# Hunting > Hunting >  STAGS SHOT 2021

## JMJW

Hey team! Thought I should get this thread started for 2021! 
Ill start, went out to Clements after work on Tuesday for a quick mission into an area Ive been scouting for over a year and managed this nice little 8pt sika. No hehaws or single calls were heard but I was only there for an hour.

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## Pushover

Looks in good condition. 
As a side note. Do you find the face net,/mask to make a difference? Do you always wear one. Looks pretty stealth in photo

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## JMJW

Surprisingly not a single bit of fat on it but other then that was in good condition. I think that the more skin covered up the better and will help in certain situations. I try to wear it as much as possible but in peak of summer it gets a bit hot for me

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## tamamutu

Nice fat Jap, with the dog. Mid January

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## Scouser

> Hey team! Thought I should get this thread started for 2021! 
> I’ll start, went out to Clements after work on Tuesday for a quick mission into an area I’ve been scouting for over a year and managed this nice little 8pt sika. No hehaws or single calls were heard but I was only there for an hour. Attachment 163694


Sweet mate....really sweet.... :Thumbsup:

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## PerazziSC3

Last weekend's

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## Moa Hunter

Horrible crap arse dry country but a bloody nice stag !

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## PerazziSC3

> Horrible crap arse dry country but a bloody nice stag !


Not much food around, about as big as they get there

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## PerazziSC3

Always good to have an alive shot to go with it

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## Trout

Nice roaring pic,that would sounded vocal.

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## Crekyhills

Daughters first stag back in February

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## Trout

Well done young lady.

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## Happy Jack

Yeah the high country is bone dry around here

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## Hayden C

Doesn't break any records but will give me something to improve on....

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## NRT

A Wainakarua  standard

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## Nathan F

Missed a 10 pointer right on dark last night. Tricky shot but was roaring well. Te Anau

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## Tahr

A couple of ordinary critters, but 3 over night trips planned for the next 10 days so hope to improve on these. But you never can tell.

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## JMJW

> Doesn't break any records but will give me something to improve on.... 
> 
> Attachment 163823


Very very cool! Nice little buck! Im chasing Stewart island whitetail for the first time mid April, Ive been told its a hard block Im at but fingers crossed I get my first whitetail or even better a buck

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## Trout

Yr soup kitchen will benefit well Tahr. :Thumbsup:

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## Tahr

> Yr soup kitchen will benefit well Tahr.


One for them, one for me/the friends/the street  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Happy Jack

Not shot by me but my workmate last Monday but its me in the picture

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## Pushover

Heavy timber, faarken heavy animal

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## Happy Jack

Back straps were huge and carrying all the meat out certainly gave my pack a testing. Mate wanted the head so I took the meat and damn good it tastes too. Mind you I'm only 5'6" and 60Kg so that might make the stag look bigger

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## bumblefoot

Is it just me? Or are there more big heads being taken (in general) this year? I'm just noticing on the FB Venison Hunters NZ page etc that there seems to be a heap of them this year. I was wondering if it was missing out on the roar last year that more got to grow, or that more hunters are out this year after going a year without hunting the roar?

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## Tahr

> Is it just me? Or are there more big heads being taken (in general) this year? I'm just noticing on the FB Venison Hunters NZ page etc that there seems to be a heap of them this year. I was wondering if it was missing out on the roar last year that more got to grow, or that more hunters are out this year after going a year without hunting the roar?


Same thoughts. I think there are more and better heads this year. A lot being shot at night too by the look of it on facebook.

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## Tahr

> Not shot by me but my workmate last Monday but its me in the picture 
> Attachment 163842


Great colour on those antlers.
And you look nothing like your avatar.

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## Pushover

> Back straps were huge and carrying all the meat out certainly gave my pack a testing. Mate wanted the head so I took the meat and damn good it tastes too. Mind you I'm only 5'6" and 60Kg so that might make the stag look bigger


looked like you just needed a sled for him. You had the handlebars sorted

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## Trout

Thats a beasty old stag Happy Jack,bloody long ears and thick timber.A good day out.

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## Rees

> Is it just me? Or are there more big heads being taken (in general) this year? I'm just noticing on the FB Venison Hunters NZ page etc that there seems to be a heap of them this year. I was wondering if it was missing out on the roar last year that more got to grow, or that more hunters are out this year after going a year without hunting the roar?


it would be highly likely the lack of roar hunting.!
lets be honest, 98% of Red stags in NZ get shot in the Roar when they are roaring their tits off. fact period.   (3-4 year old stags lol)
with another year to grow an the odds change in just how many "shooter" deer there are in the area.... instead everyone chases the low percentage of a few big ones, cos all the young ones get shot each year.     if you could somehow visually express that fact to broad hunting community particularly youngsters and social media hunters,  then fuck you kiwis could have some , once again, world renowned trophy heads in the back yard again haha.... but velvet tastes so good i heard.

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## Mooseman

Solid looking animal alright love the dark stain.

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## Pongo12

A few animals of late, good to see the stags starting to make some noise.

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## Crekyhills

Shit hot mate, no need to show off haha

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## Hunter_Nick

Ive done my bit to help the local gene pool by getting rid of this one. First roaring stag Ive shot in about 15 years (work, bad marriage etc) Not very rutty yet so got a good load meat off him.

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## chainsaw

> Not shot by me but my workmate last Monday but its me in the picture 
> Attachment 163842


Wow thats a real big old donk. Love that dark stained heavy timber. Well done.

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## Happy Jack

> Great colour on those antlers.
> And you look nothing like your avatar.


Thanks for the vote of confidence on my looks@Tahr, I have just had another look and I don't think I look 53 either I have aged well so far.

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## Russian 22.

> Not shot by me but my workmate last Monday but its me in the picture 
> Attachment 163842


Surprised he hadn't been clapped by one of the WARO choppers. Nice stag

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## Happy Jack

> Surprised he hadn't been clapped by one of the WARO choppers. Nice stag


Local WARO has stopped as the buyers in Germany shut up shop

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## Rees

> A few animals of late, good to see the stags starting to make some noise.
> 
> [ATTAC[/ATTACH]


mounting any of these ?

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## Pongo12

> mounting any of these ?


Nah mate , none of these quite do it for me. All due respect to the animals as they are nice , just not quite what I'm after to put on wall

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## Remmodel7

> A few animals of late, good to see the stags starting to make some noise.
> 
> Attachment 163843
> Attachment 163844
> Attachment 163845
> Attachment 163846


 @Pongo12 is that last stag a pureora stag?

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## Pongo12

They all pureora stags apart from the sika

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## Sparrow

No monster but a before work bonus on Monday,
Shot one of his hinds to so the rest of the crew were pretty happy with the HEAPS of meet and the rather delayed start once we dealt to them.

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## Tuidog

> No monster but a before work bonus on Monday,Attachment 164055
> Shot one of his hinds to so the rest of the crew were pretty happy with the HEAPS of meet and the rather delayed start once we dealt to them.


A welcome distraction from work I'm sure.

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## Mathias

> I’ve done my bit to help the local gene pool by getting rid of this one. First roaring stag I’ve shot in about 15 years (work, bad marriage etc) Not very rutty yet so got a good load meat off him.
> Attachment 163860


One for the 6x45 Hunter Nick?

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## Cowboy

> A few animals of late, good to see the stags starting to make some noise.
> 
> Attachment 163843
> Attachment 163844
> Attachment 163845
> Attachment 163846


Nice pongo. Were the sika making any noise

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## Pongo12

There was 2 stag that let out a  hee haw in 2 separate shitty little gullies right on dark, pissed up but not real stinky, wee bit away yet

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## Pushover

> A welcome distraction from work I'm sure.


yep, id be late for work often

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## Hunter_Nick

> One for the 6x45 Hunter Nick?


Sure is @Mathias Cant say much about the awesome power of the 6x45, as I gave him one in the swede....  Was looking for a boiler room shot, but wasnt one on offer.

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## Cowboy

> There was 2 stag that let out a  hee haw in 2 separate shitty little gullies right on dark, pissed up but not real stinky, wee bit away yet


Cheers mate. In on Monday through til 21st.  Getting keen

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## 7mmwsm

> Cheers mate. In on Monday through til 21st.  Getting keen


Where too?

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## Cowboy

Otupua then a mates lease block further north east.

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## 7mmwsm

> Otupua then a mates lease block further north east.


Cool.
One of my kids is working not far from the Otupua. There's a few making a bit of noise.

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## Tahr

> Cool.
> One of my kids is working not far from the Otupua. There's a few making a bit of noise.


Guiding?

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## Tahr

> Otupua then a mates lease block further north east.



Do you ever hunt Toko now?

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## Cowboy

Haven't been there for 10 years sadly. My stepfather and my little sis called in at the family hut about three years back. A mate a a year later, but found that some prick had left a bag of meat on the table which was a hideous rotten mess.

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## outdoorlad

Just back from a 5 day trip, Full moon, not much roaring yet. Roared this one in yesterday, had just been in a wallow

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## Trout

Good one,bit of meat for the freezer.

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## outdoorlad

Shot this one on Sunday bush hunting, had another stag with him which I didn’t get a good at, no sign of being rutted up.

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## Pongo12

Happy days, red went 315ds sika went 175. Mate And I had a beauty morning

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## 25 /08 IMP

> Happy days, red went 315ds sika went 175. Mate And I had a beauty morning 
> Attachment 164283


Awesome well done bloody good stags


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## Cowboy

Is that another good sika. Wtf. I need to poach your block  :Wink: 

Nice work

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## Pongo12

> Is that another good sika. Wtf. I need to poach your block 
> 
> Nice work


Gotta be fast

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## Pongo12

It's not my block to start with haha

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## stagstalker

Some great animals so far, awesome

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## Sideshow

Wow @Pongo12 are there any stags left in Pureora? Looks like you got the cream :Thumbsup:

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## Trout

315DS good effort,pass the 300 mark. :Thumbsup:

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## Woody

Well done. The sika may be a hybrid.

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## Mooseman

Those are two very nice stags Pongo12 Well Done

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## Pongo12

Cheers all

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## piwakawaka

After a week in the bush with 5 days of rain fuck all deer seen and no roaring at all I got my pb kaimai stag a mighty 7 points

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## chainsaw

> Happy days, red went 315ds sika went 175. Mate And I had a beauty morning 
> Attachment 164283


Thats two cracker heads. Well done.

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## Pongo12

Cheers. The red is 42"x42" by 34" so hes good enough to go on the wall one day

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## rambo rem700

Nice respectable 11 point Ruahine Red.
And exciting hunt and a long slog to the carpark.

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## Sako851

Was he roaring Rambo?

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## Pongo12

Bloody awesome hunt in the native with the young fella this morning,  going nuts

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## charliehorse

Nice! little mate would have been buzzing leading up to the shot

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## 40mm

I had the chance to shoot a big red the other day...

36 points, some palmation etc which I thought looked a bit stink.
I hit him in the "O zone" if anyone knows what that is.

Bit of an easy hunt really, nothing to it.
And I used a .22/.50

This big stag hunting is over rated I reckon, not really a challenge guys.

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## Pongo12

> I had the chance to shoot a big red the other day...
> 
> 36 points, some palmation etc which I thought looked a bit stink.
> I hit him in the "O zone" if anyone knows what that is.
> 
> Bit of an easy hunt really, nothing to it.
> And I used a .22/.50
> 
> This big stag hunting is over rated I reckon, not really a challenge guys.


Probably because it was a handfed pet behind a tall fence

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## Echo

Doc land?

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## Sarvo

[QUOTE=Pongo12;1143097]Bloody awesome hunt in the native with the young fella this morning,  going nuts

You should do some part time Guiding  
Think I worked out were you are too
Always big Donks in there ah
Heads improved somewhat from 35 years ago when I was access there (if its same place ???  :-)

Did you Roar him in ?

