Thread: Heli sika dropping multiple parties into the same block

Originally Posted by crocodiledavid

Haha yeah mate. The walk is half the fun anyways!
I never expected to have waipakihi hut to myself, hence why it was a stop over at the end of the trip, but hey, I see both sides of the coin. Just thought I'd get a gauge on the general feeling around this topic, doesn't affect me much because I flew with heli sika once and that'll be the last time I fly into the kaimanawas with them

What was your walk time to hut?...just curious as I have never hunted that area, not likely to either...I had a look on map and thought that was a serious walk in.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

What was your walk time to hut?...just curious as I have never hunted that area, not likely to either...I had a look on map and thought that was a serious walk in.

Spent three days slowly getting there. Took 5 hours to walk out to the carpark.

Its about 5 hours from the hut to the car and maybe 6 to 6 and half from the car to the hut (a few more uphills)

It's a cruisy walk along the tops apart from the hill at the two ends. Very hunt able all the way along the track off both sides as well.

Perfectly reasonable. Om and Boyd are access points. Different as you get further in. As far I I've seen, Hs and CC have their own linked book system to ensure they're not dropping multiples into other areas.

Seems to me like people need to do some more research on whether they are flying into a private block or public land.

Had helisika drop a sika foundation party on us 2 days into a 5 day trip. They were pissed off and so was I when I came back to the hut and found another 3 guys there. Last time I flew with HS as I found them full of shit. Such a shame they have exclusive access

Interesting topic with some mixed views and experiences being shared. One school of thought being that it’s public land and you are only paying for the flight therefor they just drop in as many parties to the same place as they want. The other being that if you book a flight in and out of a location then that helicopter company and the others who work the area will not drop other people on top of you and double you up. Obviously people can walk in and come from anywhere which is completely out of everyones control.

I have always been under the impression that the later was how things worked. Especially for landing sites, dedicated areas and small huts. To be fair i’ve never flown public land with heli sika and obviously that’s not how things work everywhere. My experience comes from down south where you book a flight into said valley and then no-one else will be dropped there during the same time as all the chopper companies communicate to make sure no-one is doubled up. I certainly understand that large huts/lodges can accomodate multiple parties so that makes sense to be able to double up there etc.

I see both sides to it. My guess is how they operate completely depends on where you are going and the nature of that area for accomodation and access opportunities etc. There’s so many variables like if you are going into a start point for a walk out trip or if you are staying there the whole time etc etc. Heli Sika wouldn’t be my first pick for a sika country flight anyway.

anyone else remember Bob Jones's reaction to a journo choppering in and interupting his fishing????

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

anyone else remember Bob Jones's reaction to a journo choppering in and interupting his fishing????

Gold

Yes, Bob Jones was all fight - the journo hit wrote a book about it years later. The pilot was taken to court and fined - no permit to land.

Anyway my experience of HS and Lakeland Heli throughout the 90's to early 2000 - they use to fax one another in the early days to advise when they were dropping off hunters in the public land to avoid the issue. Must have worked i guess as i was doing multiple trips per year in the Kaimanawa's including Waipakihi hut. Seems like things have changed out there from others are saying - good communication is a good thing with the technology we have in these times if used correctly?