Trophies Memories and photos (heavy)

I thought I would share a couple of memories, I like to keep things brief, I'm not a natural writer or story teller and generally a man of few words.

So whats a Trophy? what do you value as something your'e really proud of. I only have three sets of antlers inside my house, My first stag, my first South Island Fallow Buck, and an 8 pointer from the Tararua's I shot on a trip with a hunting mate. All three mean more to me than bigger heads I have shot, and deserve place on my wall where I can proudly display them. My kids have swiped a couple of sets of antlers off me, the rest I have kept are in the carport.
I have shot 12 and 13 point stags in soft velvet, is that a shit thing to do, I don't know, possibly?. I've never considered myself a trophy hunter, I hunt for meat and good times. If I shoot a decent head then yeah I will keep it of course, there has also been a few small heads left behind with the gut bag.

I remember my first red stag I shot well over 20 years ago, I can recall what happened down to the finest detail, He started roaring at about 6am, I bagged him at around 10:30am. When I finally got close enough for a remote chance at a shot he was still grunting and thrashing in a Toitoi bush no more than 20m from me, but I couldn't see him due to how thick the scrub was. What a rush when I got the first look as he walked broadside to me, all I could see was the top of his antlers, then his body came into view, he took about 3 steps, turned and then stepped again to walk towards me. One shot through the shoulders and he slumped down, he was still trying to get up but was buggered, I can still see him looking at me as he collapsed on the ground. I must have counted his points about a dozen times as I was sitting there catching my breath. He was a very young 10 pointer but beautifully even, and mine.

I remember pig hunts I have had with my dogs, it was never about the biggest boar, but how well the dogs worked, pups swinging off a gnarly pig for the first time. or that mad bastard dog who would hold by himself and die in the process if that's what it took.
One of my most memorable pig hunts was only a 120 lb boar, but he was a fighter, three dogs got dealt to but they never let go, one week later they were all hunting again. I'm glad I don't have pig dogs anymore, the work required is too much these days, but looking through old photos I sure do miss them a lot.

As strange as it may sound, one of my favorite things to do is bush hunt goats, it reminds me of when I was a kid learning to hunt, no expectations, nothing to write about or brag about to anyone, its just good honest fun nothing more.

Anyone have photos of their first stag/boar/goat whatever? feel free to share.

My first stag, accompanied by my first pig dog.
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North Canterbury Fallow Buck
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Mad dogs and angry pigs
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120lb scrapper
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A decent billy goat just shy of 40 inches.
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awesome man :cool:

I know what you mean there 'one shot'. Some neat memories.

I have quite a few trophies that I've saved but only a few really mean a lot to me.
I've lost some early trophies, goats and wild sheep horns. My first big pig are lord only knows where.

I have some record book whitetail heads that adorn my workshop wall along with some mediocre red heads, one real big 22 pointer that was a farm escape but that doesn't mean much also a chamy that doesn't mean much but good enough to keep.

Really they are memories of my hunting life and so far they relate to me a story of each one. Some times about the animal. Sometimes about the hunt and who was there with me.

These days my camera takes live trophies that mean a lot more to me than if Id shot them. All though you cant eat a photo.
Also it raises a question of what do I want to do with these trophies after Ive gone. Something to ponder for me.

I'm still to put a big stag on the deck though I don't really target them so it may be a while, the first "stag" I shot was as a young fella and it was actually a spiker but I kept the head all the same, and the most decent stag I have shot was only an 8 pointer but he was old and beautifully even and I kept that too.
Since leaving home as a young fella, hunting took a back seat for a while whilst I was more interested in spending all my time and money on tits and wheels. Once I had settled down a bit in my early/mid 20s I took up hunting again and have focused almost entirely on chamois, almost by chance really as it was one hunt in particular where I was actually out looking for a deer and came across a large family group of chamois, I'm not sure why but my "young fella shoot-anything-that-moves" instinct was taken over by a great sense of curiosity and I decided to just watch, I was within 150 or so yards of the group of animals the whole time and found them fascinating to watch, eventually the old matriarch doe that was on watch got onto me and she whistled (that surprised me!) and quietly ushered the group a wee way further off, still in view of me, but the old girl disappeared up a gut where I couldn't see her, only to reappear directly above me on a rocky outcrop probably only 50 yards away, we stared each other down for a while and she stomped her feet a few times, whistled at me, crouched and peed a few times, all classic chamois behaviour I have seen many times since. I never ended up pulling the trigger on any of them despite never having shot or even seen one in the wild before but I'm glad I didn't it was such a great experience that has set me on the course I take with my hunting now days which is an insatiable thirst for watching and hunting chamois, it also really hit home at that moment that hunting is a whole other beast than just the act of putting an animal on the ground. I put my first buck on the deck a year or so after that experience and unbeknown to me at the time (I didn't really know what was considered a good chamois buck) he was actually a real ripper going 10 3/4" I have his head and have thought on and off about shooting a decent headskin to have him mounted, but then there's something special about him that makes me feel it wouldn't do him justice by mounting him with another animals headskin. I have continued to hunt chamois with rifle, camera, and the old memory bank and can't see myself ever growing tired of it.

