The author, along with her guide and husband, takes a good look at several red deer on a distant hillside. The stag she was hoping for faded out of sight near day’s end.
The author (right) poses with Greg during a mountain goat hunting adventure in British Colombia. This is the last hunt they would share together before Greg’s passing away.
the source of the ruckus. Matt decided this was the stag for him, and anchored him with a great 330 yard shot with the 270 WSM from a prone position. The 140 grain TSX impacted squarely in the brisket and the stag dropped in its tracks. We took photos, headed back to camp for lunch, and got ready for the evening hunt. Refreshed and ready for more, the group glassed a slope across an enormous glacial drainage with a number of draws and canyons cut through the slope on the far side. It seemed that each one of these contained at least one stag with a number of hinds. A true giant was spotted about thirty minutes before dark. We knew there was no way we could cover the ground necessary to get on him in time, so we headed back to camp and made a game plan for the next morning. We began early and scrambled our way up two draws below where the stag was spotted, working through thick brush, briars, and grass slopes across the basins in order to drop in on top of him. We spotted three very mature stags and a large “blue” hog. When we arrived at the spot we thought the monster would surely be, he was nowhere to be found. We spent the next few days pounding the area in pursuit of the big stag, but never did get another look at him. Knowing the following day would be our last day of hunting Gus suggested we backtrack to an area where the group had failed to close the deal on a very large stag the first day when I was laid up in camp. 56
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Thad spotted him within a few minutes. There was no mistaking that he was the behemoth they saw that first day. A plan came together quickly for a stalk and we headed off. He was rutting hard and chasing hinds like there was no tomorrow. My heart sank into my gut as he moved away from us faster than we could close the gap and escaped into the oncoming night. Gus read my disappointment, and was quick to react and lift my hopes. He was certain this “scorcher” would be in that general area tomorrow as we were careful not to spook him and he was sticking close to this large band of hinds. I felt my confidence soar. First thing the following morning we spotted him less than 300 yards from where he was the night before. He was once again chasing hinds and roaring as the group snaked up the ridge. Gus, Thad, and I moved rapidly on a path behind him, hoping he wasn’t moving too quickly away from us and down the other side. It was a tough belly-crawl up the knoll to the top of the ridge as there were red deer everywhere. Thad peaked over his side to find a hind was staring right back at him from just ten yards away! He gently backed down, keeping low, hoping she wouldn’t spook. Luckily, she didn’t. We moved carefully as two hinds stared us down from a not-too-distant slope. Again, all we could do was hope they would not react and scare the