The first two day hunt was with Brad on a new property he had secured. Reds and Fallow as well as the odd Boar were about.
It's always a good sign when you see something special...

It was late March and the Red deer roar should have been in full swing, but the hot conditions had them laying low.
The Packs readied as the hill climb layed in sight. A breakfast bar on the run as we lobbed the load on and made tracks. Two hundred metres out of camp and our first contender...

The Buck wasn't the biggest so we let him slide...

We edged further into the head of the gully, two distant bucks and a Red roar. It was the instant adrenalin we needed to push us to the new level. As we edged closer the mid morning sun was a rising and the noise was thinning out. Further along and a few fresh scrapes were noticed, so we pulled up for a rattle. Brad readied himself for a Buck in full flight but was only rewarded with a young up and coming....

The young bloke looked confused as he couldn't see where all the commotion was coming from. 5 seconds later and a bigger buck appeared from Brad's left and trotted straight into range....

With Brad at full draw the Buck looked to be in trouble. He held the dot on the spot but no release followered, that was one lucky Buck. With already a few good Bucks down over a short time bowhunting his sites were set for something decent.
We packed the rattling antlers back in the back pack and continued traversing around the side of the hill. A bit further along and a mid morning snack was spotted. Brad called them prickly pears. They tasted a bit like a sour mullberry...

While we were snacking on the mountain fruits a Red stag let out a roar across the gully. I replied with a hind call and he responded straight back. I continued calling and he continued to reply. This went on for a minute or so. The Red stag was coming, his vocal tune and rack was on it's way. We set up in a prime hollow in the hill hoping to lure him onto the rise in front of us about 10m away. Brad was ready as I continued to call him in. The stag roared once more and he only seemed to be 50-70m away, but it was hard to tell.
The suspence was starting to show on Brads face as possibly his first Red stag gained ground.All of a sudden there he was, I had site of him but Brads view was obstructed by a rock. I told him his coming but didn't let him know how big he was.
The stag now at 30m roared his heart out, 25, 20, and at 15m he started coming into view...

He spotted Brad first, looked at him and then roared again...

After his outburst, he noticed I didn't look right...

We asked the Red stag where his girls were, but we didn't get a response instead he decided to flee the scene.
After that bit of action we decided to lay up and take a break....

After lunch we hunted around looking for that shooter buck or stag but nothing presented itself. A early night was what we needed but a few drinks and yarns flowed first.
We woke the next morning to another amazing site....

The young Buck spotted us first and after a short stand off he vanished into the red morning sun rays. With 2 reds roaring we decided to split up and check them both out. I headed straight up at a decent pace not worried to much what I would spook. The Red stag seemed to be at a fair distance away still. His roars seemed to be going the other way. I picked up the pace and felt I finally was making some ground on this bloke. Another roar echoed across the valley and this rush had me feeling fresh. Closer and closer I got and the intense roar of a red now not far. I was thinking he was about 100m away, I wasn't sure if he had a hind with him but I had to give it a shot. If I didn't I thought he would have made the real thick brush area never to be seen again.
I made a soft hind call, and straight away I got a response. Then another, he turned and he faced in my direction and roared once more. I paused for a moment to see what his next move would be. A few seconds later and his roar was heading straight for me...

This cool looking Red just kept on coming....

closer and closer...

and closer...

until I could of pat him..

He saw my movement as I tried to make my way around the tree for a better view. He backward flipped out of there and pulled up at under 10m to look back...

It was one of the best experiences I've had in the bush, and to see him walk away in the wild, had me smiling for the next few moments until a fallow Buck decided to walk under a log just in front of me...

Without moving a step from the Red encounter, I watched this Fallow Buck cruise along without a care in the world...

Until I made a doe call....

With the hook well and truly in, the distance began to shorten....

He was a coming and at some pace. All he wanted was some freshness...

The young bloke come into 4-5m and just seemed to stare straight through me...

He couldn't see his prize, his interest level dropped and he decided to ventured off....

I asked him what he was looking for, an instant explosion then followed...

And he too couldn't help himself but to pull up and peer back. Silly young buck....

After those epic encounters I sat high on the hill soaking it all in. I had a bite to eat before making tracks back to meet brad at camp.
After a 30min walk back I noticed Brad was already there. We sat and told of our mornings events before kicking back for that mid day break.
The break was had and the deer were once again calling. We made ground up hill to a vantage point, a small Red spiker busted out in front of us. He wasn't hanging around for a photo or a chat. As we made the hill we looked to our left and yep you guested it a Red stag with a few hinds.....

At a closer inspection of the group we noticed that the Red stag had about 6 girls with him that were all bedded.
They all seemed quite relaxed sitting under a large tree enjoying the shade from the mid afternnon sun. Brad had his eye's on the stag and was keen to have a crack.