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## Pongo12

Yea doc land if that question was for me.
Haha nah I'm not really into the guiding side of things mate, itll take the enjoyment out of it for myself and kids. 
I'm unsure on the history but always had ok heads by the sounds of things

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## Pongo12

Yeap roared in, shot at 10 /15m

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## Sarvo

> Yea doc land if that question was for me.
> Haha nah I'm not really into the guiding side of things mate, itll take the enjoyment out of it for myself and kids. 
> I'm unsure on the history but always had ok heads by the sounds of things


For Pureora - yes - they were always a good step or two up

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## Tahr

I had to be the first in the family to post this (sorry Craig -  but I'm a part-owner of you both  :Have A Nice Day:  ).
Grandson James with a 10 pointer he shot tonight at 25 yards with his Dad. He used a Tikka M55 in .243 that I gave him.

Super proud.

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## Mooseman

The smile says it all, good one.

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## kukuwai

> (sorry Craig -  but I'm a part-owner of you both  )


Im banking that one...Gold 



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## Trout

Good shooting young man.Grand dad just training you up for carrying Mr Big when he gets him.Enjoy yr venison.

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## 40mm

> Probably because it was a handfed pet behind a tall fence


Yup, right on the money there.
I actually was lucky enough to have a go with a tranquiliser gun. (.22 blank pushing a .50 dart out of a second barrel via a gas port)

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## A330driver

Some absolute beauties being taken here...very impressive...!!!!!!

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## Curtis27

Was lucky enough to get this boy on Saturday. 15 pointer and a tough hunt but paid off in the end

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## Trout

Nice stag,well done.

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## superdiver

> Bloody awesome hunt in the native with the young fella this morning,  going nuts
> Attachment 164389


Glorious! You want to adopt me temporarily?

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## Yesmate

> Was lucky enough to get this boy on Saturday. 15 pointer and a tough hunt but paid off in the end
> 
> Attachment 164422


what is the cannon you're shooting?

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## Mooseman

Excellent looking  stag Curtis27 love those big tops on it. Well Done.

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## G.I_Joel

No monster but he was a fat sucker almost 3cm in places. Fallow shot last weekend

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## kiwigreen

Stoked with a nice even 10 the other night in Southland. Probably the most intense roar hunt I've had, snuck into a satellite stag out the cross hairs on but saw he was too young so moved on to this guy roaring 200m down the terrace. The wind was dicey and had a couple hinds to sneak past but got an opportunity to shoot him front on, luckily I put the 180gr powershok up the spout, he still managed to walk off looking unharmed thinking I had missed, stags are hard to put down in the roar! A shot like that would drop them on the spot usually. I made sure to let him bleed out for 10 minutes! He was in real good condition too.

Weather's terrible down here haven't been able to get back out again this easter!

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## chainsaw

> Was lucky enough to get this boy on Saturday. 15 pointer and a tough hunt but paid off in the end
> 
> Attachment 164422


Well done, real cracker donkey. Very impressive tops. Whats the cannon you shot him with ?

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## 25 /08 IMP

> Bloody awesome hunt in the native with the young fella this morning,  going nuts
> Attachment 164389


What a monster well done

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## Sako851

Nice @kiwigreen .
Is that a GSP walking into the photo? Looks like my dog

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## Pongo12

Had a cock up and we shot a one antlered bugger obstructed by a tree but not to worry, still a bit of fun. Challenging in the shitty wind

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## Kelton

@Pongo12 that lockmonster or you in picture?

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## Pongo12

Yea lock bro

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## Sideshow

@Pongo12 the man with the bottomless freezer and stags on tap.......need a hunting buddie? :Wink:  pic me :Thumbsup:  :XD:

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## PerazziSC3



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## Trout

Nice stag there,gota be pass the 300ds.Good effort.

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## Micky Duck

> Attachment 164499


love the faithful hound with you.....guess it doesnt get too far ahead and has great nose to help with tracking,what they were ORIGONALLY bred for. lovely set of antlers,stag looks like he has been working hard and all but skin n bones left......hopefully the genetics have all taken hold.

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## Chur Bay

Just out from the Whirinaki with my boy. Got our first roaring stag together. Only 6 points but so stoked to be able to share it with my son. Was fat too.

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## PerazziSC3

> love the faithful hound with you.....guess it doesnt get too far ahead and has great nose to help with tracking,what they were ORIGONALLY bred for. lovely set of antlers,stag looks like he has been working hard and all but skin n bones left......hopefully the genetics have all taken hold.


Was very skinny. Dog also caught 3 pigs (about the size of him)

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## Sideshow

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun getting that one @Chur Bay judging by the smiles  :Have A Nice Day:  even the dog looks to be grinning :Thumbsup: 
What red dot have you there?

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## Micky Duck

now that is pure GOLD.....

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## Trout

Well done,you and yr son will treasure the day.More hunts to plan now.Lots of fat makes a nice eater too.

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## Sideshow

@PerazziSC3 I’ve hunted with them in France. They use them there to find the boar after the driven shots. Really impressed at how they go.
Looked like you had a good day out :Have A Nice Day:

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## Mooseman

> Attachment 164504
> Attachment 164503
> 
> Just out from the Whirinaki with my boy. Got our first roaring stag together. Only 6 points but so stoked to be able to share it with my son. Was fat too.


Looks like that special area again , nice going, you think they have just started down there? Many others roaring ? The area we hunt now is still quite only a couple of roars last weekend , hopefully they will start up this weekend.

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## PerazziSC3

14 pointer with  no beys (split tine trey the barrel is resting in) thought this one was a monster through the spotting scope but turned out to be the smallest bodied stag I've seen. Still dominant stealing Hinds and roaring very well. Was carrying a decent limp also and was pretty old.

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## Chur Bay

It's an aimpoint H1. Real quick to get on target.
The dog was good there but he must have gotten a good dose of ongaonga. I thought he was buggered that night. He was vomiting, drooling, had the shits and breathing really laboured. That was Saturday night. Luckily we had a rest day yesterday. He was good as gold today though.

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## Chur Bay

> Looks like that special area again , nice going, you think they have just started down there? Many others roaring ? The area we hunt now is still quite only a couple of roars last weekend , hopefully they will start up this weekend.


Not too far from where you think as the crow flies. Heaps of roaring Friday and Saturday especially during the night. Didn't hear anything last night or today though but we did have a fire last night so that may have shut them up.

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## Curtis27

> what is the cannon you're shooting?


It's a 338 Lapua magnum. I did have the 280AI but we spotted him at 1km away and he wasnt going to stand still and approach looked difficult with wind. Grabbed the 338 incase we had to make a longer shot but ended up only being a 200 yard running shot

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## Curtis27

> Well done, real cracker donkey. Very impressive tops. Whats the cannon you shot him with ?


It's a 338 Lapua. Looked like we were going to need to take a longer shot but ended up doing a 200 yard running shot. Went down like a sack of spuds

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## Sideshow

> It's an aimpoint H1. Real quick to get on target.
> The dog was good there but he must have gotten a good dose of ongaonga. I thought he was buggered that night. He was vomiting, drooling, had the shits and breathing really laboured. That was Saturday night. Luckily we had a rest day yesterday. He was good as gold today though.


Bloody nettles. My dog also hates the stuff. Goes all day but man he hates it at night when he gets in.
Try keeping them cool is good till it wears off helps.

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## kiwigreen

> Nice @kiwigreen .
> Is that a GSP walking into the photo? Looks like my dog


Cheers. Nope just a heading x pig dog haha, knows when we're deer hunting which is handy

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## Nathan F

> Attachment 164499


What breed is the hound ? Nice stag

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## Gibo

some rippers in here! jealous as! 

might be a dachshund @Nathan F

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## PerazziSC3

> some rippers in here! jealous as! 
> 
> might be a dachshund @Nathan F


Yep that's the one aka sausage dog

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## Joe_90

A careful approach crawling through the grass to get into position resulted in the 270 having its way. 
I might need buy a camo top at some point, it'll increase the sneak potential.

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## Nathan F

> Yep that's the one aka sausage dog


Awesome. I’ve been looking at getting a pup in November. How does it go on the hill ?

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## PerazziSC3

> Awesome. I’ve been looking at getting a pup in November. How does it go on the hill ?


Entertaining. He will go anywhere because he doesnt know his limits. Gets very cold like a vizsla etc. Really not that suited for high country as his chest and balls gets rubbed raw by matagari and monkey scrub. Great nose but more suited to European hunting, e.g driving around a paddock or tracking flat land

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## Micky Duck

my comment about them earlier is dinky die........they were bred to be like they are on purpose...for hunting...close to ground= better ground scenting short legs= slower so easier to keep up with. I reckon if you could tame one of the vicious little teacup chawahwahs they could be the ultimate hunting buddy...could sit in top pocket and sniff n point deer for you...then track them after the shot LOL
one thing is for certain...a little dog is a hell of a lot easier to pick up and carry than a great big heavy one.

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## 6x47

Scored this fella at daybreak yesterday, was 5mins late heading back into cover.. Crying shame one of his brow tines was broken off

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## Rees

few encounters an a few weeks later..  7-08

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## Rees

Something a bit different... the old Sambar stag in the Swamp trick
very interesting hunt, lots of action, 7mm08 162SST

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## Pongo12

One right in the shit, didn't make any noise until I was right in his area.Bit quiet still, hopefully next few days they start cranking into it. Been bloody slow going.

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## Pushover

Nice stags guys. How about that samba swamp donkey?
What forest you hunting @Pongo12

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## 25 /08 IMP

> One right in the shit, didn't make any noise until I was right in his area.Bit quiet still, hopefully next few days they start cranking into it. Been bloody slow going.
> Attachment 164610


Slow going!!  I would hate to see how many massive stags you would get when the going is good.
Well done you are a machine.

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## Kelton

> Nice stags guys. How about that samba swamp donkey?
> What forest you hunting @Pongo12


The waitakere ranges mate

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## Kelton

> choysa man,,rippa


Epic

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## 300winmag

Put to sleep this 9 pointer a couple of days ago.
342 yds - 300winmag

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## Pushover

Nice clearing to look over. What time of day?

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## Rees

> One right in the shit, didn't make any noise until I was right in his area.Bit quiet still, hopefully next few days they start cranking into it. Been bloody slow going.
> [ATTACH]


do you fill your freezer for the year during the roar or jus lay out roaren stags? lol

we have guys who go fallow hunting in the rut an basically walk from one grunter to another an shoot em........     doesnt really make sense.

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## Pongo12

> do you fill your freezer for the year during the roar or jus lay out roaren stags? lol
> 
> we have guys who go fallow hunting in the rut an basically walk from one grunter to another an shoot em........     doesnt really make sense.


I don't eat it,  give it all away to locals and use the real stinky stuff to the dogs. Its public land mate, ya don't shoot em the choppers or 1080 will get them and there's way too many deer around at the moment

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## Lucky

Some nice animals getting shot this year , this isn’t a flash as some and forgot my phone so no pics on the ground , having a beer over the boil up

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## 300winmag

> Nice clearing to look over. What time of day?


Around 8am

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## ethos

I suppose I should pop this up here.
Fiordland bush crazy hunt and a story for another day even if the DS on the rifle might beat the stag.

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## Yesmate

> One right in the shit, didn't make any noise until I was right in his area.Bit quiet still, hopefully next few days they start cranking into it. Been bloody slow going.
> Attachment 164610


yea we are still a bit quiet in the tararuas as well, hoping this weekend they launch into a frenzy.this small guy was holding hinds so we let him have it and bro got something serious.

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## Sako851

What a beast

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## Ned

Yeh that is solid!!

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## Chur Bay

Heavy Timber. :Cool:  Awesome

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## Stocky

> I don't eat it,  give it all away to locals and use the real stinky stuff to the dogs. Its public land mate, ya don't shoot em the choppers or 1080 will get them and there's way too many deer around at the moment


In fairness do you think choppers are relevant to the Pureoras? 

