Aussie red rut

[Aussie_hunter_jd]

G'day all,

Thought I'd share some pics from this year's rut. In the southern hemisphere our rut for European deer (reds, fallow) is in April.

Red deer are what I spend most of my time chasing and I love em to bits. Bear in mind free range reds aren't anything like the farm raised HF ones you see come out of nz.

In Australia we use dogs to hunt deer, we basically train them to hunt alongside us and indicate and lead us to them when they smell deer. 99% of hunting in Aus is done stalking/spot and stalk.

The first stag I took was a cull stag over my gsp. It was her first stag she's put me on so was very proud. Lead me into a great Gully and ended up being between 3 roaring stags, got to 30m from this guy for 15 mins while I was trying to see his head gear before deciding to take him out of herd.



Finally managed to get a good roaring pic this rut too which was great. This guy is a four year old. Needs another 4-6 years to reach his peak.



And the highlight was taking my Pb stag with a blackpowder. He's a 6x6 and was aged around 12-13 which is very old for a red deer, especially in this area where they're heavily hunted 12 months of the year.




And for those interested, this is my Pb stag. Shot him in 2013, I'm not into scoring but if I certified him he'd fit inside the top 10 ever taken in Australia, if he hadn't broken his bez tine he would have Squeezed into top 5. But as I said I don't hunt for score I'm just humbled to have taken him.




Cheers guys,

JD

 

[sneakypete]

Thanks for sharing some fine animals you've taken down there! Congrats

 

[Horsenhike]

Wow! Those are beautiful animals. No closed season would be nice.

Is it a hassle to keep your rifles at home? We hear a lot in the states about Australian gun control.

 

[missjordan]

Very cool, what a unique perspective to hunting that's so different from our culture!


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[Ikeepitcold]

Awesome! Great animals

 

[Aussie_hunter_jd]

Thanks guys, hunting reds in the rut is something else, hearing stags roaring all around you is like heaven on earth, though I'm sure bugling elk are just as good!

@horsenhike yes and no, the massacre that changed all our laws happened when I was a kid so I've never really known any different.
We're limited in that we can't have semi auto's and pistols are really hard to own and keep a license for. Guns have to be locked away at all times when not in use and a simple DUI is enough to lose you your guns.

I know we get bantered around the world as a sign of the effectiveness of gun control but gun crime in Australia was already trending down before the port Arthur massacre. And if you google "lindt siege Sydney" you'll see that last year we still have issues. It is hard to get w licence, you need a "genuine reason" and self defence isn't one in Aus, in that though it's ok because people with a criminal conviction can't legally get them. However, The nsw police released some figures last year which aren't a shock, 95% of gun crime is by unlicensed shooters and unregistered weapons. To me it's about who has access to guns not the fact that people can have them. If you guys adopt our laws tomorrow I wouldn't expect statistics to change all that much except the number of people doing the wrong thing who aren't meant to have guns!

It's interesting though that the media never talks about New Zealand, they are allowed suppressors, don't have to register guns and can own AR's yet they've never had a mass shooting. Take from that what you will.

 

[Horsenhike]

Very interesting. Can foreigners bring rifles into the country and hunt?

 

[ivorytip]

Thanks guys, hunting reds in the rut is something else, hearing stags roaring all around you is like heaven on earth, though I'm sure bugling elk are just as good!

@horsenhike yes and no, the massacre that changed all our laws happened when I was a kid so I've never really known any different.
We're limited in that we can't have semi auto's and pistols are really hard to own and keep a license for. Guns have to be locked away at all times when not in use and a simple DUI is enough to lose you your guns.

I know we get bantered around the world as a sign of the effectiveness of gun control but gun crime in Australia was already trending down before the port Arthur massacre. And if you google "lindt siege Sydney" you'll see that last year we still have issues. It is hard to get w licence, you need a "genuine reason" and self defence isn't one in Aus, in that though it's ok because people with a criminal conviction can't legally get them. However, The nsw police released some figures last year which aren't a shock, 95% of gun crime is by unlicensed shooters and unregistered weapons. To me it's about who has access to guns not the fact that people can have them. If you guys adopt our laws tomorrow I wouldn't expect statistics to change all that much except the number of people doing the wrong thing who aren't meant to have guns!

It's interesting though that the media never talks about New Zealand, they are allowed suppressors, don't have to register guns and can own AR's yet they've never had a mass shooting. Take from that what you will.

great post! and do reds sound like elk?? im gonna look that up, very cool.

 

[Alabama]

Those are some great animals. I love those crown points on Red deer. What's the deal on no closed seasons? I've heard it's because they aren't native and are considered a nuisance, is that true?

 

[Aussie_hunter_jd]

Very interesting. Can foreigners bring rifles into the country and hunt?

Yes, but the only catch is that you need an Australian resident supervising you.

The 12 month seasons aren't as good as they sound

 

[Aussie_hunter_jd]

Nah, they roar, very deep throaty sound.

 

[Aussie_hunter_jd]

Those are some great animals. I love those crown points on Red deer. What's the deal on no closed seasons? I've heard it's because they aren't native and are considered a nuisance, is that true?

They're listed as a game animal in my state not a pest so there are still strict rules around hunting them.

The 12 month season isn't good though, many of us including the Australian Deer association were opposed. There's lots of morons that shoot heavily pregnant hinds, kill deer just for fun and leave them to rot and blokes shooting big stags half way through velvet. A few years ago there was a spot where I was hunting some big stags that managed to beat me. A local knob was driving around and saw both of them with 10 inches of velvet and shot both just to cut the legs off for dog meat.

 

[kiwi]

Good stuff, nice stag.

 

[Colorado T]

Thank you very much Aussie!! Great pictures and awesome information you have provided in all your posts!!