THE ROAR-Hunting a stag
Of all of the things New Zealanders are lucky enough to grow up being able to do, hunting in our backyards has to be one of the most exciting things. In New Zealand, we are lucky to have the mighty red stag. When the season to hunt them begins it's an exciting time for many.
The season
The roar is a very short season. The season usually begins around the 1st April and lasts 2-3 weeks to around the 17th. The conditions have to be right. For the roar to really kick in the best thing you want is for it to be nice and cold for the stags to get aggravated. When the stags are aggravated they ‘roar’ more often than usual. Put simply, timing of the roar revolves around when hinds are cycling (i.e. when they’re ovulating and ready to mate). At least that’s the gist of it anyway. Stags scent out cycling hinds and essentially spend their time marking out their territory, roaring, mating, and defending their harem against other stags. And it is without doubt one of the most exciting times to hunt stags.
Changes
Many changes happen before and during the roar. As soon as the velvet on the stag's antlers hardens, they begin to rub it off, scrape trees, and stain their antlers to be ready for the challenges that come with mating. The location of these scrapes, rubs, and/or wallows will tend to be within the vicinity of hinds. By late February / early March stags separate from their bachelor groups as they search for hinds to mate with.
Hunting a stag
Hunting during the roar is an exciting time. Outside of the season it's hard to hunt the stags because you don't know their exact location. During the season the roar’ make them easy to locate and call in. Their roaring tends to die down as the day gets warmer which is usually around lunchtime. To call them in you need to imitate a roar. You can do this with an old pipe for example. As the stag approaches it's a good idea to back off from giving a loud roar, and let the stags roar. A stag does this to locate the other stage ready to fight. Getting a stag close guarantees a better shot.
Hunting a stag is one of the most rewarding things a New Zealander can do. Maybe you’ll get to do it too one day.
By Dean and Auryn
Reference:http://www.mountainman.co.nz/articles/article/31