Also shooting a heap of stags doesn't help with too many deer. Also choppers have hardly been working for 2 years. I dislike choppers as much as the next mainlander but they aren't really a current concern (except obviously they impact they have had from earlier on the number of mature stags).

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## Stocky

> Attachment 164676Attachment 164676yea we are still a bit quiet in the tararuas as well, hoping this weekend they launch into a frenzy.this small guy was holding hinds so we let him have it and bro got something serious.Attachment 164675


Nice enough animals seems pretty mature way above the average age stags shot. He looks pretty heavy too. Epic

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## Mooseman

Top Notch stags being taken this year, well done to all. Hope they are a bit noisy this weekend in our patch.

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## Micky Duck

yes current theory is if you want to effect population at all,shoot a hind and leave spikers n young stags to grow bigger......sure makes sence when pised up skinny young stag isnt worth eating and head hardly worth carrying out....to each his own all the same.

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## Lucky

> Attachment 164676Attachment 164676yea we are still a bit quiet in the tararuas as well, hoping this weekend they launch into a frenzy.this small guy was holding hinds so we let him have it and bro got something serious.Attachment 164675


Thats a cracker , great pic as well ,the smile says it all

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## 6x47

> What a beast


Makes a sika stag look like a fawn

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## Ned

It'd be nice to think some herd management could take effect in more places. But looking at the confirmed and proposed aerial 1080 for the Tararua ranges I wouldn't frown on any deer with antlers being tipped over there in the near future.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

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## Maxx

> What a beast


Which one......? :Grin:

----------


## Lucky

The amount of good animals been seen and shot this year has to be related to lack of hunting last roar due to COVID , amazing what a year of growth produces

----------


## Pongo12

Does bugger all damage to the population shooting stags but still animals getting culled, and it's bloody good fun. We hammer the hinds in the winter months, shitloads of them. So still a balance,  id hate to see the numbers if we didn't, be over run

----------


## Pongo12

> Attachment 164676Attachment 164676yea we are still a bit quiet in the tararuas as well, hoping this weekend they launch into a frenzy.this small guy was holding hinds so we let him have it and bro got something serious.Attachment 164675


Great head!

----------


## Moa Hunter

> Attachment 164676Attachment 164676yea we are still a bit quiet in the tararuas as well, hoping this weekend they launch into a frenzy.this small guy was holding hinds so we let him have it and bro got something serious.Attachment 164675


That 'small guy' looks to have been an exceptional spiker and not a poor 2yr old.

----------


## Stocky

> It'd be nice to think some herd management could take effect in more places. But looking at the confirmed and proposed aerial 1080 for the Tararua ranges I wouldn't frown on any deer with antlers being tipped over there in the near future.
> 
> Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk


It can do a number on populations but not always. One of my major spots got hit last year. Still shit loads of stags in there. Stags are the least likely to die from ingesting that crap (not immune did find 3 dead velveties on the tops presumably from the drop as completely intact nothing removed). Hinds and fawns are far more susceptible though. For herd management I'd take 1080 over waro most days due to the targeted approach to WARO. If WARO targeted hinds (subsidised some how) however that would be the dream as it would actually make a significant difference to these high populations.

----------


## Stocky

> Does bugger all damage to the population shooting stags but still animals getting culled, and it's bloody good fun. We hammer the hinds in the winter months, shitloads of them. So still a balance,  id hate to see the numbers if we didn't, be over run


Good to hear you hit the hinds too. And yes I agree it doesn't effect the population by killing stags but the idea is to try keep the population under control and it definitely effects the number of mature stags. 

But to give credit where its deserved if you are killing a tonne of hinds congrats as you definitely do more control than I have in the past (although in fairness I never shot stags unless its a pb or clearly a shitter ie no tops at all etc) and more than most.

----------


## Yesmate

> That 'small guy' looks to have been an exceptional spiker and not a poor 2yr old.


yea he is,here's a pic of another exceptional spiker shot in the area a couple of years ago.we shouldn't have shot him but this circumstance we decided to.

----------


## Kelton

> In fairness do you think choppers are relevant to the Pureoras? 
> 
> Also shooting a heap of stags doesn't help with too many deer. Also choppers have hardly been working for 2 years. I dislike choppers as much as the next mainlander but they aren't really a current concern (except obviously they impact they have had from earlier on the number of mature stags).


Shooting poor stags does pureoras isn't the only place stags get shot plenty in the mainland to oxfords taken a good hammering from me over the years mt Thomas the Lewis not young animals just shit animals . Choppers might not be relevant to pureoras as far as aerial culls but I'm sure poison can still be flicked around? I'd made the decision not to take a stag this roar but maybe I should maybe 6 fallow kick em all in a gorge feed the eels what ever spins the wheels

----------


## Stocky

> Shooting poor stags does pureoras isn't the only place stags get shot plenty in the mainland to oxfords taken a good hammering from me over the years mt Thomas the Lewis not young animals just shit animals . Choppers might not be relevant to pureoras as far as aerial culls but I'm sure poison can still be flicked around? I'd made the decision not to take a stag this roar but maybe I should maybe 6 fallow kick em all in a gorge feed the eels what ever spins the wheels


Um what most of that is unreadable but I'll reply to what I can. 

No shit young stags get shot Everywhere I just saw a guy shot 9 stags out of Lewis almost all young (too young to realistically assess quality unless you have a trained eye) and didn't take any meat or shoot any hinds... 

Poison isn't used to control deer (I'm 99% certain it's illegal to directly target deer with 1080 (they can be bykill)) so numbers don't lead to poison it happens anyway.

Then your bragging about hammering stags and having a sook and threatening to go waste a bunch of deer and meat because someone brought up their opinion on a public forum. What a bloody ninny. I just brought up my POV. I didnt dictate what anyone can do I have no right too but I have every right to bring up the discussion with which anyone can do with as they wish. Hell I think you may find I openly said he's done more to control population that I have for sure. I just think its nice to leave stags to grow to the point they can mature as it makes a far better trophy (even the ones with poorer genes) that a rack of 50 plus toddlers hanging in the shed unappreciated.

----------


## Danny

Does it actually matter what anyone thinks when someone shoots an animal? Like who fn cares. 
Keep up the pictures and the stories, some awesome animals being hung up. 
Heres another one. Todays. 
Not roaring but came down to me and said hello. 
A well past his best 9 pointer. 




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## Moa Hunter

> Does it actually matter what anyone thinks when someone shoots an animal? Like who fn cares. 
> Keep up the pictures and the stories, some awesome animal’s being hung up. 
> Here’s another one. Today’s. 
> Not roaring but came down to me and said hello. 
> A well past his best 9 pointer. 
> 
> Attachment 164695
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I think it does matter from the point that everyone wants to improve their knowledge and judgement of animals, to take an animal they have made a correct call on and to feel good about it. We cant learn without discussing animals that have been photographed. In this thread they are dead.
How did you access your nine to be well past his best ? He is well past anything now
The spiker in Yesmate's post above is exceptional as he says. Those spikers with big clean thick spikes like that are rare and always grow into big clean heads. Shooting the rubbish pencil thin spikers is doing the herds a favour long term. Just look how the Wap herd has improved with a couple of decades of 'Leave the best, shoot the rest' management.

----------


## bigbear

Start another thread don't ruin this one.

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## Pongo12

> Start another thread don't ruin this one.


Bloody oath, thats why I only chuck pics up every now and again. Too much dramas otherwise

----------


## charliehorse

> Start another thread don't ruin this one.


You beat me to it @bigbear, was just about to type the same thing

----------


## Danny

Yep, thats about the first picture Ive put up... and probably the last. 

Ive seen this stag the last three years running and believe me he used to be a fair bit healthier. 

Well done guys but keep safe.

----------


## Tahr

Here's a mature one from last Friday that's well past its best. It's 72.
The deer is a spiker.

----------


## Sideshow

Lol :XD:

----------


## Stocky

> You beat me to it @bigbear, was just about to type the same thing


If a remark is made with questionable opinion then that is the place to make a remark. It sounds awfully like the pansy left that people can't deal with any criticism/discussion of things that contradict their opinion. I haven't seen many (2 from memory) degrading anything shot in this thread (in fact its been almost all positive with relation to animals shot) I know apart from rebutting some opinions with my own I've only congratulated people.

Anyway I agree the threads getting cluttered but how about we just leave opinions out as a whole out or not complain when someone rebuts your opinion with there own. 

Now lets just get back to stags. Looking forward to seeing some more epic animals coming up some crackers so far!

----------


## PerazziSC3

The fruits of the hunt

----------


## Moa Hunter



----------


## Moa Hunter

Attachment 164708Attachment 164708Attachment 164709

----------


## Gibo

Stags shot 2021 ow!

----------


## MSL

> The fruits of the hunt
> Attachment 164707


Is that a trailer?


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## PerazziSC3

> Is that a trailer?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yep. Very handy

----------


## MSL

Looks it


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## Moa Hunter

> Stags shot 2021 ow!


I tried to post some photos of 2021 stags as well but couldn't. I then wanted to make the point that some of the stags being shot this year are not too far off the great trophies of Europe ( Due to age and in some cases farm blood). Those European trophies were produced by careful game management, we have an opportunity to influence future trophy potential of our feral herds with careful management an knowing which ones to shoot and which to leave.
Out of 52 stags I have looked over in the Oxford area this year I have only seen one that had perfect tines and tine placement. It was a three year old and I hope everyone leaves it.

----------


## Stocky

As for stags shot 2021 here's a stag my cousins mate shot the day after my cousin broke his ankle and walked out.

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## superdiver

> Does it actually matter what anyone thinks when someone shoots an animal? Like who fn cares. 
> Keep up the pictures and the stories, some awesome animals being hung up. 
> Heres another one. Todays. 
> Not roaring but came down to me and said hello. 
> A well past his best 9 pointer. 
> 
> Attachment 164695
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Epic Dan! Hoping to get an old stag

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## Murray N

Thats a great photo Tahr , one you will cherish in the years to come

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## Kelton

> Um what most of that is unreadable but I'll reply to what I can. 
> 
> No shit young stags get shot Everywhere I just saw a guy shot 9 stags out of Lewis almost all young (too young to realistically assess quality unless you have a trained eye) and didn't take any meat or shoot any hinds... 
> 
> Poison isn't used to control deer (I'm 99% certain it's illegal to directly target deer with 1080 (they can be bykill)) so numbers don't lead to poison it happens anyway.
> 
> Then your bragging about hammering stags and having a sook and threatening to go waste a bunch of deer and meat because someone brought up their opinion on a public forum. What a bloody ninny. I just brought up my POV. I didnt dictate what anyone can do I have no right too but I have every right to bring up the discussion with which anyone can do with as they wish. Hell I think you may find I openly said he's done more to control population that I have for sure. I just think its nice to leave stags to grow to the point they can mature as it makes a far better trophy (even the ones with poorer genes) that a rack of 50 plus toddlers hanging in the shed unappreciated.


Pretty much met in the middle my point is each to their own as it is yours

----------


## Kelton

> Shooting poor stags does pureoras isn't the only place stags get shot plenty in the mainland to oxfords taken a good hammering from me over the years mt Thomas the Lewis not young animals just shit animals . Choppers might not be relevant to pureoras as far as aerial culls but I'm sure poison can still be flicked around? I'd made the decision not to take a stag this roar but maybe I should maybe 6 fallow kick em all in a gorge feed the eels what ever spins the wheels


And absolutely punctuation missed the bus on that tangent.

----------


## kukuwai

> Here's a mature one from last Friday that's well past its best. It's 72.
> The deer is a spiker.


Super gave me a good chuckle 



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## Micky Duck

> Does it actually matter what anyone thinks when someone shoots an animal? Like who fn cares. 
> Keep up the pictures and the stories, some awesome animals being hung up. 
> Heres another one. Todays. 
> Not roaring but came down to me and said hello. 
> A well past his best 9 pointer. 
> 
> Attachment 164695
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


holy smoke thats a solid body on that boy....definately a character head..THANKYOU for shareing it with us.

