Thread: The week that was roar 2023.....

Originally Posted by Trout

Thank you very much for a great detailed hunt.Good memories with good friends.
Enjoy your venison,maybe next year for the big boy.

Your very welcome, meat taste better than antlers but I'll keep trying this years roar was definitely exciting and the experience alone is enough to tempt me to try again.

Originally Posted by dannyb

As the sun revealed the sparsely covered scrubby faces around us we got to work picking apart the countryside looking for a sign of anything worth investigating. The odd roar still bellowing out breaking the silence and peaking our interest.
Now Hamish was first to crack, by his own admission he hates sitting still for long periods so after breif discussion about keeping low and side hilling around the knob we were glassing from rather than walking accross the top and skylining himself, Hamish moved around the opposite side to Ant and I to glass faces we couldn't see and also have a bit of a stretch.
It was approximately 0830hrs Ant and me had been hearing a few guttural roars coming from a wee way off but they were getting more frequent and louder so we dedicated a few minutes glassing that direction which consequently was not far from the boundary fence, still a good 900-1000 yards from our location and up hill.
After a couple more roars the stag appeard only 100 or so yards on the wrong side of the boundary fence, he was BIG thick neck heavy antlers and a solid dark body. I looked at Ant and said....."we're not here to f $#@ spiders ! lets close the gap and see if we can roar him in onto our side of the fence"
After short discussion we agreed Ant should let out a roar from our concealed location and watch the stags response, the stag looked straight in our direction and bellowed out an agressive response closing ground towards our block
We grabbed our day packs, rifles and hill sticks and dropped elevation so as to conceal our movement from the stag.
We signalled Hamish to follow us as we rounded the knob, Hamish had also heard the stag and was quickly on our heels.
We gained elevation and closed the gap before using the undulating terrain to our advantage getting ourselves within 300 yards of the boundary fence and using the Manuka scrub to help mask our location.
The stag still roaring had a few hinds with him but was closer not far off the boundary fence now, still breathing heavy from the near sprint up hill I fumbled around quietly gettng the rifle set up confirming range of a couple land marks on our side of the fence when disaster struck I inadvertently whilst trying to catch my breath inhaled some kind of flying insect, larger than a sand fly but smaller than a fly, I suspect it was some kind of wee moth disturbed by us shifting about in the tussock.
I was already lined up looking at the stag when this happened, Ant had been instructed as soon as I was set up to start roaring to try and entice the stag in.....I couldn't breath the winged critter in my throat was making me gag and cough uncontrollably I tried as best I could to muffle my choking but a reasonable stag unbeknownst to me that was just below us spooked and ran off in the direction of the big stag in the process spooking him and about 6 hinds. I was absolutely devestated, still coughing and gagging trying to wash the deviled bug in my throat out with gulps of water....we all sat silent for a couple minutes, no one said anything I think the anguish on my face probably expressed my frustration better than any words I could've mustered up.
After a few minutes passed we packed up and started heading back down hill to our original possie, tails firmly between legs feeling quite dejected and not being particularly stealthy, talking, venting and walking out in the open skylined at times... we decided to sit on the edge of the 4x4 track a little higher up from our original glassing spot for a couple minutes and have a bit of a look over the face opposite us.
I have to admit after all the noise we made getting back down I gave the face opposite a very casual going over with the binos as I was almost certain any animals over there woukd have seen and heard us and scapered long ago, I put my binos back in their bivvy in disgust when Hamish casually quipped "why dont you just shoot that deer over there" he was so casual about it I was sure he was pulling my leg. I scoffed at him "yeah right what bloody deer" he insisted I got my binos out saying "it's right there I can see it with my naked eye" I got my binos back out and sure enough there standing on a clearing looking straight at us was a fat red spiker.
I watched him for about 20 seconds whilst he stared in our direction just waiting for him to spook, instead he put his head down and went back to feeding. Right action stations 11th hour on the final day I ranged the spiker at 400yards, I got the Lupo set up on the davros head on my tripod as we were sitting on a steep ledge on the side of the track, ol spiker occasionally looked up but was more interested in filling his guts with grass, I dialed 6.5 moa after checking my dope turned to power ring round to 12x on the vx6 and waited for a shot.
The spiker was facing us ever so slightly quatering towards us, what the footage doesn't show very well is we are quite a bit higher than him in elevation. Anyway I chambered a round and as the spiker put his head down for another feed of grass I sent the 168gn eldm on it's way. I have to say at this point everytime I fire this rifle I am amazed at the lack of recoil the reduction system in the Lupo is so effective and teamed up with a DPT suppressor even shooting heavy for caliber pills the recoil is like a 223 and quiet.
I was able to watch the spiker hit high on his left side behind his shoulder, he skittled down hill into the scrub below him dead.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TU5eM70s6fc

