An uneventful walk in the Kaimais

A lovely day yesterday for a walk with Steve who was down from Auckland
Upland Road - 45 minutes up to the North/South track - then headed north towards Thompsons track - about 4 hrs on the signpost
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I still had rib problems so didn’t take a rifle - Steve sneaked off the track in various places and put up a deer about 20m away in some supplejack but didn’t get a shot - plenty of supplejack in that bush
North/South track is pretty good but in solid bush with very little outlook - would be lucky to see 30m ahead in most places - up and down through three creeks going North
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Down the stairs into the third creek - the track crosses it a few times - we had burnt up four and a half hours - so turned back
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Yes - there is a deer in the Kaimais - up by the staircase - he lay down here and got dirty - but generally very little deer sign on the main track
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Coming out - we met a couple of hunters heading towards Kauritatahi Hut for a couple of nights - then we met another couple of hunters with a dog who were heading back down a ridge to the farmland - they reckoned they always got something in there with their dog
So an uneventful 9hr trip - sore feet this morning

Yip very lucky to get one on the track in there. Sounds like a good walk though :thumbsup:

its just good to get out tho :thumbsup:

Wow, that old pack should be in a museum!

I've been up to Kauritatahi Hut and back in a day as well as trying to find a short cut down I turned it into a 25km nightmare. Beautiful walk though, might stretch it into a 2 dayer next time though.

Last time I was out I followed very fresh prints/sign round in a circle only to gwet stuck in the thick shit for an hour before getting fed up and circling back out to the track, only to find a steaming pile of fresh shit in the middle of the track at about 3 on a sunday, place was crawling with hunters to, saw no fewer than 10 that day

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Originally Posted by Ricochet

I've been up to Kauritatahi Hut and back in a day as well as trying to find a short cut down I turned it into a 25km nightmare. Beautiful walk though, might stretch it into a 2 dayer next time though.

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Lines up with what I just learned Ricochet -

One of the hunters we met on Saturday afternoon around midday - about halfway across the North/South track to the stairway called me this arvo about 5pm - they had just got home
They got to Kauritatahi Hut at 7PM on Saturday - reckoned it was very hard work climbing out of the third creek up onto the top - a number of very narrow ledges with steep drop-offs - when they got to the top they had to go further North to get to Thompsons Track and then go round and climb again going South to the hut - hope I got that right
Sunday - pea soup fog but got out for two hours and saw a couple of deer
They got a call from a mate early this morning and were told to get out quick due to incoming weather - they went back to Thompsons Track and decided to go over the West side - very slippery on the hard clay surfaces - had to get someone to go round the other side and pick them up
They said the trip was a bloody nightmare - hard country, wet weather and didn’t shoot any animals

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Originally Posted by Nick-D

Last time I was out I followed very fresh prints/sign round in a circle only to gwet stuck in the thick shit for an hour before getting fed up and circling back out to the track, only to find a steaming pile of fresh shit in the middle of the track at about 3 on a sunday, place was crawling with hunters to, saw no fewer than 10 that day

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I've taught the Kaimai deer well. Round and round you go ;)

Plenty of deer in the Kaimai's, Just gota no where to look :) Good amount of deer and pig sign around the Aongatete area, The last 2 times I went in for a look through there, There was no other hunters ! Unlike Wairere ..................

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Originally Posted by time out

Lines up with what I just learned Ricochet -

One of the hunters we met on Saturday afternoon around midday - about halfway across the North/South track to the stairway called me this arvo about 5pm - they had just got home
They got to Kauritatahi Hut at 7PM on Saturday - reckoned it was very hard work climbing out of the third creek up onto the top - a number of very narrow ledges with steep drop-offs - when they got to the top they had to go further North to get to Thompsons Track and then go round and climb again going South to the hut - hope I got that right
Sunday - pea soup fog but got out for two hours and saw a couple of deer
They got a call from a mate early this morning and were told to get out quick due to incoming weather - they went back to Thompsons Track and decided to go over the West side - very slippery on the hard clay surfaces - had to get someone to go round the other side and pick them up
They said the trip was a bloody nightmare - hard country, wet weather and didn’t shoot any animals

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Haha, now that sounds like a hell of a day. I was trying to go south from the hut to the North South track to turn it into a loop, as I hate going back over the same track, but I couldn't see a way down and was running out of daylight quick. I got to the hut at 12:30pm and fought my way back there again at 2:30pm and had to go all the way back down to Uplands road. Spent an hour or so at the end walking in the dark.
@stretch here helped me find an old track that runs south which I'll be trying again this summer, but yeah, I'll turn it into a 2 dayer and spend the night at the hut.

I saw heaps of sign up top there, but by this time my eyes were too awash with tears and longing for mummy to see any deer.

I live up Wright's Rd and yes there are deer in the Kaimai's. Some hunters do well on a regular basis but a lot burn hours and plenty of energy for little return.
The bush is hard and tight in a lot of area's but there are some fantastic spots also.
Good luck up here and be safe.