Thread: Hihitahi Challenge 2015

I'd like to pass on my appreciation to whoever made the trophy. They put a lot of time and expertise into it. Here it is bundled into the back seat of my car.



The idea of this sort of event is more a challenge to yourself than a competition against others and Gillie had set it up so there were both achievable and rather difficult challenges for both beginners and old farts. That's not an easy brief for the event organiser but full marks to the planning team, it was a personal challenge for everyone. As always, he made us think on our feet. Who would have imagined the only way to get a clear shot down into the gully would be to move away from the target ? or that they'd have to identify a tree seldom seen in the wild because it has been almost exterminated by possums ? yarn with a guy using a .204 Ruger necked out to 6mm ? follow a compass bearing to find a hidden hut ? or say which symptoms are least associated with heat exhaustion ? This is vintage Gillie stuff.

People who've done an NZDA HUNTS course would hit the ground running on a day like this. And if a few of the instructors had entered, the likes of Phillipo, Woody and me would have come in further down the rankings. There are a lot more people with the skills out there but we don't really know till they try themselves out.


It was a bit of an epic day and we really looked forward to sausages and a cold ginger beer back at the woolshed.

The venue does need a bit of driving but no more than a lot of hunting weekends away. It's closer to Wellington than Mt Ruapehu or Lake Taupo. There's plenty of opportunity for hunting nearby on the Sunday - Ruahines, Kaimanawas and others I shouldn't name on the open net.


Someone had left dry firewood by the fireplace at the Waipakihi road end. There's plenty of good sorts around if you keep an eye out ...