Thread: Mangaturutu hut Kawekas

Four of us flew into Mangaturutu hut on sat April 19th with Midwest helicopters. We were lucky to get in with the wind and low cloud , our pilot Owen had to put the helicopter down on the large clearing above the hut because it was all fogged in at the hut site but it cleared after a minute or so Owen dropped us at the helipad. Shortly after he departed the weather closed in again with wind rain and low cloud and was much the same for the next 4 days. The previous party had left a few days earlier because of the bad weather and must have been in a hurry cause they left a box of gear sitting on the hut doorway, we found a contact number for him and my brother has since been in contact with him to get his stuff back to him.

Despite the average weather we all got out for a hunt every day , and made good use of the fire when we returned to dry our gear out, but those sika stags proved too clever for us , we got close several times but not close enough.

Several hinds were seen in the bush but incase there was a stag nearby we left them. My nephew Hayden shot a spiker on one of the two fine days we had.

And on the other fine day we had while the rest of us were trying our luck elsewhere ole mate "Balls" was taking it easy looking around the large clearing above the hut when two hinds walked out of the bush in front of him ,closely followed by this stag.

So a very enjoyable if challenging week in the Kaweka's . The weather had turned bad again on our fly out date of sat 26th , and i was doubtful if we would get out but our pilot Owen managed to land up on the clearing above the hut again so we carried our gear up to meet him there.
I didn't know how we could fly out in the thick fog but Owen knowing it was clear at a lower altitude just hovered out to the edge of the clearing and keeping the bush in site lowered the helicopter down the valley till we were out in the clear again , too easy.

Is that dog cold or shitting on your boot?

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

Is that dog cold or shitting on your boot?

Just cold mate, the dog wasn't the only one hogging the fire, it was quite cold without the fire going

Did you hear many roars? I found it very quiet where I was hunting.

Originally Posted by Bush Basher

Did you hear many roars? I found it very quiet where I was hunting.

Mostly territory roars, but we did hear some single roars and yeah some days were very quiet as well.

Ahh... many thanks for the memories of that smokey old fireplace

Doing a stock take of the food cupboard 1990 with the odd hunt snuck in

Woah is that Guy T ?!

Originally Posted by Tui4Me

Woah is that Guy T ?!

Yep

Hey 30late..... l had to laugh, I've never seen a dog snuggled up so close in a fireplace before
And good skills on the deer front .... it's not the easiest of places to hunt.

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Yep

Hey 30late..... l had to laugh, I've never seen a dog snuggled up so close in a fireplace before
And good skills on the deer front .... it's not the easiest of places to hunt.

Haha, yeah we had to keep an eye on the dog incase her paws got too close to the embers. Pipper is my bros Vizsla ,4 or 5 yrs old now i think and a brilliant dog to have around , very quiet in the bush and several times she got us onto deer that she new were there but we couldn't see till they spooked.
Now we know the area a bit id happily go back there and my brother has already rebooked for next April. Don't think the area gets much hunting pressure except for the roar period when stags are the target so not many hinds being shot i wouldn't think, several times we spooked deer on the track coming back to the hut.

Where is that chopper based?
Be good to avoid the Helisika rape & pillage

Did Owen fly you in and out from Kuripapango?

Last price i got from midwest was terrifying!

Originally Posted by Lauries Hut

Where is that chopper based?
Be good to avoid the Helisika rape & pillage

Midwest based in Taihape, so only really viable cost wise is when they have backloads while the helicopter is out there. Otherwise the ferry cost out from Taihape is eyewatering !!

Originally Posted by Sika 8

Did Owen fly you in and out from Kuripapango?

Last price i got from midwest was terrifying!

Yeah mate from Kuri . when we flew in Owen had guys in the Manson to pickup/drop off after us and another 4 guys replaced us at Mangaturutu and he flew some DOC guys in also so good backloads, but the cost was more than we expected although the weather didn't help with the clock ticking over while we waited for fog to clear

Owens sidekick Leon flew me and mate into Manson a couple of years ago in the 500 + owen picked us up a week later in that squirrel
Both in and out ex Kuri was $1900, same trip a year later was going to be $4000