Down under FNG

Jt89

FNG
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
40
Location
New Zealand, down undah!
Well, G'day. Aussie fella living in New Zealand, joined the forum a good while ago mostly so that I could open attached images while lurking through various threads. Figured it was about time.

My hunting is freezer filling first, time in the outdoors second and trophies a distant third. Grew up around IPSC shooting and varmint control in Australia so I've always had a decent grasp of shooting discipline and safety but only truly stepped into hunting in my thirties.

Mostly I hunt Red deer, being colonial convicts we refer to them as Stags and Hinds rather than bucks and does... Except Fallow deer (less commonly found, highly prized for tender meat) still called a buck and a doe here. Weird I know. Feral goats are often shot to waste, personally I like them for Indian style curries and sausages though.

I usually hunt solo, partly out of necessity because you gotta earn your stripes here and very few hunters will just let you tag along to their public land spot X (duh) and also partly because I like it that way. It's been a hard 5 years of learning what not to do and where not to go.

Anyhow, I could dribble on and on if I don't stop myself so here's some photos. I despise grip and grin shots and don't carry a camera or tripod in the backcountry so animal photos are rare - this is a video screenshot of my first and only Chamois that I have taken, so you see her where she fell. Following that is the alpine basin I found her in, hut down in the valley floor I started from. The head turned out to be a good size trophy for a first Chamois, 9.5 years old and 8 1/4" horns - not outstanding but solid numbers for a female.

Finally a brown trout from my local river, caught on a spin rod.

Cheers fellas. I'll have a dig around and see if I have some deer hunting photos to share...
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eddielasvegas

WKR & Chairman of the Rokslide Welcoming Committee
Classified Approved
Joined
Feb 2, 2020
Messages
3,664
Location
Scottsdale, AZ
As the self-appointed chairman of the welcoming committee, it is my privilege to extend a laurel, and hearty handshake (virtual, of course) to our new Aussie member.


Eddie


P.S. You sir, have earned the very first Aussie FNG ⭐ for your most excellent intro, pix and humor. (y)

P.P.S. I really must visit your home country. I mean, any country that can produce ONJ, EM, NK and MR simply must be on my bucket list if for no other reason to take in the fine sights your country has to offer. :LOL:
 
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J

Jt89

FNG
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
40
Location
New Zealand, down undah!
Thanks all.

Two last pictures worth sharing, just to illustrate my local mountain terrain. One of the first few deer I shot, and my old man out on a late evening hunt just before Christmas while he was visiting from Australia.
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Magma

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 13, 2022
Messages
103
Welcome aboard. I see you have your shoes in the water, aren't you worried it will get damaged or is it kinda special?
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2023
Messages
369
Welcome.
NZ is such a beautiful country.
Hope to see more pics sometime.
Have a college buddy that was a naval aviator. Spent a couple of tours with Arctic Development Squadron 6 flying scientific teams and equipment in and out of Antarctica on C-130s. Flew out of Christchurch, I believe. Said NZ was prettiest place he`d ever seen. Also said it was the most dangerous flying he`s ever done!
 
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J

Jt89

FNG
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
40
Location
New Zealand, down undah!
Welcome aboard. I see you have your shoes in the water, aren't you worried it will get damaged or is it kinda special?
They are just a lightweight/fast drying trail running shoe (inov8 Trail Talon 235). I use them with merino socks for river fishing or hunting trips where the hike in demands a lot of river crossings and wading. Wet feet is an inevitable fact of life for hunting and fishing in NZ! Better to just accept it and wear fast drying footwear.

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Jt89

FNG
Joined
Oct 25, 2022
Messages
40
Location
New Zealand, down undah!
The question about shoes in the water reminded me of another hunt I did back at the end of 2022, new years eve. Not enough pics saved from the trip to warrant a separate thread, so here goes a handful more photos!

Bear in mind this is an early summer hunting trip for me. Left the road end and nearest hut at about 6:30pm in light rain and hiked in, made a fly camp and lit a fire to settle down for the evening at the first convenient location I found. (first photo)

Spent the next day travelling upriver to a spot I knew I eventually wanted to hunt, but took my time and hunted my way along. I think it was maybe a two and a half, 3 mile trek upstream from where I started but the defining part of the trek is needing to cross the same river back and forth about 15 times, and this is where I learnt that fast drying shoes are a necessity. I had my full leather, goretex lined lowa tibets on and I spent the whole time with wet feet!
Long story short, I climbed high and hard at the end of the second day after a stag I spotted but he eventually winded me and boosted out of there. I started back down the ridge, found a spot to sit and take in the last light of the last day of the year (second photo) and spotted a young stag less than 100 yards from my tarp!
(third, where I found him in the grass)
Last pic is my previous pack, I was running a kifaru 44mag and would pretty much just take out whatever lightweight gear that wouldn't fit in the pack with meat in there and jam it in a dry bag tied to the front.

I'm short and skinny (135lb ) and that pack out was 100lb. Goddamn long walk out down a stony river with wet boots!
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Magma

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Feb 13, 2022
Messages
103
They are just a lightweight/fast drying trail running shoe (inov8 Trail Talon 235). I use them with merino socks for river fishing or hunting trips where the hike in demands a lot of river crossings and wading. Wet feet is an inevitable fact of life for hunting and fishing in NZ! Better to just accept it and wear fast drying footwear.

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Maybe I’ll give them a try, thanks and welcome again
 
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