New Zealand DIY Free Range Hunt of a Lifetime!!
- Thread starter wilkes
- Start date
When I turned the computer on a bit ago, I fully intended on looking at the Utah elk seasons. Naturally, Rokslide was already opened and who can't help but scroll through the forums for "just a peek." For whatever reason your headline caught my eye and my "just a peek" turned into one of the best hunting stories I've read in quite sometime! Must have been incredible!
pwsINC
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2015
- Messages
- 354
Great writing!!! Can't wait for more
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Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
JP100
WKR
Nice story so far! Bloody can't trust Aussies haha. There are a few guides here that will do a real hunt. But not many. You make walking up the valley floor sound so hard haha. Wait until the monkey scrub!!
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ozyclint
WKR
haha. true about the monkey scrub. spent 6hrs on hands and knees one day crawling through it with a full pack, sometimes dragging it. did 700m horizontal and 300m vertical for the day.
JP100
WKR
I have never slept better than that night in the warm comfortable hut… I felt like I could live in a place like that forever at that point.
Two days of the journey were spent reaching the hut and were keen to do some hunting. We had a chat about what type of animal we would prefer to chase. I was happy with a Red stag, Chamois buck or bull Tahr. My friend was keen on a Red or Tahr but thought Chamois looked like rats (HA! Don’t ask..). He kept saying he would prefer to let one walk than shoot it and would just hand the rifle to me and walk away if one presented itself.
We figured we should head up high while we were still fresh for the Goats then head back down toward the end to chase Red deer. We read the trip reports in the logbook – Seemed like a good spot! Most entries recorded animals taken and some good info on how to get up to the ‘tops’ (NZ term for breaking above the tree line). Packs straight back on and up we went. A trail led from the hut to a river, then on to a spur that we would follow most of the way up the mountain. The trip was recorded to take on average 3 hours. I figured it would be fairly basic; just go UP! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Looking at the maps, this spur was one of the most gradual climbs in the area yet most of the hike was close to vertical. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking to cover ground on such a steep incline. Nothing was flat. Everything was soaking wet, even though the day was warm. We pushed and pushed but never seemed to get any closer. It didn’t help that my buddy kept saying things like “Just 600 more metres and it flattens out a bit” so we would charge on for those 600 metres only to hear him say “Yep, maybe just another 600 metres!”. Hours passed and I was still moving at a decent pace, I thought. It couldn’t possibly be much further… It’s a 3 hour trail!!!! Might be an hour out on my fitness level but surely I’ll be there soon… Or so I thought. It was so vertical I couldn’t see the tops and therefore I couldn’t judge the distance. All of a sudden… It got dark. A light shower – Nice! It cooled me down as we moved. But the light shower grew heavy… The muddy trail became slippery. With each step the rain filled our clothes and gear as if to hold us back. The trail started to throw out areas that required a climb. Slipping and sliding on tree roots as we pushed our way up – The rain wasn’t welcome anymore. The higher we got, the colder it became. We eventually popped out on a ridgeline exposed even further to the rain. Every dip in the trail filled with water and we splashed through small pools and scrub. The trees started to disappear.. We did it. The tops! Finally, we had broken away from the tree line and we could see.
The rain was still relentless. I figured the front we had been warned about was coming in and we needed shelter fast. Even though there were no trees, the ground wasn’t flat – anywhere. You basically needed to pick which angle you preferred to sleep on and pitch there. The other issue was the rising water. Each depression in the ground was a pool. The most flat area we could find, we pitched my two man tent on. It was right beside a growing pool of water. I dug a trench so the water could run off if it kept rising and didn’t think much more on it. There was no time or space for a second tent! All 3 of us dove into my tent and wrapped ourselves up in anything we could find. My down sleeping quilt was mashed up against wet bodies on one side and the tent wall on the other. It wasn’t long before it was soaked and basically useless. If it was for my Kifaru Lost Parka synthetic jacket I would have frozen. It was one of the most uncomfortable night of my life. If one person rolled or moved, we all woke up and had to roll or move with them…
The view inside the tent that night
The rain didn’t give in the next day but we were sick of being cramped up in that tent together. My mate jumped out and looked for a better location and somewhere we could both pitch our tents and attempt drying out our gear. I jumped out to have a look and saw the pool beside us had grown so high that it looked like the tent was floating on it. We found a better area nearby, pulled up camp and the sun came out…
Rocky outcrop above camp
We quickly got to know the surrounding area. Plenty of fresh water pools for clean water around. I had also heard about these white alpine berries and started finding them all over camp. They weren’t very sweet but have a very distinctive flavour. Really refreshing and I ate them by the handful.
