The red stag hunt

STRATFORD, Wis. — Hunting is a hobby Bill Griesbach has enjoyed throughout his lifetime, and when a once-in-a-lifetime hunt presented itself, he seized the opportunity.

Griesbach and his family operate Griesbach Family Farm LLC near Stratford, where they milk 155 cows with three robotic milking units.

Bill and his wife, Carol, have enjoyed several trips, traveling with Holiday Vacations and WAXX 104.5 farm director Bob Bosold. Their most recent adventure earlier this spring took them to Australia and New Zealand. The couple extended their stay beyond the tour to accommodate Bill’s hunting adventure.

“When this trip came up, we knew it was one we wanted to go on,” Bill said. “A guy (had) told me if I ever got to New Zealand, it was reasonable to hunt out there, so I booked this hunt for after the tour.”

The Griesbachs soaked in the world down under, visiting tourist sites and a variety of farms, while Bill awaited his opportunity to hunt New Zealand red stag.

“It took me 70 years to get to New Zealand, so I was going to make the most of it,” Bill said.

After their touring companions returned to North America, the Griesbachs embarked on the next leg of their own adventure. They met up with a guide from New Zealand Trophy Hunting to begin the 5-day hunt they had booked.

Bill’s hunt took place in the northern area of Te Waipounamu, which is New Zealand’s southern island.

“A red stag is between a deer and an elk,” Bill said. “If you measure the horns, there will be more points on a red stag than a whitetail. The red stag I got was about 20 points on each side.”

With no natural predators, Bill said hunting for red stag has no defined season and requires no license or registration of harvested animals.

“This wasn’t a game farm; it was open range,” Carol said. “They had 8,000 acres they owned. It was really beautiful; the scenery was incredible.”

Bill said because the seasons in the southern hemisphere are opposite to those in the northern hemisphere, they were entering fall when he hunted and the animals were experiencing their rut.

“The first day, the guide and I were out looking for stags,” Bill said. “The second day, I convinced Carol to come along. Every time I go whitetail hunting around here, she always stays back and does chores; she never got to go out and hunt.”

Carol said chores are more her style than hunting, but she enjoyed the scenery and experiencing the New Zealand wild.

“Of course, that day was the worst day, it was windy and cool and we didn’t see a whole lot,” Bill said. “We drove around on an (all-terrain vehicle) and got up in the hills. He used his spotter’s scope to scope the area out, then we’d move onto another hill.”

The third day, Bill and his guide ventured into public lands adjacent to the outfitter’s acreage.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘If this guy falls over dead, I’ll never find my way back out,’” Bill said. “It was foggy on the hill bottoms, but you could see the top of the hills. That was when we saw the stag I harvested, on the hill on the other side.”

In pursuit of the stag, Bill and the guide ventured down into the valley, losing sight of the animal through the fog.

“We were going back up the hill, and he was coming down the hill,” Bill said. “It wasn’t a long shot — only about 220 yards — and I asked the guide if he was down. Looking through his scope, he said he saw four legs up in the air.”

Bill harvested the stag around 10 a.m. Wanting to share the beauty of the animal with Carol, they traveled the 5 miles back to pick her up before going to claim the stag.

Arrangements were made to bring the trophy home, while the meat was donated to a local food pantry. Importing the cape requires a broker to handle the shipping and customs regulations. Once it arrives in Chicago, it will be shipped to a taxidermy studio Bill has worked with before.

“It would be nice if there was a tracker on him so we knew where he was,” Bill said.

Bill is anxious for his south-of-the-equator trophy to make it to U.S. soil. However, where the enormous mount will be placed when it is completed remains an unanswered question.

“He isn’t going in the house,” Carol said. “By the time we get him back, it will probably be close to a year. As far as we know, it hasn’t made it to Chicago yet; it’s somewhere enroute.”

Bill said the stag will more than likely find his final home in the office of the family’s barn.

Bill said he is not a dedicated hunter, but appreciates the sport and methodology of hunting.

“I enjoy it,” Bill said. “Being out in nature, the country is beautiful. You’re with friends, you make friends throughout the process of the hunt. It’s about the beauty of everything that is here on the earth, that the good Lord made for us to enjoy.”