Thread: How's the recon going for the roar?

Stags & hinds will wallow, we used to see them doing it quite a bit in the summer time on the farm to cool off, the younger ones would splash around playing in the dam too.

There are a lot of velvets' hitting the ground at the moment - and a good proportion under a spotlight. The hunting facebook pages are full of them. There has always been tension between those hunting for meat and trophy hunters, but currently the avowed meat hunters are quite scathing of the trophy hunters. It might be because there are so many deer around at the moment. I'm inclined to think it is promoting a cavalier "they are still making them" attitude. Maybe its all become a bit too easy? There is certainly a lot of bravado bullshit being talked - if half of these guys had to actually work for a deer I think that they would soon disappear back to doing something easier in their spare time.
Then again, maybe only the fringe is being picked off and further away from the tracks and out of spot light range the stags are thriving. I'm not a trophy hunter, but I hope so.

I personally think shooting high potential stags or hinds this time of year, says a lot about people that do it.

I haven't been out for a look this trip home yet, but last month I seen shit loads of deer that were either hinds, stags or too big for me to carry out.
Don't usually struggle to find a yearling this time of year, but I have been the last couple months. Only seen 1 since I took one in October.
There definitely appears to be a few more stags around than normal.


Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Lots of deer around and more hinds than stags. Yes theres a heap of velvety stags getting eaten lately by a lot of hunters me included. Even deer in spots that haven't had them in years. It should be easier for the newer hunters.

I shot my first stag for 2017 during this last weekend.
A very compact 10 pointer.
Not a monster but really wanted to see if he was fully hard as I have had my eye on another few bigger ones and just wanted to check.
Also created a vacuum now with that group of hinds for a better stag to fill, hopefully.

Heaps of fun getting in to range with hinds all over the place and a howling southerly.



the pre roar recon is starting to pay off.

And was he hard

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Yes totally hard.
To be fair this summer in Canterbury has been very unusual.
Wet, windy, cold, hot ... any three in one day usually.
So I wouldn't want to read too much into this one being fully hard .... but due to all the above reasons I would have to say that it has been an exceptional season for deer feed growth ... and therefore Im picking there will be some very fat stags out there.

Yip, pinged a large 10 pt stag this weekend and velvet was hard as......some really nice stags about. He was in a group of 5 stags and freezer was empty so enough said

8 pointer last night.
Was hard under the velvet.

Poor pic from late last night. He's big, but missing his bey tines I think. Its the third time I've seen him.

@Monk , I drove past your place at midnight on my way home. Bed 2am.

Originally Posted by R93

I personally think shooting high potential stags or hinds this time of year, says a lot about people that do it.

I haven't been out for a look this trip home yet, but last month I seen shit loads of deer that were either hinds, stags or too big for me to carry out.
Don't usually struggle to find a yearling this time of year, but I have been the last couple months. Only seen 1 since I took one in October.
There definitely appears to be a few more stags around than normal.


Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

Cant say i agree with your first sentence above when it comes to shooting high potental stags at this time of year. Hunting and what you shoot, when you shoot it is up to the individual.This time of the year for a meat hunter stags are in prime nick and if you not a trophy hunter then no one else has the right to tell you that you cant shoot that 12 pointer in velvet because you should leave it for another hunter so he an shoot it in the roar, take a rack and either waste the meat or turn it into small goods because its too rank now to use as prime venison!
Any hunter doing the hard yards looking for prime venison should be looking out for themselves first rather than worry about someone else and there opinion. I personally like chasing a rack in the roar, and if i saw a good stag in a area i hunt in velvet i prob would leave it and hope i got lucky later on or if i was hunting a area i normally wouldnt go and there were two stags standing there, one 14 pointer and a scrubby 4 in velvet etc i shoot the scrubby four and leave the trophy one for someone else, thats just me.
If someone else thou in the same postion shot the 14 pointer i feel no ill feeling at all toward them, even if it was in the area i was saving for the roar etc.
. Each to their own, if that hunt made them happy good on them. Hunting DOC land thats just life, doesnt worry me, hunting is a personal choice and its your decision what you shoot, when you shoot it and im not going to say to anyone else you cant shoot that or do that etc as its none of my business and nobody has the right to tell others what to shoot for their own personal benifit do they?

Totally agree with deer243 it's annoying when some people run others down, especially young fellas starting out for shooting a hind or velvet stag. The way I look at it is we all went through the early years shooting most animals we seen so why jump on a newbie for doing the same as we did it many years ago. We had our day it's there choice now.
My nephew shot a big Rusa stag in velvet last year which still needed a bit of growing and was criticized on face book for doing so, he has had the head mounted on a board and the velvet cured and is more than happy with the trophy, each to there own.

Originally Posted by Tahr

@Monk , I drove past your place at midnight on my way home. Bed 2am.

Nice work mate.Any other time of the day you could of called in for a cuppa.��

I fail too see how anyone can justify intentionally shooting a potential trophy stag in soft velvet or a hind with fawn, this day and age for friggen household meat.

But fill your boots I would never say to anyone that they couldn't or shouldn't.
Do what ya want. Ya will anyway.

But it is certainly telling where someone is as a hunter if they choose to do so.

Especially with animal numbers where they are at the moment.













Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk