JPbowhunter
AH fanatic
Unfortunately I don't have time for a lengthy report and there's not too much mulch to say.
Tried a new spot this morning that I hadn't hunted previously. Wife brought the young fella into bed early as he has croup and isn't a happy camper. I ended up staying to settle him and didn't get away from the house until later. By the time I made it to my spot the sun was cresting the mountains, i quickly loaded the gun, got the dog and took off into the thick bush. My plan was to check a patch of ground bordering a private block with the idea a mature stag might be using it as a post rut place to hang out.
I skirted the block but couldn't find any sign so continued on to a pool I'd heard about from a 4wd friend. Anyway a couple of km's later I made it to some thicker bush running along a sandy hump in the landscape which looked exactly like the country you'd find a mature stag. I noted some old browse marks on some of the favoured tree's and was just about to move on when I noticed a track ahead. I went up to it and was glad to see a big stag print. Judging from the direction, the freshness of the track it was clearly him heading to feed in the paddock the previous night.
I moved further through the bush and come across a very fresh track from this morning heading back to cover.
He was walking at a steady pace so his rear track is super imposed over the front but this is still about as big as a track gets around here. The dislodged chunks of sand still showed the delineation between the dry top crust and moist sand underneath, and in several prints the fine new grass shoots had not yet sprung erect. I don't know how much I missed him by but I'm sure if I had of stuck to it I could have put him up.
I moved on a bit further but by then time was getting away and I didn't want the boss who'd been up half the night having to look after the young fella by herself (i get guilty like that) so i decided to turn for home. I briefly pined for the days pre kids when I would have tracked him half the day if need be for bush stalking red stags is my favourite thing in this world hunting related. I turned on my gps and noticed I was 3km in a straight line from the car so decided to boogie back. Reckon i did 7 or 8km today which is a nice easy walk in this country.
On the way back I found the watering hole which was located not too far from a 4wd track. In it the big fella had regularly come to drink along with a young stag and at least one hind and fawn, i think maybe two.
I might yet set up a tc to catch him but i most definitely will be spending every spare hunting minute chasing this fella over winter.
Hopefully I can add a happy ending to this tale at some stage, but to me a past prime wild bred red stag is one of the hardest animals to outwit, especially in this area with lots of pressure and low animal densities.
Pics attached
1. Stag track
2. Typical stag country, calls for quick shooting. If i had of pressed further the scope would have come off.
3. Spot the gsp
4. Tracks at watering hole
Tried a new spot this morning that I hadn't hunted previously. Wife brought the young fella into bed early as he has croup and isn't a happy camper. I ended up staying to settle him and didn't get away from the house until later. By the time I made it to my spot the sun was cresting the mountains, i quickly loaded the gun, got the dog and took off into the thick bush. My plan was to check a patch of ground bordering a private block with the idea a mature stag might be using it as a post rut place to hang out.
I skirted the block but couldn't find any sign so continued on to a pool I'd heard about from a 4wd friend. Anyway a couple of km's later I made it to some thicker bush running along a sandy hump in the landscape which looked exactly like the country you'd find a mature stag. I noted some old browse marks on some of the favoured tree's and was just about to move on when I noticed a track ahead. I went up to it and was glad to see a big stag print. Judging from the direction, the freshness of the track it was clearly him heading to feed in the paddock the previous night.
I moved further through the bush and come across a very fresh track from this morning heading back to cover.
He was walking at a steady pace so his rear track is super imposed over the front but this is still about as big as a track gets around here. The dislodged chunks of sand still showed the delineation between the dry top crust and moist sand underneath, and in several prints the fine new grass shoots had not yet sprung erect. I don't know how much I missed him by but I'm sure if I had of stuck to it I could have put him up.
I moved on a bit further but by then time was getting away and I didn't want the boss who'd been up half the night having to look after the young fella by herself (i get guilty like that) so i decided to turn for home. I briefly pined for the days pre kids when I would have tracked him half the day if need be for bush stalking red stags is my favourite thing in this world hunting related. I turned on my gps and noticed I was 3km in a straight line from the car so decided to boogie back. Reckon i did 7 or 8km today which is a nice easy walk in this country.
On the way back I found the watering hole which was located not too far from a 4wd track. In it the big fella had regularly come to drink along with a young stag and at least one hind and fawn, i think maybe two.
I might yet set up a tc to catch him but i most definitely will be spending every spare hunting minute chasing this fella over winter.
Hopefully I can add a happy ending to this tale at some stage, but to me a past prime wild bred red stag is one of the hardest animals to outwit, especially in this area with lots of pressure and low animal densities.
Pics attached
1. Stag track
2. Typical stag country, calls for quick shooting. If i had of pressed further the scope would have come off.
3. Spot the gsp
4. Tracks at watering hole
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