What to do with the meat foreign hunter in Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado. Need meat cutters and places to donate

[Stocky]

He is a freaking deer ninja. He will fill all these tags. He self guided and hiked into the New Zealand backcountry 15 miles and killed half the forest.

Not related to the post and im all for people going to hunt the states as foreigners as t americans hunt everywhere else but im going to be honest, whilst I love taking out foreigners here (NZ) when you don't have to pack out meat killing loads of animals isn't difficult. It's is however a bit disrespectful to the locals unless you targeted females to help population control. I can promise if I showed up to where hes from and slayed up a bunch he wouldn't be happy legal or not. Did he atleast try target decent/mature animals or just kill what he saw because if it's the latter on most trips I could kill dozens of animals.

I'm sure he's a good guy but I think he's maybe missed some general hunting etiquette. I found it was easy to find people that wanted meat when I hunted Montana and Colorado.

 

[Stocky]

Also the aboves just pointing out something people do when they come to NZ that really makes a bunch of kiwi hunter hate foriegners. If you want to come here feel free to reach out and I'll give you a hand in where you can have a trip of a lifetime

 

[RickyAT]

@RickyAT what gun/caliber are you planning for this trip?
Scope manufacturer?


Could maybe complete the meltdown if you could fill us in on those details. And don't forget to drop your gun several times to test it.


Hope you have a good trip, I'm sure you have checked success rates on the tags you got. The back country hunts can be as mentally exhausting as physically, well, close to. So prepare yourself for that as well.

The rifle is pretty standard so chances are it won’t result in a meltdown. It’s a Tikka T3 chambered in 7 mm Rem. Mag. and topped with a Vortex scope.

Thanks! Yes, I am well aware of the success rates. And I am not necessarily expecting to fill every tag. However, I need to prepare for filling every tag.

Having completed a good number of backcountry hunts before, I know the metal and physical challenges. Actually, they are a big part of what makes those hunts so rewarding. In the Colorado high country, the elevation will definitely add to the challenge. I have experienced that kind of elevation in Kyrgyzstan before. And even though I never got altitude sickness, hiking definitely got considerably harder with low oxygen levels.

 

[RickyAT]

Not related to the post and im all for people going to hunt the states as foreigners as t americans hunt everywhere else but im going to be honest, whilst I love taking out foreigners here (NZ) when you don't have to pack out meat killing loads of animals isn't difficult. It's is however a bit disrespectful to the locals unless you targeted females to help population control. I can promise if I showed up to where hes from and slayed up a bunch he wouldn't be happy legal or not. Did he atleast try target decent/mature animals or just kill what he saw because if it's the latter on most trips I could kill dozens of animals.

I'm sure he's a good guy but I think he's maybe missed some general hunting etiquette. I found it was easy to find people that wanted meat when I hunted Montana and Colorado.

I am assuming you are the same Stocky as on NZHS, so you might remember reading my report of my 2020 hunt.

The term “killed half the forest” may give a wrong impression. Mojave probably was referring to my 2024 NZ trip. I did kill 12 animals within a total of 48 days, but that included 3 goats (of which 2 were nannies) and 2 animals wounded by other hunters (both of them had been shot in a leg).

An example: On the 2024 tahr hunt, I looked over a total of approximately 100 tahr within 10 days. I ended up shooting an old one-horned nanny, a young 3-legged bull (which I would not have shot if he had not been wounded) and a decent bull in the evening of day 9 (I had passed on the same mob of bulls on day 1, hoping for a bigger one - on day 9 I realized that I wouldn’t find a bigger one).

So I’d say I hunted pretty selectively. That was my 3rd NZ trip, and I have become more selective over time. Obviously, on one's first tahr hunt it is about getting any tahr at all. Once that is accomplished, you become pickier. That’s probably what most hunters experience.
But even on my 2020 hunt (which was my first NZ hunt) I passed up a nice bull tahr at close range because I had already shot a smaller bull earlier that day. I would not have been happy within shooting another one.

 

[sndmn11]

@Mojave you are unable to be PMd for some reason. @RickyAT I did get a PM to you.

 

[Erict]

@Mojave you are unable to be PMd for some reason.

FYI - it's a profile setting that users can set themselves:

 

[Stocky]

I am assuming you are the same Stocky as on NZHS, so you might remember reading my report of my 2020 hunt.

The term “killed half the forest” may give a wrong impression. Mojave probably was referring to my 2024 NZ trip. I did kill 12 animals within a total of 48 days, but that included 3 goats (of which 2 were nannies) and 2 animals wounded by other hunters (both of them had been shot in a leg).

An example: On the 2024 tahr hunt, I looked over a total of approximately 100 tahr within 10 days. I ended up shooting an old one-horned nanny, a young 3-legged bull (which I would not have shot if he had not been wounded) and a decent bull in the evening of day 9 (I had passed on the same mob of bulls on day 1, hoping for a bigger one - on day 9 I realized that I wouldn’t find a bigger one).

