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Beyond the Basics Training Course

Volume 1 and 2 Success Stories

Send us your Success Story telling us in a few paragraphs how our books helped you harvest a trophy sambar stag together with photos and we will send you a complimentary Indian Sambar Limited Edition Print.

Volume 1 and 2 Success Story No 10

Above:A fine even 28inch stag taken by Brian Church employing knowledge gleaned from Secrets of the Sambar Volumes 1 & 2

Hello Errol,

Just want to tell you about my Anzac Day Stag. This story started grand final Saturday last year as this is when I discovered him. This proved to be the first of three sightings before it was 'third time lucky' this Anzac Day.

I am convinced he is the same stag as he was shot within 75 yards of previous sightings. I walked up the gully to glass for my friend. My binos were soaked when I reached my first glassing spot so I looked around for a bit hoping they would dry out after a shake. They did in time, but I saw nothing at first. But when I moved to the other side of the tree I saw bushes moving across the gully. I picked up my binos and could see his tips moving around. I picked up my rifle, zoomed to 7 power and found him in my sight then he turned and looked dead at me. I fired. I knew the shot was good as I had used the tree as a rest. Yes - I had learnt from my mistakes. He reacted to the shot by running straight down through the creek and up the other side. I felt he was charging me. He was frighteningly big and mean looking. I stood behind the tree and as he got within 10m he slowed a bit and broadsided me. He then barreled straight down hill towards the track behind me coming to rest 50m from it. A rough measure shows a nice even 28 inch stag. A fine trophy with plenty of venison to share around.

Errol your books helped me in so many things but in particular they taught me:

• "If you're on his face you're in his face."
• Stop regularly and glass.
• Perseverance.
• Hunt the deer, don't fixate on sign—I knew he was there yet that morning but had not seen a print a piece of poo or a fresh rub, but I knew I was in a good spot and glassing would find him if he was there.

Thanks again Errol
Regards

Brian Church
Thurgoona, NSW

Volume 1 and 2 Success Story No 9

Above: Knowledge gleaned from Secrets of the Sambar Volume 1 helped Paul Giltrap take this fine 30 x 30 x 31 sambar stag with 16inch brow tines.

I have spent a lot of time hunting sambar and have a taken a few stags so when I read Secrets of the Sambar Volume 1 I instantly knew the information was extremely accurate. In fact I would say it is the most accurate information about sambar I have ever read. This belief enabled me to confidently apply the enormous amount of knowledge I got from volume 1 and this fine stag - easily my biggest yet – is the result.

Paul Giltrap
Wodonga

Volume 1 and 2 Success Story No 8

Above: Nick Ferraro with his fine Sambar Stag taken using Errols Mason's Hunt Smart® System.

Hi Errol,

It is quite difficult to determine the exact pieces of information contained in your books that assisted me in taking my stag. Whilst reading both Volumes, I took thorough notes and revised them so whilst hunting I had a lot of different pieces of information constantly being recalled as I interpreted all that was going on around me and adopted your 'Hunt Smart' System. I think nearly half of the info contained in your books came to mind on the hunt when I took this stag. Some specific points I recall were:

• To find the area that I would hunt I found (VOL1 P124 Planning a Hunt) very helpful.
• I used (VOL2 P210 Tactics for Wallows) to get an idea of where wallows would be in this particular home range.
• When I started seeing a lot of mature stag sign I recalled (VOL1 P150 Tracking).
• To understand how scent works (VOL2 P160 Hunting by Scent).
• When I placed my shot I used (VOL1 P172 Aiming points); and
• To recover the deer tracking information and (VOL1 P184 After the Shot) came to mind.

I do have a bit of prior hunting experience from hunting Red Deer in Queensland but your specific knowledge of Sambar such as their routines, habitat and sensory system is what helped me the most.

Yours sincerely

Nick Ferraro
Altona Meadows, Victoria

Volume 1 and 2 Success Story No 7

G’day Errol – well we did what you said and “did it!!”

