Well - Xmas has come and gone, it sure was a fast run to the end of the year for me - I managed to get into the Ruahines for three days the week before xmas , this was my first trip into this country and what a great place, steep hard country but rewarding all the same. This trip was the first time I had to try and blood my new suppresed Tikka 243 so I was eager as to get huntin as soon as we got to the Hut. We finally landed at the hut around 5.40 on a fine and windy Friday the 13th dec, we all claimed a bed, got dinner sorted for when we returned then split out in different directions with the hope for a kill on day one. An hour later I was hunkered down in a small patch of shrrubs in the P&%SSing down rain, it took about half an hour and this passed followed by an very still calm evening, I had been down a steep spur glassing a likely slip with nothing on it a thought Id try and quickly scoot back up and over to another ridge to try and view some more ground , I was starting to run out of good light but I reckoned id have another 35 to 40 mins before darkness took over, with seat pouring off my bald head I got back to the main ridge and eyed my destination, 5 minutes later while heading towards my desired spot I saw the tell tale bum and ears of a red hind feeding away from me - I was in a little dip with the wind up my bum so I "got small" which is hard for me at around 115Kgs and just under 6ft, the hind stopped feeding and winded for a bit before continuing to feed, I watched her for about 5 minutes before she presented a good shot - Right first chance for Mr .243 - squeezing off a shot placed on her neck at around 150m was followed by the satisfying "Whack" of a bit of copper finding a new home, down she went and Up I stood making my way to where she dropped. Nek minute - I went to bleed her as I do to most of my deer I drew out my gerber and reached round under her chin pulling her head back drawing my blade close to her neck suddenly she bucked throwing m off balance and slicing the top of my leg instead of her neck - F&%K - ill deal with the wound later I thought regrouping I finally bleed her out before looking down at my new wound - Not a bad nick I was pissed off I cut my new Hunting trou - I couldn't do much with the leg except plug the cut, so I gutted her and packed her back to the hut..... Over the next few days we had a great time we saw about 30 deer shooting 7 between us, with the final tally being - 3 stags , 1 spiker and the rest hinds. Ive fallen in love with the .243 what a bloody fantastic rifle - ahrdly makes and sound and with the Norma 95 grain ballistic tips it knocks those reds down hard.Attachment 19150Attachment 19151Attachment 19152Attachment 19153 - Snaps from the Ruahines
With plenty of venison for the xmas BBQs I switched my focus to getting some trout - the family just happened to be staying at lake Rotoiti for 7 days over new years so it was a perfect time to try some new Jigging rigs and experiment with a few variations, the day we arrived I loaded up the boat with roads and gear lifejackets and a couple brews and headed to "My Hole" 40 minutes later I'm wrestling with a 7Lb rainbow hen - Fishing every morning and every night for a few hours resulted in nailing around 20 fish the best being 8lb the rest all about 4 or 6lb. Attachment 19154Attachment 19155I snuck back last week after work to see if "My Hole" was still holding fish - I fished out of my kayak and nailed 4 fish in three hours only landing two, when I got back to the ramp and started loading up my gear I little boy and his mum came down to see what Id caught - after showing talking to them for a while I took them back down to the lake edge and gutted one of the fish a nice fat 4lb hen and said if he helped he could take it home for the next nights dinner - his eyes lit up and both Mum and kid where stoked - they proudly trotted off with the fish in tow. About 5 minutes later I was tying down my kayak on the roof racks and they where back with two Stubbies in there hands as a thank you for the fish. I left with a good feeling, hopefully they enjoyed the Fish as I did the beers. A couple of days later sees me boning out the fattest yearling hind Ive ever seen, a good mate of mine shot the hind off a local farm that backs onto the Mamakus....Attachment 19156Attachment 19157 (one fat hind)...2014 is shaping up to be another good year of adventures and fun.......we've booked a fly in trip for the last week in Feb with helli sika - 7 days chasing late summer japs and honing the lungs for April.......All the best Guys Roy
