Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Around the Campfire => Topic started by: H Rhodes on October 16, 2014, 11:52:23 pm
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I was enjoying the second day of bow season here today. I was hunting with a friend on his farm. He put me in a tree stand on the edge of a hay field. I had some acorns dropping in the woods behind me and deer were starting to move when something odd happened... A big red deer walked up in the field about thirty steps from me. I have never seen a young red stag in the wild, and have never hunted any type of deer other than our native whitetails, so this was something very unusual. Sorry about the fg recurve.... My buddy told me that I might be faced with a longer shot on his land, so I went with the recurve and 2219 aluminums with Woodsman broadheads.
I called the DCNR folks and talked with them about this animal. To be honest, I wasn't sure exactly what it was! Any exotics or anything in the deer family is fair game in Alabama, if they meet the requirements of what constitutes a legal deer. I was informed that it was a young red stag. It weighed about 300lbs and even though it is a youngster, it's the biggest deer I have ever killed with a bow. This thing was the last thing on earth I expected to see in south Alabam. Apparently there is a game preserve surrounded by a high fence in a neighboring county. A big storm a few years back dropped the fence for a time. Not sure if they are breeding in the wild here or not, but I have since learned that this is not the only one that has been harvested in recent years.
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another pic... My buddy Tommy and this morning's meat. It was a fun day of hunting.
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Wow! That's really interesting! Here in Florida St. Vincent Island has a sustaining population of sambar deer. Very similar to your red stag. Maybe when I get confident hunting I really pursue getting in on that hunt.
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Thanks Tim. Yeah, I thought it was really cool. I have been hunting with a bow for about forty years in this state and have never seen anything like that walk by my stand. That hunt sounds like it ought to be fun. Florida has some really unique outdoor opportunities - I will be looking forward to your posts. Hunting with a bow can really become a part of you. I will never get cured of it.
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Cool, congratulations!
Tim; start putting in for the draw now. You might get picked by the time you have confidence, I haven't yet. :) And the Sanbar average 600#. The hunt is for muzzleloader or archery.
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Way cool Howard - no need to apologize for what You what You were shooting, it's still a stick & string ! Bob
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What a unique trophy! Lots of meat on that thing. I wonder if it will taste different than deer. What are you going to do with the rack? It would make a cool skull mount.
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That is really cool,man I would love to see one of those from my stand. :)Nice shot also. :)
Pappy
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damned Howard, a big surgery and rehab and now this.....cant leave you alone for a minuet hey? That's a fine animal and couldn't have gone to a better fella.
rich
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When I ate it, it was a bit like Elk. A friend of mine shot one in Missouri, when he got in he asked if he could store his cape in my freezer. He gave me the loins in trade. :o
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Nice harvest, Howard. If I had something like that walk out on me I probably would have missed it. Way to keep your cool!!
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Very cool Howard, I could'nt imagine something like that approaching my stand.
Congrats!
Kevin
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Wow, just wow!
Zuma
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Yep tastes like elk, most of the elk sold in restaurants is in fact red stag, got some good eats there
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Thanks guys. Yep, it tastes great! The tenderloins are out of this world. I hope there are more out there.... :D
Clint, we are thinking alike. It will be a Euro mount. I will post pics of it later.
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Howard that would have shocked me :o...Nice bonus and congrats!
Don
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Worth noting that Red Deer and Elk are closely related and can freely interbreed. Many farmed varieties are hybrids.
Also interesting that the range of what is considered the same species as our North American Elk extends far into Eurasia before they split into various Red Deer populations that are generally isolated from each other.
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There was an elk farm near Greenhill Al that had some fences down after a storm. The elk got out and were all killed by the locals I short order as they were not game animal and there were no restrictions on shooting them. It was actually redneck, shots out the truck window slaughter, see one, kill one, anywhere they popped up.
Same thing on some fallow deer that got out near Lauderdale Mgt area, people killed a few of them on Mgt area hunts and didn't know what they were.
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Thanks Don. I couldn't have been more surprised if an elephant would have walked up.
Pat, this one made a roaring sound after it was hit. I had watched some videos of hunts in New Zealand where they called them up with a roar. I was pretty sure it was a red stag once I heard that, but honestly I didn't know if it was woodland elk or what the heck it was when I shot. I did know that anything in the deer family with antlers on its head was legal here, so whatever it was, it was getting an arrow.
Eric, this one didn't seem like Bessie the cow, but it sure wasn't as sharp and wary as our whitetails. There has been some discussion around here about whether or not we have a breeding population of them in the wild. I sort of doubt it. This one only made to day 2 of our bow season. :D
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Very cool Howard, bet you never thought you would come home with one of those on your way out to hunt in the morning. :) Hey, just think of all the money you saved not having to travel half way around the world to bag a red stag. Nice trophy and nice shooting too.
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Thanks Greg. Man, you aren't kidding. After it was down, I texted the guy I was hunting with and asked him "Do you have elk on your place?" He was as shocked as I was.
I never went on a pay hunt in my life, but this meat is so fine, I wouldn't blame anyone that does. It is a heck of a lot easier when they just show up on your home range. :)
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Yep tastes like elk, most of the elk sold in restaurants is in fact red stag, got some good eats there
Didn't know that. So most of the "farmed" elk is actually red stag? So in this guys case does it fill his tag even though its not whitetail?
Anyone ever hunted for the African game that has escaped and is feral now down in Texas, Arizona, etc.? Always thought that would be really cool to go bag something like that.
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Legally, this counts the same as an eight point whitetail buck for me. I am not sure about how Texas handles escaped exotics with there game laws. This whole experience has made me think about how wise it is to allow folks to keep exotic game inside high fences. I have never seen a fence that was impervious to damage, so what's inside is bound to get out sooner or later...
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Ah gotcha. Well still a beautiful animal and one that few people here in the US get a chance to hunt.
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AZ Game & Fish won't admit there's escaped exotics here in Arizona. They're reluctant to admit the Mexican Grey Wolf is now all over the state, even though it is. One got hit by a car near Flagstaff. I can hear wolves howling up here in Kayenta some nights late. Everyone's horses just go bananas when they hear that. People see this-n-that in the state and depending on where you are, they'll say it's a chupacabra or a skinwalker. Everyone up here's seen a skinwalker or knows someone who has. Even cops. Some nights late on Highway 160 near Tsegi there's some big black creature that hangs out near the road in different places. Never gotten a good look at it, ain't gonna stop to see what it is, either. There's weird critters walking around here in this state but no one knows what they are. The old 1970s cattle mutilations are starting up again in the region and people are getting spooked. Probably someone's pet African lion got loose, but ranchers say no it ain't an animal doing this. They say the whole thing is surgical and all the spinal fluid and brain missing.
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Like this one here folks are still talking about:
http://www.navajotimes.com/entertainment/2012/0112/012612bigfoot.php#.VEbPOGctBOw
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A page that is fairly accurate in describing the situation.
http://www.suwanneeriverranch.com/reddeer.htm