Plans were laid back in August by Rushy and I to take a trip down to Dannevirke and meet some of the locals. Pointer and Twoshot pulled out early so we called in the re-enforcements namely Pengy and Toby. Plan was to get down to the southern Rua's on Friday arvo to meet up with an ex member but good bastard none the less.
Pengy and Rushy arrived at my place at 7am on the Friday and we quickly packed the ute. My god boys we have some shit with us!! 3 lads with 7 rifles and the rest of the gear:wtfsmilie:
The drive to Taupo was uneventful with discussions on how much the place had changed with forest taken back to pasture. Stopped in at the supermarket to stock up on supplies. Where the hell are we going to put all this lot and we havnt even picked Toby up yet!
Off again and making good time. Just past Trawera on the Napier Taupo highway the ute jumps out of fifth:wtfsmilie: chuck it back in and out she pops again:XD: We decide to pull over for a think and a stretch. That done we decide to continue, go to reverse up and 'bugger' no reverse either! Oh well boys we are down to four gears but i'll be f##ked if we are turning back.
Made it to Napier in good time and met up with Toby. Rejig of the gear to fit the tall streak in and we were off to Dannevirke. Caught up with Neckshot on the way through and plans were sorted for gongs the next day.
We rolled into Dannevirke and took a right hand and were at the shed which would be home for the next few days at about 2:30pm. Gear unloaded and a hunt plan hatched. Poor Rushy tweaked his back at this point and was moving around very slowly.
Pengy and Rushy went for a slog up the hill while Toby, Brads and I took the quads out to the back of the farm and onto the tops. I was warned about the wind a few days earlier but dismissed it as fibs! How wrong had I been! The wind rolling of the top of the Rua’s and straight into us was intense and would only get stronger. We walked along the ridge glassing the bush edges below, very tasty looking land to say the least and I’d put money on it that if the wind wasn’t so hard out the place would have been crawling with redskins. It wasn’t long before we spied some animals coming out of cover onto a clearing, four deer all told and happily grazing out in the open. Range was 650 and I was not too keen on that distance as the wind was puffing past 30-40 mph and still unpredictable in the lulls.
Taunts were made, Tikka’s made fun of, 270s laughed at and I said bugger you guys then I’ll have a crack. 12.25 moa up and a uneducated guess of the wind. Was lined up on a hind but we decided she looked pregnant so moved onto the yearling, the animal was broadside and I squeezed one out. Not even close and the four animals took off in all directions. Even more shit was received and we decided to head back and not disturb the area anymore as we were heading back tomorrow arvo.
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Back in the shed and Rushy and Pengy were still out, radio check and the boys were ok and heading back. No animals seen.
Dundee and the bombers turn up and we have one hell of a good night. Even had a few slides down the shoot the shawn sheep go down :D
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Saturday morning and Rushy and Brads jumped into the ute and lead Toby and I on quads around the other side of the ranch. Deer spotted up on the bush line so Toby and I went and parked the quads to go for a walk. Wind was up even more today and I was a bit suspect of the trees we were walking under and beside, they build tough bloody trees down here!
Got up top and one deer was seen scampering into cover. Wind was swirling and unpredictable so we decided that was us for this spot and headed for the comfy shed. Back in the shed by 8:30 and the rest of the crew was heading up the track towards A Frame hut. Toby and I went for a looksee at the car park and soon enough Brads and Rushy were heading back and Pengy had carried on up. One deer seen by Pengy but moving to quick.
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The rain came down!! The wind picked up!! We had to wait until Neckers finished gala duty so the 3-4 hours of shed life until then was torturous! Not helped by one man’s rotten arse!!
12pm rolled around and we were off to Jeff’s for some gongs. Still raining and blowing like a school girl but bugger it we are going. Jeff had a few gongs set up and also chucked up a few more. 100,150,200,300,350 were the ranges. We had been told that no magnums were allowed but Jeff insisted it was ok for Rushy to pull out his Savage 300 rem mag. 7mmsaum and Neckshot showed up and it was all on. Toby was the man of the day hitting the 100 gong standing with his 8mm and the 300 of the bench, also smacking all gongs with any rifle he touched. There was a Blaser there but it was relegated to the truck due to its inconsistency :P There was a brave hare on the field but lucky for him Dundee was up on the bench :P Good session had by all and it was off to the shed again with 7mmsaum and neckers in tow.
