After receiving plenty of helpful suggestions on somewhere to take the Mrs for a tramp/camp/hunt we decided to head into Totara Flats in the Tararuas.
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The walk in was beautiful and Kate was blown away with the picturesque scenery, beautiful native bush with the gin clear Waiohine River running alongside the track.
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We arrived at the southernmost of the big clearings at about 7pm and Kate offered to set up camp and get the fire cranking if I wanted to go for a quick hunt. I headed over the ridge and found a nice pozzy to sit and watch a big area of clearings until dark. Dark came and went with nothing seen but I decided that it was as good a spot as any and that I would be back in the morning.
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Back at camp Kate had the borrowed Huntech 2 man Biv* set up (I am now in the market for one of these if anyone is looking to sell), the fire was not quite cranking but the red wine and blue cheese were out.* I sorted the fire quickly with a bit of love and then helped out with the wine and cheese while I whipped us up some gourmet beef stroganoff and chicken tikka courtesy of Back Country Cuisine (she was suitably impressed).
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I slept through my alarm at 0430 but luckily Kate shook me and told me to get my arse up the hill. I was in position by 0500, 30 knots of wind howling down the valley in my face and 40 minutes until sunrise. Perfect.
I focused on trying to make out any shapes I could as the light slowly started to creep in to the pre-dawn darkness. As the light began to improve I was pretty sure there was nothing there and that a day of bush stalking was in store. After about 20 minutes of watching the clearing I noticed a funny looking toitoi- slightly separated from the nearest cluster and all by itself. As I watched I noticed it wasn't swaying in the wind like all the others but instead getting slowly further and further away. I brought the Sako 7mm08 up and the Bushnell 3-9X40 showed my lone toitoi to be the back end of a nice fat hind... She slowly made her way across the clearing, with every step getting further and further away. This went on for a painful 5 minutes (felt like hours) and by the time she offered a shot my Mk1 Eyeball rangefinder had her at a shade under 300yds and about to step into cover. I was prone with a good rest (shooting off my pikau and my jacket as a rear rest) and other than the wind everything was in my favour. I settled the crosshairs on the top of her shoulder and let the Sako bark quietly and by the time my crosshairs returned to where she was, she was nowhere to be seen.
I made my way down to the clearing trying not to get my hopes up but quietly confident. And there she was...
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I took forever gutting her out and trying to remember how to make a backpack. By the time I made it up and over the hill back to camp I was utterly exhausted and it was only 0715. I hung the hind up and wrapped her in a mozzie net to protect from flies and collapsed into my sleeping bag for a nap.
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After butchering and packing the meat the pack was a bit heavy but everything fit. It was a good trial for my new pack. The walk out was a great trial of my not so new legs and shoulders. The walk back to the car took 4.5 hours with plenty of nice long rest stops, thankfully we were never far from the river for a good drink.
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That is the story of my first deer on public land and the first for my rifle (bought it in April and tried almost a dozen times since). To say I am stoked is a massive understatement!
Kate was a bit disappointed at the length of the stay but super happy for me nonetheless. A good excuse to get out and do it all again after Christmas.
Guess I'd better change my signature now...
