How to Successfully Bowhunt Sambar Deer with Brad Murphy & Ben Atherton

In this episode of Becoming a Bowhunter, Matty is joined by Brad Murphy and Ben Atherton for a deep dive into Australia’s most elusive and challenging deer species: Sambar.

Brad shares his decades of experience as a bowhunting coach, explaining how to pattern sambar behaviour, know where to find them and how to best set your expectations for hunting them. 

Ben has hunted Sambar deer his whole life… It’s only within the past few years he’s chased them with a bow, but in that time he’s successfully taken them with a stick bow and has a lot of incredibly useful knowledge on Sambar deer to share. 

We break this detailed overview into a few sections. Seasonal hunting, how to find them, habits of the deer, and how to best be successful on public land.

Whether you’re planning your first hunt or chasing your 20th, this is the most comprehensive and practical episodes we’ve ever recorded on hunting sambar deer with a bow.

🔍 What We Cover:

• How sambar differ from other deer (and why so many hunters get it wrong)
• What to look for when trying to locate Sambar deer in new locations
• Sambar deer are Browsers… Which means what exactly?
• Visiting preach tree’s year-round
• Sambar are creatures of habit like every other deer.
• How to plan a trip and hunt them on public land.

And a heck of a lot more.

Find Our Guests:

Brad Murphy

Instagram: @thebowhuntingcoach

Ben Atherton

Instagram: @ben_atho_hunts

Follow Becoming a Bowhunter:

Instagram: @becomingabowhunter.podcast

Hosted by: @mattyafter

🎧 Episode Sponsors:

Dog and Gun Coffee – Fuel your hunt with premium coffee. Use code BOWHUNTER for $10 off

@dogandguncoffee

Kayuga Broadheads – Precision and reliability for every shot. Use code BAB10 for 10% off

@kayuga_broadheads

Venture Hunting & Outdoors – Gear up for your next hunt

@venturehunting

Jab Stick Outdoors – Precision-engineered carbon shafts. Use code BAB10 for $10 off

@jabstickoutdoors