Thread: 2022 Fiordland wapiti reports

A place for a brief report from this year....

I’d say they’ve been sunbathing all through first period

Yep, no rain thru 1st period. Must be a record

Had upper Glaisnock first period. awesome weather. seemed to be the only valley with roaring action. dad got a nice even 12 and my uncle got a 14. over 30 deer seen. will try post some photos later.

Few photos there

Originally Posted by Rusa3006

Few photos there

Awesome pics looks like a great trip in nice weather

Great pics alright , well done

Originally Posted by Dusty Fog

Choice, nice pic of that bull trotting away

No @Dusty Frog that’s a deer indicator stag as you can see from the raised front foot he’s pointing which way the Moose just went

Hope these 2 are okay
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/search...GUTKJE7LEFWMY/

Some bad weather on the way too, hopefully they find them today.

Originally Posted by Rusa3006

Attachment 193810Attachment 193811Attachment 193812Attachment 193813Attachment 193814

I am disappointed to see the bull on the left in the beach photo was shot. In four or five years when he got to eight or nine years old he could have been a great one. Would of cracked 380 - 400 inches

I agree with you man that it's head does look young. When we first saw it and in the time we had to assess the bull, we made the call that he had a fair amount of age on him cause he walked with a low hanging head, had a filled out belly and neck and we could barely see any pedicle. Once we got him back to camp we went over the fwf ageing guide and the more we looked at it the more confused we got. When we got back to the lower glaisnock hut there was a member of the foundation there that congratulated us on shooting big mature wapiti bulls so if he says its a mature bull then I believe him. Either way it's a heck of a trophy in our eyes and it's going on the wall as my dad's second biggest stag behind that one is an 8 pointer from the Ureweras.

Not always easy to make accurate age and potential judgements on the fly, especially in the scrub. Not all of us have the fancy spotters and gear that you see on the hunting shows. Dulley’s make it look easy, but there’s a life time of experience behind the optics. Even harder if you’ve not had much experience in Fiordland looking at waps on the hoof.

Made a video of the trip if anyone's interested.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQhgDFOpqeA&t=15s