Awesome mate, that's what it's all about to me, started late (55), but just love getting out there whether I get an animal or not.......

You guys would laugh at my ‘Trophies’ but as I speak I’m about to doc in Picton about to enjoy family, mates, dogs and memories all over again. Who knows I might catch a pig, a deer and a cray and die a happy man all over again...

I too remember my first deer and pig. Both meant more to me than any other 10 or 12, first fish off the surfcaster (Kahawai), first trout off the Tongariro or 2 hundy out of ‘Products’ or ‘Kaingaroa’.

Great read and neat to feel the sense of accomplishment that comes when things work out.


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This Sika stag has to be my best trophy to date. It's not even but I had studied a map on where I suspected a stag would be and executed a well thought out plan which resulted in this guy running up to me out of curiosity outside of the roar within 20m. One clean shot to the vitals and he dropped on the spot.

Im still well chuffed with this fulla, not only because he was a cracker but also because a good bugger on here took me along to learn the ropes of roar hunting. Some of my other fondest memories include getting my first solo and also putting mates onto deer. Just love the hunt and am more than ok to just watch and not shoot. Have never been a shoot em all type of guy
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The smile says it all, thats awesome.

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Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I'm still to put a big stag on the deck though I don't really target them so it may be a while, the first "stag" I shot was as a young fella and it was actually a spiker but I kept the head all the same, and the most decent stag I have shot was only an 8 pointer but he was old and beautifully even and I kept that too.
Since leaving home as a young fella, hunting took a back seat for a while whilst I was more interested in spending all my time and money on tits and wheels. Once I had settled down a bit in my early/mid 20s I took up hunting again and have focused almost entirely on chamois, almost by chance really as it was one hunt in particular where I was actually out looking for a deer and came across a large family group of chamois, I'm not sure why but my "young fella shoot-anything-that-moves" instinct was taken over by a great sense of curiosity and I decided to just watch, I was within 150 or so yards of the group of animals the whole time and found them fascinating to watch, eventually the old matriarch doe that was on watch got onto me and she whistled (that surprised me!) and quietly ushered the group a wee way further off, still in view of me, but the old girl disappeared up a gut where I couldn't see her, only to reappear directly above me on a rocky outcrop probably only 50 yards away, we stared each other down for a while and she stomped her feet a few times, whistled at me, crouched and peed a few times, all classic chamois behaviour I have seen many times since. I never ended up pulling the trigger on any of them despite never having shot or even seen one in the wild before but I'm glad I didn't it was such a great experience that has set me on the course I take with my hunting now days which is an insatiable thirst for watching and hunting chamois, it also really hit home at that moment that hunting is a whole other beast than just the act of putting an animal on the ground. I put my first buck on the deck a year or so after that experience and unbeknown to me at the time (I didn't really know what was considered a good chamois buck) he was actually a real ripper going 10 3/4" I have his head and have thought on and off about shooting a decent headskin to have him mounted, but then there's something special about him that makes me feel it wouldn't do him justice by mounting him with another animals headskin. I have continued to hunt chamois with rifle, camera, and the old memory bank and can't see myself ever growing tired of it.

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@Ryan_Songhurst I totally agree with you. I only shoot 50% of what I see. I get a real buzz out of watching deer in the wild. I once watched a group of 13 deer in the Tararuas on a river flat, what an incredible experience it was as they slowly crept back to the bush line after jumping around with each other, and rare to see that many in a well hunted public area. I always tell people starting out hunting, Don't be in a hurry to pull the trigger if you want to learn an animals behavior. The first time I ever saw Chamois in the wild I couldn't pull the trigger, I was so amazed at their behavior I just wanted to watch them. And I still haven't shot a Chamois yet either, one day.

You should be chuffed with that stag Gibo, he's a beauty.

Great photos. I really like how you’ve got so many with your dogs in because they are amazing creatures and so much of what we enjoy we couldn’t possibly do without them. Hope the one that got ripped up made a decent recovery.

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Originally Posted by Mooseman

You should be chuffed with that stag Gibo, he's a beauty.

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Totally..very tidy,nice timber.