Sambar stags readily stand on their hind legs on a pad that is generally under a tree limb and on a slope usually,they do this and annoint the waxy substance found in their 'pre orbital" glands located in front of their eyes,presumably as a signpost for territorial reasons.This is generally referred to as 'preaching".

I watched this young fella stroll out of an extremely heavy ti-tree covered hillside late one arvo and have been back three times since till dark waiting for another photo opp but havent seen him again,or anything else for that matter.

It is a very rare occurence for a hunter to observe this ritual and even rarer to get pics of it,ok im slapping my own back here but for you blokes that know how much sambar hunting in years i have put in to place it in perspective i have only witnessed this once before in my whole time of hunting and that was last year through binos at a 1/2 mile distance,even that was a great deal then.Most sambar hunters have never or will never see such a treat.
So here are a few pics of a young stag doing his thing! I watched him wallow immediately after "preaching" and captured some pics of him doing so too.Here are five pics with the last one showing him boring his forehead into the soil much as a bull does.Apologies for the quality of pics but late day low light levels didnt help me.

Good pics mate....and I love the green hills!



(sigh) I miss green hills