1st pic.:at the estancia with my red stag
2nd pic.: the Pampa
3rd pic.: the stag and an argentinian mauser in 30-06, I used factory loads with Barnes-X bullets in 165 grains.

http://at-home.nu/lorenzo/loren.jpg
http://at-home.nu/lorenzo/pampa.jpg
http://at-home.nu/lorenzo/red_stag.jpg

LG

Good animal. Nice looking gun.

I always thought living in South America I'd end up hunting red stag in Argentina. (My wife was born in Buenos Aires.)

Not as easy to hunt there as I thought. Logistics is my problem. Fly to Dallas to get gear/gun. Fly to Argentina to hunt. Return to Dallas to leave gear/gun. Fly back to Venezuela. Fly trophy to Denver for mounting, then to Dallas for storage. The plane fares alone would eat me up.

Hunting with my own stuff is what makes hunting special for me. I can pull out my shotguns, pistols, and rifles later and the memories are there in my hands.

Just do it...

Congratulations Lorenzo

Great photos.

I include them in my post





[ 03-24-2003, 13:03: Message edited by: cchunter ]

Wow Lorenzo, that's a beauty!

Congrats on the nice stag!

Thanks everyone, it was a great trip!!
Hunting red stags during the roar is something special, I love it
LG

Weidmannsheil, Lorenzo. Nice stag! One of his most striking features is the base of the right antler - between 1st and 2nd tine. Looks really neat.

Any idea about age? Is it typical of the stags in this area not to crown, or was that specific to this particular stag??

How did you hunt this area, looks pretty flat. How large were the patches of wood in your picture? Stalking on foot? Shooting how far, typically?? Shots must be taken off hand, or have you got time to find a rest?

Weidmannsheil once again, you earned it! - mike

Mike,
It seems you know something about this eh?

The Pampa province is flat and the southern part of it is very arid, all the area is like the photo I posted, it seems open but when you're stalking them you don't see them, it's incredible how such a big animal can dissapear.
The farm was unfenced, 20.000 ha. of bush, divided in blocks by low catlle fences, the area of each block varies from 600 ha to 2.500 ha.
Each hunter has one,two or three blocks for its own, depends of the number of hunters.
Between 5:30 and 6 am you must be in the bush walking slowly and listening to the roars to evaluate distance and age, once you choose YOUR stag, you start walking fast to close distances before the sun rises too much and the deer stop roaring. Once near you slow down and walking slowly in four legs you try to get near, good binoculars are very important, stags are sorrounded by does and they're watching his back, a cough and all is finish.
Most of them have crowns, and this is very important to evaluate trophies in low light conditions, a crown with 2 points=10 total points, 3=11-12 and 4= 13-14 (or more) depends, is not exact.
In la Pampa you hunt them by the roar in the south (patagonia) you can use a good spotting scope.
Shooting distances in la pampa are pretty close, I shot this one at 50/60 metres, mostly is off hand but you can use a tree to help you.
I believed it wasn't a very old one, I'm not an expert but I think it was something around 7 years.
As you noticed, the good thing of this stag is his right antler, pretty rare, or it's something genetical or he damaged it before the solidification, who knows.
If you've done it the right way in the right place it's something special eh?
Tell me something about their hunt in your part of the world.
Regards
Lorenzo

Lorenzo

Congratulations again, very nice red stag.
What is the weight of the horns?

How will you mount the trophy, shoulder or European?

Saludos
/ JOHAN

Wow Lorenzo, you really did earn this one. Stalking them in the roar must be one of the finest ways of hunting red stags. Short of calling them in by imitating their roar, I can't imagine anything which is much more difficult - nor exiting! Those hinds have eyes, don't they just. Usually, the stags are too amorous to be too worried about disturbances, but not the hinds!

Hunting them in flat country, on foot, at close range - I doubt it gets much more difficult than that. I salute your effort!

Where I hunt in Austria, we also have reds. Our area is totally wooded, so we hunt them almost exclusively from stands. Can be pretty boring, but at least it does not put as much pressure on the deer - important when you only have a limited area to hunt.

