Public land beast!

Despite some shoddy weather after Easter, Warren Benton and his mate Gus decided to get packed and head out for a hunt – the first time for Gus. 

"We packed in a few hours and set up camp, then shot out for a hunt – nothing seen or heard," says Warren. 

"That night it started raining, and it was still going in the morning. So we chucked the jackets on and headed out for the day."

By about 2pm the rain had cleared, and not long after Warren and Gus heard a crisp moan lower down in front of them. 

"Problem was the wind was blowing right towards him. So we made a plan to head back the way we had come and do a big arch and come up underneath him," Warren says. 

"However, by the time we had got there he had moved. This time I decided to do a light moan and to my surprise he moaned back. The wind was still blowing the wrong way and swirling. I said to Gus the wind sucks, but we've got to give it a go. So we started in his direction," he says.

Warren says with every moan he made, the animal would match with a delayed response and move away. 

"Slowly we amped the moans to roars. We did this for about 40 minutes, up and over two ridges," he says. 

"We got to a step gully and the wind changed in our favour. We were near the bottom of the gully in some thick as stuff. I roared again and he replied, but this time an aggressive long roar and sounded close. 

"I roared back and I heard him coming down. My adrenaline spiked. He stopped and I roared again, he roared back, and came down some more. He was 30m as the crow flies, and I couldn't see him but could see the pungas and trees moving as he pushed through. 

"We did this for the next 10 minutes,” Warren says. "Up and down, side to side, roaring back and forth until he stopped right on the bush. I let out another roar, which he matched, and he came charging out at 12m away, at which point I saw his head gear. My heart was pounding so hard I'm sure he was gonna hear it."

The beast stopped at 8m and Warren took his shot, but he ran. 

"Gus came running over – he was visibly shaking, as was I," Warren says. 

"I was confident in the shot, but when we got to the location there was no blood for the first 15m. The mind games began, maybe I missed? Maybe I hit it but won't find it? Maybe I was so close the projectile didn't have time to do the damage? 

"I was freaking, but then I looked up and I could see a big red bum under a log," he says. "I couldn't see his head until I got near the log but when I did I started yahooing -– so many bush hours and finally got my stag," Warren says. 

"Gus came running – we both celebrated this epic hunt and animal.

"Once we had finished retelling the story and celebrating, we thanked the good Lord and the animal for its life! Then got to butchering it up before the long hike back to camp," he says. 

"Gus said to me later that evening over a drink, 'this roaring hunting is pretty good aye'. I laughed and said I think you have to drastically lower your roar expectations. 

"It's a hunt that will be burned into my memory for a long time," Warren says. "We are blessed to have this hunting at our back doorstep."

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