Thread: My Ruahune Roar

Had my annual fly in trip to the North West Ruahines with my Brother and another good mate. Flew in on 6th April and out on the 12th, no big stags this year couldn't do any better than 6 pointers but exciting stuff in mostly thick bush,4 stags shot at no more than 10 meters so it doesn't get better than that.
This area has had a couple of 1080 drops in recent years and numbers did seem to be down compared to the last time we were in this area about 5 years ago. Indeed there were large areas that we did not hear any roars from at all.
Also on this trip was my Bro's 18 month Vizsla, her first real hunting trip ,first time in a helicopter no worries just another truck to ride in,and out in the bush she was a completely different dog than when i have seen her around the house, very calm quiet and steady when in close to a deer, a real pleasure to have around. my Bro did shoot a young stag that he otherwise would have let go just because it was good training for the dog, but the other stags all had a bit of age on them and were never going to be any better than 6ptrs.

Awesome, looks like a great trip

Just thought i would add that the young stag in the last photo was roaring well with a really deep sounding roar ,would never have guessed it only a young stag from his roar. Stag was only 10 mtrs away but couldn't see him till my bro gave a hind call and he came a bit closer for a look, shot at 8 paces with the dog sitting dead still by his side, but could obviously see and hear the stag so a good test for a young dog. Pippa did bark at a hind that barked after we spooked her but dont think shes heard a hind bark before so we can forgive her for that.

How was the condition on the animals? I went through a fair chunk of that 1080 zone 2-8th april and all the animals we shot were in incredible condition.

Originally Posted by hebe

How was the condition on the animals? I went through a fair chunk of that 1080 zone 2-8th april and all the animals we shot were in incredible condition.

Yeah mate, the three of us all remarked that for stags shot in the peak of the roar they were in very good condition, still with good layers of fat. Cheers

Neat photos cheers

Awesome mate

looks like a fantastic trip...those photos of live stags are great.

Originally Posted by 30late

Yeah mate, the three of us all remarked that for stags shot in the peak of the roar they were in very good condition, still with good layers of fat. Cheers

Cheers for the reply, good to see others have been shooting fat deer in the park as opposed to the usual skinny ones.

Thanks for putting yr time in to give us a nice story to read,nice photos too.Well done

Awesome trip, looks as if you had a great trip.

smashed em, well done!

Nice one Ian
Looks like a good trip

Awesome mate - can't beat getting up close and personal with them! Cheers

Super write-up and photos, bet the dog loved it!