Waihohonu, Tongariro NP

Hi all,
I'm thinking of heading into the Waihohonu hut later this month (club hunt), and am after a bit of advice.
I'm not after anyone's spots, just some ideas of strategy to hunt this type of country as I mostly bush stalk and have never hunted this type of open country before.

It looks like it's bino sit-and-glass country. There appears to be limited areas of bush, so do you watch the edges of the bush areas, or will the deer be out in the open scrub country as well? The area should get the moring sun, so I expect watching the sunny west/north faces and guts is worth a try (assuming the sun comes out!).

Is the carpark on the Desert Road okay to leave the vehicle? Or best to try and organise a shuttle?

TIA for any info or tips :thumbsup:

I wouldn't leave a car there. No way.
Bush edge up high is a good spot in spring. Reds and Sika.

Excuse the 2008 era Blackberry phone camera pics.

Attachment 203065

Attachment 203066

Some great country in there and your strategy is sound. You will find lots of spots in all directions that you can glass and the open country is well worth a look.
I have never had issues leaving vehicles at the road end before but maybe I was just lucky.
Good luck

Thanks to those who gave advice and info, I'm heading in there on Friday for the weekend. The weather is looking okay but might not be much sunshine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cigar

Thanks to those who gave advice and info, I'm heading in there on Friday for the weekend. The weather is looking okay but might not be much sunshine.

---

Let us know how you get on.

Done a lot of hunting in there over the years. The Te Mako bush on the way in can be quite productive, or the north side of the ridge behind the old hut site is a favorite of mine. Picture of a Waihohonu Sika stag a couple of roars back

That's a hell of a deer.
Did you carry it all the way to the road? Veeeery impressive.

Not all the way. I put it down at the new hut and while all the trampers at the hut were fussing around with great interest and I was telling quite the tail of the hunt, it ended up on your back for the rest of the carry!

Good stuff.
I had a similar thing a few years back when I shot a couple of stags in that area. My wife and I made one trip out with all the meat and one head and I dragged a friend back the next day to collect the second head. Huge amount of interest from the throngs of people using the new hut and surrounding tracks.
Attachment 204293

This post bring back some awesome memories.
In March 1989 my wife and I were in there hunting....got a nice stag up behind the hut.

I carried the stag out to the car and she carried the pack, not bad going considering she was 5 months pregnant...she still hunts with me today.

Memories! In 1962 and still a boy I shot my first deer unsupervised in the creek in the next
valley north from the original hut. Worst case of buck fever ever, shaking like a leaf I emptied my 10 rounds at two of them in the creek. As the last round sent on its wobbly way one of them sat down in the stream. I had to cut its throat and the only wound I found on it was a bullet had severed
both achillies tendons. Lot more in that story but it would take a book so will leave it there.

Looks like @Woody still has the shacks on that one:thumbsup:

I would get the vehicle shuttle, I got away with parking there a few times but came out on a very wet night to find my drivers window smashed and had to drive 6 hours with the rain pissing in. While it can be a hassle, takes away the risk.
On that occasion there were 2 other car in the park and they suffered the same fate.
Happy hunting.

You used to be able to drive from the car park right into the bush edge (4x4). Probably a bit safer in there if you can still do it.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sideshow

Looks like @Woody still has the shacks on that one:thumbsup:

---

Ha ha. Got over buck fever but as I get older the shakes are there regardless- bugger this getting old shit!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shearer

You used to be able to drive from the car park right into the bush edge (4x4). Probably a bit safer in there if you can still do it.

---

I'd be careful with that - the land you are driving on is part of the Rangipo North 7c trust block - the same folks as the land either side of Waipakihi rd. Might be a good time to be a bit cautious.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

I'd be careful with that - the land you are driving on is part of the Rangipo North 7c trust block - the same folks as the land either side of Waipakihi rd. Might be a good time to be a bit cautious.

---

Good point.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by gmm

I would get the vehicle shuttle, I got away with parking there a few times but came out on a very wet night to find my drivers window smashed and had to drive 6 hours with the rain pissing in. While it can be a hassle, takes away the risk.
On that occasion there were 2 other car in the park and they suffered the same fate.
Happy hunting.

---

@gmm any details on that shuttle?

Cheers

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by imaca

@gmm any details on that shuttle?

Cheers

---

Hi Iain (I've just worked out who you are!), this outfit looked like the best option, as they go from Turangi to the Waihohonu track - many others are based at National Park.
https://alpineshuttles.rezdy.com/catalog/97893/charter

Fark $100 one way!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by superdiver

Fark $100 one way!

---

Yes, but it looks like it's a flat $100 for up to 9 people.

Make the most of using that track as it may well get closed off as well...

Public land comes down to SH1 nearby on either side of that island and DoC could make a track that bypasses the private, like they have at Te Iringa / Poronui.

we use to drive into the first big patch of beech bush in from the road and camp in there, primo little spot, right next to the creek,
pretty as in winter when it snows like hell and you get up the next day and the desert road is closed and you're the only ones in there.

It looks like that bush (Te Mako) is private land, other than the small bit on the north side of the river.