Brad come up with a plan to come in behind a line of trees hopefully reaching bow range before they moved out for the afternoon. The stalk started and the cover looked promising. We team up with binos glaring straight at them. Only moving when their attention was else where. Good ground was made and a better view was revealed...

And then a sight we all like to see...

The stag was wanting some action off the girls but the girls weren't buying it. He would nose them off the ground and then go on to annoy their rear. With this all happening we made it to the last tree which was about 50m off them. We sat tight behind the tree hoping for a miracle. 10-15min went by and the stag was cruising around quite a bit. A doe broke his bail and come straight for us. She stopped at about 30m. The stag noticed his escapee and headed straight over to round her back up. Brad was ready for shot. The stag now getting into range as the hind broke free again and he wasn't far behind. This was it, now or never, a loud hind call reached his hearing and he pulled up for a look...

Brads arrow launched to his target, a hit was seen and heard and the stag had his final run. A few high fives as we sat tight for a minute or so. We walked down to where the hit happened. No blood was visible and a worrying look on both our faces. The shot looked high lungs as he was alert when the arrow left the bow, so he definately crunched a heap.
We walked to where we last saw him and then Brad spotted him....

The Red stag made 80m from where he took the hit. Brad was howling with his first Red...

It topped off another great day and tommorow couldn't come quick enough....

The next morning I woke early hoping to lay on eyes on a decent Red stag. Brad had to bail so I was hunting solo. I raced up the gully floor letting a few cactus roars as I went. Not one Red. A Few Fallow croaked their tune, so I picked the closer one and headed in. I jumped in the creek and followed it up until I was around the same height then just traversed across. The buck slowed up on the croacking and I was thinking I wasn't far, maybe 80m. I slowly edged closer glassing on my way. The Buck finally came into view and he had two smaller bucks hanging with him. I glassed around for a good while but I couldn't see any doe's. I was thinking rattle. So I picked out a solid tree to get behind. I looked down to where the 3 bucks were and all was good. I plucked an arrow out of the quiver and knocked him in readied for launch. Camera ready check, me to check.
Rattle rattle rattle, and here they come, the bigger bloke led the charge while the younger two just hung back.
50m, 40m, 30m,......

20m, 15m.....

Until Pow,, at under 10m. The buck took a good hit and ran back from where he come from. He made about 60m before passing out. I walked over to see my Buck that I was happy to have.....

I can't wait for next season already, the young bloke has already filled me in on who's shooting this year....

Till next time and I hope you enjoyed....

Good Luck for 2014!

The last few weeks some mates and I had been out chasing a few Chital about. Plenty of blown stalks along the way, the usual wind, native critters, all played a part in not letting us get what we wanted - until Dean finally struck some
gold...
This particular day the stags were sighted from a distance feeding behind a bunch of trees. At this stage we were about 200m out. The stags were only thinking of gorging themselves, their heads down low in the dry spring grasses. We made some good ground and when the odd stag threw his head up to check for danger we froze. There was a line of trees that we were able to come in behind. The stags decided to deviate their feeding direction and head upwards into the sloped ground, which was a blessing for our approach. We made it to the nearest tree without being detected. Dean lifted his bino's up and glassed for the biggest stag. As it turned out he happened to be the furthest away but there were two other stags with him that Dean was happy to shoot. The feeding stags edged further up the hill and we decided to creep into the next set of trees. Dean ranged the nearest Chital stag and then turned around to whisper that he wanted another 10m. Dean edged into the last bit of the stalk while I hung back with the video camera. He slowly made the 30m mark and wasted no time in knocking an arrow. The bow now drawing back as the stags that were unaware of the hunter's presents. Now at full draw the pin finally settled and the release just happened. A loud thud, followed by an explosion of deer. I didn't catch how good the shot was but by the reaction on Dean's face I knew it was good. The stag buckled up only 40m away and passed out. Dean - he had nailed his first Chital stag and he couldn't have been happier.

