Hunt Smart® Training Course Success Stories

Sambar - A Highly Elusive & Secretive Quarry

Whether hunted in India or here in Victoria’s Great forested Mountains, Sambar have a well deserved reputation for being mysterious and highly elusive. There can be no doubt that the adage, ‘they didn’t get big by being stupid’ applies to the Premier Game Animal of the South Pacific Region, which arguably rates amongst the world’s top ten game animals.


Paul Brincat - Sambar Deer Success Story

Paul Brincat

Hunt smart course
Success Story #7



Left to right, Errol Mason, Anthony Macciocca and Paul Brincat examine a fresh sambar bed at the base of a large eucalypt. Errol explains how to tell it is actually a sambar's bed, how to tell the sex of its user and in what weather conditions it would be used. Since attending Errol’s Hunt Smart® hunting course I’ve found that I now have the knowledge to better utilize my limited time in the field. When previously I would have gone on a 3 day hunt and seen maybe one stag, I now find that I can go to a particular spot, apply the tactics and thi… ...

Paul Brincat, Mickleham, Vic.

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Andrew Winwood - Hunt smart course Success Story #6

Andrew Winwood - Sambar Deer Success Story
Using knowledge and tactics taught on Errol Mason's 'Hunt Smart®' Training Course

Andrew Winwood of Tasmania finally outsmarted this fine 24 x 24inch heavy antlered stag after spending several days working out how to ‘Out Smart’ him. Read Full Story >>

Andrew Winwood - Hunt smart course Success Story #5

Andrew Winwood - Sambar Deer Success Story
Andrew Winwood and Paul Binns stalked silently into the best vantage point for the prevailing conditions - then using binos - spotted this massive bodied stag whilst he lay in his bed.

Paul harvested this old stag, who had proven over many years that he was very elusive, with a single shot from a 30/06 (see Secrets of the Sambar Volume 2 page 65). Read Full Story >>

Andrew Winwood - Hunt smart course Success Story #4

Andrew Winwood - Sambar Deer Success Story
Above: Using knowledge and tactics learnt whilst hunting with Errol Mason, Andrew Winwood (right) assisted John Butts to take this old wily stag.

After many years hunting fallow in Tasmania I thought it was time for a greater challenge. After hearing of Errol Mason’s success guiding hunters to trophy sambar and reading his articles in Guns & Game magazine I decided to book a 4 day hunt with him. I thought I didn’t really need a guide but I learnt so much during my first hunt that I have no hesitation recommending Errol to anybody needing a start with Sambar hunting or wanting to upgrade their skills. The knowledge Errol passed on was invaluable, not only for sambar, but I have used some of his tips for hunting fallow in Tassie. Errol’s tactics helped me take a couple of nice 220 and a 229 D.S. fallow, along with two very nice sambar stags and a few sambar hinds for venison. I was never lucky enough to take a sambar stag whilst hunting with Errol but I had many great experiences such as watching countless unal… Read Full Story >>

Andrew Winwood, Spreyton Tasmania

Kurt Pongratz - Hunt smart course Success Story #3

Kurt Pongratz - Sambar Deer Success Story
Kurt Pongratz of Eden Vic. helps Iias Salagaras and Toby Gumbridge build a hide on a 'Hunt Smart®' Training Course.

I am 69 years-old and have been hunting sambar for 20 years without much success. In fact in all this time I had not seen a single stag so I decided the smart thing to do was to attend Errol Mason’s ‘Hunt Smart®’ Training Course. During the information packed 2 days I picked up many very important tips which I used on my next hunt. As a result of what Errol taught me I changed my hunting tactics considerably. This enabled me to take a shot at my very first sambar stag within a week or two of completing the course. The mature stag was broadside and unalarmed when I fired. I have to say that it was the things which I learnt from Errol that enabled me to achieve what I had been unable to achieve in 20 years of sambar hunting. If you attend his training course you are guaranteed to become a much more successful hunter - not only of sambar - but of all game animals. Read Full Story >>

Kurt Pongratz Eden, Vic.

Mark Walker - Hunt smart course Success Story #2

Mark Walker - Sambar Deer Success Story
Mark Walker with his first stag taken shortly after completing Errol Mason's Hunt Smart® Training Course Mark Walker had this to say about the course.

After 11 years of unsuccessful sambar hunting I recently attended Errol Mason’s ‘Hunt Smart®’ Training Course. Shortly afterwards I hunted the ‘High Country’ where I put into practice a lot of Errol’s hints and tips. It all paid off when I took a magnificent 25 inch stag doing precisely what he recommended. Without Errol’s vast knowledge and experience behind me I would still be wandering around the bush hearing a lot of crashing noises in the distance. Here I am with the ‘Trophy of a Lifetime’ - a most magnificent stag. Read Full Story >>

Mark Walker

Brett Cooke - Hunt smart course Success Story #1

Brett Cooke - Sambar Deer Success Story
A wily old stag taken by Brett Cooke less than 24 hours after attending Errol's 'Hunt Smart®' Training Course.

In Brett’s words, ‘I firmly believe my success on that hunt was largely attributable to Errol’s tuition and my employment of his ‘Hunt Smart’ system. I believe that in this world we make our own luck. I made mine when I consciously decided to gain knowledge by participating in Errol’s fabulous course. Without hesitation I recommend his ‘Hunt Smart®’ Training Course to all hunters, regardless of experience level.’ Read Full Story >>

Brett Cooke