Waipakihi Labour Weekend

Afternoon Team.

Thinking about an excursion over the long weekend into the Waipakihi hut - never been that side of the Kaimanawas before but shot a fair few from Clements / Oamaru / Cascade side.

Thinking going Umakarikari --> Waipakihi hut rather than walking up the river , weather isn't looking the best.

Any top tips / suggestions / tricks for young players?

Also wondering what range you lads usually shoot in there , as that'll be the deciding factor between whether I bring the .45/70 or the 8x57.

Cheers Team

if the weather is good the urchin/umakarikari is fine. River has a lot of crossings and is pretty thick going.
However it'd be prudent to carry a decent supply of water as you have to drop down quite a lot to find it depending on the time of year.

As for caliber it depends on the time of year. there is a lot of bush edge to glass and the bush can be quite thick. I'd personally use the 8mm, there is a sika hunting tips pdf floating around google from NZGUNS about waipakihi.

im picking auckland and hamilton will be out of lockup by then so take a fly or tent as the hut might be packed......still be a it early for them to be out and about the tops maybe moving up and down to the valley from halfway in the cover.....i'd take the 8mm just a bit more legs if you got it set up right

was just thinking another option in that area is to go up over the urchin theres a small campsite on the left before you break out onto the tops and from there you can drop down to the valley/river flats which should be starting to get some spring growth

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Originally Posted by scotty

was just thinking another option in that area is to go up over the urchin theres a small campsite on the left before you break out onto the tops and from there you can drop down to the valley/river flats which should be starting to get some spring growth

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I've crashed a couple times in that campsite - it's a goodun.

Last time i was up there it was late summer. Got ridiculously hot up on urchin and a bloody waste of time being on the tops.

Might take that advice though - avoid the hut and hunt the valleys in the AM and PM

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Originally Posted by scotty

im picking auckland and hamilton will be out of lockup

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I think you might need to see a doctor as your sounding delusional

Well you won't need your tent, no Jaffas or Mooloo's allowed.

Yeah looked at that.


Ah well spent a bit of time in that area in the same weather.

bahahah

river flats near thunderbolt would be worth a nudge if you have time

Umakarikari is an absolute dog when weather is bad. Hunted it a lot over the years and rarely done any good in the rain- its very exposed and most of the bush around the tops is very dense and extremely hard to hunt.. The opposite is true when its good weather and IMO a great spring and roar spot

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Originally Posted by Barefoot

your sounding delusional

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i probably am .... ive been off work for a month already dont even know what day of the week it is let alone when the next long weekend is.....

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Originally Posted by Masperjay

Yeah looked at that.


Ah well spent a bit of time in that area in the same weather.

bahahah

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Yes well it can get worse than Waiouru up there remember it's got a bit of altitude so it gets even colder. I will never forget frightening the crap out of some trampers at the Waipakihi hut, arriving at 1:30 am in shite weather. They thought we were madmen.

I had more luck on the river flats than the tops but if you are going to hunt the tops take the 8mm there are some definitely long shots up there (far to far for my SKS!).

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Originally Posted by Mohawk .308

Ya have to feel for the Aucklanders, it’s up there with some of the longest lockdowns in the world. There must be so many businesses that will go broke under these current restrictions.

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Ha apparently we are allowed to book holidays for Christmas. How bloody patronising.

To be honest I would be happier if the kids could just attend school, online learning is a very sad replacement.

I was up Urchin for a look on Saturday. Still a bit early for the tops, very little food and no sign in the open at all. Frost and some snow still in the shaded spots, so take a jersey...

Attachment 181601

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Originally Posted by Ross Nolan

I was up Urchin for a look on Saturday. Still a bit early for the tops, very little food and no sign in the open at all. Frost and some snow still in the shaded spots, so take a jersey...

Attachment 181601

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Nice photo

Gorgeous spot on a nice day.

My pick is hunt down closer to the valley floor. North facing gullys. Only the odd one will be above the bush edge.

Early December: its a whole new ball game:thumbsup:

XR500:thumbsup:

The faces under the dog in the pic are good this time of the year. Get down the rocky spurs off the main ridge and glass into the warm gully heads.

Also the country on the right (sort of sth/east I guess) as you pass the Urchin trig across the main creek is warm and deer are in there all winter. Drop down and glass across into the windfall. Or cross the creek and bush stalk it. Its thick but gets better up the creek on the true left.

You walk past a lot of deer between the trig and the river. I used to meat hunt it during the winter in the window after a southerly had been though. Down on the right of the trig as you head up is lower and warmer than the rest of the area.

Yep been in there a lot over the years, if you head up towards junction tops behind the hut there are a number of gullies and hollows where you get a lot of deer moving after the rain.
Always take a tent as turned up at the hut once not realising it was a long weekend and found 27 trampers there, hut can be a bit like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates "you never know what your going to get"
There was always good numbers of deer in there but the last time I was there there had been a search and destroy program going on as found quite a few carcasses and shotgun shells, was a while back so numbers may have come back.
good luck.