The following week we were at it again, early starts had us looking at where the deer were feeding during the night and heading back into the thicker scrub during the mid morning. We glassed at the remainder of the deer and noticed there to be a straggler lagging behind. It was a chital stag and he was in a great spot for a stalk. I wasted no time in hatching out a plan. The stag was feeding right beside a dry creek bed. I thought if I could get to that dry creek bed without being detected I should have a good chance at a shot. I backed off the hill that  I was glassing from and as soon as I was out of sight I ran about 500m before pulling up to come to another vantage point hoping to see the stag again. I slowly edged over the rise and to my surprise the stag was still in the exact spot. "You little ripper", I thought to myself. I continued on slowly sliding into the creek bed where I knew if I made it to the bottom this stag was in trouble. As I made it a fickle breeze was next on my mind. He had me in a bit of a panic as it swirled through the creek bed walls. I decided to push on hoping that the breeze up on top of the embankment was heading the same way when I entered into the dry creek. Further up I pushed and I knew I wasn't far from the stag. I clambered up the bank and peered up to see the stag still in the same area, head down and feeding. 20m more and I was at the 20m mark. The inconsistent breeze had me rolling through the paces a bit quicker then usual. The arrow out and onto the rest as the pin now about to find it's mark. The sharp outback broadhead made shaving sharp speed and flew right through the stags vitals. I stayed focused as the stag only for a short made short ground, before doing cart wheels and passing out. On a closer inspection this stag looked to be in poor condition, his body size wasn't as big as some of the other stags in the area, I was thinking this spotted deer may have had some sort of disease, but we'll never no...

Round 2 for Dean and the Chital bug continued. A few stags still patrolled the area but most seemed to be growing their velvet antlers.....

This one really caught Dean's eye. He looked to have perfect shaped antlers and was now at the top of the hit list....

Into it again after a night of dreaming dots. A few crazed chital let out their squeaky whistle as we entered their domain. We knew where they were heading so we intended to get into a spot in hope of them coming straight past. With the plan in play the morning sun started to shine, and before long moving spotted deer ventured in our direction. What a sight this was, we were thinking this was going to just happen, but as it does so many times the deer just turned off before they got to us and headed into the bush only 45-50 to our right. Luck was on their side this time, we didn't push this mob so we backed out and headed further across the range. It was still early and we were still hopeful to spot some more deer. The ground was in much need of some rain and the loud crunchy leaves and sticks had our surrounds on edge. Small wallaby's hammered through the timber taking a few dotted deer with them. We were thinking the day wasn't going to happen for us, so we decided to take a break and feed our faces.
  
With our hunger cravings gone it was time to check out the last flat where Dean had shot his previous stag two weeks earlier. We made it to a vantage point where we could glass the flat. We spotted deer straight away and an excited fist pump followed. We were thinking it was the same two stags that were hanging with the one Dean shot earlier. This time the 2 stags were bedded which was going to make things tough this time. One stag looked off into the opposite direction while the other was laying parallel to us. Dean had one tree to try and line up with the parallel stag for a direct stalk which could see him make it into bow range.  I sat back and watched it all unfold, Dean made the attacking line he needed to close the gap without being spotted. With one stag behind the line of the tree the approached looked to be easy as he made some steady ground. Now at 60, 50, 40 and one stag looked to be getting a bit nervous. Dean made another 5m and the nervous looking stag rose to his feet. The bowhunter showed initiative and was already at full draw as the stag started to take a few steps. The stag sensed something and peered back to a carbon arrow which was already making ground on his vitals. The stag dropped into the arrow nicely and made an unstable get
away. Dean was confident with the shot so we gave him 15min before heading over to hopefully find a good blood trail. We cruised across to find plenty of claret sprayed across the thirsty earth, which made for easy tracking. The stag didn't make much ground and Dean was rewarded with his second Chital stag...

It was to be a three day hunt into a new patch of ground where a few Moluccan rusa apparently lived...

The Moluccan Rusa deer originated from Java and were released around the tip of nth QLD in the early 1900's. Since then a few a small herds have popped up around the country. The same old answer comes up every time "That's not a Moluccan". Everyone has there doubts that the Moluccan species that has reached Australia is not pure anymore and is more a mixed breed with the bigger variety Javan. Anyways I was still keen to check this little beer barrelled Rusa out.

The first morning and I woke eager to see these  critters cruising about. The day pack was sorted as the bow and arrows tweaked in the morning sun rays. I through the pack on and marched out of camp chewing on a muesli bar.

Thirty minutes in and some deer were spotted just on the edge of a clearing about to head into the thick jungle to my left. I glassed with a inquisitive eye amazed to see this miniature Rusa.  Their legs and body size were much smaller then the Javan Rusa I was used to seeing. Their snout looked to be shorter and their hair looked to be finer. It was a good enough match for me to think that these deer were not far from the real deal. The deer eventually fed into the
scrub in front of me and disappeared.

I walked further along the fringe noticing a lot of old rubs and quite a few foot prints heading from open farmland back to their bedding area. Plenty of glassing followed before  venturing into the next gully.  I came across some clear running water which had me reaching down for a mid morning drink and thoughts of that stag rocking up. I sat there for a bit patiently waiting for that stag and at the same time absorbing the cool breeze as it filtered through the brush.

