Thread: Ruahine Loop, velvet stag, sad Kimber, 2 Blue ducks and 2 dead rats

The Kimber 284 had a quick load development before Christmas and the Swarovski z5 turret was dialled in for the 140 Ballistic Tips. It was time to take the new lightweight rig for a decent walk and burn some Christmas fat. I’m always looking for new loop tracks in places like the Ruahines and love too bag a few huts while armed tramping. I decided on the Sentry Box, Aranga, Kylie Biv, Upper Makaroro, Parks Peak loop - all new country for me. It was a decent Boxing Day drive down from Auckland and about 1.30pm my youngest son tipped me out of the ute to continue on his way South to see a mate. I was travelling light with a bivvy bag as backup and left with 1 litre of water which I soon regretted.



Sentry Box was a nice hut built before the road pushed on I understand, and only 10min from the car park. That was the end of easy travel as 10m past the hut the track climbed steeply and I was soon bleeding sweat and having to take breaks every 5mins. The Kimber became a walking stick and I had over estimated my fitness. Rocky Knoll provided a welcome rest before I pushed on slowly gaining altitude and draining my small water bottle fast. Just under 2hrs from the hut I made the ridge and track junction and headed to Aranga Hut with a short stop to visit Pohatuhaha Trig.



The winds were so strong I could hardly stand up but the views were worth it. The other odd sign on the track was a rare beast I suspect was “Electric Mountainbikus” from No Man’s Hut way where there is 4WD access.
Travel was easier now and I passed some nice slips and good bush that had a good looking over with the Binos. Soon I dropped into the small clearing with the dilapidated Aranga Hut and opened the door to find it in a pretty good condition. I had a decent drink to rehydrate and then I cooked a feed and used the nice new toilet.



Time for an evening hunt in the crazy wind. I had a good snoop around the bush edge and some slips further on but the deer were hiding out. My leg muscles were very sore and that night a few cramps kicked in, but I still had a great sleep as the odd shower rolled in and the wind blasted the hut but compared to the bivvy bag it was luxury.



Up early the next morning I had a big walk ahead to Kylie Biv or Upper Mak hut. A coffee and freeze dry breakfast tucked away and I packed up. About an hour in I glassed back some nice grassy slip faces I had passed without seeing from above and spotted my first deer and then saw another lower down. 800yards away in the rangefinder, and I could see an easy ridge to access a shooting position but a big detour back and surely I’d see a few more handy deer so I kept moving…..

Following the trap lines made the navigation pretty easy, and I did plenty of glassing but sometimes the wind was so strong I just couldn’t hold the Binos still enough to see. The legs hurt climbing up Piopio and I could see Tōtara Spur in the distance. Some nice tarns to fill the water bottle and the Binos got a workout. Finally as I got closer to the top of Tōtara Spur I was sitting in the sheltered side of the ridge and spotted a red shape on a slip. My heart beat raised up as I looked through the GPO 10x32s and saw a big stag quietly feeding out of the wind in the late morning sun. On closer inspection it had a decent head, 10 points and good length but heavy velvet and my doubts kicked in.



Normally I shoot anything these days but for a Ruahine stag it looked pretty good. It was clearly a young stag and with heaps of promise. I sneaked in a bit closer and set up the Kimber to practice. MTN bipod down, back rest, Dialled up the distance and adjusted the parallax. It was a pretty easy shot but I had already decided to leave it. The Kimber was very sad about not being let loose. I dry fired and at the click the stags head snapped up and looked my way but i was tucked in leatherwood and he soon went back to feeding.




Right above the stag I could see the track marker for Kylie Biv and Ruahine Corner on the skyline. I sneaked out and kept on my way deciding to do the detour to visit Kylie Biv as I had time.
Kylie Biv is an interesting spot with some big slips nearby and good tops access. It was very clean and tidy so I read a hunting mag inside while having a little rest. The toilet is a cracker with good views but little privacy.





By now I had formed an opinion that the deer were largely living lower down and maybe some bush stalking and slip hunting would be more productive. I’d covered a few kms already so it was a grunt back up to the Tōtara Spur and soon I was dropping back down following the Waratahs and trap makers and met a nice guy just on the bush line who was doing the big trap line opposite to my direction refilling all the bait and lures. Further down the Spur I heard a dog bark and then ran into two Hunters Glenn and Emma who were climbing up to Kylie Biv. We were soon comparing places, talking rifles, and showing hunting photos and Glenn turned out to be the “Back Ridge Butcher” from NZ Hunter mag. He makes some good YouTube videos, they are both clearly good hunters and their website is worth a visit. Not long after I dropped the final section to the river and the nice Upper Makaroro hut. I took off my boots and had a nice snooze to rest my knees after the downhill travel and about 4pm cooked a “real meal” dehydrated Tom something which tasted superb. I was about to leave for an evening hunt when the door swung open and two young women and their parents arrived from the road end. Now we had 5 people and 4 bunks. I moved my gear to a bottom bunk as I planned to get up early and we had a good chat about huts visited, deer numbers and Tararua leatherwood.



