Post by donk on Apr 26, 2011 6:39:39 GMT -5
Well, that was a trip I'll never forget. I sure am glad I hit the gym for 3 months before I left. Never before have I ever had to work so hard for animals. All hunting was done on public land too, so animals were not thick on the ground.
The trip was done in 2 hunts. The first one was for 3 nights camped out on the west coast not far from Fox Glacier. This was a chamois hunt, but we saw more tahr than chamois, so I actually scored a triple while I was over there. The country these animals inhabit is out of this world. Country so steep it would take me nearly half an hour to climb down, I saw a tahr run down in about 5 seconds. I put myself in some sticky situations chasing the chamois and tahr and nearly poo'd my pants a few times when I lost my footing on some gnarly sections. Double hand holds needed nearly every step in some places, geez we worked hard. Spaniard grass sure cuts up your hands quick smart too. Any way, here's some pics
Our 1st chopper in
We camped on the flat in the middle
Up in chamois/tahr country
Glassing for animals
There's one, pity he's in unrecoverable country
One of many dodgy creek crossings
More country
Our nice little camp
Some scenic ones
My first NZ animal down, a young bull tahr(the left one). Kiwi mate Brett shot the other one. All meat recovered, shots taken cross gully at 238yards. Rangefinder was a great aid in this country
I am hanging on to the tussock on the side of this steep hill looking back towards camp
More scenery
There are 4 tahr in this pic, but was too late in the day to retrieve them if I shot them, only about 300m away
see
Then I woke up on the llast day chamoisless(I did miss a chamois on day 1 at 347yards, but shot too high) The chopper was due in a few hours, and I spotted this bugger from camp. A frantic hunt took place and I managed to nail this fella from 60 yards. Extremeyl happy with this bloke, the animal of my trip. He went 8.75 inches on the long horn
We took all the meat off the above chamois and that hunt was done and dusted. We then headed back over to the east as Brett had to work on the saturday. He runs his own Jet boat business, so we got a free ride in this 600HP beast.
Then we drove 9 hours through the night to be in Fiordland for our red stag trip, choppered in again
We set up base camp on the valley floor
Not really any roaring down there so we backpacked up to the tops, probably the hardest day of my life walking up there with two full packs on. The beech forests are a nightmare to walk through with a big pack. I was buggered when we got up top
After setting up camp, we hunted the rest of the day and finally came across a stag. It was my shot and brett said if iwasn't gonna take this stag, he would anyway, so I shot it. He is tiny I know, but the effort put in to get this bugger was huge. Once again, all meat taken off this stag(I thought our packs were heavy enough already, but Brett reckoned if we shot it, we take it all, fair enough) After our big day, we ate 1 and a half back straps off this fella, geez, we were hungry
Our fly camp on the tops the next day
More hunting country
Then I spied a good chamois buck and Brett took him at 204 yards, a nice 9.75 inch buck
Another pic of our fly camp on the tops
Packing out with all the meat and antlers(glad they were little) back to base camp in the clearing down there
Pushing through beech forest with packs on sucks balls big time
Back to base camp for the last night and the hunt was over. We did five nights in Fiordland, lost probably 1.5-2 days to rain, only saw 6 reds and 1 chamois. The other reds seen were too far away to get at, so in the end, I was happy I took my little 6 pointer.
So, all up, a good trip and a heap of new experiences. I shot 3 defferent species which was an unexpected bonus. My animals aren't huge, but I couldn't care less really. I know how much effort I put in to get them and that's all that matters I suppose.
The trip was done in 2 hunts. The first one was for 3 nights camped out on the west coast not far from Fox Glacier. This was a chamois hunt, but we saw more tahr than chamois, so I actually scored a triple while I was over there. The country these animals inhabit is out of this world. Country so steep it would take me nearly half an hour to climb down, I saw a tahr run down in about 5 seconds. I put myself in some sticky situations chasing the chamois and tahr and nearly poo'd my pants a few times when I lost my footing on some gnarly sections. Double hand holds needed nearly every step in some places, geez we worked hard. Spaniard grass sure cuts up your hands quick smart too. Any way, here's some pics
Our 1st chopper in
We camped on the flat in the middle
Up in chamois/tahr country
Glassing for animals
There's one, pity he's in unrecoverable country
One of many dodgy creek crossings
More country
Our nice little camp
Some scenic ones
My first NZ animal down, a young bull tahr(the left one). Kiwi mate Brett shot the other one. All meat recovered, shots taken cross gully at 238yards. Rangefinder was a great aid in this country
I am hanging on to the tussock on the side of this steep hill looking back towards camp
More scenery
There are 4 tahr in this pic, but was too late in the day to retrieve them if I shot them, only about 300m away
see
Then I woke up on the llast day chamoisless(I did miss a chamois on day 1 at 347yards, but shot too high) The chopper was due in a few hours, and I spotted this bugger from camp. A frantic hunt took place and I managed to nail this fella from 60 yards. Extremeyl happy with this bloke, the animal of my trip. He went 8.75 inches on the long horn
We took all the meat off the above chamois and that hunt was done and dusted. We then headed back over to the east as Brett had to work on the saturday. He runs his own Jet boat business, so we got a free ride in this 600HP beast.
Then we drove 9 hours through the night to be in Fiordland for our red stag trip, choppered in again
We set up base camp on the valley floor
Not really any roaring down there so we backpacked up to the tops, probably the hardest day of my life walking up there with two full packs on. The beech forests are a nightmare to walk through with a big pack. I was buggered when we got up top
After setting up camp, we hunted the rest of the day and finally came across a stag. It was my shot and brett said if iwasn't gonna take this stag, he would anyway, so I shot it. He is tiny I know, but the effort put in to get this bugger was huge. Once again, all meat taken off this stag(I thought our packs were heavy enough already, but Brett reckoned if we shot it, we take it all, fair enough) After our big day, we ate 1 and a half back straps off this fella, geez, we were hungry
Our fly camp on the tops the next day
More hunting country
Then I spied a good chamois buck and Brett took him at 204 yards, a nice 9.75 inch buck
Another pic of our fly camp on the tops
Packing out with all the meat and antlers(glad they were little) back to base camp in the clearing down there
Pushing through beech forest with packs on sucks balls big time
Back to base camp for the last night and the hunt was over. We did five nights in Fiordland, lost probably 1.5-2 days to rain, only saw 6 reds and 1 chamois. The other reds seen were too far away to get at, so in the end, I was happy I took my little 6 pointer.
So, all up, a good trip and a heap of new experiences. I shot 3 defferent species which was an unexpected bonus. My animals aren't huge, but I couldn't care less really. I know how much effort I put in to get them and that's all that matters I suppose.