Half an hour passed and the sit wait method was getting to me, I decided to head further around into the nexted gully. The sign on the ground seemed to be thinning out but I was in new country so it couldn't hurt to cruise around to get a better idea of their movements. The rest of the day didn't produce any more deer but  cool images of Moluccan Rusa imprinted my mind.

The next day had me up early once more. I flipped out of my jungle hammock and into a morning bite of muesli and creamed rice.  Once that was downed the stealth 2 broadheads had a quick touch up on the stone followed by the
essentials for the day pack. I hit the track eager to make some quick ground.  I had walked along the trail for a while and was nearing the same vantage spot where I had seen the deer the day before. The walking pace slowed right up and the stillness of the morning had a positive feeling about it. I made the spot and glassed out onto the gully floor to see what looked to be the same mob. But this time there was two extra's. Two small stags cruising in and out of the mob, checking for in season does.

They eventually sorted through the girls and come face to face with each other before sizing each other up. They both hooked in trading their aggressive blows .

There looked to be no clear winner as they had an eye ball standoff , their head's tilted back, before they both decided to part ways. The two stags were not shooters so my attention level dropped off and I started to focus on heading over the rise. I backed out and traversed further around hoping to find a big bopper. Another short walk along
the fringe of the jungle to a clearing that looked prime for deer. Five more does but no stags. The does fed around in the local swamp grass's not paying an notice of their surrounds. I watched them for a while hoping for a stag to appear but nothing.  I decided to have a bite to eat and gather up some thoughts on where to go. 

I finished up with lunch and pressed on further up the mountain. Half way up and a small dam sat in the saddle of the hill and a big bunch of scrub layed right behind. I glassed into the shaded area's to find a bachelor group of Stags. I couldn't believe it, there looked to be two shooters around 26inches and one big bloke close to 30. There was also 4 other smaller stags bedded in and around the mature moluccans. The cover wasn't the best and the amount of eyes looking in a few directions had me sitting tight. I had to let them make the next move and hopefully when they got up to feed their eye's for food will get distracted. A few hours went by and they didn't even look like moving. I too started getting on the nod and it wasn't long and I was out. 

Half hour later and I woke out of my slumber. I jumped up and grab the bino's to check back on the mob. They were already up feeding and heading further up the mountain. I quickly through the pack on and glassed one more time to see them feeding away from me. I had a clump of scrub in front of me which made for a great barrier to close the gap. I made good ground in no time at all. I made the clump of scrub an slowly peered out to the side I to see the big bloke, I ranged him at 50m. Another step forward and I noticed right in front of me, in a small depression a stag with his head down feeding. He looked to be a shooter, I took another step forward and ranged the stag at 30m. I wasted no time and took the backpack off.  The video camera didn't even get a though as this opportunity could vapourise in a second. The arrow made it out off the quiver in silence and onto it's rest. The stag was quartering away now and a moment that had to be ceased. The bow came to full draw as the pin settled on his heart. The rest just happened and the stag jumped up and fled the scene only to make a short distance before passing out. I was thrilled in the outcome as I made my way over to my first Moluccan...

I had decided after three years of not going home it was time to head back to NSW for Christmas, so after an hour on the phone to my mate Pete he decided I could come onto his property and have a hunt with him for some camels and a few trophy goats. 

Christmas time couldn’t come around quick enough, with my time off from work organised then plane flights and hire car sorted all I had to do was start practicing and sharpen some arrows ready to go. For this trip I would be using my Matthews Reezen set at 70 pounds with Carbon Rebel arrows tipped with Outback Supremes in the 160 grains for camels and the 160 grain Hunter XL’s for anything else. I have found this setup quite good on boars and bulls on the cape so a camel shouldn’t be a problem. 

Arriving in Cobar it was very hot and dry nothing out of the usual for this place. I dropped my bags off at my parents house said a quick gday told them what I was doing and when I would be back and headed over to Petes place for a
coffee and to work out what he wanted me to bring out to the station. Grocery shopping done and we were off by 2pm. 

It was a fairly uneventful drive heading to the station seeing only some smaller goats from the side of the road nothing worthy of an arrow at this stage. Pete knows his neighbours quite well and if we were to happen to see a decent billy it wouldn’t be a problem for me to go and have a crack at it. We crossed the last grid and were on Petes place we might if we were lucky now come across a few  camels. We checked two dams on the way plenty of tracks but no critters in sight I wasn’t disheartened yet it was the first afternoon and we still had much more country to check out. The camels don’t stay too long in one place so there isn’t any particular way of finding them except for doin the miles. Pete also had some molasses in a drum laid out for them nearby the house but they would only come into this after dark it was more just to keep them in the area. 

