Moroka Stag

by Marcus McVilly

After an early rise at 5am we had breakfast and suited up before heading out to catch the first light. We started hunting walking distance from our camp following deer trails and rub trees. There were plenty of fresh signs with deer prints and droppings. Sticking to the deer trails and walking along the lower gullies was to our advantage as we soon put up our first deer but unfortunately it was too quick for the shot.

Slowly moving along we stopped for a short break. It was then that I heard a stick breaking about 50 metres away. 30 seconds later I spotted a stag with white tip antlers walking around the bushes. As the stag turned his head and looked at me while broad side I quickly raised my rifle for a shot.

The stag stood behind a fallen tree and it was a now or never moment to place the shot. As the shot rang out the stag ran away around the bushes. To my dismay, what I thought was a vital heart and lung shot turned out to be the bullet going through a broken half branch.

What the hell!!!

Tony and I looked around for 15 minutes but we couldn’t find any blood and after further discussion we thought the projectile must have disintegrated through the branch. We then moved further down and found an awesome wallow. My mind was shattered, I was not convinced that the stag was not hit.

So I went back to the shot location, checked the distance through the range finder and visualized where the stag was standing. In my thoughts where it stood it would have been hit on the right side. Down on my hands and knees I looked for blood spots and I found some two meters from where the stag was standing.

From the last position the stag was seen, I walked 50 metres ahead to search for more traces of blood and straight away I found some and the direction the stag ran as well. The blood trail was more obvious now, I knew I was getting close. I found a large patch of blood where the stag had been sitting down. As I moved along I pushed the stag through the bushes but couldn’t take a shot.

The continuation of tacking and following the blood trail was painstaking and required a lot of patience.

I pushed the stag again and it was now on the run through the gully in an open area. After firing a series of shots with the Sako Finn light 30~06 Remington core lok 180 Gr and hitting him with every shot, I could see him standing and then dropping 90 metres away.

The sense of relief was immense. From the first shot to losing a stag and tracking him for over an hour. This was a great hunt with an awesome result.