7 years is a most respectable age. Yes I know, they could grow a lot older, but let's face it, even in Austria where a mature stag should not really be shot before its 10th year, reality is much closer to your 7 (or even younger) than to the ideal 10. In particular when you hunt them like you do (close in, on foot, in the flat), you won't get too much time to look them over. You have to make your decision and act accordingly. Heck, even from a stand, it can be difficult enough to figure out how they are (or at least try...).

You did good my friend! - mike

Johan
The head weight 10 kilos without skin and meat, but with brain, also it was fresh and the correct way is to leave it dry, so I think the correct weight is something around...7,5-8 kilos ??
It will be an european/skull mount.

Mike,
Once more you're right
It's a matter of seconds to judge the trophy, most of the time you have only a glimpse of the body and the bush dificults to see the antlers.

Regards
LG

[ 03-25-2003, 16:56: Message edited by: Lorenzo ]

Nice stag. Too bad about the poaching though. Even if I dont like it I can at least understand poaching for food. Poaching like you mentioned for just the trophy? Now that is truely criminal.
Is this the same area we talked about?

Mike,
Yes, this is the same area.
Poaching exist in every country of southamerica.
I agree with you, poaching for meat is one thing, but leaving an animal dead without head, spoiling all the meat is criminal.
Don't imagine that you'll be around poachers, sometimes during a long weekend is more factible to have this problem, it's a matter of luck, during my hunt, the police truck of the nearest town was broken, so for some days there were no control on the area and poachers know this.
Some farms have their own people to control poaching.
LG

Beautiful trophies, beautiful country.

Nice pictures. Real nice stag!

Lorenzo

Very nice stag!

Looks like nice weight in the antlers too. Is it a 12 pointer - 7 points on the Right plus 5 on the left? (plus the unusual right antler)

Another questions if you don't mind - la pampa? Is it called that because of "pampas" grass growing on the fields?

Hope you get the old boy shoulder mounted.

Lorenzo, who did you hunt with? Is it a commercial operation? Do they have other species to hunt? Thanks!

lorenzo-congtatulations on a great stag. Really good mass too. I really liked hunting in Argentina. I've been twice to La Pampa to hunt stags and boars, both times I hunted an Estancia called Santo Eduardo. The hunting was great and very exciting with the stags roaring early and late. We napped in the afternoon and hunted doves. I also hunted Blackbuck antelope near Buenas Aires and Water Buffalo ine the Entre Rios area. I think South America is one of the greatest overlooked hunting areas I have ever seen. Have things calmed down in Argentina? I haven't heard much on the news lately and their economy was in bad shape. Great job-keep those posts coming!!
All the Best Nech

Kudu56,
In la pampa you mostly hunt red stags and wild boars in big estancias (cattle farms), there are some farmers that have release some waterbuffs, black bucks and some kind of wild sheeps, because of these, some of these farms have fenced areas inside their properties (to keep the animals inside) but most farms are just big open areas with plenty of bush.

Personally, I will go there for stags, boars and pumas (mountain lions).

Feel free to e-mail me if you want some other information.

Hi Nech,
Happy to see other hunter who enjoys la Pampa, I love it

Situation in Argentina is perfect for a foreign hunter, as many other countries with big social problems just avoid the big cities or some areas of them and no problem at all, as any other city in the world. The problem is that near the 1/2 of the population lives under the "poor line" (I don't know how to say it in english), so crimes and robbery are very common.

In the open places were the hunting is done you will NEVER have a problem.

It seems Argentina is SLOWLY starting to get up again, is a great country and is a pity to see how it is right now.

Next sunday there are elections for president, lets see what happends.

Best Regards
LG

very nice!

I too have hunted Red Stag in La Pampa--last spring ('02). One of the more enjoyable hunts I've been on! Highly recommend it! As stated, overlooked, fantastic, low cost, good trophies, free range! We hunted just as Lorenzo stated, except that we hunted mornings and evenings. The roar was better in the AM, but we found stags in the evening, too. Turned down several stags until I found the beauty I wanted.

Great Stag and thanks for the details!

Doug