Mob of deer

[John Gryphon]

They are wild too, not penned pets....pic seriously cropped to offer no clues to the poaching ****s that peruse my photos.
If someone wants to argue the efficacy of wearing proper camo,start up now.
They can see me/movement but have nfi wtf I am thus a curiosity factor stalls them so my Pommy mate can fire at will.
There are nine there,very few have ever seen more than two or three in the daylight.

 

[tarponhead]

Amazing pics. How much meat would you get off a typical carcass?

 

[John Gryphon]

Amazing pics. How much meat would you get off a typical carcass?

Lots! Young stag at back left ,circa three yr old be a min of 450 lbs live weight. 32 stone.

 

[Bushcrafter]

Why did you say “They are wild too, not penned pets” ? Seems a strange thing to say.

 

[tarponhead]

32 stone - that’s a lot of freezer space! I’d shoot one a year and I’d be done! Still, all that meat on tap….

 

[John Gryphon]

Why did you say “They are wild too, not penned pets” ? Seems a strange thing to say.

Cant work it out? Do some swotting for yourself.
Btw its only strange in your mind.

 

[Bushcrafter]

Cant work it out? Do some swotting for yourself.
Btw its only strange in your mind.

I am trying to work it out, but no, I can’t. Give me a clue as to what swatting I need to do.

I can only assume that most Deer are penned in Australia.

 

[John Gryphon]

I can only assume that most Deer are penned in Australia.

Why would you assume that? Imo that is the most absurd thought.
Swot over the deer threads pertaining to Aust. I`m not here to give you whats been said many times but here`s one snippet.
In Victoria alone there is 18 MILLION acres of free public land for deer hunting.

 

[VSS]

I am trying to work it out, but no, I can’t. Give me a clue as to what swatting I need to do.

I can only assume that most Deer are penned in Australia.

The OP (@John Gryphon), is a master in the art of using camouflage to get really close to wild deer with his camera. So close, in fact, that some people might be inclined to think that they were tame deer.
Hence the comment that you struggled to understand.

 

[John Gryphon]

32 stone - that’s a lot of freezer space! I’d shoot one a year and I’d be done! Still, all that meat on tap….

This bloke be near on 200 lbs more. I took the pic in `84 or close to it.

 

[John Gryphon]

The OP (@John Gryphon), is a master in the art of using camouflage to get really close to wild deer with his camera. So close, in fact, that some people might be inclined to think that they were tame deer.
Hence the comment that you struggled to understand.

Ah, thank you VSS for that,you must have posted whilst I was posting my recent above response.
These hinds on the ridge top above me studied me for ages...perhaps 15 minutes. I was standing behind my tripod in full view.

 

[John Gryphon]

After some time they cut across and down and I snapped pics and took video. Lead hind didn't know wtf I was but had the curiosity factor..here she is "belling"

 

[Bushcrafter]

The OP (@John Gryphon), is a master in the art of using camouflage to get really close to wild deer with his camera. So close, in fact, that some people might be inclined to think that they were tame deer.
Hence the comment that you struggled to understand.

Thank you for your explanation, it was easier to understand than the OP. I get it now, but don’t we all use cam and concealment to get closer to an objective? I certainly know I have done, and not just hunting deer.

I still think it an odd thing to say in a post, wether you are hunting on millions of acres or just a few hundred you still need to employ the principles of camouflage so your objective does not detect your presence. That’s why we call it “stalking”. But thank you.

 

[John Gryphon]

, it was easier to understand than the OP.

Not for the common man ha ha.

Sambar deer are in another league to the other deer species of the world and to get in close to them whilst in their own wild habitat is a tough ask and decent photo/s are a trophy in itself. Some see dead deer as the trophy,some see the image as the trophy and at times I like both. Sambar are kept in farm pens on a small scale for those that have the money and photos are easy in a pen,no need to stalk or cam up.
A lot of publications use stock Indian Sambar photos in magazines hoping the average dolt doesn't know the difference...that`s a fail.
This bloke below is just over 40 yards from me and in his bed. Getting to him from first sighting at 700 yards was a journey of proper stalking. I have a rough idea on how to do it now but I am still working on it....every day.
Its called bushcraft.

