NZ Stag and the .30-06

On my trip to NZ at the end of May we had a chance to chase some stags. One of those we saw was particularly nice and the stalk was on. This young lady's .30-06 Blaser R8 with 180 grain AccuBond handloads resulted in a no chase scenario at a little over 200 yards, the farthest she has ever taken a game animal and the single shot was perfect. I couldn't be more proud. It must be her teacher?



I managed a Tahr, Arapawa Ram, and a Chamois myself. Stepping out of a helicopter onto a steep slope to begin a stalk is quite an adventure in itself. Intense.

Excellent post! Super picture. The smile says it all. Congratulations to the young lady, and to her teacher.

Absolutely fantastic! congratulations, well done!

I loved hunting New Zealand. some have in recent years said it has changed and I was curious if all your hunts were still fair chase/open range hunts as they once were. I read somewhere that might have changed ?

Was you also able to squeeze any fishing in ?

You took a trio of great game animals as well rodell, congratulations.

But for me, a lady using, a Blaser rifle, taking a Red Stag----made my day, thanks for the post

Quite a bit of NZ is estate hunting, particularly for stags or Rusa. It seems more so on the North Island than the South. My Tahr, Chamois and Ram were all free-range. The stag was on an estate, but it was huge and you had to hunt. It wasn't a case of fenced animals lined up.

I hunted with Lindsay Fraser Safaris and he runs a first class shop. I didn't get to do any fishing, but did manage some touring. Great red wines from the Queenstown area, too.

(I also used a Blaser R8, but in 300 Weatherby. It nearly cut the Chamois in two.)

OUTSTANDING!

My goodness, I don't know which I like more; that terrific smile, or the huge antlers! Dang.

Congratulations!

Guy

Awesome picture of what looks like a great hunt. Congrats.

That is a beast. Congratulations to your great hunt

What a great animal she took with that wonderful 30-06 no less! Way to go! Congratulations to both of you.

David

What a brute

Sounds like quite an adventure for you guys.

chs

Congratulations to you both

what did/can you take back to Washington with you ? Meat, Hide, Antlers from each of the four animals

30-06/180 ----like the energizer bunny---it just keeps working and working and working

Great looking animal and man what a smile on the Lady hunter.
Who says the 30-06 is boring?
It just plain works with the right ammo and you can't argue with that.

You will need a high ceiling man cave for those antlers, congratulations

hunternyny":5unckqbo said:

You will need a high ceiling man cave for those antlers, congratulations

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That's hers, I have a different "wall of death"!

Thankful Otter":5unckqbo said:

what did/can you take back to Washington with you ? Meat, Hide, Antlers from each of the four animals

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Horns/Antlers and hides are all that one can import to the US from almost everywhere. The good news is none of these animals are CITES-listed so it is a relatively painless process. They still have to go through a USDA facility, though.

The stag meat is quite tasty. I ate plenty of it while in country.

Here's the others. On the first picture, the camera is angled - it is much steeper than it looks. If I had let go, I would have had to chase him further down the mountainside.







The KUIU lightweight gear was a godsend for this old guy going up and down the mountains.

All in all, a fantastic trip.

Great pictures. Looks like an excellent hunt.

A super bag of game. Congratulations! Beautiful animals.

Amazing trophies! Congratulations to both of you


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