The map showed a good area to look out over a wide area of the tops only 500m away. With a little sun out we jumped at the chance for a look. We had one rifle between us, which I was carrying. In his eager haste, my friend took lead about 5m in front and we moved quickly to the lookout area. We saw a huge boulder and rocky outcrop that would give a good vantage point and scrambled towards it. As my friend got to the top we both heard a scurry – A Chamois buck was resting under that boulder, jumped up, looked back at us for about 1 second and bounced down into the fog below. My friend was upset with himself for taking point without the rifle. I personally saw it as a good sign of things to come! We had moved 500m on our first scout and saw our target! We spent some time there and glassed the area for more…
This is the rocky outcrop most of the time. In a constant battle with the fog.
This is how it looked when it cleared
The fog began to roll in heavy and the day grew long. It was time to head back to camp. Finally set up in a hunting area and first animal seen… This was going to be a great trip.
Two days of the journey were spent reaching the hut and were keen to do some hunting. We had a chat about what type of animal we would prefer to chase. I was happy with a Red stag, Chamois buck or bull Tahr. My friend was keen on a Red or Tahr but thought Chamois looked like rats (HA! Don’t ask..). He kept saying he would prefer to let one walk than shoot it and would just hand the rifle to me and walk away if one presented itself.
We figured we should head up high while we were still fresh for the Goats then head back down toward the end to chase Red deer. We read the trip reports in the logbook – Seemed like a good spot! Most entries recorded animals taken and some good info on how to get up to the ‘tops’ (NZ term for breaking above the tree line). Packs straight back on and up we went. A trail led from the hut to a river, then on to a spur that we would follow most of the way up the mountain. The trip was recorded to take on average 3 hours. I figured it would be fairly basic; just go UP! I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Looking at the maps, this spur was one of the most gradual climbs in the area yet most of the hike was close to vertical. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking to cover ground on such a steep incline. Nothing was flat. Everything was soaking wet, even though the day was warm. We pushed and pushed but never seemed to get any closer. It didn’t help that my buddy kept saying things like “Just 600 more metres and it flattens out a bit” so we would charge on for those 600 metres only to hear him say “Yep, maybe just another 600 metres!”. Hours passed and I was still moving at a decent pace, I thought. It couldn’t possibly be much further… It’s a 3 hour trail!!!! Might be an hour out on my fitness level but surely I’ll be there soon… Or so I thought. It was so vertical I couldn’t see the tops and therefore I couldn’t judge the distance. All of a sudden… It got dark. A light shower – Nice! It cooled me down as we moved. But the light shower grew heavy… The muddy trail became slippery. With each step the rain filled our clothes and gear as if to hold us back. The trail started to throw out areas that required a climb. Slipping and sliding on tree roots as we pushed our way up – The rain wasn’t welcome anymore. The higher we got, the colder it became. We eventually popped out on a ridgeline exposed even further to the rain. Every dip in the trail filled with water and we splashed through small pools and scrub. The trees started to disappear.. We did it. The tops! Finally, we had broken away from the tree line and we could see.
The rain was still relentless. I figured the front we had been warned about was coming in and we needed shelter fast. Even though there were no trees, the ground wasn’t flat – anywhere. You basically needed to pick which angle you preferred to sleep on and pitch there. The other issue was the rising water. Each depression in the ground was a pool. The most flat area we could find, we pitched my two man tent on. It was right beside a growing pool of water. I dug a trench so the water could run off if it kept rising and didn’t think much more on it. There was no time or space for a second tent! All 3 of us dove into my tent and wrapped ourselves up in anything we could find. My down sleeping quilt was mashed up against wet bodies on one side and the tent wall on the other. It wasn’t long before it was soaked and basically useless. If it was for my Kifaru Lost Parka synthetic jacket I would have frozen. It was one of the most uncomfortable night of my life. If one person rolled or moved, we all woke up and had to roll or move with them…
The view inside the tent that night
The rain didn’t give in the next day but we were sick of being cramped up in that tent together. My mate jumped out and looked for a better location and somewhere we could both pitch our tents and attempt drying out our gear. I jumped out to have a look and saw the pool beside us had grown so high that it looked like the tent was floating on it. We found a better area nearby, pulled up camp and the sun came out…
Rocky outcrop above camp
We quickly got to know the surrounding area. Plenty of fresh water pools for clean water around. I had also heard about these white alpine berries and started finding them all over camp. They weren’t very sweet but have a very distinctive flavour. Really refreshing and I ate them by the handful.
The map showed a good area to look out over a wide area of the tops only 500m away. With a little sun out we jumped at the chance for a look. We had one rifle between us, which I was carrying. In his eager haste, my friend took lead about 5m in front and we moved quickly to the lookout area. We saw a huge boulder and rocky outcrop that would give a good vantage point and scrambled towards it. As my friend got to the top we both heard a scurry – A Chamois buck was resting under that boulder, jumped up, looked back at us for about 1 second and bounced down into the fog below. My friend was upset with himself for taking point without the rifle. I personally saw it as a good sign of things to come! We had moved 500m on our first scout and saw our target! We spent some time there and glassed the area for more…
This is the rocky outcrop most of the time. In a constant battle with the fog.
