When a plan comes together = first 8 point sika
This is a story for those who said the 2012 Roar was quiet...
After the 2011 roar i knew of a magnificent Sika stag.. he had eluded us this time and the wait was on, another year until the Sika would roar again, in my book that’s a year too long.
Fast foward to summer 2011, i was back in a little valley that is like a second home, i was back on a scouting mission, i was back to figure out the lay of the land, every spur and gulley, i wanted the upper hand and i was going to get it... I spent day after day in there through these summer months watching waiting and learning.
It was now April 2012 and had been nearly a year since i last laid eyes on the stag and i was back not only armed with the mighty .243 but also armed with the knowledge gained through the 2011 summer. The first evening was spent down river at another campsite, and when all was quiet in this neck of the woods, the little bro and i moved on up river leaving Luke.s behind as he had decided to head out early. Final words upon departure were you will regret it when i get the 8 pointer across from camp, and with that we were on our way. That evening proved very eventful, when we got onto a roaring sika that would reply to almost every call we made, unfortunately daylight was not on our side so decided to bail out before scenting up his whole territory. This evening hunt was also when this story also occurred............* http://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co.n...ifferent-4581/
We went back for the stag the following morning but all was quiet, so when we came acros a spiker while stalking through the stags territory we promptly put him on the deck, hung him in a tree and continued on our way. The rest of the day was spent chasing another roaring stag whos roars could not be pinpointed.
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The next morning was an absolute beaut, the sky was clear, the ground frozen solid and zero wind. Armed with the knowledge already gained we set off to where i believed the stag from last year would again be holding.
The call was made to climb the parallel spur and within half an hour a fully blown single call was heard, this call gave away his location and was exactly where i had predicted allowing us to now work with the gentle breeze and close the distance. Sitting down overlooking a nice gulley we began roaring every once in a while, all of a sudden a stick cracked around 40m behind me so quietly calling the lil bro over we set up an ambush. 15minutes passed and patience began to wear thin then as plans were being discussed, i glanced to my left across a small gulley and caught sight of what appeared to be an antler. Focusing on it i first thought 6pointer, 7pointer, no 6pointer, wholey shit 8 pointer and this was when the stale mate began. The stag was standing behind a bush no more than 1.5m high and 2m wide and refused to move. For 35minutes the stag would rub his antlers on his back to shine them up then would flash them clearly in the sun trying to size up his opponent, (truely an amazing sight) but would not present any chance at a shot, during this period a hind realised something was wrong and began whistling, it was interesting to see the stag look in her direction for a mere 10seconds before going back to flashing his antlers, an image that i can still clearly remember. Anyway after 35minutes enough was enough and i began to crawl up the hill to try to open up a differing angle on the stag, soon enough i could see a hole in the scrub of no more the 10cmx10cm , which with perfect shot placement would allow a shot into the base of his neck, it wasn’t ideal and i had no rest but i thought to myself its now or never and let strip. He hit the deck like a sack of spuds and just like that i had my first 8 pointer and one thats not going to be easy to beat. He was officially scored at 158 7/8ths by Sikaddiction and hangs proudly on the wall of the flat. Bring on the next few years and hopefully a bigger 8 pointer.
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Cheers Nick
When a plan comes together = first 8 point sika
Good effort Nick. Very nice animal.
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