We made our way around to the track conveniently about 200ish yards above where the spiker dropped, set up the trucks and snatch block again and started making our way down the steep face towards the scrub the spiker piled up into, we found the spot where the spiker had been standing evident by fresh scrape marks left as he toppled down the hill, we followed these down into the native scrub where the spiker was laying expired.
I stroked his red coat and thanked him for his life, then set about securing him to the rope and signalling to the lads to start winching. I stayed with the deer manouvering it around a few trees making sure it didn't get hooked up on anything and after a couple resets we had the spiker up on the track with minimal fuss.

Attachment 220054
a bit steep in here !

Attachment 220055
on the way up

Attachment 220058
nearly at the top


https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uJe0mkNKqwo

We found a shady spot and I hastily got to work with the knife expecting to find a ruptured gut, the shot looked a little high and far back but in fact the gut cavity was completely intact, the organ cavity though was full of blood but came out easily with a few slices of my trusty knife.

We loaded the spiker onto the back of the truck and I removed his head and hung it in a tree, then threw the gut bag off the track down hill into the scrub.

Attachment 220056

Attachment 220057


All in all another heathy animal retrieved whole and off to the butcher for processing into yummy steak.

What can I say first animal with the Lupo so the wolf has been fed, first animal shot off the tripod very happy with that setup it opens more options for longer shots that cannot be taken prone for whatever reason.
A week of highs and lows and memories that won't fade any time soon, sure I would have been thrilled to take a trophy red home but for me this trip and the memories will be a trophy for years to come. If you got this far thanks for sharing my trip, I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed telling you all.
The meat harvested from the 3 deer taken will feed 4 families and hopefully light a spark of excitement in 2 new hunters that joined me.
What can I say.....its been a week

Great stuff mate.with luck them big stags will be rooting themselves silly passing on good genes,then need fattening up again,hopefully feeding in place you can find them.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Great stuff mate.with luck them big stags will be rooting themselves silly passing on good genes,then need fattening up again,hopefully feeding in place you can find them.

They don't get big by making themselves easy targets outside of rooting season we shall see

What a novel Danny, what a great sounding trip and an epic recollection. Pity about missing the chance on the big boy but as you say, plenty of meat taken to feed many.

Choice read Danny, a great trip , plenty of meat and memories. It would have been nice to take one of those big boys but that's hunting and you will always remember the trip how it was. Maybe just maybe you will get another chance at those big boys , lets hope so.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Choice read Danny, a great trip , plenty of meat and memories. It would have been nice to take one of those big boys but that's hunting and you will always remember the trip how it was. Maybe just maybe you will get another chance at those big boys , lets hope so.

Thanks, rest assured if given a chance I will have at it

Great story Danny - reads like a bit of an emotional roller coaster - thanks for sharing! Clever idea of using the winch for recovery...

Originally Posted by RV1

Great story Danny - reads like a bit of an emotional roller coaster - thanks for sharing! Clever idea of using the winch for recovery...

that it was, full of memories and learning, had an absolute blast

@dannyb pull couple sick days mate, looking forward to a happy ending story

Originally Posted by bigbear

@dannyb pull couple sick days mate, looking forward to a happy ending story

it's not that simple unfortunately, the block is now booked by another party hopefully I'll get out again next week but it won't be on that block sadly

Good hunt, nice place, nice people. It `s so good for you to have a private block to hunt deer. I am still working on my door knocking skill and methodologies of getting access to rabbits hunting