Welcome guest, is this your first visit? Create Account now to join.
  • Login:

Welcome to the NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.

DPT Terminator


User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 12 of 12
Like Tree35Likes
  • 34 Post By brodster
  • 1 Post By homebrew.357

Thread: Hunting on a remote tropical island and live volcano

  1. #1
    Member brodster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    164

    Hunting on a remote tropical island and live volcano

    Happy 2018 hunters. I haven't posted in a while and thought my last hunt might get some eyes wide open.

    I was camping on one of Vanuatu's remote outer islands over New Years with some friends and we'd gone to hike up the island's two active volcanic cones. Both cones have football field sized lava lakes churning away and we thought we'd make it a NY worth remembering.

    Name:  _DSC9882.jpg
Views: 760
Size:  133.2 KB

    We camped on the edge of the jungle and ash plane / caldera for three nights. The the first two days we did trips to the two active volcanoes.

    Name:  _DSC9939.jpg
Views: 638
Size:  354.0 KB

    We trekked up towards the formidable mountains

    Name:  _DSC9861.jpg
Views: 747
Size:  299.6 KB

    Across endless miles of ash, ground scoria, and glass needles ejected by the volcanoes.

    Name:  _DSC9858.jpg
Views: 673
Size:  255.1 KB

    Our efforts were rewarded at the summit with incredible lava views. This was taken with my drone:

    Name:  DJI_0023.jpg
Views: 604
Size:  345.0 KB

    By day three I'd had enough of tipping ash out of my boots and hit up two of our guides for a hunt. I'd heard there were wild boar in the thick jungle and they had a pack of dogs from the village and machetes so we had all we needed.

    We walked out to the ash dunes and skirted around the edge of the jungle until we found a good place to enter far enough from camp.

    Name:  IMG_20180103_1228454.jpg
Views: 664
Size:  250.6 KB

    The boys nattered to themselves in Bislama (Pigin English), it was slow going waiting in the sun for some of the slow or over enthusiastic dogs to catch up. The boys carved their initials into stuff with their machetes. Every village man in Vanuatu has a machete. Some have smartphones, but everyone has a machete or 'bush knife' as they call them. A different style to our short, wide and curved machetes.

    Name:  IMG_20180103_1507348.jpg
Views: 588
Size:  528.9 KB

    They told me they got a pig nearby a few weeks ago, the dogs bailing it in a washed out rut in the ash a bit larger than where the boys are walking.

    Name:  IMG_20180103_1244233.jpg
Views: 651
Size:  649.5 KB

    The going gets tougher. Not that you can tell from the pictures but it was 100 degrees and humid as hell.

    Name:  IMG_20180103_1312073.jpg
Views: 635
Size:  586.1 KB

    We bush bashed for an hour or so and one of the boys took the dogs ahead. I heard barking and squealing from over a ridge and sprang to action. I ran physically as fast as I could, first up the hill through thick ground layers of slippery palm fronds, then down through thickets of giant ferns towering over my head. In the few minutes it took me to get to the scene I forgot all about snakes, spiders, ticks and leeches. Probably the best rush I've ever had. I was totally drenched from the sweat and humidity when I arrived. The boar escaped and ran past me just as I arrived, but the dogs were too quick and too many and bailed it again a minute later.

    I grabbed a machete and stuck it. It was hard work with the blunt machete and I was already exhausted.

    Name:  Screen Shot 2018-01-10 at 22.34.06.jpg
Views: 542
Size:  89.3 KB

    The boys dressed and carried it out as I went ahead and slashed a path through giant ferns, palms, and things that looked like they'd just grow right back that day.

    Name:  IMG_20180103_1447326.jpg
Views: 610
Size:  607.6 KB

    Back at camp the other guides roasted it on sticks over the fire and we cleaned up and rested until it was ready... And it tasted amazing, smoked and roasted.

    Name:  _DSC0062.jpg
Views: 673
Size:  234.9 KB

    This was my first hunt without a firearm and easily the most memorable. Not a bad way to finish my holiday!
    Thanks to the Playstation we have the outdoors to ourselves!

  2. #2
    Member Blisters's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Papakura
    Posts
    1,228
    You nutter! It's f@#$n hot over there! We hunt in niue on dusk when the see breeze is still blowing but the sun cools down, Good job mate

  3. #3
    Member Scouser's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2012
    Location
    JAFA
    Posts
    4,900
    Brilliant mate, im going to 'try' to repeat that one day....a live volcano visit is on my bucket list........
    While I might not be as good as I once was, Im as good once as I ever was!

    Rule 4: Identify your target beyond all doubt

  4. #4
    Banned
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    Port Chalmers
    Posts
    753
    Wow what a great post. Fantastic.

  5. #5
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Dunedin
    Posts
    137
    Awesome write up an pics!

  6. #6
    A shortish tall guy ROKTOY's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Nelson
    Posts
    3,414
    fantastic, what an experience.

  7. #7
    Caretaker - Gone But Not Forgotten jakewire's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2011
    Location
    here
    Posts
    7,477
    Thanks for that , wonderful.
    Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

  8. #8
    Member Marty Henry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Tararua
    Posts
    7,088
    Thank you for sharing that, walking on some of the newest real estate on earth must be something special.

  9. #9
    Member homebrew.357's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    830
    Bloody great stuff, but I think you did it the wrong way around, get pig first then up to hot lava, lower pig in, instant roasting!
    brodster likes this.

  10. #10
    GWH
    GWH is offline
    Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Location
    Napier, Hawkes Bay
    Posts
    4,460
    A very cool report and pics, obviously very different from what we normally see, thanks heaps for sharing.

    Are pigs the only game animal there?

  11. #11
    Member brodster's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Auckland
    Posts
    164
    No problem! Very happy to share this awesome experience. I've hunted a lot in NZ but this was really something else...

    The locals said feral goats and cattle also roam parts of the island. A Kiwi farmer set up in the 60s and abandoned it for whatever reason and the livestock escaped, or so the story goes. I wouldn't be surprised if the pigs were there since Cook who anchored in 1774 and named one of the volcanic cones Mt Benbow.
    Thanks to the Playstation we have the outdoors to ourselves!

  12. #12
    Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2014
    Location
    NZ
    Posts
    412
    Quote Originally Posted by brodster View Post
    No problem! Very happy to share this awesome experience. I've hunted a lot in NZ but this was really something else...

    The locals said feral goats and cattle also roam parts of the island. A Kiwi farmer set up in the 60s and abandoned it for whatever reason and the livestock escaped, or so the story goes. I wouldn't be surprised if the pigs were there since Cook who anchored in 1774 and named one of the volcanic cones Mt Benbow.
    They definitely have deer over there too, might just be on some islands? But have friends over there and they mentioned they had some, not in high numbers though from what i was told.

 

 

Similar Threads

  1. Stewart island little hellfire hunting
    By crocodiledavid in forum Hunting
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 29-11-2016, 07:37 PM
  2. Replies: 32
    Last Post: 01-08-2016, 03:01 PM
  3. North Island Hunting help
    By Chewy270nz in forum Hunting
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 11-06-2015, 11:57 PM
  4. Hunting on Arawapawa Island
    By johnino in forum Hunting
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 04-09-2014, 08:42 AM
  5. Mid north island hunting
    By James sully in forum Hunting
    Replies: 14
    Last Post: 28-07-2014, 09:04 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
Welcome to NZ Hunting and Shooting Forums! We see you're new here, or arn't logged in. Create an account, and Login for full access including our FREE BUY and SELL section Register NOW!!