July saw us packing up home in Dunedin and making the the move to Rotorua. The prospect of getting my head round some new hunting opportunities both excited me and filled me with trepidation. I clearly remembered the leg work involved in getting to know an area!
With the house semi-unpacked and a leave pass granted I made my first foray into the fabled Clements Mill Rd. A few hours up the track saw me setting up camp on a ridge above some head guts that looked promising on the map. The afternoon was spent negotiating thick pole tickets and getting squealed at by sika that i couldn't quite get eyes on before they busted me. The strong SW wind swirling was definitely not helping either. Back to the tent for dinner and a regroup. Looking at the map it looked like a face further along the ridge maybe more sheltered, try that in the morning.
As the alarm sounded in the pre dawn darkness I woke to the patter of leaves hitting the flysheet. Opening the tent the leafs turned out to be big wet snow flakes and a bitter southerly. I chose to delay the start of the days hunt for a few hours. Once I finally made it out I had a repeat of the previous days efforts all be it alot colder. I did find some good looking areas worth a look when there was less wind. I made my way out to the truck with a light pack but a head full of future plans.
Attachment 148535
Kaimanawa camp
This weekend saw my next opportunity to have a look for a deer. This time the truck pointed to the Urewera. I didn't have high hopes as the area of interest was pretty easily accessible by the general public but did look good on the map. Nothing like boots on the ground to confirm it though. As i turned up a side creek from the main valley the sight of very fresh deer prints in the sand bought a smile to my face, at least there are deer here! I made my way slowly up a spur through lovely open bush with plenty of feed and sun, gotta be something about. The dog was occasionally air scenting but no solid indication. we spent a few hours making our way uphill spooking an unseen deer at close quarters, bugger!
Looking at the map i noted we where approaching a saddle that had a nice looking head basin at its head, time to slow down. The dogs nose lifted and she began to take a keen interest in the breeze coming up the gut. We slowly moved forward scanning the open grassy head basin. A brown lump caught my eye, we froze and watched as a hind slowly fed unaware between the trees 50m below. Rifle slowly to the shoulder and crosshairs lined up on the shoulder inline with the front leg. The 150gr BT hit its mark and she disappeared into the long hookgrass. We made our way down and inspected our prize, a beautiful condition young red hind. A quick bite to eat, butchery session and we were heading back down the hill to the truck.
They say the first deer is the hardest so hopefully i've got that out the way. I've rather enjoyed seeing some new country and am looking forward to chasing some new species round the local hills.
Attachment 148531
Success