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## matto1234



----------


## Chur Bay

That bottom malform stag is very cool.

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## mawzer308

Couple of character Sika stags, both shot on Thursday. Sika definitely in full swing where I am.

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## Mohawk .308

Couple of interesting heads there mate

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## Stocky

> Attachment 164801
> Attachment 164802


Is the right antler on the top stag a bit deformed? Good character stag on the bottom wonder if it's a skull injury or genetic.

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## Stocky

> Couple of character Sika stags, both shot on Thursday. Sika definitely in full swing where I am.
> 
> Attachment 164807
> Attachment 164809


What a run of character heads do you have another veiw of his left?

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## Moa Hunter

> Is the right antler on the top stag a bit deformed? Good character stag on the bottom wonder if it's a skull injury or genetic.


If the pedicle is normal it is generally damage during velvet growth that causes a mis-shapen antler, not a genetic fault.
The big old Red a couple of posts up appears to have broken his pedicle in the past ( normally fighting), the pedicle having re-set in a dropped position due to the weight of the attached antler at the time. Subsequent antlers growing out of that pedicle being at a funny angle. A great trophy

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## matto1234

> Is the right antler on the top stag a bit deformed? Good character stag on the bottom wonder if it's a skull injury or genetic.


Yup both good animals now out of the herd, likely both are injurys but out of the gene pool regardless.

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## mawzer308

Hey fellas, top animal, was missing his rear left hock below the joint, highly likely the reason for poor right side antler. Would've been really nice if he was matching on the poor side.

Other stag I'm I'm guessing genetics as I saw a younger stag with similar head gear likely his progeny.

----------


## Tasbay

Picked up an eight at Easter

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## Tasbay

Picked up this wee guy as well. Has a 50cal ball and a 7mm08 slug in him, didn`t want him getting away.

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## Hunteast

We won't judge how ugly the hunter might be but solid antlers all the same.lol

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## Tasbay

> We won't judge how ugly the hunter might be but solid antlers all the same.lol


Ugly doesn't begin to describe it!!

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## Nathan F

> Bloody oath, thats why I only chuck pics up every now and again. Too much dramas otherwise


Yeah its bullshit. The same ones that piss and moan about herd management will be spewing twice as much when the poisoning really ramps up because hunters cant keep on top of the deer numbers.

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## Micky Duck

> Yeah it’s bullshit. The same ones that piss and moan about herd management will be spewing twice as much when the poisoning really ramps up because hunters can’t keep on top of the deer numbers.


see the off topic thread .....

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## Brian

> Yeah it’s bullshit. The same ones that piss and moan about herd management will be spewing twice as much when the poisoning really ramps up because hunters can’t keep on top of the deer numbers.


Yeah look how it went with the thar.

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## 7mmwsm

> Attachment 164890 Picked up this wee guy as well. Has a 50cal ball and a 7mm08 slug in him, didn`t want him getting away.


Cool shooting one with a Flint lock.
Did he need the 708 or would the 50 have stopped him?

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## Nathan F

> see the off topic thread .....


No it’s an embarrassment

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## Stocky

> Yeah it’s bullshit. The same ones that piss and moan about herd management will be spewing twice as much when the poisoning really ramps up because hunters can’t keep on top of the deer numbers.





> No it’s an embarrassment


What because some peoples ego can't deal with opposing veiw points?

The point of the off topic was to remove the discussion from this thread it wasn't so some one sided bitching could continue in the original thread. 

The people bitching about those talking about herd management are the same as the fragile SJW that can't deal with people having an opposing opinion and throw a shit fit as they take every such opinion as a personal attack. They are also the type that claim to be meat hunters but walk past 10 hind sto shoot a young stag or even worse they promote leave the breeders... Shooting a bunch of stags is stupid inefficient population control shooting a bunch of hinds makes far more sense.. No one was attacked personally for shooting anything in this thread. 

The off topic talks more about population control that it does about stags. You won't find me acting like a child about poisoning as while I dislike it as much as the next it's here to stay regardless of deer populations because I think you will find its illegal to intentionally poison deer (I'm not saying they don't potentially do it under the guise of possum control). 

It's a free country you can do what you like we are all big enough and ugly enough to make our own decisions but having your head stuck so far up your ass you can't even bare to listen to an opposing veiw point makes you exactly the same as people that think hunting is wrong or that these gun laws help gun crime and will not listen to any discussion on the matter. 

No ones making you do anything or even told you to do anything. Shit some pretty basic questions asked resulted in a lot of bitching from the likes of the "if I don't shoot them XYZ will get them" crowd.

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## gimp

> No it’s an embarrassment


Why?

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## bigbear

What this has done is put people off posting pictures and writing up there stories and you are asking why? You can have your view but like usual on here people like to wreck the good threads.  :Sad:  :Sad:

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## Pongo12

I'm all for opinions and everyone is entitled to them, but it ain't gonna stop me from banging them over in my backyard playground. I always let good up and comers grow out to be shot at a later date. But when there's hundreds of the bastards smashing our pdks and crops they end up getting the 7mm treatment .
You could swing a cat around in areas of pureora atm, there's literally deer everywhere. Shooting more animals should be encouraged in national parks. Cunning big stags get shot every year and elude hunters every year also so don't stress over it.

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## Pongo12

The Lewis rha for example is a one area where more animals need controlling,  was down there not long ago and would've seen 80 odd deer in the 3 days hunting,  even the pilots reckon there's way too many deer around and they waro and fly in hunters for business.
Keep those stag pics coming!

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## Stocky

> What this has done is put people off posting pictures and writing up there stories and you are asking why? You can have your view but like usual on here people like to wreck the good threads.


No one likes to wreck threads. But why should someone be able to say things like 1080, helicopters, XYZ is going to kill them so shoot everything which is opinion not based on any solid fact. But if someone questions this it's not OK. I once again state no one condemned anyone for shooting anything. There's tonnes of young animals in this thread. Doesn't bother me as each to there own but don't recruit to a mindset and get upset if someone rebuts it. I didn't think this thread was a ragging rights thing it was a thread so we could all see what sort of animals are coming out of the bush around the country and to show cool experiences getting out and having young hunters starting which is 10x more important than the size of a stag. That why I haven't jumped on anyone with a young stag as I shot/shoot young stags when I started and completely get it. Shit some of the young stags in here mean more to the hunter than a big stag will to others anyway. 




> I'm all for opinions and everyone is entitled to them, but it ain't gonna stop me from banging them over in my backyard playground. I always let good up and comers grow out to be shot at a later date. But when there's hundreds of the bastards smashing our pdks and crops they end up getting the 7mm treatment .
> You could swing a cat around in areas of pureora atm, there's literally deer everywhere. Shooting more animals should be encouraged in national parks. Cunning big stags get shot every year and elude hunters every year also so don't stress over it.


I don't think anyone told you to stop. Rees maybe had a bit of a pointed question but hardly. I also understand that you do deer control as part of your job to protect pasture etc from plague numbers of deer which is highly relevant and is maybe a context it wouldn't hurt to mention. 




> The Lewis rha for example is a one area where more animals need controlling,  was down there not long ago and would've seen 80 odd deer in the 3 days hunting,  even the pilots reckon there's way too many deer around and they waro and fly in hunters for business.
> Keep those stag pics coming!


Agreed but even if you shoot 50% of stags in a year with the hind numbers so high they are 100% replaced by the next year anyway where as if you knocked out 50% of hind you'd also half the recruitment rate. I've even seen higher numbers in there and make a point of shooting hinds October through January until fawns drop. If you talk to pilots you will also find most have been mentioning high hind numbers and that hunters they fly in almost solely come out with stags which shows its not working to control numbers and its degrading animal quality.

Amuri tried to organise with the NZDA a discounted rate where they could fly in 4 parties of 4 where each person could fly out 2 deer each meaning the oppurtunity to remove 32 deer with full recovery of the animals. Cost would have been 495 a person pickup drop off from windy point. I believe the NZDA was going to cover half that cost as well. There wasn't enough interest and it fell through. If we want to control numbers we either need to accept we will leave meat on the hill in which case sure kill everything. But if we want to recover meat we really need to target hinds to make use of the hunter hours.

Anyway you really should join the off topic to save this thread and secondly because a range of opinions from both sides is important to have useful discussion.

----------


## hunt08

Man this from is falling apart  with all the bull shit arguments just shoot what you want to shoot if some one wants to shoot a heap of stags good  lest it leaving  more food for next year's growth some you guys that are on here need spend lest time at home moaning  at what people are shooting & more time in the hills from someone looking in it looks as you guys that want game management  want turn nz into a game park couse you to laze to put in the work your self to get what you call a trophy every year there's Hugh heads that get shot so get your ass of the key broad & go looking & why your there shoot some hinds  instead of trying to push your agender on every one eles

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## Gkp

Well said @hunt08
I just want to see pics of "stags shot 2021"

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## Moa Hunter

> What because some peoples ego can't deal with opposing veiw points?
> 
> The point of the off topic was to remove the discussion from this thread it wasn't so some one sided bitching could continue in the original thread. 
> 
> The people bitching about those talking about herd management are the same as the fragile SJW that can't deal with people having an opposing opinion and throw a shit fit as they take every such opinion as a personal attack. They are also the type that claim to be meat hunters but walk past 10 hind sto shoot a young stag or even worse they promote leave the breeders... Shooting a bunch of stags is stupid inefficient population control shooting a bunch of hinds makes far more sense.. No one was attacked personally for shooting anything in this thread. 
> 
> The off topic talks more about population control that it does about stags. You won't find me acting like a child about poisoning as while I dislike it as much as the next it's here to stay regardless of deer populations because I think you will find its illegal to intentionally poison deer (I'm not saying they don't potentially do it under the guise of possum control). 
> 
> It's a free country you can do what you like we are all big enough and ugly enough to make our own decisions but having your head stuck so far up your ass you can't even bare to listen to an opposing veiw point makes you exactly the same as people that think hunting is wrong or that these gun laws help gun crime and will not listen to any discussion on the matter. 
> ...


Well made points Stocky. I am by nature a meat hunter and having come through the 1980's period of very low deer numbers I tend to feel guilty about shooting hinds. Now that there is an abundance of animals I need to change my thinking to target hinds, which are far superior eating anyway. I struggle with shooting hinds as the bad old days are not erased from memory.
The discussions in this thread are thought provoking and may challenge my personal views and beliefs, but hunting conditions have changed and I need to change accordingly. Even though I am a meat hunter, I leave animals with good potential because shooting them for meat is a selfish act when someone else could take that same animal as a trophy they remember for the rest of their lives.
Giving away meat, sharing the harvest, I have found, is a great release from the guilt of killing

----------


## Pongo12

Ahwell too much chit chat, here's another stag to get the thread back on track.
 took the youngest girl for a wee walk and got an easy one for her to see roaring. Headskin kept for another stag mount.

----------


## Stocky

> Ahwell too much chit chat, here's another stag to get the thread back on track.
>  took the youngest girl for a wee walk and got an easy one for her to see roaring. Headskin kept for another stag mount.
> Attachment 164930


I agree and admit my part to play in it. 

Awesome to see your kids out. They look hooked already pretty cool to see! All the roaring would have everyone pretty excited.

----------


## Yesmate

all this back and forth re should/shouldnt shoot is straight circumstantial,anyone lucky(hunting wise) enough to have private blocks that are riddled are gonna take a lot of animals cos they enjoy hunting and don't care about numbers getting low cos they never will,and anyone that hunts public land is always gonna want better heads floating around.shot this guy this morning with a mate I took out that doesn't really hunt, it was a super fun hunt the animal was a bonus, prob would have shot a spiker with him if one was around.

----------


## Monk

Few epic days chasing reds.Best public land deer for me.

