Stag Hunting
Addictive Hunting for Red Stags. Fallow Buck et al.
The dream of hunting for stags sits at the back of most hunter´s minds, and every year more and more hunters make their dream of going stag hunting come true. For some stag hunting is synonymous with hunting the mighty red stag - the king of the forest, while others, when it comes to stag hunting prefer the beautiful fallow buck, or the shy and flighty sika stag. Others take stag hunting one step further, and go off in search of the world’s many other deer species such as Wapiti, Rusa, Sambar, White tail and more. The list is long, and many trophy hunters have spent most of their lives completing their collection.
Roars Echoing Through the Forest
For most European hunters stag hunting is synonymous with hunting during the rutting season for huge red deer stags in the vast European forests as summer draws to a close. To sit at the forest’s edge and suddenly hear the mighty stags roaring at each other is such a powerful experience that you can only really understand what it is like after you have experienced it for yourself. Stag hunting is simply one of the hunting experiences you simply MUST have, at least once in a lifetime. Poland and Hungary are by far the most popular destinations if your goal is a big European stag, but countries such as England, Turkey, France, Bulgaria and Romania also produce big stags for visiting hunters every year. This is not even mentioning stag hunting in the highlands of Scotland and sika stags in Ireland.
Stag Hunting in Practice
Stag hunting can be carried out in a number of ways. Ehen stag hunting during the rut, stalking or lying in wait are the methods most commonly used, and sometimes a combination of both. At this time, which usually begins around the end of September, the stags loose most of there inhibitions. It is the mating season, and the hinds gather around the strongest, and often the biggest stag, which announces his high status by roaring loudly, signalling to the other stags that they must stay away from his harem. Other large stags will challenge his sovereignty and attempt to mate with some of the hinds. On occasion this will develop into a real fight. Experiencing a battle between two or more duelling stags while out stag hutning, is one of nature’s great spectacles, and it is also when the hunter has the best chance to get a shot at one of the forest’s biggest stags.
Naturally stag hunting can be carried out at other time than during the rutting season, as far as individual country’s regulations allow, so many very handsome trophies are also taken when stag hunting during the first months of winter. A good number of good red stags are also shot on driven hunts, but if your goal is a really magnificent stag, then you should concentrate on doing your stag hunting during the rutting season.
