Thread: Thank you NZ Hunter!

Originally Posted by GregD

Our comments came direct from Ken Hutchins, Jamie Scott's helicopter pilot who picked us up on the banks of the Lambert River. We told him all the sign was about a month old through Speculation and Hot Springs Creek etc, and he said that's because the local Waro operator had been spelling it for while, then hit it hard in February taking out 40 odd stags I think was the number he said from memory. And we have no reason to doubt Ken as he is a good bugger and it certainly matched what we saw. The other guys who were hunting the Wanganui catchment last roar all found the same issue was what they told us. But certainly not claiming to be experts on the Wanganui as only hunted through there twice.
Cheers,
Greg

There is not many deer in Speculation/Hot springs at the best of times Greg. It's like the Cropp or Prices basin in the Whitcombe - great back in the day but once they were shot out it's very hard for them to establish in those areas again. Even with breaks in WARO it takes longer for those sorts of exposed areas to get animals back in them. Don't bank of catching out huge stags in the wide open tussock basins like the old days. You need a different plan and tactic hunting the West Coast than the Sumner RHA. So I guess in a way saying it's WARO's fault isn't untrue but it's also not going away any time soon.