STEALTH
27-07-08, 10:04 PM
Armed with a couple of days off work I decided to make my way down to a property I have access to that just happens to be smack dab in the middle of prime rusa country.
Wasting no time I made my way down to the creek I always seem to see some good heads in.
The wind was up and it seemed that it was on side,so I wasn't suprised to be greated by the sight of 2 stags as I peeked over a rise.There stood a 30" and 26" at 100m,totally un aware of my presence and already starting to make their way into the thick.
My plan was to wait till they disappeared over the rise then move in quik and get a sneaky shot into the 30".Once out of sight I shuffled along till I got to the top of the rise then slowly peered over.They had already made it into the thick stuff and I could only see one rump and couldn't make out which one it was.With arrow already on the string I quikly ranged him at 40 metres.All that movement attracted the attention of a spiker I hadn't seen before and he let out a loud bark.
The stag swung his head around to stare straight at me.At this point I decided to take the texas heart shot so I slowly drew, aimed, realeased and threaded the needle through the lantana to land about a inch below the bulls eye and bury halfway in.
The bush exploded with life and around 10 stags jumped to there feet and bolted in all different directions, I kept my eye on the one I shot.He walked out in the clear and took one last look at me before he ran off up the hill.I realised then that he was the smaller of the 2.
I gave him an hour before I went and picked the trail up.There was a good amount of blood and the pools i was finding along the way kept me positive of a quik recovery.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/frankothetanko/DSC00561-1.jpg
But after 2 hours of trailing him I finally found him bedded down and with a follow up shot through the heart it was all over.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/frankothetanko/DSC00566-1.jpg
He made some 500m through some tough terrain only to make it 20 metres off a access road.After a quik phone call I was able to get him home with the help of a couple of mates just a little after dark.
He was no monster but I did find this hunt very satisfying and although it ended up a succesful one I learned some valuable lessons.
Thanks for reading,Happy hunting.
Frank
Wasting no time I made my way down to the creek I always seem to see some good heads in.
The wind was up and it seemed that it was on side,so I wasn't suprised to be greated by the sight of 2 stags as I peeked over a rise.There stood a 30" and 26" at 100m,totally un aware of my presence and already starting to make their way into the thick.
My plan was to wait till they disappeared over the rise then move in quik and get a sneaky shot into the 30".Once out of sight I shuffled along till I got to the top of the rise then slowly peered over.They had already made it into the thick stuff and I could only see one rump and couldn't make out which one it was.With arrow already on the string I quikly ranged him at 40 metres.All that movement attracted the attention of a spiker I hadn't seen before and he let out a loud bark.
The stag swung his head around to stare straight at me.At this point I decided to take the texas heart shot so I slowly drew, aimed, realeased and threaded the needle through the lantana to land about a inch below the bulls eye and bury halfway in.
The bush exploded with life and around 10 stags jumped to there feet and bolted in all different directions, I kept my eye on the one I shot.He walked out in the clear and took one last look at me before he ran off up the hill.I realised then that he was the smaller of the 2.
I gave him an hour before I went and picked the trail up.There was a good amount of blood and the pools i was finding along the way kept me positive of a quik recovery.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/frankothetanko/DSC00561-1.jpg
But after 2 hours of trailing him I finally found him bedded down and with a follow up shot through the heart it was all over.
http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p216/frankothetanko/DSC00566-1.jpg
He made some 500m through some tough terrain only to make it 20 metres off a access road.After a quik phone call I was able to get him home with the help of a couple of mates just a little after dark.
He was no monster but I did find this hunt very satisfying and although it ended up a succesful one I learned some valuable lessons.
Thanks for reading,Happy hunting.
Frank