Thread: Hunting the old way

Midway through last year I was at a bit of a crossroads with hunting. I wasn’t sure why, but I needed to do something different. I’m not much of a long range hunter, and I was doing well enough bush hunting with the dog but it wasn’t quite right.


One night I was catching up with my friend KK and as it often does with us the conversation turned to hunting.

“You know bro, I’m getting a bit sick of shooting the same deer in the same places at the same time of year. I want a real challenge!”
I agreed with him as I nursed my beer, deep in thought. I wasn’t shooting the same deer in the same places that’s for sure but I was hunting the same way everytime. Follow the dog, read the dog, find the deer, repeat.

“We should do an old school hunt!” KK said. “Use the same gear that a deer culler might have used, swannies, 303’s, cook over fires, use frame packs, leave the dogs at home...it could be good?”

We’d both grown up reading the likes of Philip Holden and so I latched onto the idea immediately. There was no way we could really replicate the trials of a deer culler but we could give it a good crack!

So last June we got our kit together, I borrowed a .303 from a forum member (Cheers @TLB) and set off through the front country of the Kawekas. Over four days we battled shit weather and snow damage for KK to secure a spiker on the third day with his 100 year old .303. All I succeeded in doing was spooking deer and getting the hang of hunting dark bush with open sights. It was a bloody good trip and after returning the .303 I resolved to get my own one.

By October I’d gotten hold of an old cut down MK1 and we set off into the Makino biv area for a night. I finally got a good chance at a yearling on a bracken face, but between me and the old 303 we missed clean.

It was a while between that hunt and the next but this time we thought bugger the sika lets go somewhere new.
We roped in another keen hunter, Shaun and with a good 5 day weather window we set off in to the Ruahines to do some walking.

A walk in the Waipawa in the dark got us on the spot for an early morning hunt up river towards the valley head. The morning dawned a cracker and KK and Shaun couldn’t resist mucking around getting some photos as we hunted upstream.
Shaun raised his rifle but it turns out he wasn’t posing for the picture as he’d spotted a deer on a slip.
He quickly loaded and fired , missing by a hair. One more shot from Shaun gave the deer an education in what to avoid.
"Have a go hebe"

Loading the rifle as the hind turned, she stopped side on. Aiming for the shoulder, I fired and I was pleased to see her roll down the slip to the riverbed, but satisfaction turned into disappointment as she lifted her head up after the fall to look at us. I had to finish the job and one more shot was needed.



First deer with open sights and the first for the old MK1.

We still had a way to go so carried on up to the Waipawa Saddle and down to the Waikamaka for lunch.







The next slog was a bit slower but getting up here was a great feeling.



We were pretty excited as we looked down into the catchment below and seven hours after leaving the Waipawa forks hut we were in the Kawhatau valley ready to hunt for the next three days.





Over dinner that night we split the valley into three. Shaun was to hunt the Rangi catchment, KK had everything downstream and I had the valley head upstream from the hut.

The next day I shot off up towards the main Hikurangi range intending to turn and sidle the western side of the valley up river.



The main valley is steep sided and I had a fun time trying to sidle up into the sun. My efforts paid off as I hit a nice wee broadleaf gut loaded with sign. I was thinking there has GOT to be a deer in here when one crashed off a few metres below me, stopping in a sun dappled hollow where I couldn’t make it out clearly enough to shoot. A few minutes later I found a fawn which wasted no time in leaving.

After a bit more sidling I went back to the hut to find KK and Shaun had both come back and not seen a thing.

After two days we had given the area a good going over and seen the sights, but the only deer seen were the two I had seen.





We were sorry to leave as we shouldered packs ready to try the Waikamaka catchment.



But when we got there, it was cold enough for us to think no self respecting deer would live in the Waikamaka headwaters.
So after a night at the Waikamaka hut we crossed the saddle in shocking weather.
Say what you want about new rainwear but our swannys treated us well as we endured the rain and sleet on the crossing.
A quick pitstop to pick up the deer from earlier and we were back at the ute having walked a few miles in cullers shoes and pretty happy to have visited what I now consider to be one of the best and wildest parts of the Ruahines.