night. Amazing how hard they are to spot
when they are bedded down. I took
a bit of video but the camera was
pretty grainy at that range so our
imaginations ran wild all night.
He was the animal we wanted to target
in the morning. We knew he had good
tops on his left side, but we couldn’t quite
make out his right. I dreamt about the
stag that night but we didn’t get him in
my dream, which turned out to be real as
the next morning he was nowhere to be
seen. Then it was home time...All the next
week I couldn’t
stop thinking
about the stag.
Reviewing the video and looking at the
pictures over and over again, it was safe
to say I was obsessed. My wife Molly got
sick of hearing about it and I think she
wanted me to go back and get him just
so I would shut up.
Chris was due to fly overseas for a
holiday so I returned to the same
spot with another hunting buddy
Simon, whom I’d just met during the
roar. I was so nervous about whether I
was going to lay eyes on the stag again.
We tried to be positive but I wouldn’t
have been surprised if we didn't find him.
Just as we left the Land Cruiser, Simon
saw a couple of hinds in the low scrub.
It was really good spotting as only their
heads were showing, but they were not
the targets we were after. Not long after,
we sat on the cold ground to glass the
hillside where Chris and I had seen theThe stag 1.2 km awayA chamois who quickly
got out of rangeAugust / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 15night. Amazing how hard they are to spot
when they are bedded down. I took
a bit of video but the camera was
pretty grainy at that range so our
imaginations ran wild all night.
He was the animal we wanted to target
in the morning. We knew he had good
tops on his left side, but we couldn’t quite
make out his right. I dreamt about the
stag that night but we didn’t get him in
my dream, which turned out to be real as
the next morning he was nowhere to be
seen. Then it was home time...
All the next
week I couldn’t
stop thinking
about the stag.
Reviewing the video and looking at the
pictures over and over again, it was safe
to say I was obsessed. My wife Molly got
sick of hearing about it and I think she
wanted me to go back and get him just
so I would shut up.
Chris was due to fly overseas for a
holiday so I returned to the same
spot with another hunting buddy
Simon, whom I’d just met during the
roar. I was so nervous about whether I
was going to lay eyes on the stag again.
We tried to be positive but I wouldn’t
have been surprised if we didn't find him.
Just as we left the Land Cruiser, Simon
saw a couple of hinds in the low scrub.
It was really good spotting as only their
heads were showing, but they were not
the targets we were after. Not long after,
we sat on the cold ground to glass the
hillside where Chris and I had seen the
The stag 1.2 km awayA chamois who quickly
got out of rangeAugust / September 2019 ~ NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE 15