.That would have been possible with the 30'06 I had and a very safe shot with the 338 I usually carry !
How often do you know the answer to a problem, but too late ?
Mark

Shit -6

Now I'm getting all worked up, hope my posting to East Sale comes through!
Hope you get him.

Keep at him you'll track him down eventually. The terrain in that area makes range estimation a task, more so when a breeze is blowwing through the hills. good luck.
What loads do you use in your 338win.

cheers 338w

SMITHY
i told you so 180 gn nosler and a RANGE FINDER !!!!!!!!!!!!...just think he could have been hanging on the wall now
Daniel

Mark,
Think of it as a nice educational experience, now you know what a stag at 180m looks like! You felt he was too far out so you didn't take the shot, you've got to be proud of that! I ran into a hind a few weeks back, going away at 50m I could have taken her with a rear end shot using the 45/70, but personally it would have felt wrong. I'd rather hunt her again with a clear conscience then fire 3 times to stop a wounded runner.
Cheers...
Con

Bakes you will either get hooked on sambar hunting or find it too frustrating. I'm hooked and not interested in other hunting, if I for have spare time for a trip sambar is always the choice. Gods' own country and most of it open to hunters with out having to ask someones permission.
When using the 338 I have been using Federal High Energy factory loads ,2,800 foot per sec with a 250 gn Nosler [measured on Daniels chronograph]. Pity it is not available in Australia. It is the only factory ammo I use.
Thanks for the comments Con, I think one-shot kill is more than an advertising slogan as you obviously do.
Mark

Mark,
I saw that Federal .338 High Energy ammo in Melbourne Firearms in Ringwood a month ago. They had 2 boxes at $110 each.
Tasso

Hi,
I have heard of the difficulty of shooting trophy sambar. How many do you collect a year? Also, do any people try to manage them by shooting both males/females and only older ones, or is it a free for all?

Its a free for all, most hunters shoot anything they see. I'm going this week, I'll most likely be the same as the rest as I have been trying for three years and no luck. Really though I want a stag, and after having shot a few deer I'll let the hornless ones go.

Boghossian,
Pretty much free for all. Sambar don't herd in the traditional sense of a stag controlling a tight cluster of hinds so when stalking you dont tend to come up on say 7 animals all in a nice group from which to pick. I stalk and my next hunt will be for a meat animal so my preference will be for a hind or yearling. Once the meat is in the freezer I'll chase a stag and hunt them exclusively. Quality deer management implies taking animals across all age groups and both sexes, when looked at in those terms then perhaps stalkers should acknowledge that hunting Sambar with hounds is perhaps one of the best things to have happened to the population as a whole, illegal acts (from both sides) aside.
Cheers...
Con