Relocation Intro - New Plymouth
Sitting here in Level 4 Lockdown with my right arm in a sling for 6 weeks and my SO in another city due to work and different lockdown levels gives me lots of time for thinking and planning.
We are in the process of relocating to NP. Will be there permanently by Christmas. I'll be transferring my NZDA membership and will be joining a new Pistol Club. I get to plan and build a reloading area/man-cave from scratch which will be an interesting change from growing one organically over time. I have some family land I can access with shooting permissions and one potential lifestyle "rabbit block", and there are a myriad of public land opportunities not to mention going prospecting some hill country land owners with liquid libations in hand.
What I'm thinking about sitting here peck-typing left handed is how to form or participate in a hunting-shooting-reloading interest or buddy group. My experience of NZDA in Auckland has been very positive for learning both general and specifics around hunting. Not so much interest shown in reloading which is understandable - not everyone's cuppa. What i've found difficult is actually getting out of Auckland to hunt. In three years, I've booked two party hunts and had to cancel both due to "life" interventions. So my hunting has been limited to goats and small game pretty much on my own. Pistol shooting is a different (positive) story altogether and not really the focus of this.
Coming to NP, I will be keen to focus on weekday hunting. Time of life and all that. I'd be keen to hook up with a couple of others, maybe up to half a doz or so, who are interested in an being part of an informal group that does a bit of hanging out at first with actual hunting trips a natural outcome. Focus being more on finding new pastures to shoot rather than putting more pressure on existing permissions or favourites. Kinda like my SO's women's bookclub but with field excursions I guess. A group that could easily include NZDA membership, which I plan on anyway. Having a personal focus on weekday hunting does not preclude weekends of course. So not necessarily an old gaffer's group. And further, some of us work shifts or tours with week days free. And if you're past climbing hills and bashing the bush but have a few decades experience under the belt, well, that could be pretty useful also.
I have zero interest in setting up a formal club of any kind. NZDA fulfills that niche admirably. What I've found with NZDA to date however, is that such buddy groups already tend to exist that don't need additional members. And the way to get hunting/shooting buddies is to get off your arse, meet people, and allow mutual interests to develop. So that is what I'm doing here.
I can offer very little experience in deer or pigs, a little from a long time ago with Wallabies, a lot with small game and plenty with goats. I've been slaughtering, dressing and butchering my own meat all my life - farmed and feral. I'm the lead cook in our domestic establishment but I don't brew or distill, yet.
I reload across a number of calibres with some 20 years experience. I'm happy to help beginners where I have expertise, and learn from the experienced where I don't. I enjoy my reloading bench and already reload for a couple of others who don't care to, who prefer what I make them over available factory loads. I have a keen interest in cast bullets and the gear and intention to set that up next year.
So really this post is to solicit interest in an informal local group that goes a bit further than a monthly NZDA meeting, for a few blokes/blokesses who might not themselves already be part of such a thing. I don't care if you shoot different calibers to me, walk faster or further or carry more or carry less, reload or shoot factory, hunt at 50 metres max or take 1000m shots only. These things all overlap and its the overlap I'm interested in.
My first opportunity to meet anyone in person over a coffee or beer won't be until Auckland goes to L2. So maybe October. PM me if this sounds interesting to you and if you're in the NP area.
