Pre Roar Red Stag - Canterbury High Country 2023

Overnight trip turns into an all nighter after coming across a decent stag.

[@user-zc7hh5kl9q]

Great scenary and awesome country to live in if you like the great outdoors. Nice stag as well so keep up the good work 👍

[@baywarra]

Nice beast

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers!

[@MountainMan_NZ]

Loved and subbed; nothing better than sweating the gravy and pudding on a 5 mile hunt like that champ! Classic you were in the zone belting out the tunes on the climb out lol, I get "chasing waterfalls" stuck in my brain on those climbs. Great spot 👌 gotta watch out for that cutty grass n flax in those lower guts 😆

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate! Yea its not a bad spot! Definitely makes you work for it - which makes it all the more worth while

[@mtntomtn]

Great video!

[@nealerobson3676]

Awesome bro well done 👍

[@deebee5214]

Thanks fella. Nice old mature Stag. Cheers

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate!

[@Jim_Lewis_Venni_Vendetta]

Enjoyed that, cheers Bevan!

[@tonystewart7287]

Nice work 😎😎👍

[@MattyManukaNz]

Mean vid bro👌🏾 beautiful stag, there majestic animals aye, beauty bro🤙🏽

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate!

[@benhealy3401]

Mate, what an awesome video and epic stag!

[@bevanbolger7284]

Thanks Ben!

[@chrispyskiwiadventures3583]

Top effort bro🤙🤙 Just found ya channel so have subbed ya.

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate!

[@alfiesoutdoors7800]

Great vid bro and a great stag. Liked and subed. Cheers

[@bevanbolger7284]

Appreciate it 👍

[@sandcontour]

Mint trip. Great stag. 😊

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate!

[@richardt.4224]

Well done Bevan, I'm Canterbury too, but I'm probably twice your age and only have about half your get up and go lol. However I still get out there and hope to come across an animal like yours. Good vid by the way, well done.

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers Richard! Plenty of good spots handy to Christchurch with good stags - but you are right they do take a bit of get up and go!

[@1mnicholson]

Grouse animal - primo country. Congrats!

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate!

[@jokaraitiana5576]

Good vid m8 I hunt with a xbow and I'm pumped ready for the roar

[@bevanbolger7284]

Nice! Good luck.

[@highlandhuntersnz7641]

Primo trophy bro!

[@bevanbolger7284]

Thanks!

[@jasper-ft3ei]

Cool vid man, awesome stag too. Thinking of heading out on a winter trip after the roar with my old man. Wondering if you know of any places that would be a bit less of a mish to get into? Just wanting to do a bit of research well in advance. Cheers mate and congrats 🤝

[@bevanbolger7284]

Thanks mate! Ah tough question there's a shit load of land out there 😅 Depends where you are based and what part of nz you wanted to hunt? If you are able to 4wd or just walk - and then if you want to stay in a hut or tent. The stags will be feeding like crazy after the roar so it's a good time to go. Find somewhere with some good tucker and the stags will be there! Lake sumner RHA tops, would not a bad spot as its anti waro. If you are after something decent then most of the time expect a bit of a walk 👍

[@jasper-ft3ei]

@@bevanbolger7284 Cheers for the reply man, can pretty much access anywhere and don’t mind a bit of a trek, just nothing super massive. I’m based in Nelson but was planning on coming down to either Canterbury or Otago, wanting to find a decent stag but mostly just for the adventure. If there are any resources (websites, maps etc) you use to research spots to hunt that would be awesome! I guess you aren’t going to get told exactly where the best locations are haha

[@bevanbolger7284]

@@jasper-ft3ei there's some pretty good spots around Nelson lakes area mate! Get the nztopo50 app on your phone and then you can look at all of the hunting blocks. Flick me a message on the gram and I can provide you a bit more detail.. @bev_bolger

[@jasper-ft3ei]

@@bevanbolger7284 Just bought the topo50 app - looks like exactly what I’ve been after! I’ll do some research online and use this app to find some good country. That’s a very generous offer but I don’t want to put you out - if I get hopelessly stuck I’ll probably take you up on it though. If I end up finding success I’ll flick through some pics to you. Thanks for all your help, possibly looking forward to a 2023 roar vid from you?

[@bevanbolger7284]

@@jasper-ft3ei no worries mate! Yeap! There is a good chance of a roar video

[@timbob22250]

Cool video and a great place! Will you get it aged? Looks like a youngish stag but hard to tell from the vid. Interested to know how long it was?

[@bevanbolger7284]

Hi Tim, Haven't bothered to get him aged. Potentially taken taken 1year too early - don't really feel like he would have got dramaticly better if left for another year though. Bay tines - tight and pretty weak. 36inch so still shy of the 40inch mark. Maybe another year would have put him over 40?

[@timbob22250]

Oh nice, getting up there in length! Yeah generally a hard call on the age etc when you have limited time 😊

[@Joshperes]

Awesome Stag bro, What backpack and tent are you hauling ? And do you have a preference on brand ?

[@bevanbolger7284]

Ah the new tatonka pack 75L + 10L - can handle a serious amount of weight and still remains comfortable. Tent is the bushbuck 8000 horizon - No real preference on gear, I definitely spend time quizzing other guys on kit what has gone well or not so well for them. I'm currently going down the path of running as light weight as possible - just so I can push a bit hard on hunts like this - ironically end up making up the weight with cameras 😅

[@Joshperes]

@@bevanbolger7284 thanks. I’m looking into gear for myself and I’m finding it hard to filter through all the great options on the market lol. Awesome vid tho, keep it up bro 👍

[@bevanbolger7284]

@@Joshperes don't skimp on boots, pack or wet weather gear - go for top of the line or as top of the line as you can afford as they are critical - safety and comfort 👍

[@rickmuir2663]

Nice video mate. Do you ever let your deer dog chase pigs? Want to make my 6month pup a deer and pig dog

[@bevanbolger7284]

Na we don't chase pigs at all. He started on the deer dog blue print - which is an excellent template to a really nice dog! I can't speak from experience of dogs working on both pigs and deer, but something tells me it won't work as well as you want. Happy to be wrong though!

[@rickmuir2663]

@@bevanbolger7284 Cheers for the insight! Have started on the blueprint and will stay that way for at least a year!

[@bevanbolger7284]

@@rickmuir2663 that blue print is definitely worth your time 👍

[@gutz9252]

Nice video mate what rifle are you running and what calibre? Cheers

[@bevanbolger7284]

Cheers mate. Howa - 7mm Rem mag. Running 165gr norma bondstrike handloads through it - currently doing a very good job.

[@TheRutthunter]

Shit yeah nice stag ... Good looking dog what breed ?

[@bevanbolger7284]

Thanks mate, he's a GSP lab X. There are a few getting round - really nice mix

[@TheRutthunter]

@@bevanbolger7284 Yeah ok Nice mix mate