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Solo Stag Success!!

Having lived in Australia for 4 years now and having guided a couple red stag here I decided this year Ineould like to try and get my first Australian red. I have taken many reds in New Zealand and a couple meat animals in Australia but it was time to hunt a mature stag.

Several months ago I got access on a property an hour from my home an elderly couple that farm cattle and I spoke about running some deer hunts in the future on their property. I decided since it was close to home this could benefit all parties involved. In early March I went for a couple days scouting and hung just 1 trail camera. I was semi familiar with the area having previously guided on the neighbouring property I knew what to expect trophy wise as well as deer densities. By mid-late march I had several trail camera photos of a few different stags and they were starting to roar.

Being a bit short on time lately I was hoping to get out for 2 day last week and 2 days this week. Last week didn't pan out but by Friday night I was on my way to the property. All night long I listened to stags roar up the valley from the farm house the evening was cool about 16 degrees and had them all fired up!

The red deer here in Queensland are descendants of the original Scottish bloodline stags that were released in the late 1800s. Are they smaller then stags in a lot of other countries? Yes typically anything 5x5 or bigger is a very good deer. These deer are as wild and free range as they come and live in some very tough terrain. Steep hillsides with deep gullies choked with lantana makes for a very challenging yet rewarding bowhunt.

Awesome, keep it coming, I'm enjoying this!

Saturday morning found me side hilling/climbing a thick gully just on the transition line from thick lantana vines to the semi open terrain. Where I tend to find deer feeding close to the thick stuff to escape danger if need be they just drop into the gully and they are gone. My goal was to work this gully and climb it to the top of a ridge system where there is a nice waterhole near the top. Although we have had a bunch of rain recently the deer were still wallowing a bit and there is a lot of feed in this area. I worked the whole gully and climbed to the top which took me about 1.5 hours and really didn't see anything or hear any roars in the immediate area. I decided to sit and wait at the dam for a bit of a break and to see if I could hear and pin point any vocal stags.

Just as I was settling into a comfy waiting spot a thick patch of bush and tall grass in front of me 70 yards away started to rustle. I nocked and arrow and a hind popped out and was moving fast toward me when a stag bolted out behind her she took a 90 degree turn I drew but neither of them slowed down. They were about 45 yards out he was a real long 4x5 but never gave me the slightest chance. The valley behind me seemed to light up with roars but with a bad wind and 50% of the valley not property I had permission to hunt I elected to sit tight. The morning rolled on. I hiked a bunch more of the ridge system. Stopping and calling every so often with not much action. Only distant roars. I made my way back to camp around 12pm

Friday afternoon I wanted to try something I had not done before. My plan of attack was to take my 1 man tent and a few odds and ends for a big backpack trip even though I only had that afternoon and all day Sunday to hunt. My plan was to get up high that afternoon set up camp and hunt that evening. Then all night long hopefully be awoken by stags roaring so I would have the early AM drop as to their rough where abouts. I climbed and climbed it was hot about 28C deer activity was non existent but I wasn't worried as it would cool down later and they should start up later. I got camp set up in a comfy little saddle near the back of the property and then made the decision to stay close to camp for the evening hunt. I elected to go to the top even tough my best chance would be low down as the stags seem to bed in the bottoms I really didn't feel like descending and having to climb back up again.

The afternoon proved to be slow with some relatively close roars 400 yards away but on the opposite side of a ravine. With non frequent vocals from the 2 stags which only fired up an hour before dark I sat tight and watched the sun set.

For some reason can't rotate second pic of sunset.

I returned to camp after dark with no deer spotted. For dinner I had some marinated axis deer back strap with some spicy ramen noodles and some steamed cabbage and hit the sack for an early night. I was awakened frequently by roars throughout the night. A few time I got out of the tent to try and better pin point their locations. I had roughly pinpointed 4 stags during the night. 2 close and 2 far. I was up at 430 excited for the morning hunt. I had a quick breakfast and tore down camp. Plan was to hunt the morning with camp on my back as I figured I would end up down low during the morning hunt and did not want to climb again . As the sun started to rise both of my close stags seemed to have gone quiet. Stag #1 Was to the south low in the gully had shut up and was hard to pinpoint his exact whereas due to the echo coming out of the valley. Stag 2 was straight west and across the valley but near the valley floor. Because of the direct line I felt I knew pretty well where he was. He also shut up. I worked my way down the spur towards stag 2 despite nobody making any roars. I had descended half way to a bench I wanted to wait on to do some calling and listen for either stag. I took my pack off when stag 1 opened up from what sounded like the patch of dirt my tent had been sitting on. Probably a giant rubbing it in my face! I was so tempted to start climbing but patience told me to just wait it out for a bit. He roared a few times then shut up. I never heard him for the remainder of the morning.

