The hunter becomes the hunted! Stampeding stag gouges Polish hunter's eye with its antlers as it bursts out of bushes

A stampeding stag turned the tables on a Polish hunter when it burst from the undergrowth and gouged his eye with its antlers.

Gun-wielding Leszek Kaminiski had been on a group hunt in forests near Chelm, southeast Poland, when he came across the terrified animal hiding in some bushes.

Video shows him walking towards the stag with his weapon raised, with the camera showing the first-person perspective of Kaminiski.

All of a sudden, the animal bursts out of the undergrowth at break-neck speeds straight at the camera, and rams the hunter in the face with its antlers leaving him with horrific injuries.

Kaminiski, along with the camera, is spun and flung to the ground, with the hunter letting out an audible gasp of pain before swearing in Polish.

As the stag charges off, Kaminiski is left lying on the ground with a severely damaged eye, and blood splashed over the forest floor.

Photos later posted by the hunter on social media show him with blood pouring out his damaged eye and running down his face.

Another shows his hunting rifle lying on the ground, also covered in blood.

After being discovered by fellow hunters, Kaminiski – who runs a hunting blog – was rushed to hospital where he underwent extensive surgery to both his eye and the crown of his head.

A fellow blogger from a site called wildmen.pl said: ‘Leszek tried to avoid the stag and managed to take a step to the left, which may have saved his life.

Leszek Kaminiski had been on a group hunt in forests near Chelm, southeast Poland, when he came across the terrified stag hiding in some bushes. It burst from the undergrowth and gouged his eye with its antlers (left). Right: Blood on Mr Kaminiski's hunting rifle — Leszek Kaminiski had been on a group hunt in forests near Chelm, southeast Poland, when he came across the terrified stag hiding in some bushes. It burst from the undergrowth and gouged his eye with its antlers.

‘Fortunately, the eye muscles and nerves are intact and the puffiness is getting smaller. We must remember that any animal, regardless of its size, will attack when it feels threatens. As you can see, a charging stag can be a great threat to a hunter.’

Although the incident happened just before Christmas, video of the incident has only now been posted on YouTube.

Blood on Mr Kaminiski's hunting rifle — Blood on Mr Kaminiski’s hunting rifle

Viewers were not as sympathetic towards Kaminiski as his fellow hunters, instead flooding the comments section with praise for the stag.

One wrote: ‘Bravo for the deer! I wish him continued success in hitting sadists!’

Another posted: ‘This deer is my hero of the day.’

And yet another commented: ‘Respect for the deer!’

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