Things are winding down here, with stags about to cast their antlers for another year.
I've been after this one thumper since early in the year when I first saw him in the late stages of velvet.
He lives in some really thick bush with a couple of other stags and try as I might I just haven't been able to get on them. Either I just couldn't find them or they'd get the drop on me first, even with the aid of my gun dog.
Yesterday I decided I'd have one of my last hunts for reds for the year and set out after them. We'd been stalking for a while when Ellie my gsp started air scenting. I followed her, carefully moving through the bush, glassing every nook and cranny hoping to spy a deer. After about 200m I heard a stick snap ahead and to my left, i moved over and at that moment they busted out of the thick bush.
Hunting this thick country on foot was always going to require snap shooting and I was just hoping I'd be able to take the right one if it came to it.
As they pushed through, the rear stag came into view and in that split second I decided to take the chance and fired two shots as he ran past through the bushes.
I ran forward and clear of a thick patch only to see the big stag in front of the one I'd shot and disappearing into the bush.
I was bitterly disappointed and was kicking myself but unfortunately that's how this thick bush hunting can go if you choose to take chances.
Don't get me wrong he's a nice stag and lots of people would be happy with him but for me he was a bit young and had potential to be a lot better.
To rub salt in the wounds, as I Carried the head out I dropped it and both antlers fell off! So he was merely days from casting himself.
The consolation of it all was that I got some prime meat which really is the main thing in the end and the property owner told me he wanted the next head I shot on his property for himself so I'm much happier handing over this one than if I had of shot the big boy (would have offered him money to let me keep that).
Not exactly the celebration I would have liked for the end of 2016 but sometimes it's just how these things go.
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
I've been after this one thumper since early in the year when I first saw him in the late stages of velvet.
He lives in some really thick bush with a couple of other stags and try as I might I just haven't been able to get on them. Either I just couldn't find them or they'd get the drop on me first, even with the aid of my gun dog.
Yesterday I decided I'd have one of my last hunts for reds for the year and set out after them. We'd been stalking for a while when Ellie my gsp started air scenting. I followed her, carefully moving through the bush, glassing every nook and cranny hoping to spy a deer. After about 200m I heard a stick snap ahead and to my left, i moved over and at that moment they busted out of the thick bush.
Hunting this thick country on foot was always going to require snap shooting and I was just hoping I'd be able to take the right one if it came to it.
As they pushed through, the rear stag came into view and in that split second I decided to take the chance and fired two shots as he ran past through the bushes.
I ran forward and clear of a thick patch only to see the big stag in front of the one I'd shot and disappearing into the bush.
I was bitterly disappointed and was kicking myself but unfortunately that's how this thick bush hunting can go if you choose to take chances.
Don't get me wrong he's a nice stag and lots of people would be happy with him but for me he was a bit young and had potential to be a lot better.
To rub salt in the wounds, as I Carried the head out I dropped it and both antlers fell off! So he was merely days from casting himself.
The consolation of it all was that I got some prime meat which really is the main thing in the end and the property owner told me he wanted the next head I shot on his property for himself so I'm much happier handing over this one than if I had of shot the big boy (would have offered him money to let me keep that).
Not exactly the celebration I would have liked for the end of 2016 but sometimes it's just how these things go.
Sent from my D6653 using Tapatalk
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