Down Under Hunter
Well-Known Member
So far the year for me has been taken up being Dad. With a 2 and 4 year old trips in the bush have been fewer than I would have liked. So as the spring growth starts to fire up so does the fringe country sambar hunting.
I have a few favourite honey holes that I will hunt reguarly from now on and today one of them paid off.
The night was perfect after a couple of weeks of high winds and rain, finally I had a good wind to sit this clearing that would offer shots from 200 -700 yards. After getting set up and spotting a few deer feeding in far off places I happened to pan my glasses hard left and caught movement through the head of a tree. I moved a little and made the form of a large stag feed with some hinds that had been previously hidden by a fold in the hill. I ranged them at 260 M and grabbed the big swaros to look him over. MMmmmm .. decision time...... I nearly decided not to shoot him when he lifted his head high and that sealed it ! The big problem now was because of the lay of the land I could not get prone so I risked moving to a big tree and getting a rest for a standing shot.. Up the hill he walked when he turned away , quartering towards me.... Booooooooom Whack !! Down he goes like a rock. Hit high on the shoulder with the 300 smk from my EDGE.
I started sneaking in to make sure he was down for good when I realised all the other deer about were still there looking me over.. I recently picked up a new lightweight ghillie and it had them all baffled.
When I get to him he is the biggest bodied stag I have taken. If he had a trunk and big ears he could have passed for a small Elephant ! Covered in mud and with a huge rut swollen neck, his 28 inch antlers looked small on his frame.
This is a great start to my spring campaign and I feel the best is in front of me still.
Cheers
DUH
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