Good times, Great weather, New mates and Fresh venison

Hey fellas doing a trip report on an awesome hunt I had in the past few days in the Ruahine Ranges. So @Sako851 and I have been trying to plan a hunt together for ages times finally lined up for a winter trip. The boys walked in a day before me as I had some trouble at home with the Car.

She was a bloody early start leaving the naki at 2:30am to get a first light hunt in. Being as excited as I was didn't sleep at all. After our drive we made our way up into a lookout point to watch some slips as the sun come up, after an hour and half of glassing my flatmate starts to get irritable doubting any success.
Just as he was having a moan about being cold I spotted a deer!
one become two and things were on! We were a long way out so we decided to try close the gap abit further. We made it to the possie ranged them 635 yards well beyond my comfort zone. I see my flatmate starts setting up for a shot. Which I thought that I wouldn't have another chance this morning if he goes clapping off his .300wsm with a muzzle break haha . We setup on the count ...1..2..3 boomfa watching through the scope I see my young stag still standing there load again BOOM poleaxes through the scope down the slip, The .260rem does it again. My mates deer trotted off into the bush poor bugger hahaha. After that we had a huge recovery taking all the meat finding the young stag just below the slip in the bush. Turns out even though on this day in the ruahines which was rare for me had only the slightest wind I had been aiming for the heart just behind the shoulder the tiny breeze made the bullet stray right smacking it in the base of the neck pure fluke but im not complaining.

After the big recovery we meet our new mates at the hut it turns they too had success its congrats all round our mate Malachi had shot himself a huge bodied five pointer epic result!. We relaxed around hut with a few brews some fresh venison heart and backsteak sammies!The young stags meat was delicious! What an awesome first day, meeting new hunting mates was awesome we all got along straight away having many laughs that night!. Ill let @Sako851 explain his success in the comments from his hunt

The rest of our trip we still hunted but the pressure was off and we enjoyed our time in the hills hanging out making memories, exploring new grounds. Everytime I venture into this part of the Ruahines I always learning something new,I even gave bushstalking a go.On my stalk I quickly discovered plenty of sign but seen no animals but allgood. We chilled at the hut for one more night then had a leisurely walk back to the carpark with our new mates and packs full of venison! An awesome trip for sure one of my favorites. Big thanks too Malachi and his cousin Daniel cant wait for our next adventure boys!!

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Awesome ��

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Cheers bro

Thats good when forum people get together. Well done.

That second stag does looks a good size.

Great yarn, mate. Thank you for sharing... I haven't been out in way too long - stories like yours keep me going in the lean times!

I’ll add in my 2 cents.

Booked in to meet up with the guys at the hut on the 24th but due to their car troubles they were delayed. Danny and I didn’t know this and when they didn’t show up the hut the morning after we decided we should walk up to a point where we could get reception.

Sure enough we get word that they are all good and got to the car park before first light and had scored a nice looking stag already! The pressure was on now so we continued up the spur. My original intent was to reach the tops and go from there. Once we got to the alpine brush the bush seemed damp and not very habitable, very tightly packed.

We made the call to head back a bit lower and abseil down a very steep slip using tussock and other brush as support. We found a ice knoll to sit on comfortably and I used my phone gps to establish the distance of some of the slips. We made an absolute racket on the way down the slip due to the angle of the climb and cautioning one another of where to step and climb.

Once we were propped up in our newly found spot we started to glass, taking turns with the binos. This was Danny’s first time in the bush and we had put in some hard slog already so sitting down was a real treat. I took the binos again and sweated casually over the slips that were around 340metres away. A stretch I though for my .308 which I had only fired at 100 yards at the range and set it up to be around 2.4 inches high. I knew the caliber is a capable killer beyond that but with my current set up it is definitely at my limit. I was using Belmont factory ammo for the record.

As I swept across the face, out of absolutely nowhere I seen a mouse shaped head looking directly in our direction. I reckon he was wondering where those noisy beasts from earlier had got to. I harshly whispered “I see a deer!!!” I couldn’t believe our luck.
The adrenaline kicked in and I found myself telling Danny “Don’t worry we have all day” more to get myself to slow down than anything.

I noticed the antlers, quite poor looking once up close but very exciting at the time as I informed my mate that “it’s a stag!!” And “it’s feeding now”. I tried to set up for a shot while Danny tried to locate the stag with the binos I had handed back to him. “Find the big banana looking tree and it’s about 50metres up from there”. That tree was in fact a cabbage tree I just couldn’t think of the correct words at the time.

I ended up laying across the side of the face with Danny holding me up as I lined up the stag, putting the second ballistic receiver dot on his shoulder. Click went my rifle as I realised in the excitement I had not put the bolt into place yet. I quickly flicked it shut and lined up again. “Tell me where the bullet hits” I said in case I had to adjust my aim.

I squeezed the trigger and Danny stared across the space between us and the stag with the binos. Boom! The shot rang out and the rifle jumped up slightly. I knew with the slight fright I got that it had been a pretty good trigger pull. I brought the scope back down but couldn’t see the stag.

“You hit him” Daniel yelled. “He’s rolling” he continued. I found the stag in the scope mid tumble and it appeared he was trying to run but couldn’t get balance. I then lost him because I took my eye off him.
Danny yelled “he’s down!”. I picked him up again. “He’s dead” I yelled checking 2-3 times through the scope between hi fives and hoots.

I couldn’t believe it. A dream come true and my first kill in the bush! The rush was out of this world. I will save the gruelling recovery story for another time perhaps over a camp fire in the future. But we were finally on the board and exicted to get back to camp and meet our new mates. Sharing our success.

We had a great hunt yarning at the hut getting to know the lads and sharing how we had first started hunting and how much of a passion it had become for all of us. Talking about our first times out where all we had was our new rifles and a keenness to get out there and learn.

We look forward to future hunts with the boys and possibly anyone else that is keen to have a go. Shot @Been Upto it was a great hunt and congrats on the stag you shot. What a good kill at 635yards. Very impressive! Love the 260rem :thumbsup:

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Finally made it to the hut

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Coffee and cards while we wait for the boys

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Glassing the slips

Congrats on the first of many, we’ll done team :cool:

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Is that what I think it is???

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Yeaaa!!!!

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A nice little feature on our walk back up the creek after we took the meat out

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Originally Posted by Sako851

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Finally made it to the hut

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Coffee and cards while we wait for the boys

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Glassing the slips

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That's awesome. I had some of my first hunting trips from the same hut. 55 years ago.

@Sako851 awesome write up bro and mint as trip! Will have more hunts in the future im hoping! @Tahr Cheers for the comments also! and the information on the spot way back in Feb. Been out those ways alot learning the area thanks mate

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Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Great yarn, mate. Thank you for sharing... I haven't been out in way too long - stories like yours keep me going in the lean times!

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Cheers mate!