Thread: Outfoxing the fox?

Hi. Almost total newbie here (score:1 bush hind and a few spooked deer)
Got onto a roaring stag on Monday morning (Tararuas- just starting I think). They all shut up at dawn, but before that I was downwind and had triangulated his location.

I started getting close, not worrying too much about noise as I had a plan to provoke him hitting an antler against a tree, which almost worked for me once. We heard him wallowing, then he gave a roar. My hunting partner hit a tree then we waited. Nothing. We had what we thought was good line of sight to his location but instead of returning my challenge (like another stag last year) he snuck across the creek and got downwind of the anabatic wind, winded us and ghosted away.

We figured this out later by his fresh tracks and splashes of wallow mud. He must have been less than 50m away from us, but we never saw or heard him, and trust me, I was looking in that direction.

I'm going back on Saturday morning and I have a few questions for the bush stalkers.
1. I know 2 active wallows he's using. Will he be a creature of habit and use the same one at the same time?
2. Now I think he's not going to respond to a challenge without further checks, what's the best way to get his attention? A hind call?
3. He didn't have any hinds the other day. Where would they hang out? The wallows are near a saddle so would they be near there?
4. Have I just made him more wary?


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