Thread: Hunting Urchin tops and Waipakihi river?

Originally Posted by Tahr

When I was younger I often used to day hunt the Urchin tops. A fit young man should get up there pretty quickly - I think I recall not much over an hour. Going up and back in the dark is no trouble. A lot of hunters rush past the Urchin in their hurry to get over into the Waipakahi. And there is a track now that takes you around the Urchin tops and onto the Umukarikari so there is a lot more scope.

If you can get to the bushline in an hour you're a buck rat.
As said below its a dry campsite at the bushline and if you hunt around the ridges it can be a long time till you see liquid again.

I've hunted the Urchin tops a couple of years ago with no luck but my suggestion would be to look for fine gravel with small plants growing in it which seems to be a magnet for deer.
The big creek in the bush of the south basin was quite hard to travel in.
The bush was quite thich; I spent several hours on hands and knees.

Once you get into the Waipakihi river there are nice campsites and you will meet other hunters for sure. Enjoy the place, lay out in the sun, swim in the river and don't take it too seriously. When hunting look for moist gullies and light gaps in the canopy.
Travel upstream from the mid Waipakihi is a bit slower than you would expect. Going down river is nice; no marked track and you cross many times.

As tahr said, a fit young fella could camp by his car in one of the many sites by the road and do a day trip to the Urchin tops, going up and down in the dark. Wear blaze, don't spotlight, its a dark place.

Let us know how you get on and post a photo or two.

Thanks for the advice fellas.