This story starts back in 2024. I was on a pre-roar trip when I encountered three stags feeding in a head basin. I had time on my side, so evaluated each head and decided on the best option.
The first stag was a young six-pointer so he was out, stag number two was a nine-pointer with heaps of potential, while the third stag was a 14-pointer well past his prime with small tines. He was in fact smaller than the nine-pointer.
The 14 drew the short straw and is now hanging in my garage. After the shot I got to watch the two other stags exit the basin and could only hope both reach maturity, and some lucky hunter gets to take them in the coming years.
Fast forward to 2025 and I had another pre-roar trip planned to the same area with the hope of securing a good head. Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas and the trip was canned. Due to work commitments, I could not look at another date until mid-roar, so the plan was put in place.
The forecast was good so at midday my dog Frankie and I set off on the track with high anticipation. The day was warm and as it was a Sunday I was reasonably confident of having this public valley to myself. After three hours we were at our campsite where the tent was soon pitched and all our gear sorted out.
An hour before dark we set off uphill to listen for roars and suss out a plan for the next day. There were a few stags roaring in the beech forest and we saw a couple of hinds, a pig and a chamois. Just on dark we spied a small stag with two hinds on the other side of the valley but due to the spot and the size of the head he was left to grow. All night we heard stags roaring throughout the valley so hopes were high for some action in the morning.
An hour before daylight we were up and ready to go. We headed straight up hill so we could be up on the tops at daylight. As it got light, we could still hear a few stags roaring but they were all in the forest, not in the open as expected.
We continued along the tops, glassing as we went but still could see nothing. As we were quite high, I decided to sidle around to the basin where I got the 14 last year.
As I crested the ridge, I heard a low moan and immediately saw several deer in the basin.
One was a good stag so I wasted no time setting up the 7mm 08 for the 200-metre shot. I had a look at the head through the bino’s and straight away knew this was a good stag. One shot from me and he dropped like a stone. I had a look at the seven hinds climbing out of the basin, then looked back to my stag, which to my dismay was walking around the face below. Action stations and three more shots and he was down for good.
I was dismayed at my shooting as normally it is spot on, a check at the range when I got home confirmed the scope was well out so it must have had a knock at some stage!
We made our way around to the stag and were blown away , by far the best head I have ever shot. He was a heavy 11-pointer, and I am sure he was the nine-pointer I let go last year. He was in a similar shape and length and was shot 50 metres from where I last saw him the year before.
After removing the head and some meat we climbed out of the basin onto the lead ridge, which would take us back to camp. I’m so glad I gave this stag another year as he turned out to be a very good head. Yes, it has faults like a missing bez tine but I couldn’t care less, it is a trophy in my eyes and the back story just adds to its value.
