NZ Hunter – August 2019

the roaring the previous night. We finally

left the river and climbed up a ridge and

glassed for a bit before we saw a big billy

goat.

After it disappeared we kept glassing

and suddenly Dad whispered “Stag –

massive antlers!” Out of nowhere a big

stag rushed up the gut and at that time I

was freaking out as Dad got his 243 ready.

Will and I stared at the stag in disbelief

and then Granddad told us to hit the deck

behind some manukas. Dad had trouble

getting his bipod set up on the steep

slope, but finally he got a long shot

away. The sound of a solid ‘thud’ came

back to us. The stag dropped, but then it

got back up and made its way around a

gut and into a patch of manuka. At this

point Dad was cursing the 243, as the

stag was only one further gut away from

heavy bush.

As we walked

across the gut

I spotted the

stag lying down,

resting next to a

manuka.

After I told everyone where it was,

we decided to let Dad sneak in and

check it was down. We watched him

walk over and disappear into the manuka

for a bit. When he reappeared, he raised

his hand in the air and Will and I ran over

excitedly. We all cheered in excitement

as we counted the points on the stag’s

head – we couldn’t believe it when we

got to 17!

We were all stoked, particularly

because Granddad, Dad, my cousin

and I had all experienced the hunt

together. We caped out the stag’s head,

and hung the meat to cool in a manuka

tree. We headed back to camp with the

head and some of the meat, leaving the

rest of the meat to collect later.

That evening it rained, however the

next morning we were off again in the

dark and headed back up the same

ridge where we’d got the stag and then

sidled around some guts into another

major gully system. As we were pushing

through some manuka, we spooked a

hind and a yearling that were close by.

Dad could have shot both, but we opted

to focus on the stag that we’d heard

roaring down the far ridge on the first

night.

We carried on, and eventually

made the far ridge but nothing was

roaring, although we did see a spiker

down by the river near a wallow. We

decided to have a go at the spiker but by

the time we got there it was gone. When

we saw the wallow, we decided to try and

fly camp above it, so we could stake it out.

We headed back to base camp, had some

lunch and then went back to set up a fly

camp above the wallow. Sidling around

the ridge was tough as it was steep and

rocky, and Will slipped and gashed his

knee.

We finally made the saddle overlooking

the wallow, and started setting up

camp. Then stags began roaring around

us and Will spotted what we thought

was a 10 pointer way up on the skyline.

Another stag roared below us, and Dad

was worried about the wind drifting our

August / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 29

the roaring the previous night. We finally
left the river and climbed up a ridge and
glassed for a bit before we saw a big billy
goat.

After it disappeared we kept glassing
and suddenly Dad whispered “Stag –
massive antlers!” Out of nowhere a big
stag rushed up the gut and at that time I
was freaking out as Dad got his 243 ready.
Will and I stared at the stag in disbelief
and then Granddad told us to hit the deck
behind some manukas. Dad had trouble
getting his bipod set up on the steep
slope, but finally he got a long shot
away. The sound of a solid ‘thud’ came
back to us. The stag dropped, but then it
got back up and made its way around a
gut and into a patch of manuka. At this
point Dad was cursing the 243, as the
stag was only one further gut away from
heavy bush.

As we walked

across the gut

I spotted the

stag lying down,

resting next to a

manuka.

After I told everyone where it was,
we decided to let Dad sneak in and
check it was down. We watched him
walk over and disappear into the manuka
for a bit. When he reappeared, he raised
his hand in the air and Will and I ran over
excitedly. We all cheered in excitement
as we counted the points on the stag’s
head – we couldn’t believe it when we

got to 17!

We were all stoked, particularly

because Granddad, Dad, my cousin

and I had all experienced the hunt

together. We caped out the stag’s head,

and hung the meat to cool in a manuka

tree. We headed back to camp with the

head and some of the meat, leaving the

rest of the meat to collect later.

That evening it rained, however the

next morning we were off again in the

dark and headed back up the same

ridge where we’d got the stag and then

sidled around some guts into another

major gully system. As we were pushing

through some manuka, we spooked a

hind and a yearling that were close by.

Dad could have shot both, but we opted

to focus on the stag that we’d heard

roaring down the far ridge on the first

night.

We carried on, and eventually

made the far ridge but nothing was

roaring, although we did see a spiker

down by the river near a wallow. We

decided to have a go at the spiker but by

the time we got there it was gone. When

we saw the wallow, we decided to try and

fly camp above it, so we could stake it out.

We headed back to base camp, had some

lunch and then went back to set up a fly

camp above the wallow. Sidling around

the ridge was tough as it was steep and

rocky, and Will slipped and gashed his

knee.

We finally made the saddle overlooking

the wallow, and started setting up

camp. Then stags began roaring around

us and Will spotted what we thought

was a 10 pointer way up on the skyline.

Another stag roared below us, and Dad

was worried about the wind drifting our

August / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 29