Trip report day in the Kawekas

Evening team

A mate of mine at work is from the states and is a dead keen hunter so we decided last minute to try make the most of a weather window, please with the boss for the day off and head out hunting on Monday morning to see what was around. This wasn't a roar hunt as such as given he hasn't shot a red before even a hind or a spiker would be in our sights.

The initial plan was to head to a spot in the Ruahines, however we backed out of that last minute due to the wind forecast and a query we had regarding access to this particular spot. If anyone hunts the Eastern side of the Ruahines often, would love to pick your brain about this particular spot!

So with a new plan, one that was formed on the drive in and a late start due to a 4 month old in my household who wasn't happy (must get that from his mother) we set off for the Kawekas and hopefully a sika. We figured we'd try our luck on the bush line near the tops and after spending far too many hours of my free time looking at topo maps and google earth there was a couple of new spots I was keen to try out.

We arrived at the carpark around 12 and after 45 min or so on the track we started to climb through some pretty nice bush and were soon out on the lower lying bush edge that eventually made its way to the tops. The initial plan was to descend down the valley from where we were, then up and over to the other side and walk up that ridge. After having a glass of the country and chatting about the plan we decided by the time we got over there to the spot we were looking at, there would be bugger all light left and not worth the walk. Luckily as we kept climbing the ridge we were on, we stumbled across a pretty well worn track up the ridge and through little pockets of scrub. Eventually we found a nice spot to park up and started glassing, nothing decided to show it's head but a few sika calls were heard and the view of the sunset was pretty epic. Maybe we were in the wrong spot for the time of year, maybe we were just out of luck, but it was awesome to get out there and see some new views.

We may not have seen anything but it sure bet being at work!

Also if you recognise the area and you lost a pair of dirty dog sunnies on that track up the ridge, let me know!

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