The SH Boarhammer in the jungle
Author: Tim Strohmeier (professional hunter and outfitter at Westfalia Jagdreisen)
Published: November 3, 2020
Before starting my trip to Belarus, I considered removing the SH Boarhammer from my Sauer rifle. After all, I was traveling for a deer hunt, not a driven hunt. Though, after brief consideration, I decided to leave the SH Boarhammer attached to the weapon– it causes no harm, either way! At this point, I had not suspected that the SH Boarhammer would become so important to me.
After eventful days in the Belarusian Belowescher jungle, it was finally my turn to chase a mature red deer in the great biotope. My hunting partners already had a good hunt but the next stalking was entirely mine. Early in the morning, we drove to a well-known rutting site, where we were able to confirm an impressive stag two days prior. In the dark, we crept through a lane to the large meadow and listened into the morning.
A noise could be heard – but those aren’t deer, are they? A background noise from the jungle echoed like sirens against us. “Wolfes!” Oleg whispered. “Great,…” I thought to myself. While wolves are always a great experience, they are more of a hindrance for a deer hunt, because when wolves call, the rutting deer fall silent.
However, after a few minutes and the first light of day, the grey dogs disappeared and the first deer began to report. We heard new voices from each corner of the great meadow. But then, the next disappointment followed: fog! The visibility was less than 20 meters and we were only able to hear the deer acoustically. We had no other choice than to wait until the fog subsided, to address the deer. It was getting later and the fog was only slowly clearing. In the middle of the rut, a particularly deep voice rang out. We did not want to lose any time and my professional hunting partner Oleg and I decided to tackle the deer directly. We stalked off and the fog grew lighter.
Now we recognized that the herd of about 30 bald deer was already moving towards the forest and switched to the day’s entry. The tail of the pack was our stag. A huge top dog with antlers I have rarely seen before. Oleg immediately set the shooting stick and before the deer disappeared into the forest, I was able to shoot.
After the shot, I was plagued by the usual questions when the game is not at the shot: “Did I get off well?”, “Does my weapon give 100%?”, “Did the deer draw as expected?” Considerations did not help us, but facts had to be created.
So we went from the starting point in the direction of the point where the deer had moved into the jungle. I had little hope, since the jungle was dense and very confusing, only a couple of drops of sweat kept hope alive.
After a couple hundred feet, the sweat trail got lost and Oleg decided to walk towards the direction in which the stag had moved.
Suddenly, a movement in front of us. “Stag! Strelyay!” Oleg shouted. I was not able to see in the thicket but heard how a heavy piece of game jumped off ahead of me. My intuition told me: “Now or never!” I took my rifle off my back and started sprinting through the jungle for at least 200-300 meters, always following the stag. When I arrived at a spruce rejuvenation, the density became lighter. I immediately realized: this is my stag!
Completely out of breath, I stopped and picked up my weapon. Intuitively, my hand reached through the SH Boarhammer and had my weapon at the ready. Although I was out of breath, the strength in my arms allowed me to hold the weapon steadily and pulled it along.
The .300 Win. Mag. echoed through the jungle and the red stag was bound in its place. There it lies in front of me, the king of the jungle, brought down with the help of the “SH Boarhammer,” or in this case, “Staghammer.”
