Sambar Rut

Last year we concentrated on trying to locate a couple of big Sambar Stags we had caught on Beeman's trail Cams but to no avail. This year those big stags didn't turn up in the areas they frequented last year despite us putting more camera's up further a field as we tried to find where they were at.
There is always the possibility they were shot during the velvet by spot lighters or pig hunters, hopefully not but you never know.
What did happen this year was one o f the lesser stags from last year turned up again along with several other pretty good ones. The lesser stag we nick named Pencil Dick as he always seemed to have his dick hanging out in a lot of the videos.
This year though he had grown quite a bit bigger. His tops are huge, the beams are not bad but could be a bit better, the brows compared to Biggie from last year are poor but still ok.
Over the last four weekends we have had three encounters in the area PD has set up shop. The first encounter happened when Beeman and his son were checking camera's when a big stag came up from one gully onto the ridge, walked down it for a short distance then disappeared in the scrub, a glimpse of antler was seen as Beeman tried to get his son onto it but to no avail.
The following weekend I was in the area checking camera's and decided to take a stroll down a ridge in a thickish block of pine which had been thinned years back. I found a small clearing with fresh sign around and a preaching tree and an unused scrap. I waited there for a few minutes then I heard a branch break further down the ridge, within a minute the top of an antler came into view at about 20 meters only to stop behind a tree. One more step would have had him in sight but the crossing wind stuffed that up and next I heard him about 60 odd meters down the ridge honking.
The next weekend Beeman and I checked the camera's together, it was at the end of a ridge that dropped down onto a road that we had another encounter. I had walked to the edge and looked down on the road, seeing nothing I came back and meet up with Beeman, as we discussed our next move I noticed a dark shape about 80 meters away on a spur ridge. I instantly new it was a deer and a big one. As I bought up my rifle the stag turned and dropped over the side of the spur he was on before I could put a cross hair on him. What I did see was long , wide antlers, it was a bloody big sambar stag.
As it turned out we found his prints on the road below us and he headed up that road a ways then cut up a ridge onto another ridge we have several camera's on then it looked as if he was doubling back to the block he came from.
Last weekend we had no sightings but spooked a few animals but it looks as if the rut may be starting to ease up a little, we will see what's about this weekend.
Been a few reds about as well but nothing to big.
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Some pictures of Pencil Dick and one of the better Red Skins in the area.

Been waiting for one of your sambar writeups , some nice looking stags on the cameras man , good luck tracking that big boy down .

Saw a good sambar stag on the back of a ute heading north from the wheao a couple of months back.. Didn't realize they were that far south.. Or someone had just taken it for a drive!

Always been Sambar in the Northern Kaiangaroa, around Waiotapu and around lakes to Mt Tarawera. Not sure what numbers are still in Kaiangaroa but anywhere north of the old village used to have sambar.

This is another stag in the area, we have picked him up on several different cameras.Attachment 73154Attachment 73155

Yea but not South if Murupara.. Where this one was...

Sounds like it might have gone for a ride alright.

Great shots! Always cool to see big Sambars

Thanks Beeman and I put a lot of time into finding good spots for the cameras. Once you establish where they are at on a regular basis you can then try and hunt them, that's the hard part.
We have had a few encounters this year which has been great.

nice write up, cheers

Some very nice stag cam photos thanks for posting.

There's some awesome animals there, the photos alone are trophies in themselves
Very cool!!

Yes they sure are. We think along the same lines the pictures are great to look back on.