Source: Radio New Zealand
Dawn breaks across Waikato. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
In the stillness of the pre-dawn morning all I could hear was the sound of feet marching as Allen Juno and I traversed a well-cut farm track near the border of the Pureora Forest Park.
Then somewhere off in the dense bush below well out of our view but definitely close – a roaring stag. A moan really, but a stag nonetheless.
“It’s quite an exciting time of year when they’re all going off and making a hell of a noise,” Allen whispered to me in the still blue light.
The noise in the distance was confirmation that there were indeed deer about, as we set off on our morning hunt.
Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts.
We head off in the near dark. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
Poaching can be an issue for private landowners, especially near public blocks. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
The roar is a busy period for hunters looking for trophy stags whose antlers they hope to adorn their walls with.
“The roar is basically when the hinds come in season and they accept the stags for mating,” explained Allen. “The stages start roaring when the hinds start cycling so they’re competing for the females. They’re running around trying to get as many hinds as they’ve got in their little harem.”
He said it usually lasted about six weeks, with a second cycle later on and that it was often triggered by a change in daylight hours.
While stags sometimes even fight over hinds, the sounds of their antlers knocking and ground being stirred up audible through the bus, “the dominant stag will always prevail”.
Allen scans the bush in the low light as we listen to a stag roaring. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
With Allen decked out in full camo, rifle in hand and a pair of binos and deer horn hanging from his neck – I felt a bit conspicuous in my old Swanndri, sound device and microphones at my hip.
He attempted to draw the stag closer, using his roaring horn to mimic a rival stag. He prefers this “old school” method to using more modern horns.
“I think hunting is more about a challenge and a sport whereas some people these days you get all the technical stuff – thermals etc. – which to me is cheating.”
No response.
We waited a few minutes longer. Another call but further away this time.
This early in the morning, the bush is still quiet except for the roaring stags. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
Allen deliberated whether or not to carry on further into the bush towards the stag or try our luck round the other side of the hill facing the farm, where the glistening green grass will have drawn the deer out for an early morning feed.
I opted for the chance to maybe see some deer and enjoy the sunrise just starting to turn the dark blue sky a peachy orange and as we round a corner down in the paddock below the move paid off.
We spot a group of hinds moving across the landscape while the more eagle-eyed Allen could see a stag further off in the distance.
We ventured closer, bashing through the bush border so as to disguise our silhouettes against the trees and take advantage of the sou-easterly wind.
“Their sense of smell is fantastic. And movement is the other thing so you try to avoid silhouetting yourself,” Allen explained.
He’s a “self-taught” hunter but has clearly picked up a thing or two in his many years of doing so.
He learned with friends, admitting they’re weren’t all to successful to start, before learning from an experience hunting guide. Hunting for stags during the roar is completely different from meat hunting hoping for a bit of venison, he told me.
His many years of experience told Allen the stag was likely to do one of two things – follow the hinds directly into the bush as the sun rose higher, or makes his own way into the bush via the nearby stand of pines and circle back to them later.
Allen takes us down through the bush so our silhouettes against the hill are disguised by the trees and don’t spook the deer below. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
A pair of good binoculars are a must. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
We bedded down in the bush boundary, keeping a watchful eye on the deer below. There’s a lot of sitting and waiting quietly involved with hunting as I was learning.
Unfortunately the stag chose the latter and did not reappear after the hinds went into the bush.
With the sun now mostly up and the dear retreating into the bush, Allen decided to give it one more try back in the bush where we heard the original roar.
He tracked the stags movements looking for hoofprints in the mud – a large, deep hoofprint indicates a sizeable stag likely to have some impressive antlers.
Allen uses a deer horn to imitate a roar. RNZ / Gianina Schwanecke
Allen said the quality of stags in the area was improving. For him though a younger scragglier stag that he might have been tracking through the bush unseen for a while can be just as valuable as a mighty trophy animal.
He’s mindful of which animals he takes, part of efforts to manage the population and maintain its quality.
One of the key lessons he shared with me – there’s more time than people realise, there’s no need to rush a shot.
“I think you’re better off to lose an animal, not have a shot than take percentage shots these days because you don’t want to end up with someone getting hurt.”
It’s a message which will come to embody the more than three hours we’ve spent on the hunt, which while we didn’t get the impressive stag, proved to be an enjoyable exercise in learning to go slow and appreciate being in nature.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand