Harkness Hut

Evening All,
I'm going to be heading into the Harkness in January and I was curious on a couple of things from those that had been there. It will not be a serious hunting trip as I'm taking the wife and kids on their first Heli trip. Anyway on the map I see there are some exposed tops to the west of harkness. Is it worth heading up there to look for a deer or at that time of year in that area is it just as likely to find them lower down in the valley?
Also how far up the valley towards Tussock hut do you have to go before the valley starts to open up a bit? Or in general does Tussock Hut offer more hunting options?
Cheers
Scott.

thems te rua tops,,well worth a visit,,easy to get to,,youll see a prominant spur just a bit down below the forks,,sidle to your left when on top and be there early,,keep low when sidling as there are guts that arent obvious,,eels for kids in the main ck and some nice gullies below tussock on your left if youre into a bit of long range,,late eve

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Originally Posted by 264 magic

thems te rua tops,,well worth a visit,,easy to get to,,youll see a prominant spur just a bit down below the forks,,sidle to your left when on top and be there early,,keep low when sidling as there are guts that arent obvious,,eels for kids in the main ck and some nice gullies below tussock on your left if youre into a bit of long range,,late eve

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Ha! I'm not the only one up at stupid o"clock then! Cheers that was just what I was after. I'll make sure to take an eeling line for the boys then!!
Cheers.

great wee hut and spot. Plenty of trout in the stream. You don't have to go too far towards Tussock to get onto some good spots. Heaps of stream crossings to contend with though - so take some crocs or boat shoes if you dont like wet boots.
Te Puke tops the other direction also worth a look

Lovely area Harkness/ Tussock. I have spent a bit of time over the years up at Tussock and there is a lot of good hunting around there. If you are at Tussock you can climb the face opposite the hut and follow the bush edge into a nice gully with a creek in it which has plenty of grass along the banks and cover on the faces, ideal sika country. Animals can be encountered along the Harkness valley between the huts. The bush can be a bit tight in places but good in others . You and your family should have a great time in there.

Well worth a walk up to Te Puke, even if it is just to look at the toys on the roof
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Plenty of scope for what you wanna do with family... As .264magic said... that leading spur up to Te Rua tops... go south on those tops as there's some nice grassy gullies... even continuing south into the bush following the ridge you'll bump into some nice gully heads and just follow your nose and you'll pop out into the main Tussock - Harkness Valley, hit the track and walk back to Harkness.

Nice walk up to Te Puke Hut... always ran into deer on that track and also a nice walk down to Ngaawapurua Hut.

Harkness is a nice spot. Harkness saddle north of the hut actually has the highest deer pellet abundance of the entire kaweka , but the bush isn't amazing. Te Rua tops are well worth a look. The bush on the far side towards Golden Hills just below the bushline can be quite productive, and theres good grassy gullies on the southern end of Te Rua itself.

All in all, plenty of scope for you!

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Originally Posted by hebe

Harkness is a nice spot. Harkness saddle north of the hut actually has the highest deer pellet abundance of the entire kaweka , but the bush isn't amazing. Te Rua tops are well worth a look. The bush on the far side towards Golden Hills just below the bushline can be quite productive, and theres good grassy gullies on the southern end of Te Rua itself.

All in all, plenty of scope for you!

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Thanks Hebe. I'll let you know how I go.

Yeah mean area, enjoy. Makes me want to head back in there!

plenty of that rank red scrub up the harness valley, if it looks like going through it is a shortcut to the tops it isn't and will break you will to live
great spot though. track out to the puke tops is fast moving

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Originally Posted by LOC

plenty of that rank red scrub up the harness valley, if it looks like going through it is a shortcut to the tops it isn't and will break you will to live
great spot though. track out to the puke tops is fast moving

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If one was going to go to the puke tops then one may as well use the puke hut.

You can head up towards Te Puke hut and drop into Tui creek on your right and hunt all the way down to the river, bush hunting down the creek.