----------


## Tahr

A stag is a stag. Last couple of days in the Haurangis.

----------


## kukuwai

Cheers guys 

Wonderful to see some stag photos back on this thread  

Keep em coming !!!

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

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## Yesmate

> A stag is a stag. Last couple of days in the Haurangis.
> 
> Attachment 164981
> 
> Attachment 164982


you shouldn't have shot that spiker  :Have A Nice Day:

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## Yesmate

> Few epic days chasing reds.Best public land deer for me.Attachment 164976


nice,is that a northern Tararuas animal?

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## Tahr

> you shouldn't have shot that spiker


Piss off.  :Have A Nice Day:  
I balanced it up by shooting that really old stag.

How did I know it was old, you ask? "I looked up it's date". 

I rounded my naughtiness off too by shooting a hind ...

----------


## Micky Duck

Tilly approves,she is licking her lips in anticipation of bits to chew on....

----------


## kukuwai

> Tilly approves,she is licking her lips in anticipation of bits to chew on....


Na bro, she's working out how old it is 

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

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## Pongo12

> Piss off.  
> I balanced it up by shooting that really old stag.
> 
> How did I know it was old, you ask? "I looked up it's date". 
> 
> I rounded my naughtiness off too by shooting a hind ...
> 
> Attachment 164987


Top man, into em

----------


## Micky Duck

> Na bro, she's working out how old it is 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Tilly has seen that many deer,her nose wouldve told her age,gender,pregnancy status,species,where Bruces shot hit,exited and what damage it did on way through,last meal and when deer last pooped from fifty yards away.....

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## Tahr

> Few epic days chasing reds.Best public land deer for me.Attachment 164976


Ripper

----------


## piwakawaka

Scrubby kaimai 5 pointer dropped after I left my mate roaring while I put the stalk on another stag a couple hundred metres out. After my mates first roar this guy replied almost instantly probably 40m from.me.and started trotting in to have a dust up with my mate so I saved him the trouble

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## NRT

> Few epic days chasing reds.Best public land deer for me.Attachment 164976


Beauty top effort 

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

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## Danny

Some absolute beauties, great to see 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## Trout

I seen a couple of distance stags last week bugger, so shot a fat hind instead.20kgs of veni for the freezer.Keep up the stags photos and storys guys.They keep my energy levels up.

----------


## Bos

Typical Marlborough head just before dark. 12 points but on a smaler scale

----------


## Trout

> Piss off.  
> I balanced it up by shooting that really old stag.
> 
> How did I know it was old, you ask? "I looked up it's date". 
> 
> I rounded my naughtiness off too by shooting a hind ...
> 
> Attachment 164987


Shoot what you like i reckn. :Thumbsup:

----------


## JMJW

Couple fallow yesterday evening. Sadly the bigger white/tan one had a split palm on one side which I hadn’t seen when lining up on it but still great animals for my block.

----------


## Rees

> Piss off.  
> I balanced it up by shooting that really old stag.
> 
> How did I know it was old, you ask? "I looked up it's date". 
> 
> I rounded my naughtiness off too by shooting a hind ...


Great too see the Off topic discussion really coming into the Original topic moreso by way of tounge in cheek but considering the vibes intitially , it interesting to read out as it is.

keep it up Forum go-ers

----------


## Mohawk .308

Got this guy this morning, wasn’t roaring but came into a roar.

Pretty stoked to finally get a decent Sika stag to get mounted. Dropped him off at Vern Pearson’s today, I’ll see him in 9 months

----------


## Padox

1 from central today a good 10

----------


## Tahr

> Got this guy this morning, wasn’t roaring but came into a roar.
> 
> Pretty stoked to finally get a decent Sika stag to get mounted. Dropped him off at Vern Pearson’s today, I’ll see him in 9 months 
> 
> Attachment 165068
> 
> Attachment 165069


Cripes. Well done.

----------


## hebe

One from my first trip of this roar, went down to some old areas in Southland I used to hunt as a student. Roaring was pretty light as we were a bit early. This guy got up out of his bed a wee way away from me and started roaring and working a beat looking for hinds. I couldn’t see him and the wind was swirling and threatening to cut infront of what I presumed to be the direction he was heading. I had to do a fair bit of running when he roared to get the wind out of his path. When I thought I’d lost his trail the dog would pick it up and work it, and where there was wind scent the dog would move in that direction.
2km later I came to quite a big creek. I thought it was all over rover but Finn led me to splash marks on the other side.
As I stepped up out of the creek following the path the stag had travelled I spotted antlers waving so let out a wee moan and he stepped into a gap to look at me. As this happened the dog locked up and that was that really.

Probably one of  the best bits of work the dog has ever done and one of the older stags I have taken. A nice 11 with a snag that doesnt quite convert to a point  to make 12 points.
Absolutely rapt.

----------


## kukuwai

What a yarn bro cheers 
Top marks to you and the dog 

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## Micky Duck

man thats knarly looking head.....awesome story,great to trust your dog and get rewards...big pat deserved.

----------


## chainsaw

Great character head, an old donk. Well done

----------


## Mooseman

That's what the roar is all about, great hunt and trust in your dog, nice solid head to keep the memories alive. Well Done.

----------


## hebe

> man thats knarly looking head.....awesome story,great to trust your dog and get rewards...big pat deserved.


Yep I made a particularly big fuss over him for this one. He chowed down on an eye fillet

----------


## Sarvo

> A nice 11 with a snag that doesnt quite convert to a point  to make 12 points.
> Absolutely rapt.


An "Ugly Beauty"
You could almost mill those - the Timber is so heavy !!!

----------


## Pixie Z

> A stag is a stag. Last couple of days in the Haurangis.


 @Tahr were they being very vocal? I was in there a couple of weeks ago- had roars from 3 different individuals, but they werent being very vocal overall. & saw a couple of young stags. Im heading back in on Sat for 4 days, then again next Friday for another 3 or 4 days.

----------


## Tahr

> @Tahr were they being very vocal? I was in there a couple of weeks ago- had roars from 3 different individuals, but they werent being very vocal overall. & saw a couple of young stags. Im heading back in on Sat for 4 days, then again next Friday for another 3 or 4 days.


 @Pixie Z Yes. Not quite full voice but stags are holding hinds and doing the rounds. The 2 I shot were holding hinds (the spiker had a couple) - the 5 pointer  stag came out at my roaring to look but didn't seem ready for a fight but got shot anyway, and the other I  just watched a couple of hinds on a face for 30 mins giving the odd roar until a stag turned up checking his girls out. And he got shot.
I watched an 8 or 10 pointer really going to town and herding 5 hinds - that was great - he was 375 yards away just on dark so I left him to it. I heard him roaring most of the night from my camp. All of the stags shut up at about 10am and started quite close to dark. I would say they will be about peaking now.

----------


## Pixie Z

@Tahr Cheers. Sounds like you had a good trip. I’m looking forward to getting back in in a few days. Shut up by 10am sounds about same as my trip in a couple weeks ago, though they definitely weren’t in full swing & I didn’t hear much during the night. & the stags I saw weren’t the ones doing the roaring.

On a side note- you weren’t in there a couple weeks back on an electric mountain bike were you? Saw the photo of you earlier in this thread & reminded me of a guy I was chatting to at the West Arm camp in there recently.

----------


## 7.62

One from the weekend, satellite stag from the Northern Pureoras

----------


## kiwigreen

Some ripper stags on here!

The weekend just gone was good in southland, on Saturday I heard well over 30 stags and snuck into 7 or so mostly just young ones roaring at nothing. First stag came flying in and though he'd snapped his antler off but snuck into one of his cousins later on and decided he need to go as he was identical, didn't realise the deer were inbred down here too hahaha

Stoked with my pig dog as she found her first ever deer saving me hours of searching in the crownfern, I'll take my dog with tracking gear everytime now! She hasn't had any deer training yet either just not to chase them

Took a mate out on Sunday afternoon and got close into 4 stags but they were giving is he run about moving off or shutting up at the last minute, so frustrating as I saw my mate close the gap and got within 50m but all of a sudden other stags sparked up everywhere and made him move off!

Only hunted 4 days this roar and it's been the best I've ever had surprisingly.






How bad have the carparks been for everyone? I heard there was 17 trucks up at kiwiburn!! You've got to wonder why the hell you'd risk hunting with that many people around.

----------


## Micky Duck

agree 100% about just having dog along with you....if they do NOTHING more than help find animal after you have shot it,they are worth thier weight in dog bikkies.

----------


## Sarvo

I am not envious of the great Stags taken 
But oh boy - that bush makes me GREEN all over :-(
That wallow pic and its surrounds - leaves me salivating

----------


## kiwigreen

Yep I'm a lucky bugger with this one, she bloody handy as she finds possums for me at work and can catch pigs and stalk deer with me so she gets the luxury of being an inside dog! Makes me wonder how many other deer I would've found in the past if I had a dog!

Here's a freshly used one for you mate haha awesome to hear lots of bird life too.

----------


## Chur Bay

Now that's a wallow

----------


## Crekyhills

My effort for the roar, 11pointer from the Molesworth

----------


## Danny

Wicked boys. 


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## tiroahunta

Closest thing this resembles a stag is that it starts with s n is male. transient spiker, most probably from a block of pines thats currently being clear felled. Was hanging around (other side of fence) a mob of hinds. Was a little pissed up. Shot with the mighty .223....




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## hebe

> Some ripper stags on here!
> 
> The weekend just gone was good in southland, on Saturday I heard well over 30 stags and snuck into 7 or so mostly just young ones roaring at nothing. First stag came flying in and though he'd snapped his antler off but snuck into one of his cousins later on and decided he need to go as he was identical, didn't realise the deer were inbred down here too hahaha
> 
> Stoked with my pig dog as she found her first ever deer saving me hours of searching in the crownfern, I'll take my dog with tracking gear everytime now! She hasn't had any deer training yet either just not to chase them
> 
> Took a mate out on Sunday afternoon and got close into 4 stags but they were giving is he run about moving off or shutting up at the last minute, so frustrating as I saw my mate close the gap and got within 50m but all of a sudden other stags sparked up everywhere and made him move off!
> 
> Only hunted 4 days this roar and it's been the best I've ever had surprisingly.
> ...



17 cars is a South Island crowd.. theres road ends in the Kawekas

----------


## Hiawatha

> Attachment 165073
> 
> One from my first trip of this roar, went down to some old areas in Southland I used to hunt as a student. Roaring was pretty light as we were a bit early. This guy got up out of his bed a wee way away from me and started roaring and working a beat looking for hinds. I couldnt see him and the wind was swirling and threatening to cut infront of what I presumed to be the direction he was heading. I had to do a fair bit of running when he roared to get the wind out of his path. When I thought Id lost his trail the dog would pick it up and work it, and where there was wind scent the dog would move in that direction.
> 2km later I came to quite a big creek. I thought it was all over rover but Finn led me to splash marks on the other side.
> As I stepped up out of the creek following the path the stag had travelled I spotted antlers waving so let out a wee moan and he stepped into a gap to look at me. As this happened the dog locked up and that was that really.
> 
> Probably one of  the best bits of work the dog has ever done and one of the older stags I have taken. A nice 11 with a snag that doesnt quite convert to a point  to make 12 points.
> Absolutely rapt.


Now that is a hunt and a great result too. Well done. You don't get that sort of hunt at 500 yards  :Wink:   :Grin:

----------


## hebe

17 cars is a South Island crowd.. theres road ends in the Kawekas that have that pretty regularly year round. But 17 for the kiwiburn seems like a hell of a lot.

----------


## Padox

Another tonight from central otago

----------


## Sideshow

Nice Buck you have there @Padox  :Thumbsup:

----------


## kiwigreen

> 17 cars is a South Island crowd.. theres road ends in the Kawekas that have that pretty regularly year round. But 17 for the kiwiburn seems like a hell of a lot.