So I’d say I hunted pretty selectively. That was my 3rd NZ trip, and I have become more selective over time. Obviously, on one's first tahr hunt it is about getting any tahr at all. Once that is accomplished, you become pickier. That’s probably what most hunters experience.
But even on my 2020 hunt (which was my first NZ hunt) I passed up a nice bull tahr at close range because I had already shot a smaller bull earlier that day. I would not have been happy within shooting another one.

Yes the wording definitely makes it sound worse.

I remember the first report you shot a young bull then a nice solid mature bull you did however follow up by shooting 2 more young bulls that clearly were sub mature (easy to tell after your older bull) because you picked the biggest one in the group of young animals and shot it. Most mature isn't mature.

Like you say I give a bunch of leewayfor shooting a first but after that the goal really should be mature or a personal best and it sounds like maybe your 2024 trip was more restrained. Seeing lots of animals is different to seeing lots of mature males. I get aging is hard and doing the miles NZ requires is hard and leaving animals after hunting weeks on end in tough terrain. A fun game if your holding out is finding the oldest Nannie to hunt. Can get some ancient girls.

Not trying to be hard on you but just explaining it may ruffle a few feathers with the locals if you dont show some restraint (it's not just foreigners north islanders do the same often as they get excited). It's really nice to do some due diligence in aging no different to a sheep hunt except its not illegal to get it wrong.

Anyway not relevant and with tags your limited in the states so I hope you enjoy the time. I loved my time hunting the states and hope you enjoy it you have some epic tags I'm very jealous of. Enjoy every moment.

 

[Coopsdaddy]

Send it to me!

 

[Scottyboy]

If you need to offload anything in Wyoming, especially the antelope, give me a few hours notice and I will meet you anywhere/anytime!! Best of luck, and hope you do a write up of what appears to be a pretty insane fall that most (myself included) are quite jealous of!

 

[RickyAT]

Yes the wording definitely makes it sound worse.

I remember the first report you shot a young bull then a nice solid mature bull you did however follow up by shooting 2 more young bulls that clearly were sub mature (easy to tell after your older bull) because you picked the biggest one in the group of young animals and shot it. Most mature isn't mature.

Like you say I give a bunch of leewayfor shooting a first but after that the goal really should be mature or a personal best and it sounds like maybe your 2024 trip was more restrained. Seeing lots of animals is different to seeing lots of mature males. I get aging is hard and doing the miles NZ requires is hard and leaving animals after hunting weeks on end in tough terrain. A fun game if your holding out is finding the oldest Nannie to hunt. Can get some ancient girls.

Not trying to be hard on you but just explaining it may ruffle a few feathers with the locals if you dont show some restraint (it's not just foreigners north islanders do the same often as they get excited). It's really nice to do some due diligence in aging no different to a sheep hunt except its not illegal to get it wrong.

Anyway not relevant and with tags your limited in the states so I hope you enjoy the time. I loved my time hunting the states and hope you enjoy it you have some epic tags I'm very jealous of. Enjoy every moment.

You remember correctly. That being my first tahr hunt, I was obviously lacking experience with tahr. After shooting the first tahr, I did pass up on several young bulls. However, I expected both of these 4-year-old bulls I shot to be older than they actually turned out to be. Not ancient, but definitely older than 4. My incorrect thought was that the biggest bull in a big mob just has to be decently mature. Also, they were considerably bigger (body, mane and horns) than the very first bull I got which also was a 4-year-old. Now I know better. In hindsight, I am semi-happy with those two bulls, even though the adventure was amazing. I have no desire to shoot young bulls anymore.

On my 2023 NZ trip I shot a 16-year-old nanny which I was absolutely stoked with. I will admit that I also shot a young nanny for meat, while holding out for a mature bull, which I eventually got on day 11 (7.5 years and 12 1/2 inch). Could have shot heaps of nannies and young bulls if I had wanted to. Even passed up a clearly mature bull because I had spotted a bigger one earlier that day (which I never found again).

My impression is that even amongst the locals you will find very different approaches. Some local hunters are looking for the nearly impossible to find 15-inch bull. Others are way more trigger-happy and will knock over several animals without even walking up to them. One seemingly experienced hunter from Christchurch told me about how they eliminated a whole mob of tahr.

Anyhow, thanks for your kind words! I think, your approach is not too different from mine.

 

[RickyAT]

If you need to offload anything in Wyoming, especially the antelope, give me a few hours notice and I will meet you anywhere/anytime!! Best of luck, and hope you do a write up of what appears to be a pretty insane fall that most (myself included) are quite jealous of!

Awesome, sounds great!
Could you please PM me so that we can exchange contact details? Thank you!