havgunwilltravel
Active member
Freezer was getting low on venison and with work colleagues and family friends asking for some venison for the summer BBQ season i needed no more excuse to head bush. Got a few days off work, managed to leave work a few hours early and after a big drive i made it to my location with a couple of hours till nightfall. My pack was already loaded and ready to go, i pulled on my boots, shouldered the Eberlestock and started climbing.
I had quite a weight to carry with all my gear on board, optics, food etc and laboured up the steep hill. I had a displaced platella from a recent hunt in New Caledonia and my knee had been playing up to the point where i couldn't run regularly which i normally do and the last 3 months hasn't seen a lot of cardio and boy did it show how easily you can go from being really fit to just fit. I made a flat spot and thought this will do me for the evening. I had been seeing a few deer marks on the saddles and knew they were at the elevation i was planning to hunt.
I had barely thrown the tent out of its bag and unpacked some gear when i headed off the ridge and dropped down a spur to glass until dark. I had 25 minutes of useable light and located a few deer but no decent stags. The sunset was quite nice and worth every drop of sweat it took to get to my location.
Setting up camp in the dark didn't take long, a quick cook up of some noodles, some snacks and water to hydrate and i was done for the night. I don't normally take a sleeping pad and just enjoyed sleeping on some level soft grass.
Set the alarm for 5:30 as i knew it would get light quick, pulled on the boots and dropped down the same spur with a glassing point i wanted to make 10 minutes walk away. Got halfway when i looked to my right and seen 2 dark shapes in a little basin, they weren't there last night i thought and put up the geovids. 2 deer and both stags, one younger stylish deer and an older animal with weak inner tines, i ranged them at 480m and noticed they were wanting to head back into timber. The sun wasn't even up and i had to get it done fast. Quick set up of the video camera, turn the turret 7.5 MOA settle in and send one off, a miss, quick reload, the smaller stag had ran off but the one i was aiming at wasn't sure what was going on, his shoulder was behind a branch so aimed at the back of his lungs and let another rip. Whop came the sound and he hunched and ran off downhill.
Checking the video i could see he was hit in the chest but a touch far forward. Sambar are extremely tenacious and i knew it would be touch and go whether i would recover him. As i adjusted the elevation turret back to zero i noticed my windage had been turned 1.25moa to the right, which at 480m was around 6inches and probably why the first shot was a swing and a miss. It must have been turned unintentionally over the last couple of hunts just through being carried.
Working around to the stags basin i picked up running marks and only a couple spots of blood. I never worry too much about blood with sambar but stayed on the marks for 400 metres as they led me to a creek and past some decent stag sign.
The country opened up in front of me and i stood looking for sign of where he might have gone, there was no blood and tracks were very hard to figure out, then i looked up and seen a stag stand up from a bed, recognised it was him and quickly put a finisher into his chest. I was glad to not have lost him wounded.
If there was only one species i could hunt for the rest of my days it would be sambar, they are just the ultimate and i have hunted many animals in many locations. This particular stag wasn't big or old by any means, but he would provide for my needs and i began the butchering process and started the big climb out with his boned out meat on board keeping an every watchful eye for snakes as it was warming up quite quickly.
Making it back to camp, i unloaded, hung the meat up in the shade and thought about my next move.
With the way the temperatures where i thought it best to break camp and punch it back to my 4wd to not waste the meat. I had planned 3-4 nights on the hill but things changed with the dead stag now to consider.
It was one of the heaviest loads i carried back down in one go and had to take rests every 20-25 steps. But the feeling when i finally made it my hilux, unloaded the pack and gear and cracked open an icy cold beer was well worth every step of the journey.
That afternoon i glassed up a few animals but no mature stags and had a good dinner around the fire followed by a decent sleep under the stars. I like to share camp with good keen mates, but i also really enjoy solo trips for some time to myself.
Up early i was on the hill glassing a face when i located a well conditioned spiker. Heck he looked in good condition and i thought i would try to get closer.
Cutting distance quick i moved across a grass clearing and was pleased to find this big cast antler that no doubt had been there a while. It was a good sign and i marked the spot so i could try to pair it up on the way back but i never found the other side.
Making my way to a point i was now within 160 meters of the spiker and decided to take him as well. The berger 190gr hybrid did a good job, but the shot was on an angle and he needed a finisher and soon i had deer number two on board and another heavy load to carry out of a valley.
The weather again was heating up and i thought it best to head home, with a couple of deer on board, a set of antlers to boil out and plenty of meat to process the trip couldn't have turned out any better.
I took a look back at the big country i love hunting in so much and knew it would not be long before i would be back up high chasing these magnificent creatures.
