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Hunting in New Zealand

Hunting in New Zealand

New Zealand has some of the very best hunting in the world, with an amazing number of deer species and some unbelievable alpine terrains; meaning some very different hunting methods when compared to how we do things in the UK, Europe and America. Forget about driving onto manicured farm tracks, lazy mornings in a comfortable hi seat, or just staking out pheasant feeders for an opportunist free loading deer. The terrain just doesn’t support these sort of ‘soft’ hunting techniques. I say this as New Zealand has the most rugged and beautiful wilderness imaginable, from majestic fjords, alps, dense jungles, bush, snow-capped mountains, glaciers, lakes, and everything in between. I kid you not!

MULTIPLE AND VARIED SPECIES

The country is home to deer species, which include Red, Wapiti, Sika, Sambur, Axis, Fallow, White tail and Rusa, plus Chamois and Thar (pronounced tar), all of which were introduced by Early settlers. In fact, even Moose were liberated in the southern fjord land but did not survive. Europeans also brought many animals for food, goats, pigs, rabbits, turkeys, pheasants, peafowl, plus stoats, weasels, hedgehogs, possums and unintentionally many others including rats and mice. Naturally even some of these domestic species escaped and went wild, so as you can clearly imagine, there’re a lot of animals to shoot!

The ancient, totally forested land explored by Captain Cook in 1769 was home to a unique flora and fauna. It had also been so isolated for millions of years that apart from a Bat species, there were no native land mammals at all, nor were there, and still are no snakes. The bird population like the flightless Kiwi was often ground-nesting and totally vulnerable to our introduced predators.

HARDY GOATS

It was the practice of explorers to deposit a breeding pair of hardy goats, and pigs onto every uninhabited island discovered, as potential food for any unfortunate shipwrecked soul. But in reality, and with no predators this sealed the fate of so many native birds, and the descendants of these invaders are now totally at home down under.

As a youth, Steve Rowe spent virtually every free moment, either fishing, hunting, trekking or just foraging in this strange paradise, with fellow Napier resident, Jim Jackson and his mates.

MIXED BAG

So now, just 50 years later, it was time for a catch up and in February 2016, there was a great chance to re-live some of these activities, and along with visiting relatives and friends, time was dedicated to fly fishing, sea fishing, eel catching and some hunting Jim’s first job was to get a decent catch of Red Snapper for our BBQ, but he got snapped himself. In the summer, his, lines are often wrecked by sharks, but still smiling and sporting his new Napier tee shirt, he poses with this small Thresher. The caption should be; man eating shark! Because he did! And although not as nice as a Bronze Whaler, it was a good feed.

SLIPPERY SUCKERS

Long finned, fresh water Eels were the first on Steve’s agenda, and these can grow to well over 6ft and have a fearsome reputation! They are literally everywhere, the one in the picture was just one caught in a tiny stream, in the middle of the day, the big ones are more wary and hunt at night. But it was a very pleasurable hour or so, on a hot afternoon. These are a favourite food of many Maori, the native word is tuna, and from the size of the steaks from a large one there is a remarkable similarity. But with no smoker, and less appetite, these examples were promptly released!

The potential fire risk can be very high in the hot Hawkes Bay, North Island summer, so apart from farmland, permits are required to enter forestry blocks, this ensures safety and control. Fortunately there had been some welcome wet weather shortly before Steve arrived and a permit issued for a forage into an area that is home to deer, pigs, goats, wild cattle and horses.

30 CALIBRE WALKABOUT

So old school buddy Jim, and younger friend Adam joined Steve for a wander in the bush! Tooled up with a bolt-action Lee Enfield .303, a Remington 700 bolt-action in 308 Win and a very popular New Zealand favourite for wild pigs - a Norinco, SKS, 7.62 x 39 semi-automatic rifle, which is a Chicom copy of the original Russian design that both introduced the calibre and preceded the iconic AK47 itself. As it has a more sporting-style stock and longer barrel it gets more out of the little 7.62 cartridge than the AK ever could in terms of accuracy, speed and energy!

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As soon as he hit the hills, Steve was reminded by his aching limbs that he was not 17 anymore, and some of the kit he normally carries in the UK, was not going to be of much use. So he stripped down to just, rifle, binos, Apex’s Airglo wind marker and a Tree Hugger deer hoist strap; so the tramp into the area began. Along the way there was evidence of some very big boar, and foraging by goats some while earlier.

AS GOOD AS IT GETS

It was less than an hour into the trek that the familiar bleat of a goat was heard. Problem is that this seemed to be coming from the other side of a very steep ravine and after sliding down a precarious bluff, a small group of goats was seen. Though totally unaware of the hunters, they were nearly 300 yards away and moving further with every step.

The terrain only allowed a clear shot or two, and it was decided that this was as good as it was going to get, any attempt to move closer would have blown the stalk. It was the SKS that did the deed on this occasion; a clean miss with the first shot, but the second connected with a perfect heart shot and all within just one second! The white nanny, fell immediately and rolled several hundred feet down the hillside coming to rest on a bush.

NOTHING WASTED

Job done? Well maybe not quite, as the rather impressive bit of shooting was now turning into a feat of mountaineering to recover the carcass. Being a prime Nanny Goat, Adam was very keen to have the meat and depending on the shot position, Steve was keen to have a new rug! Nothing was to be wasted, which is as it should be.

Adam, being half the age of Steve and Jim, kindly, and with the promise of much beer later, was volunteered to descend the ravine, wade through the river at the bottom. Then nearly 30 minutes later, be directed to the animal by the two ‘old guys’ from the comfort of their vantage position. A clear case of old age and cunning beats youth! It took another 40 minutes to haul the animal back up to where the others could assist, but eventually it was processed.

NAPIER DEMO

As Adam had done all the work so far, Steve was pressed to demonstrate Napier’s new invention, the Tree Hugger, which he had been carrying all day, fortunately it only weighs 180 grams, so no chore. The Kiwis, have always gutted an animal on the ground, just as Steve used to in the UK, but there is no shortage of vertical trees in New Zealand. Just like a deer, the goat was suspended on a Manuka tree for a very quick and clean gralloch. As the skin was in great summer condition it was promptly skinned too. This is now with the sheepskin rug processor and will arrive in the UK sometime later.

A good day that could only get better? Yes, as a little later a small group of wild Turkeys was spotted at just under 200 yards, but having just recovered the goat, no one was in any mood or condition to narrow that distance. Steve got to use the SKS and bagged the gobbler on the first shot, but then still had to tramp across a steep hillside to recover it anyway.

HOME, BEER AND FOOD

By now it was nearly evening, so home for that beer was definitely the plan, but as can happen on these occasions Adam spotted a smallish Pig and just had to take a shot. So it too found itself on the Tree Hugger, which makes the gralloch so much cleaner and easier to do. Thankfully this time it was easy to recover, being only a few feet off a riverbank.

It’s not every day that one can be so fortunate and experience such an adventure, and this one will go down as one of the best. As did the beer that evening.

 

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