Copied from AHN

Hi Folks


I just got home from a free-ranging red stag hunt in NZ. I took two other guys there and we hunted for five days on a very large high-country cattle and sheep station. On the first day they were roaring their heads off but for various reasons we didn’t get a lot of hunting done unfortunately. Sadly by day two the roar had almost stopped and by day three it had stopped completely with really crappy weather coming-in. The hunting was tough but one of the guys cracked a really nice stag on the second morning, right up in the high grass country and shingle slides. This was Mike’s first ever big game animal – a heavy 5x6 taken at 140m. Nearly a week later he is still as high as a kite!! It was a single shot from a borrowed 7mm Mag – after a 1.5 hour climb up from the river bed…. No mean feat for a 62YO!!

I lucked onto a good stag on the third morning, walking along a river bed. He had seen us so we didn’t have time to check him out, so we took a punt, given his obvious weight, length and width and the guide said shoot – so I did. It was a 45+ degree uphill shot at 280m and the first shot went clean over his back and the guide reminded me of the angle - I corrected and the second shot took him in the last rib, angling forward. After a 30 minute climb uphill we found him in the matagouri bushes – he had gone about 100m.

The last member of our group, Dr Harrison Deth, was struggling with a chronic condition and by day three he was starting to feel like shit-on-toast. The guides had been talking about a big stag they had seen in the headlights coming off a nearby crop – naturally we were curious!! On the evening of the third day the camp cook was looking at the hillside above the crop (from camp), with a spotting scope and found the stag and a bunch of hinds. Looking through the 40x the stag was very obviously a wapiti cross bull with a strong leaning to the wapiti (probably 75/25)– with his antler configuration and coat colour.... and he was a big boy!!

Early next morning before first light one of the guides went out to the crop to scope out the bull. The Doctor was looking pretty terrible, so we sent him back to bed. Just on daybreak the radio crackled and Jeremy the guide said he had the bull in his binos. We dragged the doctor out of bed and we all bundled into the Cruiser. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even have time to put my boots on. Cheesy

Minutes later we were all skirting around the edge of the crop while the bull bugled/roared overhead as he made his way up the mountain. John the other guide got the Dr. into position to shoot the bull, while I video-taped nearby. The bull came into a clearing and I could see he was too high up already and the Dr. was too unsteady, so I hissed for him to roll under the crop fence behind us to get a rest on a post. He did that and took his first shot that seemed just a fraction low. The second shot I couldn’t call but the third shot connected well and the bull ran over a ridge 50m away and collapsed – shot clean through the heart. The Doc was elated that he had taken a great trophy and we later ranged the distance at 340m – a great shot, even if he did fire a couple warning shots!! This was his longest ever shot on big game by more than 100m. It was a great achievement for the Doc, considering he was so crook and he was REALLY looking forward to this trip - he had already missed a trip to Africa because of it. The wapiti was a very even 5x5 with long lower tines - a beautiful creature...

On the last day we drove out into the back country to do some fishing. The fish weren’t really keen on the flies we were offering but a couple of average browns were taken on lures. On the way back to camp that (the last) night we blasting everything that moved in the spotlight Grin (except deer). The country was incredible and we had a great hunt overall. It is very steep going but there are lots of opportunities for glassing. This place has great potential for trophy red stags and there are also good numbers of pigs. They save the big boars for trophy fees but don’t mind if you shoot sows. We also went spotlighting for a few nights – there were HUGE numbers of hares….heaps of fun!! Happiness... is a Ruger 10/22 and a silencer!! Grin

For the stags The Doc and I both used 165 Accubond handloads in our 30-06's. Both performed very well. Not sure what Mike used but they were some kind of premium factory loading. Silly me.... didn't think to dig my projectile out and the Doc's went clean through the lower chest, missing the major leg bones.

FWIW - I will be booking-out the first two weeks of April for next year – if anyone is interested in joining.

images to follow...

Mike's stag - what a way to start a big game hunting career!!



Typical North Canterbury high-country landscape



The Doc's magnificent wapiti bull



My bad-boy...

Thanks for the story and pics, great stuff and what views! NZ, maybe someday.

Thanks handwerk - save your money and bide you're time mate. Australia and NZ aren't going anywhere and they will be ready when you are!!!

what the? where are the 26 pointers that had just been let off the deer farm for you to shoot?

those look like you got some genuine wild deer, its always good to see someone coming over here and worrying about how many points they can rack up. some decent genuine wild red stags there id be very happy with them

nice work!

Mike's stag is a dream!
a old, probably 12+ years animal, the antlers looks "turn back" ...
A anywhere first shooter for me!