Thread: Thank you NZ Hunter!

What's wrong with his political alliance? Only asking if you're insinuating there is something wrong with it? I have met heaps of not just American outdoorsman the past few years. They are all on the same page as him from what I have observed.

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No insinuation meant good or bad, I'm used to anti Trump sentiment back home so I thru it in I guess anytime you hunt with the presidents son things can get politicized so as not to take away from anything Jason Hairston had done in his life which obviously was a lot more then taking out Donald jr on a sheep hunt.

Originally Posted by moosemeat

No insinuation meant good or bad, I'm used to anti Trump sentiment back home so I thru it in I guess anytime you hunt with the presidents son things can get politicized so as not to take away from anything Jason Hairston had done in his life which obviously was a lot more then taking out Donald jr on a sheep hunt.

No worries.. I am a huge trump supporter and don't care who it bothers. The guy has fixed a lot of things in the world.

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Seen a post on bookface about the latest episode which happened to be in my backyard blaming waro for lack of deer where they went.
So I watched the episode. Enjoyed it again. However local knowledge and having a finger on the pulse would have helped a bit. Waro or poison wasnt the reason they seen no mature stags. But an enjoyable episode all the same.

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They certainly put in the hard yards and covered a huge area in that episode. Heaps of tahr, f..k all deer. @R93 Can you fill us non locals in as to why? The Duleys seemed to think they should have seen some decent stags ? The only things they sighted were spiders and young stag or two. Certainly fits with the waro theory ?

Originally Posted by chainsaw

They certainly put in the hard yards and covered a huge area in that episode. Heaps of tahr, f..k all deer. @R93 Can you fill us non locals in as to why? The Duleys seemed to think they should have seen some decent stags ? The only things they sighted were spiders and young stag or two. Certainly fits with the waro theory ?

No doubt they covered some country. They always do. They're good at it. However it was partly their issue imo. Local knowledge is how I make a living so sharing it wouldnt be prudent in a personal business sense.
It is fair to say I know their pain and frustration. It's why I know what I know, especially in that country. I dont think they did anything wrong other than blame waro and not have a plan B


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The sure did cover some ground.

Our comments came direct from Ken Hutchins, Jamie Scott's helicopter pilot who picked us up on the banks of the Lambert River. We told him all the sign was about a month old through Speculation and Hot Springs Creek etc, and he said that's because the local Waro operator had been spelling it for while, then hit it hard in February taking out 40 odd stags I think was the number he said from memory. And we have no reason to doubt Ken as he is a good bugger and it certainly matched what we saw. The other guys who were hunting the Wanganui catchment last roar all found the same issue was what they told us. But certainly not claiming to be experts on the Wanganui as only hunted through there twice.
Cheers,
Greg

Originally Posted by GregD

Our comments came direct from Ken Hutchins, Jamie Scott's helicopter pilot who picked us up on the banks of the Lambert River. We told him all the sign was about a month old through Speculation and Hot Springs Creek etc, and he said that's because the local Waro operator had been spelling it for while, then hit it hard in February taking out 40 odd stags I think was the number he said from memory. And we have no reason to doubt Ken as he is a good bugger and it certainly matched what we saw. The other guys who were hunting the Wanganui catchment last roar all found the same issue was what they told us. But certainly not claiming to be experts on the Wanganui as only hunted through there twice.
Cheers,
Greg

There is not many deer in Speculation/Hot springs at the best of times Greg. It's like the Cropp or Prices basin in the Whitcombe - great back in the day but once they were shot out it's very hard for them to establish in those areas again. Even with breaks in WARO it takes longer for those sorts of exposed areas to get animals back in them. Don't bank of catching out huge stags in the wide open tussock basins like the old days. You need a different plan and tactic hunting the West Coast than the Sumner RHA. So I guess in a way saying it's WARO's fault isn't untrue but it's also not going away any time soon.

Ha Ha Ken is one of the best waro operators on the coast. Hes up and down there a fair bit so I wouldnt doubt anything he said. So is James. However if it was 2019 when yous went, there was plenty of action for rec hunters in the valley. A bit earlier and some later to be fair. And a couple of reasonable stags taken.
40 stags out of the country you covered isint a stretch but unlikely. Maybe the whole valley.
I have hunted it when I was shooting and flying and based not far away. You can hunt it pretty fast. Just a small part of a larger run that as you know, takes days on foot.
More of a timing and altitude issue for you guys in that instance along with how the deer move about in there and same goes for a lot of alpine areas on the coast due to other reasons besides waro pressure. Has a lot to do with weather months before and up to the roar.
Respect what you guys do. And not criticising anyones ability or decisions. But I doubt I would bother hunting that country in the rut.
That's part of what I mean by local knowledge




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Just watched it too. Many thanks to the Duley's for a great program, and yes for those who hunted that sort of country a lot during the 80's (not that I ever ventured into those particular valley's) a fairly familiar story. Yes there will be deer there but the tactics to connect up are not "tops hunting".

Spoken as an avid tops hunter, can hardly get out of my own way in the bush - just depends how you were bought up and what you are prepared to learn. My thoughts - the best skill you can learn = persistence!

We expected low numbers, as we do with any trips into areas that get regular Waro, and we do plenty. But the sign is still there if the deer are there, even if what deer are left are largely nocturnal. And there was sign there, but it was all about a month old which makes sense with what Ken said. We've got a couple of good West Coast mates, Derek Johnson and Big Nige, and they have seen and taken photos of some nice stags in those basins in recent years, which is what we were looking for. Yes, there was still some sign down round the flats of the main river in the bush, but that doesn't make a very scenic episode for TV! By spelling the tops over the summer to encourage the deer and particularly the stags out, then hitting them hard, Waro can have a very significant effect.

I have to say the camera man is a beast. If I carried that gear especially on front like he does I wouldnt have got over the section prior to hot springs without a tumble or worse. My bino harness is bad enough.





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Yeah I know who hits it. And can tell you they (deer) have had a spell lately and will likely get a longer one.
I cant imagine filming in the country you guys do let alone the west coast sub alpine bush so yeah it wouldnt make for good viewing.





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I’d say Waro is stuffed for a few years, the stags have got a pass this roar with the lockdown so things are looking up for the serious Alpine Hunter in the short term.
@GregD What an huge walk, my knees got sore just watching it great so see that country, and I don’t mind an episode when it doesn’t work out because that’s the way hunting is sometimes.