 

[Bushcrafter]

Not for the common man ha ha.

Sambar deer are in another league to the other deer species of the world and to get in close to them whilst in their own wild habitat is a tough ask and decent photo/s are a trophy in itself. Some see dead deer as the trophy,some see the image as the trophy and at times I like both. Sambar are kept in farm pens on a small scale for those that have the money and photos are easy in a pen,no need to stalk or cam up.
A lot of publications use stock Indian Sambar photos in magazines hoping the average dolt doesn't know the difference...that`s a fail.
This bloke below is just over 40 yards from me and in his bed. Getting to him from first sighting at 700 yards was a journey of proper stalking. I have a rough idea on how to do it now but I am still working on it....every day.
Its called bushcraft.



View attachment 424198

We call it fieldcraft here, something I have studied both in everyday life and as an infanteer, but quoting Sambar are in another league to other Deer species in the world, is, well…….Total tosh! You may have hunted/stalked deer around the world, so fair play, but I don’t accept what you posted……Sorry.

Many factors are involved, ground, habitat, weather, experience, and of course, species. White Tail would not be as difficult to stalk up compared to say Fallow, just last year I had a Whitetail walk into the garden of a cabin I was staying at in Idaho. I was sat on the porch drinking beer, and I managed a, pretty poor, photo. But thank you.



Just as a comparison, a Bull Elk will make a Sambar look like a Roe Buck, and not penned in!



Using skill and guile, I got this close to this cow in Wyoming. OK, just using learned skills, not that difficult tbh, but the added thought of a Grizzly had me thinking!

 

[Bushcrafter]

Tends to concentrate the mind!

 

[John Gryphon]

but quoting Sambar are in another league to other Deer species in the world, is, well…….Total tosh!

Showing your ignorance old chap.

You be off to Stewart Island for a whitetail...they are not park deer there.
Taking pics of wapiti out of the car window doesn't cut it ha ha...
btw in return moose make wapiti look like roe deer.... I photographed roebucks and moose in Sweden, in comparison to Sambar in the bush not in the 'too hard basket'

 

[Bushcrafter]

Showing your ignorance old chap.

You be off to Stewart Island for a whitetail...they are not park deer there.
Taking pics of wapiti out of the car window doesn't cut it ha ha...
btw in return moose make wapiti look like roe deer.... I photographed roebucks and moose in Sweden, in comparison to Sambar in the bush not in the 'too hard basket'

I would like to make a sensible reply, but, again, I have no idea what you are talking about! Sorry, but I have not been to NZ for 20 years

My, very poor, attempt at a Moose in Wyoming.

 

[John Gryphon]

My, very poor, attempt at a Moose in Wyoming

It is a lot better than no moose at all and it is a good shot offering at that.

Sambar deer are renowned as an especially wary and cunning deer. A lot of the time its where they are living in the hard bush habitat that helps make them tougher again. My photos taken recently are of deer in openings, they take one jump and disappear,drought here has forced them out into wild fringe country and you couldn't get a 4wd anywhere near them.
I found an old video that demonstrates some of the terrain and cover. Stay to the end for the camera pull back.

 

[Bushcrafter]

Very similar type of cover to here, but not so thick. Try spotting a Roe or Red during our summer months when it’s practically impenetrable, plus the bracken/fern being taller than my 6’1”.

I was having a lovely conversation with a barking Roe, just a couple of weeks ago, I could hear it for at least 3 minutes, probably no more than 30 metres away. I never saw it, not with the thickness of that cover, I have seen Stags simply disappear in the blink of an eye. Always have a dog with a bit of white…….He is a brilliant hunting, flushing retrieving gundog, best I have had in over 50 years working ESSs.