Yeah a lot of pressure up there aye, most cars I've seen was 25 in the ti iringa carpark. Yeah I was surprised when I heard that. No one in the carpark where I was in the weekend.

----------


## chainsaw

very impressive brow tines on that buck. Cool

----------


## hebe

Another one from Southland from my second trip of the roar.. I passed up a few obviously young ones with potential before spotting this one holding a few hinds in some bluffs about 1km from my camp. He was easily a third bigger in body size than any other stag that was trying to steal his hinds.
I watched him for two days through the binos and my Nikon P1000 before deciding to have a better look and eventually pulled the trigger once I’d gotten there..

I wanted an older master type stag and while I’m happy with my decision to take him, I’m not sure that I assessed his age properly and I’d like some opinions on his age?

Some background. He was living out in the tussock and scrub. The area where he was living was well chewed out, I’ve never seen deer damage like it.
His body was in shit condition, he looked skinny through the guts but had a heavy front half of his body so I assumed he was older and had just been rutting for a while. He’d gone orange under the skin and looked like this had been going on for a while.. The pedicles while not super high on the skull weren’t overly big in diameter and timber wasn’t much to speak of.

Any guesses on age? 
.

----------


## Yesmate

last chance roar hunt for me,he wasnt roaring but still following hinds around.

----------


## chainsaw

Nice tops on him. Well done

----------


## mawzer308

What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!

----------


## chainsaw

Outstanding that’s a picture and memory to treasure. Well done Dad

----------


## Tahr

Last night.

----------


## Chur Bay

> What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!
> 
> Attachment 165481


What a great first stag! They don't get much better than that.  :Cool:

----------


## NRT

> Last night.
> 
> Attachment 165491


Will it go 200 Ds nice buck

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## Rees

> Will it go 200 Ds nice buck


NBNY   :Wink:

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## Rees

Some certainty that the lack of last years roar hunting due to covid 19 pandemic was really good for the Stags!

Alot got that one more year older and it shows by this Thread!!     

which is what happened with the WAR back in the day on the Otago herd, but the war kept people out of the hills a little longer than the Coverdup19 so there was some stock of great size.

nice to see what stock has been shot up this year  :Psmiley:   :Grin:  ha haaa

----------


## Tahr

> What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!
> 
> Attachment 165481


Simply wonderful.

----------


## kiwijames

I really didn't think about it but this is my first solo roaring Sika this Saturday. 
Southern Kaweka's. Shit weather but things went to plan with this guy coming in to me from a good distance. Looks like he's damaged a pedicle so a reasonable 6 is now a 3 (that identifies as a unicorn).

----------


## Mooseman

> Last night.
> 
> Attachment 165491


That's a pretty good buck you got there, nice one.

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## Tahr

> That's a pretty good buck you got there, nice one.


Ta @Mooseman Brian and I had a great overnighter. He got a buck too but not good enough to bring home. We were out looking for an exceptional buck that we saw in the velvet but didn't come across him.

----------


## Micky Duck

the headgear might not be worth taking home,but thats a nice floor rug.

----------


## Trout

Well done Brian,il chase them in a couple of weeks.

----------


## Brian

They've lost a lot of condition.

----------


## Padox

Mate and I caught up with this buck today absolute stonker 247 4/8ds was almost an argument as we both shot it haha

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## Gibo

> What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!
> 
> Attachment 165481


That is one hell of a jap by anyone's standards. well done lad!!

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## Trout

DS 247,woow thats a big set of head gear.Well done.

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## Tahr

> Will it go 200 Ds nice buck
> 
> Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk


Nah. Hasn't got the length. Nice though.

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## Nathan F

> Last night.
> 
> Attachment 165491


What a cold blooded killer .... Could have left it for another few years

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## Tahr

> What a cold blooded killer .... Could have left it for another few years


But then I would have been far too mature to even get out into the trees.
Anyway, they are still making them  :Have A Nice Day:

----------


## Ross Nolan

Not mine, shot within hearing of SH1.

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## Lucky

> What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!
> 
> Attachment 165481


That is a very fine Sika by anyones standards , well done

----------


## Mooseman

> What a day to remember, lost for words really. Riley shot his first stag, an 8 point Sika in some very trying conditions, patience was key and it all payed off!!
> 
> Attachment 165481


That's a stunning sika, well done to the both of you.

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## jono7

Not the biggest 8, but exciting in the tight stuff

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## Mooseman

> Attachment 165685
> Not the biggest 8, but exciting in the tight stuff


Still a very good stag, you should be happy with that one.

----------


## PerazziSC3

Found a 15 that I lost a few weeks ago. Very happy.

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## Moa Hunter

> Attachment 165685
> Not the biggest 8, but exciting in the tight stuff


Is that a Sika Hybrid  ??

----------


## nor-west

Great result  :Thumbsup:

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## 7mmwsm

> Is that a Sika Hybrid  ??


Has me wondering too.

----------


## 6x47

Be interesting to see a sideways shot of its head and also the tail end to see it there's a black stripe from the rump down to the tail.

----------


## Noswal



----------


## Mathias

> Is that a Sika Hybrid  ??


Cross breed is the word @Moa Hunter 
They're both cervus

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## Pushover

sika quiet over last few days in kaimanawas where I was. This young fella he hawed ~150m away and came in nicely to a single call and mew.  
I wonder if there's a peak period of action to come or not?

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## Moa Hunter

> Cross breed is the word @Moa Hunter 
> They're both cervus
> 
> Sent from my SM-A530F using Tapatalk


Both Cervus but different sub species ( elaphus and nippon) therefore Hybrid. Jersey x Friesian = Crossbreed. Jersey x Brahman = Hybrid

----------


## Mathias

> Both Cervus but different sub species ( elaphus and nippon) therefore Hybrid. Jersey x Friesian = Crossbreed. Jersey x Brahman = Hybrid


 :Grin:

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## jono7

> Is that a Sika Hybrid  ??


Not really sure mate, didnt photo his arse end, but was more white than cream/yellow. I wouldnt say he had a massive body, was able to get both back legs and steaks in my 25l backpack. Ive never encountered one, but have heard of them coming out of the area, so definitely could be. He was he-haw calling like a sika off his pads and did a circuit around me and came into the one I had gone back to.
Ill send you a pic of the skull cap when Ive cleaned it up a bit more, be interested in your thoughts 
Cheers

----------


## Hiawatha

> But then I would have been far too mature to even get out into the trees.
> Anyway, they are still making them


I think we must reach an age where we are forgiven for being and allowed to be, non selective, and selectively shooting them all. My parents taught me to be polite Tahr, so I will not postulate on whether or not you have reached that age yet  :Wink:  :Grin:  :Thumbsup:

----------


## Huntn

> Is that a Sika Hybrid  ??


Looks all sika to me. What makes you think it might be a hybrid?

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## turtle

Grandsons effort Franklin, Pukekohe area . I'm in Haast, still trying to understand why God gave us supplejack...

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## 7mmwsm

Slightly red looking facial features and low flat brows. Sika tend to point up from the coronet more than reds, like Pushovers one. Could be a deceptive camera angle though.
 edit Re Huntn question

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## jono7

> Slightly red looking facial features and low flat brows. Sika tend to point up from the coronet more than reds, like Pushovers one. Could be a deceptive camera angle though.
>  edit Re Huntn question


First photo was “on the spot “. He was much darker than the first photo showed, so maybe this a better angle.  Body wise I thought he was quite solid, back steaks are good.
I chased a stag on the single call in the same spot in the roar before COVID, so maybe the same one? Who knows? Interested in any thoughts.
Cheers

----------


## Huntn

> Slightly red looking facial features and low flat brows. Sika tend to point up from the coronet more than reds, like Pushovers one. Could be a deceptive camera angle though.
>  edit Re Huntn question


Interesting. To me his facial features and brows are all sika. Camera angle definitely not the best tho.

----------


## Huntn

> Attachment 165789
> First photo was “on the spot “. He was much darker than the first photo showed, so maybe this a better angle.  Body wise I thought he was quite solid, back steaks are good.
> I chased a stag on the single call in the same spot in the roar before COVID, so maybe the same one? Who knows? Interested in any thoughts.
> Cheers


Thats a better photo, nice sika well done

----------


## Tahr

> hey bruce,is that whats called a guardtine off the botton of the palm?


Yes, Scroll through this. Its marked in blue. FishnHunt - New Zealands Famous Hunting and Fishing Forum Since 1995 - Douglas scoring system

----------


## 7mmwsm

> Interesting. To me his facial features and brows are all sika. Camera angle definitely not the best tho.


Different picture makes him look different. 
Still a stag to be happy with what ever his ancestry is.

----------


## Moa Hunter

> Looks all sika to me. What makes you think it might be a hybrid?


In the first photo I thought that it looked different to what I would expect in the coat and head. I dont have any personal experience with Sika but I have a very good eye for assessing animals. A hybrid animal doesnt have to be 50/50, it could be 25% or 12.5% red easily enough. The Fiordland Waps DNA at around 60 ish percent Wap for example. I thought it might have a sniff of Red ? I am just interested in what people with experience with Sika think so I can add that to my knowledge

----------


## Nickoli

> In the first photo I thought that it looked different to what I would expect in the coat and head. I dont have any personal experience with Sika but I have a very good eye for assessing animals. A hybrid animal doesnt have to be 50/50, it could be 25% or 12.5% red easily enough. The Fiordland Waps DNA at around 60 ish percent Wap for example. I thought it might have a sniff of Red ? I am just interested in what people with experience with Sika think so I can add that to my knowledge


Hoping they get a Douglas Score and run over the Withey score to check for whether there is conformity; that is the measure of whether something is "hybrid" or not - it's got nothing to do with some bloke on a forum with no personal experience with Sika saying they look funny....in spite of having "a very good ey e for assessing animals" - I'm sure if you read your comment again, you'll realize how silly that sounds.... :XD:  
Not a dig mate - just an observation that there is a bit of prejudice and skepticism around Sika with any suggestion of Red influence - rather than just saying: "Good job mate - I'd be happy to hang that on my wall."

----------


## Tahr

> Attachment 165789
> First photo was on the spot . He was much darker than the first photo showed, so maybe this a better angle.  Body wise I thought he was quite solid, back steaks are good.
> I chased a stag on the single call in the same spot in the roar before COVID, so maybe the same one? Who knows? Interested in any thoughts.
> Cheers


That's a ripper!

I would be as pleased as punch with that.

----------


## Moa Hunter

> Hoping they get a Douglas Score and run over the Withey score to check for whether there is conformity; that is the measure of whether something is "hybrid" or not - it's got nothing to do with some bloke on a forum with no personal experience with Sika saying they look funny....in spite of having "a very good ey e for assessing animals" - I'm sure if you read your comment again, you'll realize how silly that sounds.... 
> Not a dig mate - just an observation that there is a bit of prejudice and skepticism around Sika with any suggestion of Red influence - rather than just saying: "Good job mate - I'd be happy to hang that on my wall."


Appreciate the honest reply. My interest is in breeding animals and their hybrids and crosses, certainly not wanting to knock someone's trophy or un-wittingly make a suggestion that is unwelcome. I dont know if many people know but the incredible multi pointing that we see in trophy park Red Deer comes from Sika blood in those reds via Woburn Abbey (Duke of Bedford) stock. This is interesting from the point that Sika have a comparatively plain head, yet the addition of Sika blood can produce extreme multi-pointing

----------


## Tui4Me

> Attachment 165789
> First photo was on the spot . He was much darker than the first photo showed, so maybe this a better angle.  Body wise I thought he was quite solid, back steaks are good.
> I chased a stag on the single call in the same spot in the roar before COVID, so maybe the same one? Who knows? Interested in any thoughts.
> Cheers


It's got a lot of Sika going for it..

