Cull Hunting

As some of you may or may not of seen in wild deer magazine I love to chase a cull deer any chance i get. The first time I shot an untypical fallow was the first year I went fallow hunting, a day or two after shooting my first deer (a small fallow).

Dad and I came across a dark brown buck that moved around with a bit of a limp as he had been shot in the leg by poachers through the year. His antlers were still bigger then my first deer so we decided to put in a stalk for him. The stalk proved to be a lot tougher then you would think for a deer with a broken leg but finally I got my trophy. His antlers were very untypical with one thrown forward and the other thrown back due to his broken leg.

It is hard to see the difference in his antlers in the picture but they are very unique. After taking this cull and talking to the property manager about all the different types of untypical antler growths he had seen over the years due to injury and genetics I had my mind set on cull hunting.

A few years later the opportunity came up again to chase a cull, after arriving at Ballandean station the property manager was eager to let me know about a cull with one antler he had seen around through the year. Knowing that i was interested in hunting culls and Dad was not interested in being dragged around the countryside chasing them he made a point of keeping his eyes open through the year. The buck was quite young but had broken a leg in the previous year so had only formed one antler.

The next year the property manager had more good news for Dad, with a cheeky grin he described to me the cull buck he had seen recently with one antler, a much larger antler then my last cull. Much to his displeasure, Dad knew what he was in for, more huffing and puffing running around the hills with me chasing a buck with only one antler.

So I wanted to show you all what became of the cull bucks i hunted and why I was so keen to find some untypical trophies.

This is the first one antlered cull pictured above. My partner and I went on a bush walk specifically looking for a piece of bark that I liked the look of. There is a small block of wood screwed to the back of the bark, I also had two brass screws in the scull cap but one was not big enough so I am yet to replace it with another brass screw.

Pictured above is the second of the two one antlered culls I have harvested. Mounted onto a piece of solid wood which was attached to a fallen tree, I chose this piece on a bush walk with my partner and unfortunately for him he did have an axe with him and had to chop the piece off the tree for me. But we both agree it was worth it because they both look so unique on the wall and fit in well with our other trophies. 

Above is my partners two trophies from this year (top left and right). A chital scull i found on a trip which was all sun bleached that i stained and shield mounted and my cull. 

Cull trophies are definitely not everyones cup of tea but I feel they are something different and can provide a unique piece for anyone wishing to collect a few heads. Not to mention it can be a great challenge to track down one particular deer in such a large area. Dad has since kindly asked the property manager not to notify me of any more culls he sees haha.