Paul R
26-02-08, 12:54 AM
I went for a backpack hunt chasing some Red deer over the last couple of days, up in the back country on a property I have access to in the Mary Valley. I wanted to try and take some game with a Newell static tip recurve that I have been reviewing for the Annual magazine, which should be hitting the news agency stands soon. I also had a new hiking tent and some other gear that I wanted to try out and put to the test so I hiked for a couple of hours up into the ridges, seeing some rubs along the way and set up camp on a high ridge for the night. Carrying a 20kg pack up and down mountains soon reminded me that I need to get a lot fitter. I covered a fair bit of ground the next day and must have seen about 20 rubs which were aged from about 3 weeks old to under an hour, I just missed that stag, but unfortunately I didn't see any deer.
Which brings me to a question directed to those who have experience hunting red deer.
I most probably won't be able to hunt this place during the roar as the owner's friend rifle hunts it every year. There seems to be a few stags getting around but because the area has two public access roads cutting through the place, it is heavily poached and spotlighted from vehicles, so the deer stay away from the open grass land and stick to the thick scrub.
Has any experienced Red deer hunter got any tips they can share with me on how to target these deer leading up to and after the roar?
Finding a high vantage point and glassing is out, the scrub is too thick to see anything on the opposite slopes and they aren't venturing out into the open areas. My only course of action so far has been to walk the ridges checking the gullies and slopes beneath me as I go, and I'll have fun continuing to do that, but if someone has some tips they can share, I'd appreciate it.:D
Here's a couple of the many rubs I found.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/PaulRea/Conondale056.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/PaulRea/Conondale060.jpg
Which brings me to a question directed to those who have experience hunting red deer.
I most probably won't be able to hunt this place during the roar as the owner's friend rifle hunts it every year. There seems to be a few stags getting around but because the area has two public access roads cutting through the place, it is heavily poached and spotlighted from vehicles, so the deer stay away from the open grass land and stick to the thick scrub.
Has any experienced Red deer hunter got any tips they can share with me on how to target these deer leading up to and after the roar?
Finding a high vantage point and glassing is out, the scrub is too thick to see anything on the opposite slopes and they aren't venturing out into the open areas. My only course of action so far has been to walk the ridges checking the gullies and slopes beneath me as I go, and I'll have fun continuing to do that, but if someone has some tips they can share, I'd appreciate it.:D
Here's a couple of the many rubs I found.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/PaulRea/Conondale056.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b198/PaulRea/Conondale060.jpg