A wet walk in on Friday afternoon, but kept dry thanks to my wet weather gear and the boots I re-waterproofed last week. The latter part of the track was a flowing stream about ankle deep. Only two other people at he hut when I got there, about 10 of us there overnight, Saturday the hut was overflowing with people.
Spent Saturday morning glassing a valley, tucked off the ridgetop due to the biting southerly wind. Sun finally came out at 11:20. No deer seen, but some fresh tracks just above the bush. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were short hunts/sightseeing trips, some really fresh tracks seen but no deer. Headed back out at 10am, the trip out took 45 minutes less than the walk in. Saturday was cloudy with a cold wind, Sunday started with a heavy frost then nice and sunny.
I weighed my pack when I got home, and it was 29kg including the rifle. on the walk in it also had 1L of milk and some fresh B&E pie and casserole so would have been over 30 kg - I seriously need to cull some of what I took! I weighed a lot of the individual items this morning, and wrote down what I took and whether I used it or not.
An awesome hut, and some great scenery, even when the weather wasn't the greatest.

30 plus kg and you stayed in a hut!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MSL

30 plus kg and you stayed in a hut!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

!!!!

That's a heavy load! I was 17kg for a 4 day stint in Stewart Island and I flew in then walked out! I still thought it was a bit too much as it included smoked salmon and cider etc to eat before the walk!

Yeah, I overpacked just a little bit! Staying in the hut with the fireplace and drying racks I didn't need half the clothes I took.

I did a 7 day/120 km walk on Stewart Island and had way less gear (not hunting though, so that cuts down on gear a lot), but I ended up binning some of my clothes when I got back to Oban!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MSL

30 plus kg and you stayed in a hut!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

---

There must be a kitchen sink in there somewhere.:wtfsmilie: I did an 8 dayer from top of Ruahines on the Gentle Annie to Po base with a 30kg pack (some moons ago)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cigar

A wet walk in on Friday afternoon, but kept dry thanks to my wet weather gear and the boots I re-waterproofed last week. The latter part of the track was a flowing stream about ankle deep. Only two other people at he hut when I got there, about 10 of us there overnight, Saturday the hut was overflowing with people.
Spent Saturday morning glassing a valley, tucked off the ridgetop due to the biting southerly wind. Sun finally came out at 11:20. No deer seen, but some fresh tracks just above the bush. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were short hunts/sightseeing trips, some really fresh tracks seen but no deer. Headed back out at 10am, the trip out took 45 minutes less than the walk in. Saturday was cloudy with a cold wind, Sunday started with a heavy frost then nice and sunny.
I weighed my pack when I got home, and it was 29kg including the rifle. on the walk in it also had 1L of milk and some fresh B&E pie and casserole so would have been over 30 kg - I seriously need to cull some of what I took! I weighed a lot of the individual items this morning, and wrote down what I took and whether I used it or not.
An awesome hut, and some great scenery, even when the weather wasn't the greatest.

---

How long did it take you to walk in? Imagine if you had shot something your pack would have been bursting !

2.5 hours to walk in (lots of mini rest breaks!), 1hr 45min to walk out including chatting to a few trampers who were heading in.

Here's the raw and unedited video I took for the family.
https://youtu.be/qI9SZ2ADbOk

Some further info. I've been into the hut within the last 4 weeks.
Left vehicle in carpark with no problems.
Definitely easy walk in, and you want a bed early, but lunchtime people were having to sleep on the floor.
Tons of people around. I respect anyone who actually shoots something with the amount of human noise that you can hear for miles.
I was in for a catch up with people, so only had a couple of short hunts - nothing serious.
Targeted the area behind the old hunt. Found plenty of fresh sign and the odd bit of fresh prints on the mini scree slops behind the bush.
Saw nothing, but good opportunity to teach a couple of my young lads about sign etc.

I was in there a couple of weeks ago. More fresh sign around than late August so the deer are moving around more, though we didn't see anything (other than a hare).
Tuesday was a nice day, especially since it meant DOC delivered a load of firewood that morning. The forecast for Wednesday night was -5 and I wasn't looking forward to a hut with no firewood.
Wednesday was very windy, then the cloud moved in, followed by sleet and driving snow. The school group of 14 who headed for the Rangipo hut that morning ended up pulling the pin and arrived back at Waihohonu mid-late afternoon looking very wet and cold.
Thursday we woke up to an inch or two of snow, it made the walk out interesting and the Desert Road was closed but opened about the time we got to the carpark. Going on the prints on the track a red hind and yearling had come out of the low scrub not too far from the carpark and followed the track all the way to the Te Mako bush - they probably decided to head for decent cover when it started snowing!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Cigar

I was in there a couple of weeks ago. More fresh sign around than late August so the deer are moving around more, though we didn't see anything (other than a hare).
Tuesday was a nice day, especially since it meant DOC delivered a load of firewood that morning. The forecast for Wednesday night was -5 and I wasn't looking forward to a hut with no firewood.
Wednesday was very windy, then the cloud moved in, followed by sleet and driving snow. The school group of 14 who headed for the Rangipo hut that morning ended up pulling the pin and arrived back at Waihohonu mid-late afternoon looking very wet and cold.
Thursday we woke up to an inch or two of snow, it made the walk out interesting and the Desert Road was closed but opened about the time we got to the carpark. Going on the prints on the track a red hind and yearling had come out of the low scrub not too far from the carpark and followed the track all the way to the Te Mako bush - they probably decided to head for decent cover when it started snowing!

---

Interesting - the sign I saw looked like a larger with smaller follower also :)

Anyone been in recently? What's the summer hunting like? Imagine a Still ok?
Cheers

I haven't been back since early October - now the Great Walk season has started it's harder (and more expensive) to get a spot at the hut. I reckon it would be worth a look if there's a decent weather window. No shooting within 500m of the track, but that still leaves a lot of good looking country.