Upon pulling up at the front paddock gate I got out to open it doing this I happened to look down the fence line and to my surprise about fifty camels were bedded up in the shade of the hop bushes about three hundred metres away. I
didn’t even bother opening the gate I dove straight back into the ute grabbed my bow rangefinder 3D camo shirt some arrows and was off. I started stalking in slowly going from cover to cover the low hop bush made for good stalking. I
managed to close the distance down to around 80 metres not close enough for a shot and out of cover. I had to just try my luck and close the distance at least another 30 metres to where I would feel comfortable taking a shot. 

A few of the older camels spotted me and in my 3D camo I don’t think they quite knew what I was but they stood up and nervously watched me. I can remember a phone conversation to Ben McDougall who said camels will often let you get 50-60 metres from them if they don’t think your a threat but closing the gap much more can be nearly impossible because of their good eyesight and height they can see over the top of almost any shrubbery. A few more steps later and all the camels were on their feet watching me, one old cow decided it was time to move and started walking away with the rest starting to follow her. I was still too far for a shot so made the decision to quickly stalk diagonally towards the lead camel hoping they would let me get to 50 metres.

I kept ranging the lead camel as I stalked and upon reaching 50 metres I drew back my bow and waited for what thought was to be the biggest camel to walk out into a clear shooting lane. With it doing this I quickly found the triangle and placed my pin in what I thought to be the middle of it and squeezed off my shot. My camel exploded into a gallop and I lost it in the confusion with the rest of them and the hop bush but seconds later I heard it hit the deck. Knowing the shot was good and quite a good walk at this stage from the vehicle with no water I thought it best to go back as I could easily find this place again and track my camel. I turned around to head back and found Pete had to my surprise been following me with the video camera, I like to get good footage when possible. We went back to the ute had a cool drink then Pete followed me with the ute I tracked my camel to where he had expired, it hadn’t gone further than 60 metres from where I had taken the shot.

We propped it up as best we could for some photos these critters are heavier than they look but didn’t waste too much time as it was still very hot in the sun.

I cut off the skull for my trophy and Pete grabbed some of the hair or I should say wool to make things out of it. After this we continued to the homestead unloaded the ute and decided to have a quick walk around the dam nearby as we spotted some pigs there and wanted to see if a big boar was hanging around.  

Slowly stalking around the dam we counted around 20 pigs but only sows and some smaller boars Pete doesn’t bother them too much unless there is something decent spotted so we took some photos and headed back to the house for a few quick beers. 

Early the next morning saw us up doing some jobs around the shed before it got too hot. By about 8am it was starting to heat up so we had something for breakfast filled up our day packs with water sandwiches and fruit and headed
down to one of Petes favourite dams. As we neared the dam Pete switched off the vehicle and quickly drew me a mud map of which way he thought it best I approach he would wait in the ute for me to yell out so he could bring the ute down. 

I slowly stalked in through the hop bush the red sandy soil was very quiet underfoot, closer and closer to the dam until  I spotted the first few goats. Up with the binos I quickly spotted a couple of nice billys that if given the opportunity I would slam an arrow into. But my biggest problem was I had around 100 sets of eyes looking for danger everywhere. I had to be patient and stalk very slowly. After an hour of watching the goats  four big billys decided to bed together in the shade I would have to make about forty metres to be within bow range of thirty metres. I slowly crept forward but would have to start belly crawling if I didn’t want to be detected. Twenty metres of belly crawling had me really regretting this in my clothes I had picked up numerous galvanised burrs and bogan fleas and they were really starting to annoy me. At this I decided to pop up with my bow drawn for a 35 metre shot. As I popped up the closest billy which was the biggest had its vitals covered by a nanny goat and the whole mob was looking at me they knew something wasn’t right and started snorting and stomping at me. A shot now was going to be almost impossible without wounding another goat as my arrow at this distance would most definitely go completely through. I held back at full draw for what I thought was an eternity when a smaller billy than the one I wanted came into the open he was still a shooter and not having shot at a goat for 3 years would be still a nice trophy. I centred my pin on his vitals and squeezed off my release. The arrow passed completely through the billy all the goats bolted as quick as they could, my billy did a few quick circles before expiring and rolling down into water of the dam. 

To say I was happy is an understatement the afternoon before I shot my first camel and this morning I shot my first billy in 3 years and it was a nice trophy at that. I left my bow and pack at the dam and ran back to Pete in the ute we
drove down to the dam dragged my billy out for some photos and put him in the back of the ute for dog meat.