1. Appears to have smaller Sika skull length
2. Gap between coronet and brow tines 
3. Brow and trey tines slope outwards not fowards
4. Heavy purling
5. Great reinforcing ridgeline above the brow tines on both antlers
6. Outer tops longer than inner tops

Awesome Stag  :Have A Nice Day:

----------


## Danny

Great stag, awesome to see. 


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## Mooseman

Regardless of its bloodline, any eight is a good one, a lot of people who hunt Sika never score one so well done .

----------


## Preacher

Well, we didn't zap his bro today @jono7 but a pleasant walk with a good bugger no less.

----------


## Moa Hunter

> It's got a lot of Sika going for it..
> 
> 1. Appears to have smaller Sika skull length
> 2. Gap between coronet and brow tines 
> 3. Brow and trey tines slope outwards not fowards
> 4. Heavy purling
> 5. Great reinforcing ridgeline above the brow tines on both antlers
> 6. Outer tops longer than inner tops
> 
> Awesome Stag


From my limited understanding of Sika we have several strains of Sika from different geographic areas in Asia which might explain different phenotypes here. A bit like the great colour variation in Fallow

----------


## jono7

> Well, we didn't zap his bro today @jono7 but a pleasant walk with a good bugger no less.


Enjoyed the walk with ya mate, and the very end of the hunt proves if you give a roar, one really should keep an eye out for something coming in instead of having a durry and a chat, especially so close to an unseen scrape, they seem to bust ya 
Cheers

----------


## tamamutu

I took my  eye dog X Visla for a bit of a walk this morning to one of our haunts,  well blow me down she locked onto this deer about 200m from where my vehicle was parked. The rest was simple. The dogs first 8 pointer .

----------


## jono7

> I took my  eye dog X Visla for a bit of a walk this morning to one of our haunts,  well blow me down she locked onto this deer about 200m from where my vehicle was parked. The rest was simple. The dogs first 8 pointer . Attachment 165922Attachment 165921


Nice .
Bit quiet this morning

----------


## 30late

The results of my recent trip into the north western Ruahines,
 last one is the trophy Buck possum that was coming into our camp making a mess and disturbing my sleep. Dispatched with a Rich Ruby port bottle that I kept handy beside my sleeping bag!!!!!

----------


## Chur Bay

Some nice stags there :Cool:

----------


## Dundee

Woohoo on the board for 2021 spotted from 400 yards stalked into 20 and just as he stood up I sent in the 7mm08 pill to the neck and dropped him!!

----------


## charliehorse

No trusty .22 through the eye...????

----------


## Bos

Not the biggest stag shot this roar, but definitely the first for the 10 year old Grandson right at the end of the roar.
Grandad, being the techno-whizz that he is, then proceeded to delete all the proud -as-punch photos off the camera before they had uploaded - talk about gutted!!!
But then as the boy said,"I'll always have the memory and the head Grandad"

----------


## Yesmate

> The results of my recent trip into the north western Ruahines,
> Attachment 165943Attachment 165944Attachment 165945Attachment 165946 last one is the trophy Buck possum that was coming into our camp making a mess and disturbing my sleep. Dispatched with a Rich Ruby port bottle that I kept handy beside my sleeping bag!!!!!


great ruahines stags there

----------


## PerazziSC3

Bit greener in the north island...
My best fallow, pretty good for the area I'm in

----------


## SGR

Always heard the expression hunt your feet first, but this was the first time it’s been applicable. No less than 200m from our camp my mate spotted some antlers in the creek bed. Got a bit closer and at 70m I was amazed how massive it looked through the binos. Had to wait for what seemed like an age for him to expose himself into a shootable position  :Thumbsup:  first stag for both of us still pumped

----------


## Pushover

Faarken cracka stag there chaps. Going to be hard to best that one. Enjoy

----------


## gimp

Public land buck.

----------


## kukuwai

> Public land buck.
> 
> Attachment 166096


Wicked 

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## Mooseman

Nice stags and Bucks guys keep them coming

----------


## Mohawk .308

I got this stag this afternoon, he was chasing a hind, she came straight towards me to within 3 metre of me before she spotted me and bolted the other way. The stag was to interested in her and didn’t see me. Shame about one side.

----------


## Hunteast

Was the stag carrying an injury - anywhere on the legs? Classic sign of left leg injury resulting in right antler deformation. Refer the late Bruce Banwell book archives. I have shot a few - Sika and Reds similar when leg injury resulting in one deformed antler opposite side. Though not absolute.

----------


## Mohawk .308

> Was the stag carrying an injury - anywhere on the legs? Classic sign of left leg injury resulting in right antler deformation. Refer the late Bruce Banwell book archives. I have shot a few - Sika and Reds similar when leg injury resulting in one deformed antler opposite side. Though not absolute.


Didnt notice anything unusual, there is a bit of a ring/ bulge on the deformed side. Was wondering if he damaged it in the velvet

----------


## Micky Duck

man I reckon that head looks just awesome THE WAY IT IS....

----------


## Moa Hunter

> Didnt notice anything unusual, there is a bit of a ring/ bulge on the deformed side. Was wondering if he damaged it in the velvet


You are correct the ring bulge is from an injury - a partial break, which has upset that antler. Great unique trophy

----------


## Tahr



----------


## Hunty1

> Public land buck.
> 
> Attachment 166096


Absolute cracker! 223 doing the business.

----------


## Nathan F

This record breaker ....

----------


## Trout

Hi MoHawk 308,well done.Its like yr stag got a sword for his right side defence system.Trophy sword.

----------


## Tahr

Its pretty much over for the reds in the Wairarapa where I hunt. Old stag I shot last night was off on his own up a quiet gully scoffing his head off.

Fallow bucks still doing the rounds and hanging with the hinds.

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## Mohawk .308

> Hi MoHawk 308,well done.Its like yr stag got a sword for his right side defence system.Trophy sword.


Yeah, I reckon he would have done alright in a scrap  :Thumbsup:

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## Danny

> Its pretty much over for the reds in the Wairarapa where I hunt. Old stag I shot last night was off on his own up a quiet gully scoffing his head off.
> 
> Fallow bucks still doing the rounds and hanging with the hinds.


Yep, deathly quiet here today. 


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## Mohawk .308

> Yep, deathly quiet here today. 
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I only heard two distant hee haws yesterday and they were just on dark

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## bigbear

Its been over here for couple weeks on the farm, (wild red deer) seen a few stags together out feeding over the weekend not with hinds but hinds nearby.  The odd one might fire back in to life when a late hind comes in season but for now all its about is finding feed.

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## Pushover

> I only heard two distant hee haws yesterday and they were just on dark


was there a peak roar period? I went down twice 1 week apart and was quiet vocally. Plenty of animals moving around though on first trip

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## Mohawk .308

> was there a peak roar period? I went down twice 1 week apart and was quiet vocally. Plenty of animals moving around though on first trip


I’d say probably from the 8th till the 16th of April

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## Danny

> I only heard two distant hee haws yesterday and they were just on dark


Im still in red country  hopeful. Just heard one!!!

Seen two, a hind, I could have taken and one stag ass lol. He didnt see me he just meandered away. 


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## Gamehunter

The girls should near all be tupped by now so the boys will be feeding.

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## hebe

Last one of my roar I think.My mate and I heard this guy open his gob down a small gut. I had my mate sit on a spur and roar every 3 mins as the dog and I snuck in. 23 mins later that was it.

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## Joe_90

How do you catch a unique stag?

Unique up on it....

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## Danny

Awesome  


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## Nathan F

We shot this stinky donkey on Anzac Day evening. Out in the open feeding up alone.  
Big bodied old lad with a small head

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## Nathan F

An 11 pointer I shot 6 weeks ago.

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## Tahr

Last night. 29.5x30

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## Mooseman

Ripper buck ,you are sure slaying them , Well Done.

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## kukuwai

It must be goodie if @Tahr left the cape on. 

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## Tahr

> It must be goodie if @Tahr left the cape on. 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Simply my best ever.

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## kukuwai

Awesome stuff, congrats you deserve it !!!  

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## Nathan F

> Simply my best ever.


 @Tahr well done . Well deserved

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## hebe

> Simply my best ever.


Fantastic @Tahr. I hope Tilly was involved?

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## Tahr

> Fantastic @Tahr. I hope Tilly was involved?


Yes, she was. Wouldn't have got it without her. She was wonderful.

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## Padox

another good central head

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## Trout

Occasionally i see them north of Tarras. :Wink: Nice Trophy you got there,well done.

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## Moa Hunter

> Attachment 166385another good central head


Not as good as your last one 'The monster' this one but very heavy in the beam

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## Mr300WSM

> Attachment 166385another good central head


A buck like that haunts my dreams  :Have A Nice Day: 
Well done

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## Padox

Yes very heavy timber very character head a very old boy the "monster/moose will take some beating

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## Larskramer

Here's a few of mine from the past 4 weeks.
Spiker sika my mate head shot at 200


My first sika stag , first animal roared in.


My first fellow buck



A cracker of an 8


A slightly runtier 8 with a good body

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## Mohawk .308

Shit mate your first sika stags a goodie

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## Larskramer

That's what I have been told, was shot day 3 on my 10 day trip... head skin got destroyed from the elements... so will be looking out for another one if anyone gets one... happy to pay for it of course.

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## Mad_Fisho

Some absolute ripper stags in here, nice work guys!! 

Here's some I got on the deck. Pulled the camera rather than the trigger on a few others.

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## piwakawaka

Mate who I spent the roar with went back to one of the areas we stayed for 
a week this weekend and smoked this absolute kaimai ripper

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## charliehorse

Niiiice

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## Carbine

lost this fella but found him after 3 days looking and a month later

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## Sarvo

[QUOTE=Mad_Fisho;1156235]Some absolute ripper stags in here, nice work guys!! 

Here's some I got on the deck. Pulled the camera rather than the trigger on a few others.

When did you get the Sika 
After Pureora at Honk's ??

Lovely Stag !!!

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## Sarvo

[QUOTE=Carbine;1167624]

lost this fella but found him after 3 days looking and a month later 

He was well worth finding !!!

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## Tahr

Post rut stag the evening of the blood red moon.

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## Strummer

What projectile did you use there @Tahr?

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## Tahr

> What projectile did you use there @Tahr?


7-08. 140grn SST. 2.8K. 184 yards.

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## Mad_Fisho

[QUOTE=Sarvo;1167635]


> Some absolute ripper stags in here, nice work guys!! 
> 
> Here's some I got on the deck. Pulled the camera rather than the trigger on a few others.
> 
> When did you get the Sika 
> After Pureora at Honk's ??
> 
> Lovely Stag !!!


Yeah was a few weeks after the Honk's trip. Went back into the Ruahines after Honk's, then into Kaimanawas and got that small 6pt sika, then back in again and got the 8. The 8 was first week of May.

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## PerazziSC3

Happy with this one

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## Mohawk .308

Awesome buck :Thumbsup:

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## chainsaw

wow, well done - that's a huge trophy buck

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## Cigar

Awesome head, looks like hes had a hard autumn bodywise.

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## kukuwai

Shit !! That's beautiful 

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## Remmodel7

Teaser

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## Remmodel7

Any guesses in the age of this stag?
No sign of beys so I don't think he was going to get much better

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## Micky Duck

as old as its going to get...definately wont get any older.

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## stagslayer 12

the roar of 2021 wasn,t too bad  :Wink:  made up for 2020s roar  :Wink:

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## PerazziSC3

Another nice fallow, not huge palms but long, wide with plenty of style

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## Rendogg

here’s a couple I got

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## chainsaw

Ripper buck, well done.

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## mawzer308

After a crappy start to the day, which resulted in tracking a wounded stag for over 700m with the dog and not recovering, I finished the day with this fella.

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## Mohawk .308

> After a crappy start to the day, which resulted in tracking a wounded stag for over 700m with the dog and not recovering, I finished the day with this fella.
> 
> Attachment 171829


Did you here any roaring? I heard a jap territory call on Friday and found a fresh scrape.

