Thread: trophy goat in kaimais

I contemplated starting a new thread in 'The Magazine' part of the forum, but have decided to add it here instead, to keep all the relevant info in one place for others to find easily. Here goes:

After reading about the goat sightings in and around the Waitawheta/Waitengaue areas in this thread and here, @Tommy and I hatched a plan for a mid-week excursion. I grew up in the area, so did the bulk of the planning. Tommy and I departed Auckland shortly after 5am and were entering the bush off the end of Taieri Rd at 8am.



We followed the 4WD track to spot height 501, then headed south to pick up the Bluff Stream - Waitengaue Track. The track is wide and open from Taieri Rd to .501, and looked to continue east at the same standard, but the track quickly deteriorated south from .501 to the junction about 1km NW of Ananui Falls. From there we followed the track to the Twin Kauri, and out onto the Waitawheta River. This was the only river crossing that didn't have a swingbridge.

We headed up the track (dead flat, old logging tramway) towards the hut, and while we were admiring the view from one of the swingbridges, I spotted a Kid making its way across the riverbed, downstream about 100m. Tommy took a shot, but missed, and the Kid ran into the scrub between the river and the track we had just walked, on the true right bank. We ran back that way, waited, listened, and heard it calling out. It poked its head out from behind a large punga stump at about 5m, so I headshot it with the SKS. All this took place at location 1 in the pics below. There wasn't much meat on a goat that little, but the back legs, and backstraps became my dinner for that night (more on that later).





About 200m further up the track was another swingbridge, and as we exited the bush onto the bridge, we spooked 3 adults immediately below, at location 2 on the picture above. They initially hid behind the concrete tramway foundations below the swingbridge, giving us enough time to get our shit together before they TRIED to make a break for it, heading downstream. We waited until they were out of the rocks, and onto the edge of the scrub. Tommy dropped one on the spot, while the other two managed to dodge a couple of shots from each of us before disappeared out of sight. Again, I ditched my pack and ran back down the track. The track is a good 10m above the river level, and I could see the remaining two goats heading downstream. I got to the previous swingbridge before them, and had a good view 150m+ upstream, but they didn't show. I headed back to Tommy, and were were pretty sure we'd hit them, but a search of 20m wide bush between the river and the track (true left bank this time) revealed no blood. I popped out onto the rocks halfway between the two swingbridges, and spotted one of them parked downstream on top of a boulder on the edge of the river, about 50m away. (Location 3). I couldn't tell if it was dead, wounded, or just chilling, so I closed it along the river bank. He stood up, so I put a round through his shoulder and he flopped into the river. His mate (goat 3/3 from the previous encounter) appeared from behind the same boulder, stared straight at me, so I took what I reckon is my best shot with the trusty SKS. Here are the results:



More to follow...

@stretch did you see many other people out there?
I had the feeling that the area was pretty popular with trampers and mountain bikers.

Originally Posted by stretch

Tommy dropped one on the spot, while the other two managed to dodge a couple of shots from each of us before disappeared out of sight. Again, I ditched my pack and ran back down the track. The track is a good 10m above the river level, and I could see the remaining two goats heading downstream. I got to the previous swingbridge before them, and had a good view 150m+ upstream, but they didn't show. I headed back to Tommy, and were were pretty sure we'd hit them, but a search of 20m wide bush between the river and the track (true left bank this time) revealed no blood.

No worries mate, I thought that's what I read. Great hunt story either way.