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Hunting >> Hunting in Australia, NZ & the South Pacific
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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Queensland Reds
      #280883 - 14/04/16 03:00 PM

After success with a nice 4x4 stag during last year's roar in the Brisbane valley, nothing was going to keep me from having a crack at the reds again this year.

Unfortunately, other commitments meant we had to either go early or go late. Hoping for an early cold snap, the former option was chosen and we drove from Darwin to south-east Queensland in time to spend the Easter weekend camped on the banks of Cressbrook Creek with the wife's niece and her family. Their small farm straddles the creek on a wide bend and is backed by some serious yamas interspersed with steep lantana-choked gullies. Perfect!

Unfortunately the hoped-for cold weather did not arrive and the roaring was very sporadic, sometimes at midnight for an hour or so, sometimes at first light but none at all during the day or in the evening. Certainly nothing to tempt me into starting a poly-pipe conversation of my own!

So each day I mounted "shank's pony" and headed off over the hills. After five days of solid hunting and only a single chance at a young 4x4 with hinds on offer, I finally bumped into a nice stag walking slowly up out of a hidden wallow in a steep gully. I was about to take the shot, but something caused me to hesitate and he was immediately followed by a much larger dark stag with baldy shoulders, a mud-caked mane and beautiful heavy main-beams. Looking back over his shoulder at around 15 metres I think he had only just realised I was there when the trigger broke!



Only a 4x5 and an old stag but not yet 'going back': I took the back-straps, rumps and thigh-meat, still very plump with plenty of fat around the back and hind-quarters. Together with the head, I carried that lot back over the divide and down to camp, in cotton pillow-cases slung around my shoulders with telecom rope. Damn near killed me!

Can't wait to do it all again next year!

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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4seventy
Sponsor


Reged: 07/05/03
Posts: 2210
Loc: Queensland Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: Marrakai]
      #280884 - 14/04/16 03:20 PM

Nice stag Tony, well done!
Yeah, we haven't had any cool weather down this way at all so far this year.
5 days of foot slogging makes that trophy so much more valuable IMO.
Will you do a shoulder mount or just mount the antlers?

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93x64mm
.416 member


Reged: 07/12/11
Posts: 4198
Loc: Nth QLD Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: 4seventy]
      #280894 - 14/04/16 09:55 PM

Well done matey!
Will have to send in some recipes next for us unfortunate mob
Cheers
93x64mm

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26992
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: 93x64mm]
      #280908 - 15/04/16 02:42 AM

NICE indeed!

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Waidmannsheil
.400 member


Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2443
Loc: Melbourne Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: DarylS]
      #280940 - 15/04/16 06:29 AM

Very nice stag, which rifle did you use.

Waidmannsheil.

--------------------
There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.

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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: Waidmannsheil]
      #280952 - 15/04/16 10:25 AM

Thanks for your kind comments gentlemen.

Unfortunately taking the cape was not a viable option for a couple of reasons: not obvious in the photo, but he had big patches of hair-loss, possibly mange, on the tops of his shoulders and it would have ended up looking like a very ratty taxidermy job! Also I got him at around 08:30 and it was already quite hot, almost midday by the time I reached camp, so not much chance of getting the cape into the salt in time.

Once again I anguished over which firearm to take on the trip, having a bunch of lovely vintage rifles including several Mannlichers, Lee Speeds, and a Kurz Mauser, but in the end I grabbed the Ruger RSI again. It is my culling rifle so it is in my hands killing game in the field more often than any other hardware in the gunsafe, and the short barrel is perfect for hill-climbing and fast running shots in the scrub if required.

Also my eyesight is not what it once was so I keep thinking a scope might be required, but in truth all shots so far have been well under 100 metres. Low light conditions at dawn or dusk however, often in thick bush, are a constant reality and the scope helps with shot placement on an animal that could be lost to the lantana if it makes 50 metres before expiring.

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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Marrakai
.416 member


Reged: 09/01/03
Posts: 3591
Loc: Darwin, Top End of Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: Marrakai]
      #281173 - 19/04/16 11:19 AM

Also managed to bag another fine stag at dawn on the last morning, in the cow-paddock not far from camp. We were able to get the ute right to him, so the carcass was taken over the hill to gralloch, then hung back at camp for boning out.



Left a mountain of venison with the rellies, but snuck the eye-fillets into the car fridge for the trip north that afternoon.



Didn't leave much for the meat-ants.
Those neat antlers are already cleaned up apparently, and will be hanging above the fireplace next time I visit!

--------------------
Marrakai
When the bull drops, the bullshit stops!
--------------------------------
www.marrakai-adventure.com.au

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DarylS
.700 member


Reged: 10/08/05
Posts: 26992
Loc: Beautiful British Columbia, Ca...
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: Marrakai]
      #281192 - 20/04/16 02:42 AM

Nice indeedy.

--------------------
Daryl


"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V

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Waidmannsheil
.400 member


Reged: 19/04/13
Posts: 2443
Loc: Melbourne Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: DarylS]
      #281201 - 20/04/16 06:20 AM

Very nice head.

Waidmannsheil.

--------------------
There is nothing wrong with vegetarian food, so long as there is meat with it.

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NitroXAdministrator
.700 member


Reged: 25/12/02
Posts: 39877
Loc: Barossa Valley, South Australi...
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: Waidmannsheil]
      #281244 - 21/04/16 01:15 AM

Well done. Euro mounts are also cool especially for red stags.

Thanks for posting.

--------------------
John aka NitroX

...
Govt get out of our lives NOW!
"I love the smell of cordite in the morning."
"A Sharp spear needs no polish"

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MarkR
.333 member


Reged: 29/07/07
Posts: 296
Loc: NW Vic. Australia
Re: Queensland Reds [Re: NitroX]
      #281545 - 25/04/16 07:31 PM

Well done on that hunt Marrakai..... Maybe we'll catch up June?July...

Cheers,
Mark.

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