There will always be a new sambar valley to explore, a new basin to fly camp into and never ending experiences to be had when on the trail of sambar, they are a species that test you ever step of the journey but i wouldn't want it any other way.
I had quite a weight to carry with all my gear on board, optics, food etc and laboured up the steep hill. I had a displaced platella from a recent hunt in New Caledonia and my knee had been playing up to the point where i couldn't run regularly which i normally do and the last 3 months hasn't seen a lot of cardio and boy did it show how easily you can go from being really fit to just fit. I made a flat spot and thought this will do me for the evening. I had been seeing a few deer marks on the saddles and knew they were at the elevation i was planning to hunt.
I had barely thrown the tent out of its bag and unpacked some gear when i headed off the ridge and dropped down a spur to glass until dark. I had 25 minutes of useable light and located a few deer but no decent stags. The sunset was quite nice and worth every drop of sweat it took to get to my location.
Setting up camp in the dark didn't take long, a quick cook up of some noodles, some snacks and water to hydrate and i was done for the night. I don't normally take a sleeping pad and just enjoyed sleeping on some level soft grass.
Set the alarm for 5:30 as i knew it would get light quick, pulled on the boots and dropped down the same spur with a glassing point i wanted to make 10 minutes walk away. Got halfway when i looked to my right and seen 2 dark shapes in a little basin, they weren't there last night i thought and put up the geovids. 2 deer and both stags, one younger stylish deer and an older animal with weak inner tines, i ranged them at 480m and noticed they were wanting to head back into timber. The sun wasn't even up and i had to get it done fast. Quick set up of the video camera, turn the turret 7.5 MOA settle in and send one off, a miss, quick reload, the smaller stag had ran off but the one i was aiming at wasn't sure what was going on, his shoulder was behind a branch so aimed at the back of his lungs and let another rip. Whop came the sound and he hunched and ran off downhill.
Checking the video i could see he was hit in the chest but a touch far forward. Sambar are extremely tenacious and i knew it would be touch and go whether i would recover him. As i adjusted the elevation turret back to zero i noticed my windage had been turned 1.25moa to the right, which at 480m was around 6inches and probably why the first shot was a swing and a miss. It must have been turned unintentionally over the last couple of hunts just through being carried.
Working around to the stags basin i picked up running marks and only a couple spots of blood. I never worry too much about blood with sambar but stayed on the marks for 400 metres as they led me to a creek and past some decent stag sign.
The country opened up in front of me and i stood looking for sign of where he might have gone, there was no blood and tracks were very hard to figure out, then i looked up and seen a stag stand up from a bed, recognised it was him and quickly put a finisher into his chest. I was glad to not have lost him wounded.
If there was only one species i could hunt for the rest of my days it would be sambar, they are just the ultimate and i have hunted many animals in many locations. This particular stag wasn't big or old by any means, but he would provide for my needs and i began the butchering process and started the big climb out with his boned out meat on board keeping an every watchful eye for snakes as it was warming up quite quickly.
Making it back to camp, i unloaded, hung the meat up in the shade and thought about my next move.
With the way the temperatures where i thought it best to break camp and punch it back to my 4wd to not waste the meat. I had planned 3-4 nights on the hill but things changed with the dead stag now to consider.
It was one of the heaviest loads i carried back down in one go and had to take rests every 20-25 steps. But the feeling when i finally made it my hilux, unloaded the pack and gear and cracked open an icy cold beer was well worth every step of the journey.
That afternoon i glassed up a few animals but no mature stags and had a good dinner around the fire followed by a decent sleep under the stars. I like to share camp with good keen mates, but i also really enjoy solo trips for some time to myself.
Up early i was on the hill glassing a face when i located a well conditioned spiker. Heck he looked in good condition and i thought i would try to get closer.
Cutting distance quick i moved across a grass clearing and was pleased to find this big cast antler that no doubt had been there a while. It was a good sign and i marked the spot so i could try to pair it up on the way back but i never found the other side.
Making my way to a point i was now within 160 meters of the spiker and decided to take him as well. The berger 190gr hybrid did a good job, but the shot was on an angle and he needed a finisher and soon i had deer number two on board and another heavy load to carry out of a valley.
The weather again was heating up and i thought it best to head home, with a couple of deer on board, a set of antlers to boil out and plenty of meat to process the trip couldn't have turned out any better.
I took a look back at the big country i love hunting in so much and knew it would not be long before i would be back up high chasing these magnificent creatures.
There will always be a new sambar valley to explore, a new basin to fly camp into and never ending experiences to be had when on the trail of sambar, they are a species that test you ever step of the journey but i wouldn't want it any other way.
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