Also posted on AHN and prob another site or two soon.

With the lead up to this fire season being rather hectic and fire season predictions being bad I decided to get out for a weekend of proper sambar hunting. I can regularly go for an evening stroll or even a day hunt but proper hunting trips are few and far between. Being so dry I decided that the High Country (or as I like to call it 'snowgum country') was the best way to go. Cooler weather, more water and better feed for the deer. I had been wanting to go hunting up in the snowgum country for a long time now so this was the weekend.

I organised with a mate to get the gear ready and then he would pick me up straight from work. This is where the plans went wrong. Lunch time on Friday I got a fire call and we were on our way to the Dargo High Plains for a fire. Trip cancelled.

The fire worked out to be relatively small and a dozer and other crews arrived and we were released. Trip back on.

Called my mate again and he got things back on track but in a bit of a rush. Finally headed out bush at around midnight and arrived in Snowgum Country at a bit after 3:30am. We climbed straight into the swags and didnt emerge till well after the sun came up. As it was an area I hadnt been to before we did some driving around scouting for likely looking spots. I had already picked out a likely looking clearing away from tracks by studying the local topo maps.

We had a quick look at the views from couple of vantage points and looked for any open faces where a deer might wander past. I found a misfired (or maybe dummy) 300 Win Mag cartridge at one rocky outcrop which reminded us that we werent the first to look for deer around the area.



We continued to drive to different spots then walk to look for sign. We checked out the clearing from the topo map which turned out to be great. Some water flowing in a few places, plenty of deer sign but better access from the opposite side due to the thick southern aspect alpine scrub we were in. Without disturbing the area too much we found a deer bed looking over the clearing that was unapproachable from any direction. The only other significant event was the large tiger snake that was given a wide berth.

Continuing with the scouting we planned to come back and sit off the clearing as dark approached. Some rough country full of cliffs and scrub was a bit light on for deer sign but the open cliff faces next to the more open snowgum woodland had plenty of sign and rubs. The open cliff top is top right of the photo.



By around 4:30 in the arvo the worms were biting so we stopped for a bit of a cookup. After some rissoles we were re energised and began the walk into the clearing to wait until last light.

On the way in there was some very promising sign with well used game trails linking feeding areas and sambar pellets in the grassy flats, lots of decent rubs and preaching trees. This preaching tree is an Alpine Hakea with a rubbed snowgum in the background.



This is one section of the clearing that we were approaching. Nice snowgrass flats with some running water, plenty of feed and open snowgum woodland and alpine scrub surrounding 360 degrees.



As we stalked in quietly the deer sign was continuous. Stalking was quiet due to the snowgrass which was a huge change from the cornflake like leaf litter I am used to. The country was quite open with visibility being out past 100m in places and never less than 50m.

Out of nowhere three deer trotted across in front at around 75 metres. Two does followed by a stag with not huge but respectable antlers travelling from right to left and then out of sight over a slight rise. My mate could still see at least one of them and had the stag lined up in his scope but was only offered a rear end shot which he declined as his 308 win wasnt up to the task.

One of the does gave a half hearted honk and we never saw her again. The second doe followed closely by the stag sauntered back across in front but angling away slightly. By this time I had a decent rest on a stump and was waiting to see what the deer would do. Surprisingly they relaxed again and went back to feeding with the stag sniffing around the rear end of the doe.

I am guessing that the other doe was the one who sensed we were around and honked before leaving but these other two were too caught up in each other and ignored her honk.

The doe was walking slowly feeding and appeared in an opening between some fallen logs. I knew the stag would be right behind her so I held the crosshairs in the gap. Meanwhile my heart was thumping so hard I could hear it. This was what I had been hoping for for a long time.

The stags head and antlers emerged into the gap and I could tell he was definately worth shooting. He was sniffing at the rear end of the doe and I could tell his mind was on things other than sensing danger. As his chest appeared in the gap I pulled up the pressure on the trigger, quickly but smoothly as the gap wasnt very big and the opportunity would soon be lost.

BOOM! Even with the recoil of the 350 Rem Mag I could tell it was a solid hit and even better he was on the ground without taking a step. After quickly reloading I kept the crosshairs on him as he gave a few kicks and tried to lift his head. Once I was sure he was down we began to head down to where he was lying 100m away (as I later checked on the GPS). Walking at first then jogging the last 50m. He was still blinking so I used my mates 308 to put one last shot into his chest to make things quicker.

Finally after all the missed opportunities on stags and years of walking around the hills I had done it. My own Sambar Stag.



He later measured in at 25 inches antler length and spread. One brow is snapped off at the base but he has a tiny double point on one of the inner tops. The main beams are quite flattened and are more oval in cross section than the usual round. They also have a bit of a kink and twist where the brow tines emerge resulting in a unique looking set of antlers and ones I am extremely happy with. Later the taxidermist commented on these features being indicative of age along with the long nose, wide head and large ears. However when aged the stag was only around 5 years old.

My shot had taken out his spine which accounted for the immediate reaction. The 200gr corelokt was recovered against the skin on the opposite side fully mushroomed and with a large area of damaged tissue and bone fragments. Once skun out the damaged section was a good 20cm round with the inner 10cm being pulp.

Alpine Hunter
What a great story and photo's. Congratulations on your first Sambar stag. It looks like a decent sized animal. It appears that some of the terrain is quite tough going. Good on ya.

Rosco

AP
top story great animal, and good shooting, just the way it should be
Daniel

Congrats. Great Stag!!

well done..... i haven't been out for a few months now, mmmmmmmm got to get out there



cheers cc

A great hunt - well done!

Alpine Hunter, Congratulations on a great hunt.Great write up and thanks for taking the pains of witing it for us.

Best-
Locksley,R.