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Arvo hunt was on the cards but the wind was really starting to howl. Rushy’s back was giving him grief so he had a rest, Pengy went south and Toby, Neckers, Brads, 7mm and I went back to the spot I had missed the day prior. We got back up on the tops and sure enough the wind was doing its nut! 7mm had his wind metre with him and numbers over 70mph were often called out. No deer on the clearing from the day before so we headed further along the ridge. The valley below us curved around to our right and we found ourselves on the end of the ridge with 180 degree views of the bush edges and slips and faces. After a while 7mm spotted two deer at rest which took me bloody ages to see. A stalk on them was not really possible due to sheep and cattle in between us. Another solo spiker emerged from another clearing and a plan was hatched for neckers and I to head down the fence line and reduce the gap. We made good ground sliding on our ass but the odd rock made for some tender rumps! The spiker was by now feeding away from us and we could only see its behind. The next move would be the decider. We had a ewe below us and some cattle further down. WE tried rolling a couple of rocks at the ewe to move her on and she soon got the message. More ground was made and spiker still in sight. Then the powers that be sent the narks on in!! Two parries flew overhead, Plovers down on the flats piped up, and the cattle started moving un naturally. Where did the spiker go? Bugger he’s moved off. Flick our minds over to the hind and yearling resting in the sun…….they too are up and suspicious…..and gone! I have been told a certain person may have been responsible for their departure with a raucous laugh?
Neckers and I give up the ghost and turn back uphill…..f#@k me she’s a steep little bitch this one! Up we get and foiled plans are mulled over as a team. Off we go back to the shed empty handed but hey that’s hunting.
On the way back 7mm gets a max reading of 92 mph! And he and neckers have some trouble getting down hill :D
Beers and bbq had, Bloody well cooked Sika, Red and veni susages (thanks Rushy the chef). Pretty early night compared to the Friday but a big drive ahead.
Sunday big feed and pack the ute. Was offered a free Blaser but turned it down, thing was shooting like shit so was better off with the remmy and tikka ;)
Farewells made and plans to return discussed. Big thanks to Brads, Dundee, Neckshot and 7mm for the hospitality and you are all good buggers no matter what you do on here ;)
Off to Wairoa and talk turned to goats and whitebait. Toby making a few bets as to how many goats we would see on the roadside but they must have had a prior engagement. There were still a lot but by the sounds nothing like normal.
Arrived at Wairoa and unpacked. Met the family and had a coffee before heading to the block Toby booked for us. 10 minutes into the walk and the first mob is set upon by Pengy and his pooh for free and Rushy with his AR f##k I missed rattle gun ;). We then split up Rushy and Pengy continuing up the road and Toby, brother Luke and I heading into the bush. We soon heard a few more shots from the other party and assumed more dead goats. WE took our time up the hill as there was ample deer, pig and goat sign. Chance of a deer remote due to all the shots already but stranger things have happened. Get up to the top and there is a fresh as clump of fallow shit, I’d call it 1-2 hours old max in that sun. No deersies here so carry on the clearing and next minute a mob of goats pops out. Well one mob turned into about 3 mobs and all ammo was exhausted!!!! Few good kills with my model 7 308 out to 300-350 yards and Toby’s 8mm took some too. Toby has some this on video but most of the good bits were missed. No ammo left so back to meet up with Pengy and Rushy. Rushy had left back for the ute a while back and also nabbed a couple more on the track.
Back to the Toby household and a feed was underway. Whitebait fritters, salad(first for a few days) and chips!! Bloody fantastic feed. Early night again, no more beer left but all good by me.
Pack tent and repack ute and say our goodbyes. Through Gizzy and the Wioeka for a coffee. Home by 1:30pm but well stuffed.
Thanks Toby and family for the stay. Thanks Rushy and Pengy for the company and laughs. !!