Back to the ute and onto the next dam we went. The next dam we spotted a few camels that were onto us and weren’t going to hang around and a big mob of goats but nothing big enough to waste our time on. So we pressed on to the next dam. At the next dam we pulled up short of it and walked in spotting some nanny goats in the shade of the trees, but once again there didn’t appear to be any decent billys. We decided to check out the flat at the back of the dam as we headed out and around the nanny goats they decided to run off I glanced over them again and noticed one of the biggest billys I had seen in my life. Where he had come from I don’t know but he was definitely hanging with the nannys  and we had missed spotting him. I gave chase with bow in hand and closed the gap to ten metres from him I couldn’t keep up with him for long so on the run I knocked an arrow stopped came to full draw settled my 20 metre pin on his back end picturing where his diaphragm was and touched off my release. My arrow hit him well passing clean through coming out his chest. The billy ran another 50 metres before expiring on the run. I was now definitely over the moon, I had just shot my biggest billy to date and was standing over the top of him catching my breath. Pete came over with my camera and after quite a lot of photos we put him in the back of the ute for dog meat as well.

We headed back to the homestead to cut up the billys and feed the sheep dogs and of course have a few beers. 

Early the next morning I decided I wouldn’t mind having another go at the big billy from the day before that I couldn’t get a shot at so went down to the dam where I had first seen him and waited in a good vantage point. Not to be
disappointed at 10 o clock in they came with the big white fella one of the last to make an appearance. With my strategy set I slowly stalked in to a big gum tree on the waters edge that would give me a nice 32 metre shot. The billy was a little bit away from the others so if I missed or passed through I wouldn’t wound any other goats. He was quatering away I drew my bow settled my pin just behind his shoulder and squeezed off my release. The arrow hit him perfectly and he ran up on top of the bank of the dam where he laid down and expired. I took a few self timed photos before going back to the vehicle and back to the homestead for breakfast. 

The clouds rolled in that day and dumped more rain in the one downpour than that part of the country had seen in the last two years, so I had to quickly pack up my gear and head back to town. Which didn’t worry me as I had a great
hunt one that would be in my memory banks for quite a lot of years to come. 

 I did manage to shoot a bunny while visiting my uncle on his small block just out of town also. 

It was early May and the Rusa Stags were coming into hard antler. I had started locating the stags late this year and I had  already heard through the grape vine that a few representative stags had been taken. This was the first year
after moving back to the south coast and I was eager to check out some of my old haunts. Many a mornings were spent before work glassing trying to find something big. Plenty of other critter's came into view, but nothing  got me excited,  I knew if I kept persisting something would pop up.

More local wildlife....

June was here and still nothing worth shooting. I decided the check out another spot, and on arrival noticed a few stags on a hill about 500m away. With the scope out I could make out one was around 28, and the other around 30 inches. They were safe with me so I parked up and through the camo on and headed to a spot where I could glass for the morning. On the way over and some promising sign....

Some more curious critters

This spiker walked up out of the gully he was feeding in to come say hello at 8m

I made the vantage point and glassed for hours. Nothing but youngsters. The day was dragging out so I decided to take a nap and when I woke head further around the spur where I knew there was a grass flat. With the hammock hanging the nap turned into a slumber and the arvo was upon me. I packed the gear up and slowly stalked down a deer trail that should take me straight to deer green. On arrival I could notice through the lantana 3 stags feeding, one looked to be a shooter. The bino's confirmed what I was hoping for. The stag looked to be around 33-34 long and in great condition. His body was far bigger then the other 2. I thought I noticed one of the younger stags from in velvet he looked to have travelled over into this quiet green gully to merge with the bigger two.

The younger Stag in velvet..

The young bloke all primed up for the Rut..

With the bigger Rusa Stag on my hit list, it was now time to concentrate on him only. The next day after finding the stag,  a phone call about work, something I was dreading. 2 weeks work, and not local. It was punishment. Every day for the next 2 weeks I hoped the grubs wouldn't  find that little pocket tucked away with my prized critter. After returning home about midday late June I had already made arrangements with  my young bloke to head up and try locate the stag. Jack was biting at the bit and keen to hear a Rusa roar. We made tracks straight after Jack finished school. With a few hours up our sleeve we glassed a lower flat to no avail. We pushed on,  and as we made the bench half way a distant roar,  Jack's ear's pricked up. He said "was that him."  I replied "I hope so mate."  It came from higher up into thickest, nastiest lantana on the south coast. We sat back off the edge of the lantana about 40m behind a mound of dirt and talked over a plan. With only the one roar heard so far, I decided to try rattle a few sequences out. Hopefully the stag was up there by himself, as I know when they have a hot doe at toe there hard to pull away.  A few rattles and the stag let out a low moan. We continued this for a while but the Stag wasn't interested in what we had to offer. Darkness was upon us, Jack and I packed the spot up and headed out. As we walked out we chatted about the afternoon's event's, half way through a sentence and the stag roared to finish off a good afternoon.
I spent the next 7 days in a row, every morning and most afternoons checking the area for the big stag. But still no sign of him. I suspected him to be up high in the thick stuff, maybe with a girl or 2.  He couldn't hide forever, I was thinking. There was a fair bit of roaring happening by now and 2 other stags had moved in.

