Scott Haugen's Personal Blog On His Trip To Australia With Peter Edser's High Country Safaris Australia
- High Country Safaris & Outfitters
- Apr 1
- 5 min read
Introduction to Scott Haugen. Prior to entering the outdoor industry full-time in 2001, Scott Haugen taught science for 12 years. With a master’s degree in education, a bachelor’s in science/biology, and over 45 years of hunting, fishing, and trapping experience, Haugen is uniquely qualified to share what he knows and continues to learn. Since hanging up his teacher’s hat, he’s appeared on more than 450 television shows, penned over 4,500 magazine articles, written more than 15 books, and had over 15,000 photos published in magazines around the world.
Scott also runs a small booking service, catering only to places he’s personally hunted and fished around the world. From Africa to Alaska, New Zealand to Australia, and more, Scott can help you arrange a personalised trip for big game, birds, and fish.
Having grown up in western Oregon, lived a semi-subsistence lifestyle in Alaska’s Arctic, and traveled to over 40 countries, today Scott spends more than 200 days a year in the field—hunting, fishing, scouting, working with his dogs, and photographing wildlife.
Scott’s wife, Tiffany Haugen, is a nationally known wild game and fish cookbook author… together, they make a very unique team!
Australia—full of beauty, mystery, and remote places that make hunting there very special. The animals in the Land Down Under are unique, and there’s a reason I keep going back to this great place.
Downunder With Scott Haugen
But on this, my fifth trip to Oz, I was joined by some good friends from Trijicon. For Tim Adams, Greg Findlay, and Trey Lloyd, it was their first time hunting in Australia, which made my time there even more special.
My timing was spot on for this hunt, thanks to outfitter Peter Edser of High Country Safaris Australia (bookings@highcountrysafaris.com.au). Peter had APBs out all over the region, and just as we were heading out to check one of the leads, he got an urgent call. A giant rogue bull had been wreaking havoc in a nearby valley, and ranchers hadn’t been able to stop him.
After surveying the land and covering some serious ground, we finally caught up to the beast one evening. He took off before I could get a shot. But just as the sun was setting, we found him again—tucked deep into the scrub. This time, when he bolted, I was ready. I dropped him with a spine shot using a Weatherby Vanguard chambered in .338 Win. Mag, topped with Trijicon’s latest 1–4×24 scope, featuring a crosshair with a green illuminated dot.
The massive bull weighed over 2,500 pounds and will likely go into the top 10 of the record books. It was my fourth time hunting these elusive bulls—but the first time I was able to connect.
From there, Tim, Greg and I hunted rusa deer with Peter, not far from Brisbane. The rut was kicking in, the stags were still in bachelor herds, and the spot-and-stalk action was nonstop.
These deer, like many in the South Pacific, grow only three tines per side. A mature stag will weigh over 200 pounds, and their preference to hang in semi-open country makes hunting them a joy—reminded me of a cross between hunting blacktails and mule deer back home.
All three of us ended up with nice stags, all taken with a .308 topped with Trijicon’s 3×9 in mil-dot crosshairs with a green dot. Tim’s stag sported 35-inch main beams, while mine had amazing bases and would score very high in the non-typical category.
Tim also took a dandy red stag in the nearby hills, while Greg put the hammer down on an old fallow deer. From there, we flew north, to Darwin, to experience the world-class water buffalo hunting this place is known for.
Tim was up first, and made a great shot on a lone bull feeding across the plains on the first evening of the hunt. The rut was also on for these bulls, and they were aggressive and plentiful. We hunted swamps, dry plains and paperbark forests—some of the most gorgeous country I’ve seen.
Here, mosquitoes, leeches, crocs and intense heat are always a concern. I’d hunted buffalo here before, so knew what to expect, but for the others in the group, this was new to them. They did well, and shot great!
Trey Lloyd, Trijicon’s #1 sales representative of the year, also scored on a great bull. Trey looked over many buffalo, laid eyes on some giant bulls in the swamp that we couldn’t access, then connected on a solid shot following a lengthy stalk.
I was up last, and with my Bowtech in hand, Peter and I headed out. Peter’s been outfitting hunts in the Northern Territory for years, and knows where the big bulls are. We tried stalking buffalo in the open flats, but just couldn’t close to the 40 yards I wanted for the shot.
I was shooting Bowtech’s Insanity, set at 82 lbs. With a 28½” draw, a 320-grain Ashby broadhead screwed into my Gold Tip Kinetic Big Game XT 200 arrow, and producing 98.47 ft. lbs. of energy, the 745-grain arrow was travelling at 245 fps. Practice sessions went well, but since this was my first hunt with this setup, I wanted to get within 40 yards—preferably closer—before taking a shot.
Heading to the paperbark forest and swamp land, Peter and I figured this would offer better cover for stalking. Moving to within 20 yards of an aggressive bull, I passed, as he was on the water’s edge. Chances are the hit buff would have charged into the water, which wouldn’t have been good. I’ve had this happen before, and nearly got eaten alive by leeches and mosquitoes… and crocs were thick in this area.
Backing out, we got on to another herd, then another. Finally, we found what we were looking for—a monster bull with horns spanning over six feet from tip to tip. He was the bull I’d always dreamed of taking, and after a careful stalk, I had him at full draw, barely more than 20 yards away. But just as I went to touch the release, he whirled and got behind some cows; there was no shot.
Letting the herd settle, we caught up with them deeper into the forest. Again I drew on the bull, and again, just as I was ready to shoot, he moved—this time facing straight away. He walked off, out of range. Again we got on the bull, and again I was on him, but this time he twirled and sprinted off. The whole herd started to erupt and I knew we’d never catch him.
Just as I started to let down, another mature bull stepped into the same shooting lane my bull had just left. Putting the point of the AccuPin behind the bull’s shoulder, the arrow lobbed into the pocket, striking the bull’s heart. He went just over 70 yards before tipping over. It was an adrenaline rush I’ll never forget, but I vow to one day return to settle the score on a big, wide-horned bull.
The great part—we came away with six episodes for Trijicon’s The Hunt, some of which will air beginning in October of this year on the Sportsman Channel.
