New Zealand Red Stag hunt (pic heavy)

[flyguyd]

Been on my bucket list for a while now and in hind sight it seems almost surreal now that its been done. Rewind to April 3, hopped the plane in Cowtown and eventually arrived in Christchurch on the 5th (damn international date line).
Pretty rugged place from the air



NZ is a commonwealth country like us and some of the english influence really rubbed off. The south island is litterally covered with hedges, some small some 25 - 30 feet high. It was pretty neat

[flyguyd]

From Christchurch it was a couple hr drive down island to the town of Geraldine and the outfitters house, where we wound down and tried to climatize for the rest of the day. Monday morning found us to the west of town in the mountains where we were hunting. The idea was to to try and get my my buddies Tahr at first light as they come down low at night this time of year and as my friend is in a wheel chair it is the only way he could hope to get one without using a chopper. We did find some nice bulls, but they were pretty far off and we had about a 50 km/hr wind to fight.

[flyguyd]

He decided to pass because of the distance and the wind so we continued on our merry way.The outfitter and i left my pal in the OHV and went for a wander on a few rigetops and did some glassing. We saw a bunch of stags ,tho most of them were a medal class above what i was hunting for

[north american hunter]

You lucky duck! Definitly on my bicket list

[flyguyd]

The weather was sposed to change drastically with high winds and heavy rain for the next few days. We had found a stag that i really liked earlier, but being that it was so early in the hunt i was going to do some more looking around. With the weather going to do a flip flop the outfitter and i decided to try and make a stalk on my stag while we had the opportunity.I zoomed in with my camera along way off and got a fuzzy live pic just incase things went bad and it didnt work out


He was bedded down in the heavy brush just below the rocks to the left of the top end of the lower shale slide in the next pic

[dshaw]

Looks like a lot of fun and on my bucket list as well!!!!! were you able to get everything into Canada ok?a

[flyguyd]

Pics dont do it justice, those mountains are far steeper than they look
I discovered just how out of shape i am ,as i huffed and puffed my way up the mountain after my outfitter Chris. As we ascended i lost track of where the stag was and As we neared the treeline i was starting think they had blown out and we hadn't noticed. Fortunately Chris was locked on. He had me crouch and pointed just over the edge into the brushy chute in front of and slightly below us. About 30yds ahead were a huge set of antlers sticking out of the brush, we head managed to sneak up right on top of him with the wind to cover our noise.
I quickly and quietly got into position and waited for the stag to get up so i could see some body to shoot at. It was almost unnerving to watch those antlers snap back and forth as the stag was following every little noise and smell. After about 15 min Chris moved up hill a few yds and the stags spidey sense tingled and he got up.Chris was by my side in an instant and whispered to take him. I slipped a 7mm round in behind the front leg followed by a quick anchoring shot and it was all over and just the start of the work



It was an incredible experience and i enjoyed every minite of it . Sadly now after haveing seen a tahr and chamois up close im going to have to save alot more money and go back. To the purists that worry about the high fence , once i went thru the gate i never saw the fence again. The property we were on is approximatley 6 km X 15 km long. Im sure there are shake the oat pail hunts in NZ , however this is not one of them.

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by dshaw

Looks like a lot of fun and on my bucket list as well!!!!! were you able to get everything into Canada ok?a

I will eventually , just have to go thru the proper procedures and paperwork.
Wished i could of just put them in my luggage tho LOL

[Leafy]

Right on, congrats on a fantastic Stag ! Thanks for sharing !

[BRU375]

Awesome! What a beauty! Thanks for sharing

[Hydro1]

Thats a beaut, congrats.
Thanks for sharing!

[Bearbreath]

Fantastic trip!! Great pics!!

[Sooner]

Wicked looking animal, congrats on a great hunt.

[Thinlizzy]

Congrats bud! Looks like a blast and that's a monster😄
And of course thanks for sharing with us! 👍

[Aussiehunter]

Great story and bruiser of a stag! Right on

[ex811]

Great pics/report. The stag....Wow!

[New Hunter Okotoks]

Awesome pics Flyguy. Looks like an awesome hunt was had.

[AB2506]

Very nice!

[pikeslayer22]

Awesome story and pics...congrats on a great trophy.

[sixpoint1]

Very nice,congrats on a great hunt.Thanks for sharing.

[cowmanbob]

Fantastic trophy. Congrats.

[oldgutpile]

Great trophy, great pics.. Thanks for sharing.

[southernman]

Nice report and a fine red stag, love hunting down south, chamois are fun, love hunting them.
I just got back from NZ, two weeks ago, got the cross hairs on a big even, 14 on crown land, didn't shoot as was across a gourge, that I had already spent two hours trying to find a way across, the trout fishing was aursum once I made it down to the river, a couple Km further,
I had a bomb up, and shot five goats,
flying out on Wed, for another two weeks, reds, trout, snapper fishing, and perhaps sika on the list.
drop me a PM if your heading back, I have a house in taranaki, North Island, and can get you out for a fish, kingfish, snapper, trout, or goat hunt, and if you got more time, reds or sika, the kiwi way.

[flyguyd]

Thanks !!!!
IT was an awesome time

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by southernman

Nice report and a fine red stag, love hunting down south, chamois are fun, love hunting them.
I just got back from NZ, two weeks ago, got the cross hairs on a big even, 14 on crown land, didn't shoot as was across a gourge, that I had already spent two hours trying to find a way across, the trout fishing was aursum once I made it down to the river, a couple Km further,
I had a bomb up, and shot five goats,
flying out on Wed, for another two weeks, reds, trout, snapper fishing, and perhaps sika on the list.
drop me a PM if your heading back, I have a house in taranaki, North Island, and can get you out for a fish, kingfish, snapper, trout, or goat hunt, and if you got more time, reds or sika, the kiwi way.

Thank you southernman for the very generous offer, i may have to start planning a north island adventure

[honda450]

Nice pics and a awesome critter. Congrats flyguyd. He will take up a little room on the wall, hehe.

[Springer]

Wow , Congrats on the Giant Red Stag. That is my Dream Hunt...Were they still doing the Roar.

[livinthedream]

Beauty of a stag! Congrats. Sent a PM as I am looking at a hunt next year.

[hayseed]

Beauty of a stag Fly, huge congrats and thx for sharin the story and pics!!

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by Springer

Wow , Congrats on the Giant Red Stag. That is my Dream Hunt...Were they still doing the Roar.

Yes they sure were. Very cool noise they make