Had my annual fly in trip to the North West Ruahines with my Brother and another good mate. Flew in on 6th April and out on the 12th, no big stags this year couldn't do any better than 6 pointers but exciting stuff in mostly thick bush,4 stags shot at no more than 10 meters so it doesn't get better than that.
This area has had a couple of 1080 drops in recent years and numbers did seem to be down compared to the last time we were in this area about 5 years ago. Indeed there were large areas that we did not hear any roars from at all.
Also on this trip was my Bro's 18 month Vizsla, her first real hunting trip ,first time in a helicopter no worries just another truck to ride in,and out in the bush she was a completely different dog than when i have seen her around the house, very calm quiet and steady when in close to a deer, a real pleasure to have around. my Bro did shoot a young stag that he otherwise would have let go just because it was good training for the dog, but the other stags all had a bit of age on them and were never going to be any better than 6ptrs.
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