Peter and I have just returned from a 7 day hunt in the high country and secured a magnificent 28” x 28” stag. We had both read your books cover to cover and took them along to use as a reference after each days exploring.

We found a number of stag “play rooms” ¾ the way up a spur with preaching trees and rub trees in prolific amounts. The stags were obviously patrolling their areas ¾ of the way up the ridge, contouring the spurs. This is where Peter shot this beauty just at about 5.50pm – about a half hour before dark. The stag was at 60m and walking briskly through thick timber. By the time Pete took a sight on a shoulder shot he was moving behind a wall of trees and he stepped into a lung shot with the 330 Dakota and a 225gn Woodleigh PP. 

Unfortunately the bullet hit a bit too far back and the stag bolted at the shot.  Despite a thorough search Pete could not find him so we both returned the next day and spent half the day looking for him. By 2.30 we had given up and were walking out when I spotted a pair of deep hoof gouges 20m from where Pete believed he had hit him. Suddenly I was then on fire, tracking the stag off the edge of the ridge over his game trail and down a gully where he collapsed into a wombat hole completely covered by ferns.

As I was the GSP for the day, I used every bit of info you wrote in Volume 1 on the animal’s reaction to a shot, the bipedal jump, the collective track of a panic gallop, lung blood drops, etc. I found the first blood spot 30m from where he was standing when Pete fired and he was lying dead about 100m from where he was hit.

Seeing I had never really tracked a Sambar before I could not have done it without your information. In fact, Pete and I reverted to the books each evening to refresh what we saw each day.

Best regards

Bob Shepherd
Dubbo, NSW

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Hi Errol,

I owe this fine stag to you because of what you taught us through your books and your Hunt Smart training course. I persevered with what you said to do and proved your system works.

We thought you would really like the photos showing your books either side of my wonderful stag.

Regards from a very happy Sambar Hunter

Peter Russell
Dubbo, NSW

Volume 1 Success Story No 6

Hello Errol

Just thought I would share my son’s first sambar success with you, as you helped the cause with Secrets of the Sambar Volume 1 which both Iain and Marty read before we left Tassie. Your name became a watch word for the trip – “where did Errol say the deer would be??” along with a little Aust Crawl!!

Iain, Marty and I spent a week camped in the Moroka valley. We glassed a good number of deer which was great experience for the boys, with Iain successful on the third day. We spotted the group of deer travelling off the wet face to bed in the sun about a km away. Iain was able to cross the valley and get on a bluff above the deer, and took the neck shot at 175m after about an hour waiting for a good opportunity.

A very rewarding hunt, and a good start to another sambar hunting addiction!

Trust all is well.

Regards 

John Bruce
Stanley
Tasmania

Volume’s 1 and 2 Success Story No 5

Hello Errol

I would like to congratulate you on the success of Secrets of the Sambar Volumes 1 & 2. 

These books have been without a doubt the best material I have ever read, furthering my knowledge of sambar and helping me to secure my first mature Sambar stag.

I used your sit and wait tactics and along with quality optics - Leica 8 x 42 binos - I was able to observe the stag standing only 85 yards away partially obscured by thick bush. After being shot broadside with a 180gn Barnes Triple Shock the stag ran just 8 metres before collapsing. This all happened fifteen minutes after a hind fed to within 10 metres of me whilst making her way to her feeding grounds.

I am now booked in to attend Errol’s Hunt Smart Training Course because Errol’s books have convinced me that the SMARTER You Hunt The Luckier You Get”!

Thanks mate.

Paul Cavaleiri

Volume’s 1 and 2 Success Story No 4

Left: Using knowledge and tactics gleaned from Secrets of the Sambar Volumes 1 & 2, Ben Donegan of Oakleigh Vic. was able to plan his hunt so that this magnificent stag walked unalarmed right into his ambush. The result was a one shot instant kill plus an unforgettable experience burnt into Ben's memory forever.