The 9th day had come around and the morning session was the same as the day before, 3 stags roaring but no faces to put to the tunes. As I walked back to the truck this bloke popped his head up, he didn't even say g'day before bolting to cover

I went to work and a light misty rain was starting to fall, this got me excited. I finished work early and headed to the hill. The mist and rain had stopped and the afternoon air was fresh.  I parked the rig, whacked the gear on and ventured in. I glassed the surrounds to find nothing so I snuck into a new ambush spot. I made sure I was never rattling in the same spot. I started rattling and a taker straight away. This Stag sounded to have plenty of meaning in what he was trying to say. I continued rattling ramping up the sequences and it sounded like he was doing the same. It sounded like he wanted to challenge and I was up for it. This went on for a bit then I npticed he was coming closer and closer. I stopped rattling. The darkness was fast approaching once again and the stag was still concealed. Then out the corner of my eye a doe appeared on the edge of the lantana, she had a young one following her. Another roar right there and I started running my head through it's paces.( pin on the spot, push pull through the shot) I was just hoping this was the shooter stag. Before long the stag walked out and I knew he was the one, but he was about 70m away. He stood right on the edge of the clearing looking straght out to the doe and fawn cruising across the flat. Not once he checked his surrounds, he lifted his head and started roaring as he walked straigtht towards them. I was thinking nothing was
going to come of this but looked forward to see the mother deer and her offspring disappear behind a large mound of dirt. The stag was a further 50m behind but heading in the same direction. As soon as that brut edged past the dirt mound I ran as quiet and as quick as I could hoping that I might get a shot as he popped out the other side. Halfway across and another roar from the other side of the dirt pile. I came towards the end of the mound and couldn't see doe/baby. As I looked to my right  the stag was just starting to come into view, and he was about 3om away. I was just starting to lower myself so I wasn't going to be in his view when he took 2 more steps and let out a roar, I drew the bow back as he roared and had the pin where I wanted it, but he kept on coming. I let out squeeky doe call and he propped and looked at me broadside. Bingo... The arrow flew straight for the zone and collected the goods. The stag ran 20m before heading down a grass incline. I ran to the edge, and when I got there I seen the big boy doing cart wheels. A few fist pumps as I went over for a closer look. I wish my young bloke was there to experience it, but there's plenty of time for that.......

It was early July and the Rusa Rut was starting to peak. The roaring had intensified and I had to be in the bush.

I had a few other spots up my sleeve, and I was eager to check them out. A phone call to Johnny and it wasn't long and the digger was there. Never a dull moment as we burnt along the hwy into what we  never expected.

Yep, skip and his mate were just sitting there minding there own business, when all of a sudden, skip did a u turn and tried to take johnny on,, in the Hilux. I tell you what, skip gave his best and I think the hilux came off second best. The lux came to a halt, water oozing out the top. Swearing and cursing followed for a good while. I'm glad skip made it out of there. The lux couldn't continue on, so it was a wave goodbye.. The trip had to continue on and a promising sunset had me thinking positive thoughts about tomorrow's hunt.....

The next morning couldn't come around quick enough, I was up an hour and a half before light, breakfast, hot cuppa and touch up for the broadheads. I had a mental plan and off I went. The morning spell produced a malformed stag with a extra brow half way up his main beam, something I've never seen on a Rusa stag before. The length wasn't there so he walked.

The rest of the day was much the same, the biggest I managed to see was a 30 inch head. Hopefully tomorrow would bring something bigger. Another youngster caught out at 15m

Day 2, same as normal, up early ready for action. The morning session was full of testosterone, young stags strutting there stuff, but still no big boy's. The lunch worms were starting to irratate, lucky for me I manage to snag a treat and
a bbq lunch was on the cards....

