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I've got a few days off coming up and looking to get away and try a new patch. I was looking at the Gabriel's Gully DOC block as I've never tried that before, but don't know anyone else who's been there. Anyone know whether the numbers are worth the visit, or would I be better off trying somewhere else?
A month late responding to this, have you been there yet? I've been in there a couple years back and got one goat. Another dude hunting the same area in the same day got two. They are there, maybe we were just lucky. It is a small area. There are glow worms near the streams in the gullies which is a beautiful sight too if you want to stay overnight. Worth looking around even just to enjoy the scenery.
Update, I went into gabriels gully today to take a look in a different area. Shot two. There are plenty in there (maybe not anymore after the noise and hubbub i left there today) and they are very stupid, but the terrain can be a bit testy, some areas are very steep , standard for nz bush, and shitty with rocky cliffs and loose stone. Climbed up to the border between pine forest and stalked through. Wind was good so I smelt them way before i heard them. Basically followed the smell and noise (lots of snorting/grunting) until I ran into them. Shot a billy first, then when i went to inspect the carcass another goat was still hanging around and stared at me, so I took her as well. Getting back out with all of that meat with the steepness was a fatigue nightmare but good step in the right direction for fitness. Soaking feet in the stream at the bottom was nice.
Some photos here: https://imgur.com/a/GXVoUAh
Hey thanks @JessicaChen. Na, I haven't made it there yet. A bloke I work with advised that it was "shitty terrain with bugger all goats" and to not bother, so I went and bowled wallaby around Waimate instead. Maybe I shouldn't have listened to him haha.
Next time I get a day out of the salt mines, I just might head down and try for a goat or 2. Thanks for the pics, looks like a nice spot for a walk even if i don't get to shoot anything.
He wasn't wrong about the shitty terrain, maybe the goat population is smaller than what you might find on farmland, but it was enough for me to get some tasty meat. The goats I found were on the steep face right before the creek coming down from B0GJ text on the topo map. The main track is nice despite the muddy bits and little river crossings.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ronin007
Wallaby is fun. Were they on DOC land?
Went in there once a couple of years ago, found a mob of 5 or 6 goats and knocked over a couple of young ones before the rest buggered off.
1080 pellets scattered all over the track and in the creeks wasn't the nicest thing to see though.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JessicaChen
Yeah the wallys were on DOC land. There was so much sign it wasn't funny. Just had to sit and wait for them to come along and sit still for long enough to put a round into them. My night was cut short by me stupidly cutting my finger to the bone while cleaning one of them. Still, she made for tasty burgers ;)
Keen to go out to Gabriels sometime now, after reading your posts, so thanks for that :thumbsup: Just gotta get a bit of time away from the shop lol