This is how it looked when it cleared
The fog began to roll in heavy and the day grew long. It was time to head back to camp. Finally set up in a hunting area and first animal seen… This was going to be a great trip.
highside74
Lil-Rokslider
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2014
- Messages
- 191
I'm hooked! Keep writing...
ozyclint
WKR
More more more more....
Before we made the ascent, we decided to leave the compound bow and just take one rifle between us. After the mishap the day before with the Chamois, we decided it would be smarter to hunt solo and take turns with the rifle.
I ended up going first. This was my big day. I was on the top of the world with rifle in hand and I would soon find out what I was made of. We were running low on food and needed to ration so I only had a muesli bar to take with me. We were a little worried about battery power so I also left the GPS behind. I was nervous, excited and made a decision to keep risks to a minimum.
In pictures or at a distance, the ‘tops’ look perfectly flat with low grass. The reality in this area is that they were muddy, rocky and pock marked with holes. I set off up the mountain determined to get in range of some Tahr.
My view on the way up
Looking back down the valley
I decided to push as high as I could go. I figured I would find the Tahr in the most difficult to reach areas and I was willing to be where they were. Without a GPS I was relying on my eyesight to determine how high I was moving. Every time I thought I reached the peak, another rocky overhang would appear.
After a break to slow down the heart rate and enjoy the view, I push on up again. I pulled over the top of the next ridge and looked up to see this.
The hike was getting steeper and rockier… Must be getting close, I thought. A look back on the way up gave me some of the best views I have ever seen.
After pushing over 4 or 5 false ridgelines I finally made the peak of the mountain range. That was a view I will never forget. Fog rolled in and out of view constantly and only a few glimpses of the enormous waterfall and gorge opposite the range flashed before my eyes. I was now overlooking a huge rocky bowl, maybe 500m wide. I pulled out the spotting scope and setup. Above me about 600m away was a sheer rocky cliff. Knowing Tahr loved the most difficult terrain, I pointed the scope there and focused… BOOM! A Nanny Tahr appeared on a 2m wide shelf on this cliff. AWESOME!!! My heart was in my throat and I was pumped. She looked to be getting up and stretching… I watched for about 2 minutes then fog rolled in. It didn’t worry me, I was here and that fog comes and goes… Surely I will get my chance. I wait about 5 minutes and once again the fog disappears and an animal rolls into view.. A KID! There are a few animals up there!
I ended up going first. This was my big day. I was on the top of the world with rifle in hand and I would soon find out what I was made of. We were running low on food and needed to ration so I only had a muesli bar to take with me. We were a little worried about battery power so I also left the GPS behind. I was nervous, excited and made a decision to keep risks to a minimum.
In pictures or at a distance, the ‘tops’ look perfectly flat with low grass. The reality in this area is that they were muddy, rocky and pock marked with holes. I set off up the mountain determined to get in range of some Tahr.
My view on the way up
Looking back down the valley
I decided to push as high as I could go. I figured I would find the Tahr in the most difficult to reach areas and I was willing to be where they were. Without a GPS I was relying on my eyesight to determine how high I was moving. Every time I thought I reached the peak, another rocky overhang would appear.
After a break to slow down the heart rate and enjoy the view, I push on up again. I pulled over the top of the next ridge and looked up to see this.
The hike was getting steeper and rockier… Must be getting close, I thought. A look back on the way up gave me some of the best views I have ever seen.
After pushing over 4 or 5 false ridgelines I finally made the peak of the mountain range. That was a view I will never forget. Fog rolled in and out of view constantly and only a few glimpses of the enormous waterfall and gorge opposite the range flashed before my eyes. I was now overlooking a huge rocky bowl, maybe 500m wide. I pulled out the spotting scope and setup. Above me about 600m away was a sheer rocky cliff. Knowing Tahr loved the most difficult terrain, I pointed the scope there and focused… BOOM! A Nanny Tahr appeared on a 2m wide shelf on this cliff. AWESOME!!! My heart was in my throat and I was pumped. She looked to be getting up and stretching… I watched for about 2 minutes then fog rolled in. It didn’t worry me, I was here and that fog comes and goes… Surely I will get my chance. I wait about 5 minutes and once again the fog disappears and an animal rolls into view.. A KID! There are a few animals up there!
Last edited:
Shrek
WKR
I'd have a hard time looking for game from enjoying the views.
