Thread: Best Trophy’s from previous roars

My old mans stag from 2017, an old 9 pointer. He came charging in to our roars from 500+m away.
Was a great sight to see!

Originally Posted by Liam258

My old mans stag from 2017, an old 9 pointer. He came charging in to our roars from 500+m away.
Was a great sight to see!

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@Liam man that looks like a huge head! In length.

Originally Posted by Sideshow

@Liam man that looks like a huge head! In length.

He went 43” from memory. Was a nice easy shot at 20m, but difficult carrying his head and meat out!

Lovely little Roe. My favourite deer.

Very cool thread this.

2015 Roar, 39.5” long

Here's a few Sambar Stags form last several years. First is from 2016, then 2018 and 2019. DS are 197 , 170 , 212.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Here's a few Sambar Stags form last several years. First is from 2016, then 2018 and 2019. DS are 197 , 170 , 212.

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Bloody hell they are nice Sambar , , been reading Phil Chalmers book on Sambar and Rusa while on Lockdown , very well researched book

In 2010 when I was a young teenager Dad took me on my first fly in trip to Fiordland. We had an awesome week of superb weather and roaring stags. Towards the end of the week we had already shot a couple and our hunting mates had laid eyes on a big stag thrashing some bush south of camp but never got a shot. Early in the morning we headed off and it wasn’t long until we could hear roaring. Letting some roars back it wasn’t long and a nice young stag came into us and we spooked him. Continuing on the bellowing got louder and louder until he was well pissed off and started marching in towards us. Dad saw him first marching through some swampy country but just as he lined up the stag turned and crossed directly into my shooting lane. Up with the mighty Sako .243 and one shot dropped him on the spot. I can still remember the moment of realisation of how big his antlers looked in the scope. He went 11 points as he dropped one tine on a top and missed out on 12. Still my best to this day and still my favourite hunting trip I have been on.

Sorry about the photos, pretty grainy and poor quality. Need to dig the originals out from somewhere. Funnily enough he is my profile photo for this forum.

Turned him for you

2017 roar
Still my first best stag, hadn’t pulled a trigger on a stag since him until February this year

2018's effort. 33 inches long x 41 inches wide off public land in Southland. I've hunted in the area since I was a young teenager and this animal is the best one I'd ever seen in there. I reckon he was 8-9 years old.

This particular day my Dad and I had been following a stag around for three or four hours as he would roar and push his hinds away. We kept at it and eventually ended up on the edge of a little swampy clearing. We could see a hind running back and forward as something harassed her. She was beside herself and would hardly stand still at all. Dad said the stag was a rubbish one and we were just about to move away when I saw this guy chasing the hind around. As I raised the rifle Dad hissed at me not to shoot. As it stepped into a gap in the beech I shot him in the lungs.

Dad was pleasantly surprised when we got up there as he had been watching a tiny little 6 pter. The big guy must have sent him packing. The best part was that the little clearing was our camp clearing and after an almighty carry of 100 metres we were back at camp!

Love that stag. Big old and public land

Originally Posted by hebe

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2018's effort. 33 inches long x 41 inches wide off public land in Southland. I've hunted in the area since I was a young teenager and this animal is the best one I'd ever seen in there. I reckon he was 8-9 years old.

This particular day my Dad and I had been following a stag around for three or four hours as he would roar and push his hinds away. We kept at it and eventually ended up on the edge of a little swampy clearing. We could see a hind running back and forward as something harassed her. She was beside herself and would hardly stand still at all. Dad said the stag was a rubbish one and we were just about to move away when I saw this guy chasing the hind around. As I raised the rifle Dad hissed at me not to shoot. As it stepped into a gap in the beech I shot him in the lungs.

Dad was pleasantly surprised when we got up there as he had been watching a tiny little 6 pter. The big guy must have sent him packing. The best part was that the little clearing was our camp clearing and after an almighty carry of 100 metres we were back at camp!

Love that stag. Big, old and public land

Here's one for you. A few years back during the roar (about five) I had been crook with the flu. Bad timing. Really bad timing. Really! I finally came right and got to a point where I could undertake a very gentle stroll. Nothing more. Where I was going to hunt had seen a bunch of people through, so I had a wee think. I decided to hunt somewhere where everyone might have been going past in their efforts to get beyond the crowds. This also fitted with me not being up to much. I parked the ute and walked five minutes in to the bush in a random place where no self respecting hunter would go. I let out a roar and sat down shattered. Hold on, that was a reply down in the gully. Crikey! I moved over to the edge to see a nice 8 point red steaming up the face below me. He offered a quick shot that I opted not to take. Not old enough. He cut my wind and buggared off. I thought that might be my chance for the morning before I ran out of steam. Onwards. Walked another 400m and let out another roar. Crikey another reply way down in a gully. I couldn't believe it. I heard nothing more and actually had to have a think about whether I had the puff to go down and come back up. Then he roared again. Yes I did I stalked down and got to an open bush area and suddenly saw a pair of hinds. I let out a moan. The stag came in to view behind them. 80m away. I let out another roar and ran my barrel up the side of a tree. What happened next I have never experienced before or since. The stag let out a hell of a bellow and came at a dead run straight across the gully bottom and up to where I was. I was trying to get a shot but there was always a tree in the way as he came on. I stepped behind a tree as he came up the bank and around another tree only two to three metres from me. He wasn't stopping. I shot him point blank from the hip with my 270 and he slammed in to the tree I was sheltering behind. Unbelievable. I have done a lot of pig hunting and been charged plenty of times. But never by a stag like this. It was clear he thought I was a challenger and was really worked up. Awesome action. It took two trips to get everything back up and I was all in when I got it all back to the ute. Day hunts can sometimes reap rewards. Not my biggest stag but a really nice head and even. Also special as it is from my local area. Happy times.