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## mawzer308

Yip still a couple hee-hawing, dark belly and still a bit smelly too. End of the day, it all depends on the girls.

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## Raging Bull

Finally got around to blooding the 45-70, just a young'n. 

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## Pixie Z

I meant to post this a while ago. But got my first ever roar stag in mid-April & my first stag bigger than a spiker. Have always just targeted spikers & hinds before. Had hit the same area a couple weeks prior but only heard a handful of roars. Went back in & they were going hard. Was on one side of a big clearing when I heard this guy roaring in the bush over the other side. So I crept around the bottom of the clearing & across the other side. Positioned myself behind a small bush just inside the clearing & let out a roar. Next thing he appeared on the bush edge 8m away. Definitely not the oldest or biggest stag in the world, but being both my first proper stag & the first one I’ve roared all the way in I was happy to pull the trigger & stoked with the result.

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## Rees

> Finally got around to blooding the 45-70, just a young'n. 
> 
> Sent from my LYA-L29 using Tapatalk


kiwis spotlight the sambar too?  is it that they are too difficult in the day or? 

some major trend with night time an spotlights an recently thermals for use for Aussies to try bag their Sambar...  im not sure how they did it in the 1960s  with open sight rifles of less power than 6.5creeps

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## Mooseman

> kiwis spotlight the sambar too?  is it that they are too difficult in the day or? 
> 
> some major trend with night time an spotlights an recently thermals for use for Aussies to try bag their Sambar...  im not sure how they did it in the 1960s  with open sight rifles of less power than 6.5creeps


Yep in the area we hunt sambar it gets a fair bit of spotlight/thermal pressure, I supose it is easier to get a sambar in the light but I much prefer beating them at there own game in their environment.

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## 40mm

@superdiver guess what.

I got this magnificiant beast 100m from the house.
He was with two others, one of which I would have also got if there wasnt a house behind it.


And the also magnificient hunting wagon....

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## kukuwai

Well what i want to know is.... why the hell isn't the top of that green bottle !! 

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## 40mm

> Well what i want to know is.... why the hell isn't the top of that green bottle !! 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


I know! Dont worry, that bottle top didnt live much longer....

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## 7mmwsm

> Well what i want to know is.... why the hell isn't the top of that green bottle !! 
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


Because it's green.
He drinks brown bottles with green labels when he's at my place.

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## superdiver

> @superdiver guess what.
> 
> I got this magnificiant beast 100m from the house.
> He was with two others, one of which I would have also got if there wasnt a house behind it.
> Attachment 174596
> 
> And the also magnificient hunting wagon....
> Attachment 174598


Glorious mate. Was nice to meet you today, shame we couldn't deal to those fallow haha

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## chainsaw

Stag from this years roar all cleaned up Euro mount.

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## Mohawk .308

Thats a ripper

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## Tahr

I had this scored last week. 238 DS

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## Gkp

@chainsaw nice head mate. Looks like good length, what did it measure?

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## Gkp

@Tahr 238 that's good going, well done!

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## Padox

Good work tahr a good head

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## chainsaw

> @chainsaw nice head mate. Looks like good length, what did it measure?


33in one side and 34in other

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## ando2506

Fallow Buck from this years rut. Scored 255 1/8

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## Moa Hunter

That would be the best one ever posted on the forum I think. Perfect !

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## Padox

Have u had it scored @ando2505 ??

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## Gibo

> Have u had it scored @ando2505 ??


Its in his post 255 1/8

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## Tahr

> Fallow Buck from this years rut. Scored 255 1/8
> 
> Attachment 175377


Just, WOW!

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## top of the south

That's a cracker fallow head.
They seem to be getting better over the last few years.
I got this one a couple of weeks ago haven't had it officially  score but measured it myself came out 229

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## Mooseman

Both those fallow bucks are beauties, good to see you posted a picture of your buck Rod.

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## Hunty1

> Fallow Buck from this years rut. Scored 255 1/8
> 
> Attachment 175377



Ripper! Gotta be happy with that! 

Guessing by antler color not Blue mtns?  Public land or private?

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## Tahr

> Both those fallow bucks are beauties, good to see you posted a picture of your buck Rod.


What makes Rod's really special is the effort and perseverance that went into getting it.

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## kukuwai

> What makes Rod's really special is the effort and perseverance that went into getting it.


I believe that is what makes them all special 

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## Grantn

Not the biggest trophy on here but it was a great hunt up high in the snow. He had fantastic deep red colouring on his antlers.

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## Tahr

> Not the biggest trophy on here but it was a great hunt up high in the snow. He had fantastic deep red colouring on his antlers.
> Attachment 175483


2 trophies there. The deer and the pic.

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## mawzer308

Scrubby 7pt Sika from a few weeks ago.

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## Tahr

> Not the biggest trophy on here but it was a great hunt up high in the snow. He had fantastic deep red colouring on his antlers.
> Attachment 175483


I wonder what he used to strip on to get that beautiful colour?

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## Moa Hunter

> Fallow Buck from this years rut. Scored 255 1/8
> 
> Attachment 175377


Just wondering re score, was it Douglas or SCI ?

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## Huntn

Few stags from back in April. Was definitely bit more productive than April last year.

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## Stocky

> Few stags from back in April. Was definitely bit more productive than April last year.


Holy shit that's a whitetail! Have your scored the thing must be a record book animal! The sika are all pretty nice too.

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## Tahr

> Few stags from back in April. Was definitely bit more productive than April last year.


More WOWs!

Lock down is good - it brings out some great trophy pics and posts.

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## ando2506

@Huntn great looking animals- that whitetail would have to be the best I've seen out of NZ. Makes my scrubby 7pt look like a baby !!!! Congratulations.

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## Huntn

> Holy shit that's a whitetail! Have your scored the thing must be a record book animal! The sika are all pretty nice too.


Yeah had it scored, just snuck into the record books!...192 ds

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## Danny

DBs all round! Mean. 


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## Tahr

> Yeah had it scored, just snuck into the record books!...192 ds


120 DS to get into the record book. I think the Hammond head from the Rees tops it at 207. Yours is a monster.

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## Hydro

Well done Larskramer? Is that an eight or nine point Sika?

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## Carbine

> Well done Larskramer? Is that an eight or nine point Sika?


?

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## Stocky

> Yeah had it scored, just snuck into the record books!...192 ds


An Island buck or mainland?

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## outdoorlad

> An Island buck or mainland?



Stewart Island

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## Trout

That WT beast makes my WT look small at 156DS which was about number 38 in NZ about 16yrs ago.The above WT is a amazing trophy.

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## Huntn

> That WT beast makes my WT look small at 156DS which was about number 38 in NZ about 16yrs ago.The above WT is a amazing trophy.


Yes it is a ripper *Trout* but so is yours. Anything over the 130-140ds mark is a hell of a head if you ask me.
I shot my one on my 3rd trip to the Island, 1st was about 15 years ago with couple of mates and then last 2 trips have been recent & by myself searching for a buck.
Anything over the 100-120ds I would of been more than happy with as my goal was to shoot a representative head of each of the 7 NZ deer species. The whitetail was the last I needed and has ended up being the best so far!

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## Tahr

> Yes it is a ripper *Trout* but so is yours. Anything over the 130-140ds mark is a hell of a head if you ask me.
> I shot my one on my 3rd trip to the Island, 1st was about 15 years ago with couple of mates and then last 2 trips have been recent & by myself searching for a buck.
> Anything over the 100-120ds I would of been more than happy with as my goal was to shoot a representative head of each of the 7 NZ deer species. The whitetail was the last I needed and has ended up being the best so far!


Would love you to write a story about getting the 7 species. Im at 5 but will never get a Wap now and probably not a Whitetail.

Well done!

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## Micky Duck

never say never bud.....Ive got samber,rusa and wap to go.

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## kukuwai

> my goal was to shoot a representative head of each of the 7 NZ deer species. The whitetail was the last I needed and has ended up being the best so far!


Proof that you can do anything if you put your mind to it !!
 @Tahr never say never mate. I believe that you are still capable of getting a wap  

My great uncle summeted Mt Aspiring at age 79. He had total belief that he would do it. Complete with his trusty wooden handled walking axe, much to the amusement of the guides 



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## kukuwai

Jinx MD  

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## Mooseman

Huntn those are some real nice Sika and the Whitetail is nothing short of exceptional well done.

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## NRT

Would love a Fallow Stag on public over two hundred ds before I leave this mortal coil seen the odd one but rather loch Ness ish

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## ando2506

@NRT there's some good blood up Central Otago atm.  Saw an absolute cracker in the Blue Mts this year . Estimated him at 230 DS . Wind got me tough. I'll hopefully catch up with him next year.

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## NRT

Only really hunt the blueys for Fallow it's got so much better in my life time for numbers but still antler exclusive beasts clever pressure 

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## Huntn

> Would love you to write a story about getting the 7 species. Im at 5 but will never get a Wap now and probably not a Whitetail.
> 
> Well done!


When I get me my big public land fallow buck *Tahr* I'll do a write up for the forum!

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## superdiver

> When I get me my big public land fallow buck *Tahr* I'll do a write up for the forum!


Any pics of your representative rusa? That I think must be up there with one of if not the hardest to get of the 7 representative heads

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## Pongo12

Got him home, happy days. The young fella is stoked 312ds.

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## Sideshow

Might need a higher ceiling lol

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## Tahr

> Got him home, happy days. The young fella is stoked 312ds.
> 
> Attachment 183224


Who did the mount?

----------


## Pongo12

Jason from ruahine taxidermy

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## Trout

Very nice,312ds up with the best for a pure wild deer.Good effort.

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## Mooseman

That mount has come up real sweet, nice to be in the 300 club well done.

----------


## Harryg

Mai demands a walk most weekends now, There's a couple of spots I can go to that have a few animals.
When we went to the usual spot the grass was that long and wet we got soaked to the waist. Bugger this I thought might as well go home again.
When we got back to the truck I decided to go and check another block I can hunt on. when we got there the grass was nice and short and really green. 
Didn't have to walk very far before I spotted these two grazing. I had a good rest picked out the big guy first. wouldn't have been much more that 100 yards. he dropped on the spot.  smaller stag ran on about 20 yards and stopped. To good an chance to pass up.so took him out to. ten minute walk 2 deer on ground, best bit was I could drive to where they fell to the 6.5x55, then had to call a friend to help lift 
the big stag. gave him the little one for his troubles.  and have taken the big stag to the local fishing club for Christmas BBQ
Really good when you can recover all the animal

----------


## Sideshow

Yeah ok not a stag but my best buck to date.

----------


## caberslash

> Yeah ok not a stag but my best buck to date. 
> Attachment 186513


Where in Englandshire is that?

----------


## Sideshow

Berkshire about 60 mile from London. The farmer just gave me the go ahead to knock over as many as I want.
Fallow out here there are huge numbers. In a 10 mile radius Id say there would be easily 500 fallow. They get into big groups to. 50 is considered small.

----------


## thatguy

> Yeah ok not a stag but my best buck to date. 
> Attachment 186513


Cool looking buck, and gorgeous rifle @Sideshow

----------


## Ham 7mm

Very nice rifle, what is it?

----------


## Sideshow

BSA cf2 restocked nz walnut true flight barrel 7x57 pillar and full Action bedded. That shot was 180 yards off the sticks. Not a lot of hart left for me to chew on lol. Better neck shoot the next one :Thumbsup:

----------


## Micky Duck

who did the stock???wasnt Laurie perchance....

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## Sideshow

@Micky Duck Nar was a guy here in the uk.......he took ages too :X X:  :Oh Noes:  but it came up well I thing I have posted this one before in the BSA thread.
The sling is from nz as well and has been on every rifle that if shot deer with. Made from one of my dads old drenching packs. 1979 era

----------


## Sideshow

Pages 12 and 13 is all about the rifles build for those that are interested. 
https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....2/index12.html

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