Wooooosh the fog rolls in as I watch the Kid stagger around and look for a way down. The group must have been waking up and getting ready to come down. I could easily route them and get into shooting position. I was hungry. We needed meat and I wanted to show the mountain I had what it took to get the job done. I belonged here.
The fog grew thicker in the afternoon breeze. Then lower. And lower… and lower. I waited an hour. I was starting to worry that I couldn’t make it back in the natural light if I hung around… This can’t be it. I remained calm. I reminded myself that I cannot choose the weather and I only get to play when the mountain allows it. I dropped lower, hoping the fog cover would clear as I headed down. Visibility was getting worse. I was starting to contour the mountain in hopes I could avoid it. No chance. I had to concede to the mountain. I was not beaten, but I had to retreat and regroup before the next battle.
I staggered back into camp and collapsed. I had done it. Only the weather could keep me from my prey. I knew where the goats were and how to find them. But now I had to hand the rifle back to my friend…
ozyclint
WKR
Yes, the mountains always have the last word. The fog there gets unbelievably thick doesn't it. Ha. I always plan to have to make my way back to camp in near zero visibility and take very good notice of the route back to camp and of natural shelters that you may find along the way.
I'm enjoying the story immensely, though curse you for making me 'wilderness sick'. Lol.
I'm enjoying the story immensely, though curse you for making me 'wilderness sick'. Lol.
The next morning my friend, eager to start his hunt, grabbed the rifle and took off towards the nearest mountain face to glass for animals. I lay down in bed in the tent recovering from the big day prior, happy to get up late. Not much to do in an elevated camp without a weapon or trees for wood.
I got up around 10am and moved around camp, drying out clothes and tidying up. I see my friend waddling back to camp from a distance… “Did you get anything?!” I called out, not expecting much as he only had the rifle with him. “Yeah, I shot a trophy Chamois” in the most unexcited tone you could imagine. Remember, he didn’t think much of Chamois! I thought he was joking, he was so casual.
He came over and explained the story. He spotted the Chamois at about 800m away standing over a cliff edge on a rocky gut. Hungry and determined to put something on the ground, he bounded towards it and contoured around the mountain to get within range. Once within 300m he realised his opportunity for a shot would not get any better. This goat was an acrobat and placed himself in a very secure spot. He ranged him at roughly 280m, compensated for the angle and fired. Perfect shoulder shot and the goat disappeared from view – hopefully he expired quickly and didn’t fall too far!
Bags were packed and we set off to look for the buck. It took minutes for him to run and scramble within range the first time and it took an hour to get there safely this time. I watch at a distance and took some photos. After about 45 minutes of searching I saw him find the buck and drag him back onto the rocky cliff he knocked him from.
The view of the face – The rocky cliff the buck was on is right of the middle of the shot
On the move to find the goat
Zoomed in on my friends butchering
The money shot!!
The buck went just shy on 9”. An absolutely beautiful animal and a true alpine trophy on the deck.
I got up around 10am and moved around camp, drying out clothes and tidying up. I see my friend waddling back to camp from a distance… “Did you get anything?!” I called out, not expecting much as he only had the rifle with him. “Yeah, I shot a trophy Chamois” in the most unexcited tone you could imagine. Remember, he didn’t think much of Chamois! I thought he was joking, he was so casual.
He came over and explained the story. He spotted the Chamois at about 800m away standing over a cliff edge on a rocky gut. Hungry and determined to put something on the ground, he bounded towards it and contoured around the mountain to get within range. Once within 300m he realised his opportunity for a shot would not get any better. This goat was an acrobat and placed himself in a very secure spot. He ranged him at roughly 280m, compensated for the angle and fired. Perfect shoulder shot and the goat disappeared from view – hopefully he expired quickly and didn’t fall too far!
Bags were packed and we set off to look for the buck. It took minutes for him to run and scramble within range the first time and it took an hour to get there safely this time. I watch at a distance and took some photos. After about 45 minutes of searching I saw him find the buck and drag him back onto the rocky cliff he knocked him from.
The view of the face – The rocky cliff the buck was on is right of the middle of the shot
On the move to find the goat
Zoomed in on my friends butchering
The money shot!!
The buck went just shy on 9”. An absolutely beautiful animal and a true alpine trophy on the deck.
Last edited:
Felix40
WKR
You lost me there
It's the only photo he sent me of the animal before butchering... I figured it was worth the risk for the crowd that need to see the animal.
Blinginpse
WKR
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2014
- Messages
- 1,076
Uh
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatal
elkbowkevin
WKR
Ok that lost photo can only lead one to wonder,,,,,,, Why?,,, what the? Did he? Naaaah.
You blokes are "just a bit different" down there! LOL
Great story and keep the info coming....
You blokes are "just a bit different" down there! LOL
Great story and keep the info coming....
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