Sporting Shooter

Chasing Ghosts

RED DEER hunting is my passion! The animals, the rut and the elusive nature of an old free-range red stag will get me out of bed at 3am for weeks on end. Sleep deprived hunts for the chance to lay eyes on one elusive stag in full rut. From the start of March until the end of April, every year, I will burn the candle at both ends looking for hunts and photos of these stags that can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.

LAST year it too many weeks to find a mature stag. Involving many properties and locations across NSW. In 2018, I only found one mature stag, it was passed up for the betterment of the herd as this was the only quality animal servicing hinds in that area. These particular deer are posing very little pressure to the farming areas they are living in so some selective shooting can take place.

The 2019 rut was another slow starter. Reports across the East Coast of Australia were

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