Hunting sambar does not come naturally. Rather, it is one of those things that must be learnt. Punters rely on luck while successful sambar hunters learn about the animal they hunt. They study its habits, foods, mating rituals and all the physical abilities this species has over the hunter.

"Successful hunters will, and mostly do, keep their knowledge to themselves. No-one really shares secrets because everyone is after the elusive stag for themselves."

This is why one Friday evening in late April 2001, I was sitting in Errol Mason’s lounge room sipping coffee in front of an open fire while Errol went through the steps in his ‘Beyond the Basics’ Training Course. In my view Errol is the guru of sambar and most hunters would know him for his ‘Secrets of the Sambar’ column in ‘Guns and Game’ magazine.

The others on the course had some experience in hunting sambar. David, a twenty year-old from Woodend chose to do the course to expand his knowledge and was encouraged by his father to undertake it, even though his father was a seasoned hunter of many years experience. Same applied to Les from Morwell who stated upon arrival: If I can learn two things, it will be a well worthwhile weekend. Les also had extensive knowledge of hunting with hounds. Apart from a sound knowledge of firearms and calibres, all I knew about sambar was I liked venison and loved the challenge that sambar hunting offered!

Using numerous slides of exceptional quality taken from every conceivable angle, Errol discussed sambar biology including antler development and shot placement from various angles. This was a major point of discussion between us the participants on when to take the shot and when not to take the shot and where to place the shot. Having a group discussion on the subject of shooting at wild game in less than perfect situations, as is the case with most sambar hunting situations, is the most valuable thing I learnt on the course. Taking the shot was discussed on the basis of safety, ethics and a realistic chance of success with time to discuss and contemplate the ‘what ifs’. This alone will undoubtedly make me a better hunter and when that magic moment presents itself I will be properly prepared to do the right and ethical thing and not be guilty of watching a mortally wounded animal run off to die a slow painful death!

We slept comfortably until awoken by Errol at 6.00am. After breakfast Errol discussed equipment and made the point that if you rely on sales people who have never hunted sambar to sell you what you need, you will end up with the wrong things. Although Errol was critical of some of my equipment he gave strong practical reasons drawing on his twenty-five years experience hunting sambar. My $22 aluminium water bottle has now been dumped for a $10 plastic Platypus bladder because the water bottle sloshed so noisily it would have woken the deafest stag when trying to sneak up on him. My glorious waterproof oilskin overcoat has been retired to rainy Saturday afternoons at the footy because it’s too heavy and much, much, too noisy for sneaking up on sambar. Real valuable practical advise. Errol told me that one day my backpack zips would open and that I would lose equipment. Surely enough when climbing out of a gully later in the course one of the zips opened, allowing my $800 SLR camera to fall out. Luckily I heard it hit the ground and was able to retrieve it. No more daypacks with zips for me.

After morning tea of coffee, tea, cakes and cookies, Errol packed us into his Nissan Patrol wagon and proceeded to head bush where we got stuck into looking for ‘Sambar Sign’. This term summed up the course. Finding sign, ageing and understanding it. Why is there a wallow here and when would the animal be there? What is its purpose? We also spent some time in farm fringe habitat looking for sign and then did some hard slog in the deep bush climbing up and down gullies. The area was selected by Errol for its abundance of sambar sign and he pointed out precisely where he had found sambar stags before.

We ate a hearty lunch of fresh sandwiches, fruit and drinks, prepared by Errol’s wife Lynne, just the ticket for the task at hand. We then proceeded deeper into the Great Dividing Range and arrived at another farm fringe spot where Errol had seen plenty of deer in the past. We proceeded past the private land and climbed a particularly long steep hill where we discovered fresh rub trees. Errol discussed the fundamentals of deer behaviour, especially in country bordering farmland. Prior to booking I asked Errol about the chances of seeing deer on the course. His reply was blunt. "Four hunters crashing through the bush will make it pretty difficult to get close to sambar, let alone see one but I will see what I can do".

