He’s Still Out There

As one year has just ended, hunters are now excitedly planning their 2018 adventures. Many thwarted stalkers will think back on the big one that eluded them, how another age ring will affect the quality of his antlers, and what strategy they can employ to aid success this time round.

In July of 2017 during a snowstorm I saw a super Poronui red stag, one of the best estate red stags I’ve seen for a while. Luckily for him all I carried was a camera. He also saw me so our meeting was brief, and after one stunning photograph which shows him battling the elements we bade each other adieu. Someone in 2018 has the opportunity to take him with a rifle or perhaps a bow as he is still out there! The linked photograph is a powerful incentive to be that person.

Red deer are New Zealand’s top international trophy drawcard and an antler conformation that particularly appeals to North American hunters is the dual matching drop-tine stag. My July stag is one such beast. North American clients that visit Poronui have often hunted elk in their homeland so the dipping back tines is something they are used to seeing in trophy animals and often the animal they try to harvest if possible.

Poronui has all types of red stag antlers from heavy to long, wide to rangy, multi-pointed to conventional, typical to non-typical and within the last bracket single or double drop tined animals. Big is the only common thread running through all the heads and with a quality breeding programme they are getting bigger each year. The drop tine animals are quite unique and not all that common. Being non-typical they do not appeal to everyone but having said that mature drop tine trophies are usually top of the list when hunters are selecting a red stag trophy.

This trophy has it all, even tines coming off the drop tines. I will watch Poronui’s photo gallery with interest in the months ahead to see if any clients find the ‘big boy’.

Greg Morton.