2017 Roar, pre and post
Well I manage to hunt most weekends and some say I should stay out of the hills at this time of year (as I hunt public land 80% of the time) but ya always get sucked back in to those roaring stags and the hope of some up close and personal contact and I think I am more likely to get hit by a bus that some muppet in the bush but that’s a whole other topic. Anyway, my roar like most starts end of Feb when the big boys are stripping velvet and starting to fatten up to impress the ladies and ends in that month after April when they are again out fattening up ready for winter. So, I won’t bore you with tears with all the gory details as it could take ages so I thought a pic is worth 1000 words so a bit of a pictorial and maybe some details on the pic.
No 1
After taking a wrong turn in the bush and traveling up the wrong spur me and a mate were forced to sussed out some new country and I managed to bag this guy at 20m after spooking off while trying to get my mate to stop walking behind me after the dog indicated hard out, it bolted but young and dumb stopped to gather another sense of danger and well it was too late.

No2
Took a mate out to shoot some fallow on a block I have access to and while he was messing around trying to find what he had missed I (with 3 young lads) missioned off to a mob I had seen over a KM away, missing on this mob after being sprung by an unseen animal I picked off another not far away at 150m.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rpueZTqh1sNo 3
Well mid-March was off to Wairoa in the hope of catching out a big stag feeding up only weeks away from them starting to roar, and some farm work to boot, anyway all I got was a hind at 300m, a very dumb hind, but meat all the same

No 4
Back into a local spot and what do you know a nice stag out gathering the last of the summer sun, 320m and down he went, I nice 13ptr, pretty wrapped really. Cheers Craigc for the photos


A couple of unsuccessful trips, moaning and roaring and a brief encounter with a satellite stag but no shots fired.
No 5
Sika time, off into the Kaimanawa, 3 days in a tent due to rain, 1 stag interaction (which was damn crazy) and all I got apart from a whole lot of knowledge and a bollocking for shooting girl deer in the roar was a hind at 20m. Loads of fun though so thanks to those peeps. Also meet forum members Ruger and Hindquarters at the heli hanger.

No 6
Another trip back to a private yielded a dumb spiker that came out after a shot was fired at another stag. 330m. Some lessons can be the hardest learnt!!

No 7
A handy grass feeder at 235m with my daughter, we all know what dead hinds are like so no pic needed and was in a bit of a rush so didn’t think to get a pic with my daughter…..she so wanted to smack it but light was fading quicker than the light dimmer on a romantic night in with the lady so conditions weren’t perfect…..next time maybe
No 8
Took a mate on a mish, was not meant to end this way but left car at 5.45am and got back at 6pm, There is a clip on YouTube somewhere of the day but end result was for me 1 pig 200m and another dumb spiker 91m. and a 2.5 hour walk out. All gd for the soul.

So that’s me really, Now it’s off into the winter hunting, swollen creeks, cold faces and all the goodness of hunting winter.
Have fun team and be safe
Hamish