Dear Errol,

It was an unseasonably hot day for Oct - 28 deg on my GPS - so I selected a sit and wait spot in a particular gully based upon what I learnt from your books. Using this knowledge of the animal I was able to pick the route that he walked down in the evening.

I was glassing this gully for 3 hours when I picked him up. One second nothing - the next he was there. I was blown away with just how silently and quickly he appeared! I watched for about 10 seconds as he walked closer then picked up my rifle from next to me and shot him where you recommended for the distance - through the central neck. He dropped and slid about a metre up against a dead burnt out tree. Distance stag shot from was 100 yards, paced out from shooting position.

The result, a memory burnt into my head for the rest of my life. Thanks again for two great books – I sincerely believe that what I learnt from them made the difference between success and failure.

Calibre and bullet were what you recommended in Volume 1. A 30-06 and a Barnes "tipped" TSX. I used the 168gn boat tail (in front of 57.5gns of AR2209) because my rifle seems to shoot it more accurately than 180 and 200grainers.

As you continually mentioned - it is ALL about shot placement - and I cannot say how strongly I now agree with this. My stag was dead when he hit the ground because I was confidently able to place the projectile in a place where it hit the bottom edge of his vertebrae. I have attached photos of the recovered projectile and when weighed on my scales it came in at 167 grains! Barnes are the only way to go in my book.

I used a Tikka T3 Stainless/Synthetic and was wearing Stoney Creek pants and top, full face veil, camo gloves and blaze camo cap. Also a liberal spray of Bosisto's eucalypt oil!

Special mention to my bino's...after much saving and working 2 jobs - I saved and bought a pair of Leicas’. Again the quality, magnification and objective diameter I selected was based upon what you said about binos in Volume 1.

Ben Donegan
Victoria

Volume’s 1 and 2 Success Story No 3

Congratulations on 2 magnificent Secret's of the Sambar book's. After reading both volumes l can honestly say l’m a much smarter hunter now. I now see a lot more unalarmed deer which l can observe rather than crashing through the bush and just seeing their rear end.

All the information has helped me so much that l harvested these 2 stag's late this year! l don't think l would have seen them, let alone shot them if it wasn’t for your book's. So Errol, thank's again for passing on your knowledge to us hunter's. Can't wait for Vol 3!

Chris Mills
Wallan, Vic.

Volume’s 1 and 2 Success Story No 2

Left: Robert Brumby of Tasmania with a fine 27in stag he harvested using tactics explained in Secrets of the Sambar Volumes 1 & 2 and articles published in Guns & Game magazine.

Dear Errol,

What fantastic books you have written on the Secrets of the Sambar. They plus your articles in Guns & Game helped me take my best two sambar stags during the past 12 months. I have hunted sambar for at least fifteen years and I have found reading your books extremely beneficial. I can’t thank you enough.

Kindest regards

Robert Brumby
Ulverstone, Tasmania.

 

Volume’s 1 and 2 Success Story No 1

Above and Left: Using knowledge and tactics explained in detail in Secrets of the Sambar Volumes 1 & 2 and Errol’s articles in Guns & Game, Dale Wesley, his father and friends have taken sambar stags on every trip to the mainland. These are some of the stags they have taken.

Dear Errol & Lynne

I would like to congratulate you on another well researched and well presented book.
As an interstate hunter I like to ensure each trip across the straight is well planned in advance. I find your books to be an excellent reference and have used this information to identify possible feeder gullies, bedding areas and likely ‘zones of silence’. This information has allowed our team to pre-plan hunts according to weather and terrain and I believe it has greatly aided our many successes.

I would recommend your books to any serious hunter who wants to increase their chances of securing a sambar trophy. Your books provide relevant information that could only be gained from a lifetime of hunting experience, which if compared to the cost of many hunting trips prove to be an extremely worthwhile investment. In fact I have already pre-paid and reserved my signed, numbered, limited edition copy of Secrets of the Sambar Volume 3.

Dale Wesley
Ulverstone, Tasmania

 

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