A Dunedin hunter carried out 47kg of antlers and head skin from an ''angry'' wapiti he stalked on a hunting expedition in Fiordland. Trevor Bentley (33) said the weather on the 10-day expedition was a mix of snow, gale-force winds and torrential rain.
''We hunted every day and the best hunting was when the weather was at its worst.''
He and fellow Dunedin hunter Dave Ford spotted a big wapiti stag in a basin on the second-to-last day of their trip but when they stalked it, a cow led it away, he said.
The next day, they returned but the wily wapiti had not and Mr Ford bellowed ''one more roar'' before the tramp out, he said.
Then a weighty wapiti came ''cutting from the scrub'', Mr Bentley said.
''He was fired up, roaring and angry. It's the sort of thing hunters live for.''
The ''heavy timber'' of the 10-point antlers and the perfect symmetry of the animal made it a ''special'' stalk.
The skull, antlers and head skin weighed 47kg and took two days to carry out, he said.
''It was a crazy carry.''
However, the kill and carry was a ''team effort'', he said.
''Dave was the one who roared him in, while I went in for the stalk.''
Mr Ford (43) said that when the big wapiti approached, he was concerned a young stag galloping ahead of it towards his roar would disrupt the stalk.
''If he got wind of us first, he would have spooked the big guy.''
However, the young stag ran in another direction and the big stag continued towards the roar, as Mr Bentley lined up his shot.
Mr Ford said he ''hauled'' Mr Bentley's rifle and broke the trail for the two-day carry out.
''You try and pick a nice easy way for someone carrying antlers.''
The expedition finished on Friday, he said.