I tested the swirling wind with my lighter, looked at the clouds flowing and decided to head upstream which was a coin toss. 30minutes later and I had my raincoat on tucked under a log as showers hammered down. Back on the feet, I saw a few big eels and 3 nice trout before climbing a steep bank to access a slip I could see on google maps. It’s was a mongrel climb but eventually I got to a good position and sat watching for 30mins. I could hear a Blue Duck whistling below but the deer remained absent and with darkness approaching I dropped and sidled until I found safe access back to the river. Right where the Blue Duck was swimming around so got some videos in the gloom and headed back to the hut full of sleeping trampers. I can confidently say I wasn’t the only one snoring or making a trouser trumpet that night……

Next morning I was up early and probably woke them up with the hiss from the Bushbuck “jetboil” cooker making a quick coffee. Downstream this time to check some slips but they were all too hard with little green growth. I did see some decent trout which must have had some pressure as they were very spooky. I also spotted another single Blue Duck and got some better pictures in the good light.




My proper bush hunting didn’t eventuate as I need more time to suss out the area and again I didn’t see or hear a deer. Plenty of broadleaf growth so numbers can’t be too high or I was just in the wrong spots. Back to an empty hut and I packed up for the grind up to Parks Peak. Only 100m in and there was a “good nature” A24 trap with a dead rat below. The trap line man’s fresh bait pouch had clearly worked so great work from these volunteers. They are making a massive difference to Blue Duck numbers (and other birds)

There was better bush for hunting off the main ridge but I was on a timeline for pick up so walked carefully but wasn’t really hunting. A few hours later and Parks Peak hut came into sight. Very new, tidy and modern and a great example of hut progress with solar power etc.



One final dip and climb to test the legs up to the track junction and then a final long drop back down to Sentry Box and the road. Near Sentry box I saw a second dead rat, this time a fresh kill in the old school DOC200 trap. My son was running late so boots off and another snooze in the shade of a big macrocarpa near the road end to Finish.

A decent walk in some beautiful country. I think with a couple of extra days and calmer weather it would be a cracking hunt, especially the creek heads on the main range section. The Kimber got a walk, I shed a few Kegs of fat and enjoyed my own company for a few days.

blardy good write up!

That was 90% of my 1980 possum block. Thanks for a walk down memory lane. We didn't bump into a single person for the 3 months of winter in there. Sounds like its a bit busier these days

Awesome write up.

Cheers for that @Forestry, you put in some good miles, some of them hard miles at that and wrote an informative and in-depth narrative. Thank you and I appreciated and enjoyed it as you took me for a lap around my old stomping grounds

Originally Posted by NIMROD

Cheers for that @Forestry, you put in some good miles, some of them hard miles at that and wrote an informative and in-depth narrative. Thank you and I appreciated and enjoyed it as you took me for a lap around my old stomping grounds

It was great. As I read it I was thinking that it sounded like Nimrods old reports. That’s high praise.

Awww... shucks @Tahr......thank's Bud. Forestry, the Kimbers light weights are well suited to trips like that. I always referred to mine as "expedition rifles" Perfect for big walkabouts. And it wont hold a grudge about not being "let loose" on a trip like that.

Excellent trip and write up, you don’t always need a kill to enjoy the trip.

Cool country up there. Yes, it gets real windy and pretty often too.
Glen (BRB) just posted he’d been up there so I wasn’t surprised you saw him on the way.
I recall staying in the old Parks Peak hut and being kept up by rats all night. The new hut was an overly officious job. I met the builders up there one day who were waiting for their next council inspection. The inspector would fly up in a helicopter. Check the work and then bugger off. It has insulation in the roof, the floor and the walls plus double glazing (or triple?) in the windows plus I think the studs and trusses are designed for snow loading like it was in the southern alps. Nice to have but maybe a little overkill.

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Cool country up there. Yes, it gets real windy and pretty often too.
Glen (BRB) just posted he’d been up there so I wasn’t surprised you saw him on the way.
I recall staying in the old Parks Peak hut and being kept up by rats all night. The new hut was an overly officious job. I met the builders up there one day who were waiting for their next council inspection. The inspector would fly up in a helicopter. Check the work and then bugger off. It has insulation in the roof, the floor and the walls plus double glazing (or triple?) in the windows plus I think the studs and trusses are designed for snow loading like it was in the southern alps. Nice to have but maybe a little overkill.

Very warm hut when its snowing i can tell ya that !

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Originally Posted by XR500

That was 90% of my 1980 possum block. Thanks for a walk down memory lane. We didn't bump into a single person for the 3 months of winter in there. Sounds like its a bit busier these days

3 Months in winter sounds cold with 80s gear. Did you bring in the traps, salt etc from Big Hill? That’s pretty high and big country to trap but clearly some interesting history. Did you see any Blue Ducks back then?

No, came up the river on the trusty XR500 from the farmland to what was Centre Makaroro hut in those days. I believe it got washed away some time ago. We were using cyanide exclusively, and drying the skins on frames in the hut. My pack on the back of the XR has 100 skins in it, ready to head out to sell. I still have that pack. And I see it was 79, not 80 when I was in there with a mate. Bloody enormous coons up above the snow line from memory around Parks peak. AAA grade skins saw $25 back then. $75 in todays money, per skin

Yes, Blue ducks further up the river from Centre Mak, and bloody parries downstream. Ruined many an evening slip hunt.

Kept ourselves warm with just an axe and a file and a massive deadfall just behind the hut. No fancy crosscut or chainsaws for us back then.

lol just watched BRBs vid- and i thought is that Forestry in that vid??? recognised the Kimber- and then re read your post fully

Epic loop that and some epic country. I remember one night at parkspeak and was roasting all night woke up to snow on the ground

Awesome! Some neat country in there.