I started to do some doe calls nothing then followed with some roars nothing then more roars and moans and finally stag 2 fired up. We roared back and fourth for 10 minutes I was getting him ramped up. As he continued to roar I rushed down the mountainside and into the thick lantana roaring down the mountain at intervals. When I hit the bottom I shut up. The stag was moving uphill as his roars got a bit faint. Due to the thick scrub that I had to fight through he still knew I was pursuing him with all the racket I made. I figured he had hinds he was trying to keep from me hence his retreat up the mountain. As I closed the gap my pace slowed and I entered more open country I went into stealth mode now and just inched up the hill as I neared about 80 yards I caught an ear flick of one hind. I took my last big drink of water and did something I never do I dropped my pack. Didn't feel comfortable shooting with it on on such a steep slope and semi unsure footing. I crept in the shade to 45 yards of the hind. The stag further back and still out of view. They were on a small grassy bench the hind was feeding and then I caught movement to her left another hind appeared and approached the other. I did my best to put myself in position with 1 shooting lane to where that hind just crossed anticipating the stag would follow. I ranged her at 42 yards angle compensated steep uphill. I wanted to be closer but felt I was pushing the limits with the 2 hinds in sight and the winds in this area are relentless and do me in most times. Finally after what seemed like 10 minutes I saw antler tips coming on the same trail. I didn't look at his rack but could tell it was decent so I drew my bow.

Keep it coming Tyler, great adventure/story so far!

As he approach the shooting lane he kicked it into high gear and charged at the hinds chasing them around the place pushing them north. One hind broke free and ran back south through my lane I drew again and he charged back through my narrow shooting lane. I was annoyed but optimistic. I wanted to move but knew it was a risk. The hind to the north was out of sight obstructed by thick brush. The stag and hind that was trying to ascape were also out of sight except the antler tips. I attempted to move into a closer and more open spot during this move they charged back through my laneway. Missing opportunity#3. The joined the other hind out of sight 60 yards away. I closed the gap back to 50 and had the stag in sight. I was 30 yards off the trail they had been running paces with plenty of shooting lanes. I had now been inside 50 yards for an hour and still hadn't dumped the string! It was getting intense. I was nervous I wanted to call but was nervous if the outcome I just needed the doe to brake down that trail again. 10 minutes later she makes a b line past me at 32 yards. The stag follows on a steady run. I draw and roar he doesn't even slow down. My roar spooked the hind and she bailed into the gully and up the hill on the other side. The stag stopped in his tracks in the scrub in disbelief that she just left him. I was so hoping he would not follow after all he did have his well behaved hind back in front of me. After 2 minutes and the beating up of a tree the stag whirled around and started back towards his loyal hind. I came to full draw I doe called 3 times in the first 3 lanes no stopping. I held my 30 pin on the front of his shoulder aiming somewhat low due to the steep uphill shot and touched it off. It was one of those shots you don't think about, you just go through your rhythm let fly and you know it's money before the arrow is off the string. I saw the line the arrow was on it looked good but didn't see the impact but it sounded great. The stag jumped and ran 20 yards I was hind calling and nocking another arrow. he stopped at 40 as I was drawing he made a dash downhill and out of sight followed by a couple odd sounding thuds and a big crash he was down for the count in ten seconds and only made 60 yards as gravity was on his side.

I waited 5 minutes recovered my arrow and took up the blood trail which was unnecessary except that I like blood trailing. There he lay in a heap up against a big tree. A great stag that has everything I could ever ask for! To boot he is one I had from trail camera about 10 days previous. I recovered my pack took some selfies and then started to work. Getting him out was a whole other mission. The landcruiser did some bush bashing to save me a bit of walking and 4 hours later I was on the way to my taxidermist!

Solo photos are tough. I didn't take my camera on this hunt so only had cell phone and no tripod. But I think they do him justice. Selfies are weird but had to get a couple with me involved

Congrats on a nice stag!

Great stag. Congrats

Dream hunt . Thanks for posting

For those interested or perhaps visiting Australia on holiday or for work. I will be offering hunts for these red stag next year. Most likely Rut hunts. As it's the best success . Late March early April. But not completely confined to that time frame. Limited to 2 hunters per year during the peak time. Price will be determined shortly but will come in at under $3500.

Thanks for the kind comments already guys. Cheers!

Congratulations. Great animal, enjoyed the story. Thanks for taking us along.

Great stag, congrats.

Loved the story thanks for sharing. For cell phone pics I keep this little setup.

Congrats! Great write up.

Proper job!

Congrats!

Way to go, Tyler! Beautiful stag!

Great hunt....congrats on a beautiful deer!

Sounds like a blast, you are blessed to be able to do this just an hour from your house!

Thanks for sharing, very cool adventure!

Best of Luck, Jeff

Tyler Congrats man that is a great stag.

How far is this hunt from Canberra?

Great story and pics! Thx Tyler.

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

Way to go Tyler! Great free range bull! Love those extra points above the g1's. Someday...

Great story! Dream hunt for me as well.

Cool hunt! Thanks for sharing.

Nice stagg! Sounds like a blast. Thanks for posting.

Great free range red deer Tyler! Congratulations! Love the double devil points:-)

Thanks for all the kind words. Glad you all enjoyed the write up! Wilbur I am hunting approximately 2 hours North of Brisbane which is about 1400 km from Canberra. Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast Airport would be approximately a 2 hour flight as a guess. There are plenty of Reds and Fallow around Canberra as well though.

Jaquomo care to post your QLD stag?

Very kool indeed

Thanks for sharing

Good luck, Robb

Congrats on a great stag and thanks for sharing!!

Figured I would post a couple other photos of stags from the area. the first is a friend I helped get his first red last year on the same property the second is another friend who hunts the neighbouring property

well done

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