Ruahine overnighter

Driving down the country on Friday after the last southerly and seeing the kawekas and Ruahines blanketed in snow had me quickly planning a hunt. The forecast had blue skies and light winds so off I went via Ongo ongo.

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The walk up Otumore always makes me question my plans to head any further into the range but the snow had receded pretty quickly so further in I’d have to go.

Easy way to check there’s deer in the area
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The wind hadn’t dropped like I expected so I spent the last hour of light freezing my nuts off in order to look over to a sheltered face.

A hind and ‘yearling’ made the mistake of feeding up out of a sheltered gut and quickly hit the deck at 250m. The hind dropped on the spot while the younger one took a few steps before remembering she was dead.

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Having recently watched ‘Dharma’ on Netflix I was a little nervous about the butchering session however am happy to report there was no arousal on my part.

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Eldms sure do the damage.

Both animals were pretty lean and may have had a tough winter. I noticed a lot of browsing on different flax which I wouldn’t have guessed as a favourite meal.

She was a hard slog back to the road end with a heavy pack and already fatigued legs but time is precious and I’ve gotta take every opportunity for an overnighter I can.

Good stuff!

Good.
Did you go over Otumore or just hunt the eastern side?

Tiriha was the goal. If making the effort to get up in the hills I prefer to get a bit further from the crowds.

Nice one, perfect timing.

Really good photography,, well done

Great stuff!