After that tasty treat I was at it again, on the search, glassing, and just covering ground. It wasn't till the last hour before dark and I decided to rattle out my Rusa ruckus. I had just finished the sequence and as I reached around to retrieve my by bag, a roar only 300m or so away caught my attention. A clench of the fist, and a shot of adrenalin followed suit. A focused hunter now on the trail of mystery roar. This was always the exciting bit closing the gap on
hopefully what was to be. As I neared the target I noticed there wasn't 1 but more like 15 deer to contend with. I watched as the favourable drizzle appeared. The deer were on the move, probably heading into their feeding zone for the arvo /night. 20min went by and I kept tracking them at a distance of about 80m. Lucky for me there was quite a few tree's to concealed my shape. I pulled up behind a solid tree and glassed the mob intently. There was a good stag in there, he was trying to mount his prize but she wasn't to keen. He wasn't exactly what I was after but as the seconds ticked by, the stag started to grow on me, or my hunting gene's took hold, one or the other. The next thing that happened was quite amazing, the mob kept walking and the biggest stag just sat right beside a tree. I couldn't believe it. With the drizzle still happening a stalk attack was hatched. I had to move 3m to my left and then I would have a direct line to my target. That 3m to my left might have taken 5-10m. The direct charge was a different story as I could see my stag's eye's and when he wasn't looking I made ground. 80 became 50 then 30 and there was one more tree and with the assistance of my range finder that last tree was 20m from my prize. I made 20 and the relaxed stag just stared into his lightly timbered surrounds. I composed myself for a second and ran the procedure through my mind. The bow now drawing, the peep clear, and the pin makes it's mark, a bedded stag is never a good view so a cactus roar on my behalf gets his attention. He looked but didn't stand, then I roared again and this time he stood to see what all the ruckus was about. With the pin pointed true a arrow launched and made it's mark. The stags crunched up and made 40m. I was stoked and amazed at the same time but over all the years I think the more time you spend in the bush stuff like this just happens.

With the Rut over the stags were starting returning to there bachelor mobs, their battered body's needed some rest. All the stags were out to find the best tucker available, so with this in mind the search was on.

Franko was along for the ride and it wasn't long and shooter was in his sites. I'll let Franko go into detail, but here was the end result a mature Rusa Stag with plenty of length. Well done bud.

The end of the season was near, and all the heads we were noticing were small. It was the 2nd last day and it was perfect morning,  no breeze, and not a cloud in the sky. The scope made it's way out of the bag and onto a bachelor mob of stags. There looked the be a shooter amongst them so a closer look was needed. On the way across two smaller stags burst out at close range from the fresh running water, just as I was about to refill my bottle.  After a drink, I climbed out of the creek bottom and viewed over to the direction of the stags. They fed contently  across a small rise which again was a blessing for my approach. The wind was good and they fed slowly away from me, but every now and then they would pull up and feed in  the same spot for a period of time. This gave me time to close the gap and it wasn't long and bow range was upon them. As I edged around a small clump of bush a mature stag of around 36 inches presented itself. With this opportunity I couldn't resist and the bow was at full draw, at 20m this rusa looked to be mine. The shot hit and the stag bolted. It wasn't one of my best shots but in the end I got the prize. With the rusa
season now at the end, the next one can't come around quick enough!

It was a morning never to forget,  the perfect conditions had me smiling hard.

The hammock had done the trick once again, fresh and ready to roll. I flipped out and made some breakfast, well it was boris's powdered milk and some sort of grain. I added the water to the mix and hooked in. After breakfast I sorted my day pack for the day and headed off to the whistling tune of a rutting chital stag.
Further along the track and some does spooked through. I sat and glassed for a bit but nothing except Kong kookaburra.

The morning never produced the goods or that whistling stag so a good feed was on the cards.  A plan for the afternoons hunt was talked over lunch. Up and at em, packs on ready to make it to a vantage point to do some glassing. We made it half way and a few stags were spotted soaking up the sun further around the side of the hill.

One stag that we didn't see had us pinned and alerted the rest of the mob. They stood there starring straight at us for a minute or so before moving off.
We pressed on further up the hill to see what could be on the other side. As we made the rise I noticed a flicker of a antler about 50m in front, it was a stag. There was enough cover and he could not see me. I froze and in time my
patients payed off because he was the one to make the next move. Because he caught my movement or heard something I needed him to relax back to what he was doing before I had disturbed him. He eventually put his head down to feed so I dropped slowly to the ground. I sat down out of view with the wind in my favour for about 10-15min. In that time I took the odd peak to check his actions.
With the Stag now settled I began the stalk. With the good cover in front I edged closer, he was just standing underneath a small tree. Every now and then he would lift his head and check his surrounds and when put his head down to feed I made ground. 30m was made and I looked at the stag, then the cover. There was another clump of bush about  10m in front and with a constant breeze and a settled stag I ventured further in.
The socks made the quiet approach and all of a sudden the 20m mark was upon me. The moment of truth and the heart rate was now reaching above normal beats. I had to get this monkey off my back, as this was not the first time I had been so close to one of these fine looking critters.
A few deep breaths as I waited for that right angle. The stags turns broadside and my eyes focus on his heart. The rest just happens auto, and the bow is back, the pin now settled as the surprise release launches the arrow. I didn't see the hit but the stag didn't look crash hot. 
I gave him 20min before heading over, I made the spot and to my right was my first Chital Stag Down..