Originally Posted by
StagRyan
Seeing as no one on here appears to have an opinion on this block thought I'd add my two cents to it if anyone else has the unfortunate luck of getting this place. DoC wanaka hunting fella informed us there was slim to no deer in here, on the experience of the last week I might agree with him, two separate very small hoof prints spotted and no sign any newer than 3 days old. Possible there is some deer held up in basins in the north and south branches but getting there will take some extreme planning and navigation, the whole block is wrought with cliffs and waterfalls. Up the top of the main river are a series of what appear to be promising clearings with plenty of cover but most are backed by cliff faces so begs to wonder where the dear would live/move.
Thursday was 30 hours of rain starting on the Wed night and ended about midnight Friday morning, we were up before the sun walking through the last clearing hoping to see some animals come out to catch what was a warm day but still nothing , then the wind changed on us and a pair of Paradise ducks let the whole catchment know something was up and even continued to circle us so they knew exactly where we were. There are also a couple of Whio pairs up there which from a conservation perspective is good to see and plenty of those berries that Josh James is always eating.
Hopefully the other Ballot holders can add their two cents to how this block performed for them.