Carrying all my gear on the earlier bush walks tired me out so I left my daypack in the Patrol as did Dave and Les. I figured all I really needed was my camera to photograph deer but Errol, being the professional took his day pack complete. We started by gaining some altitude and climbed a hill that seemed to go up forever. At this stage I felt this was weight watchers bush walking weekend because it was taking a toll on me. These gullies and hills are not easy. Errol explained that sambar live in this steep country and if you want to find their sign you have to get into their country! Errol would chuckle when I asked the same question over and over; ‘Are we going to climb that hill?’ After climbing a monster spur we dropped down the south face. While we were looking for signs of deer at our feet, Errol was glassing the north facing slope opposite us. All of a sudden with finger over mouth he started signalling us to stop. Four hundred metres across the gully was a large bodied mature sambar stag in velvet and a spiker. At 5.00pm Errol had spotted them. This was simply amazing. Being shown not one, but two, unalerted sambar stags, neither of which had any idea we were there. But the largest was ever vigilant. With nostrils skywards it was constantly scenting the air and looking around.

For the reason already explained we didn’t even bring our binoculars. Errol proceeded to get closer to the deer, while we had a perfect view of the pending action, we were better served staying put on the face rather than risk spooking the deer. Errol proceeded down the gully to get closer. However as time passed quickly and the darkness approached we realised that we should have bought our day packs which contained our jackets and torches. The lesson was learnt because before the course began, Errol set the equipment requirements and we ignored him. Errol eventually spooked the deer and at about 6.15pm we started to hike out and up the hill to wait for Errol’s return. We saw his head mounted torch and trekked towards him, called it a day and headed home.

Back at Errol’s we showered, opened the stubbies and had a hearty meal of rice with chicken and beef satays. Very decent food prepared by Lynne and really appreciated after a long day in the bush. Over dinner we analysed the days events and concluded that the stags would have been better approached from above. This would have entailed retracing our footsteps back up the slope we had come down and working our way further up the spur so we were level with them and in a much better position for a shot. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, Errol agreed that his approach had failed on this occasion because the stags had not descended to the feed gully below them as he had expected given the time of the day. Errol also discussed the disadvantages you face if you try and approach sambar, or any deer species for that matter, from below.

We all agreed that backtracking is not a natural response as you want to get closer to the deer, not further away. This event brought calibres back into discussion. My view was that provided the hunter was using a long range outfit such as a 300 magnum fitted with a 12 power scope and he could shoot it accurately over the distance in question, then the shot would not have been unethical. Difficult yes, but far from impossible. Applying theory to the field is Errol’s school’s huge strength.

The next morning we returned to where we had seen the two stags the previous evening. We spent a couple of hours where they had been standing analysing the habitat and game trails leading into the area. We questioned why they had been at that spot at that time. What had attracted them? We examined rub trees bearing in mind that only the spiker was in hard antler, as well as their droppings and hoof prints which we knew were about sixteen hours old.

After lunch we proceeded to a remote "secret gully" at the bottom of which Errol showed us an old fighting arena, wallows and a game trail which weaved its way along the length of a stream. It was littered with scrapes. This proved a big lesson for me, one of probably 200 lessons over the weekend. A compass does not help you if you have to climb ten hills to get to your car going the way the "crow flies!" You’re best bet is to find a game trail a stream or gully have sound knowledge of the area you’re hunting. Errol teaches these things to novice hunters. Have a sound knowledge of the terrain or have a map. During the course all my beliefs were questioned and analysed.

It became obvious that Errol is not doing this just for the money. He is passionate about sambar and actually wants to educate and promote good sound hunting practice. I liked the way he explained the reasons behind his opinion. Sambar, sambar, sambar was the topic all weekend. Errol did not stop yapping because he wanted to share his knowledge! Errol has devoted his life to sambar and sambar hunting and is currently writing a book. He offers guided hunts as well. The course fee includes everything, even comprehensive notes on sambar hunting.

Errol not only covers the basics of equipment, rifles, calibres and hunting locations, but he puts you in his Patrol and drives into the bush, and like boot camp, he makes you work the bush, finding rub trees, wallows, scrapes and game trails. Or in Errol’s words the stag’s mating territory. Then he explains how all the pieces fit together to form a system and he explains how the deer use each part of the jigsaw. Errol shows you how to make sense of it all rather than it being a big mystery. As a result I am now very confident about sambar hunting and recommend the course to the novice who wants to get started to seasoned deer hunters who want to know more about hunting this magnificent animal.

Steven Psichalos