Thread: Well at least we got some exercise....

Up 4am Saturday morning and headed off to hanmer to meet a couple of mates and walk into Waiua hut hoping to stumble upon a red deer or maybe chamois .
Left the truck and was reasonable weather . Walked into the hut along the river flats keeping our ears and eyes open and glassed all faces and ground ahead .
Reached the hut to find already 5 people staying there so carried on to a bivy another 4 km on .
Canada geese everywhere which were taking flight and honking their beaks off every time we broke cover .
Reached the bivy to find a wooden shack half the size of your average small garden tool shed and set up camp under the trees.....then the heavens opened....







So had a restless night in the tents while it pissed down and fairly high winds screaming down the valley .
And so it was all day Sunday as well . But we persevered and went walkies another couple or so kays up the track to check out the area and find any likely looking spots we thought the reds might be hiding in . Found a reasonable amount of sign in a few spots just up from camp and noted the locations . Glassed as much area as we could , faces and slips etc , but as was still raining visibility was poor . So after a days exploration head back to camp looking like drowned rats for another wet rainy windy night .
The rain finally stopped at 4am Monday morning so we decided to split up , I would hunt the flats and side creeks ( which at this point were rivers in their own right ), and the others would hit the tops.....
We were all back at camp around 4 with no animals sighted .... No roars heard or replied too....
Weather was looking dodgy again so we decided to head back to the first hut and packed up our gear and started the walk out hoping something would poke it's head out before dark . If we were hunting geese it would have seemed like xmas , but again nothing with four legs spotted....no roars heard or replied too....
Empty hut so off with all our cold wet clothes and spark up the fire for our one and only warm comfortable night .
Up next morning and pack up for a slow walk back to the truck . Blue skies above for the first time since leaving the truck Saturday .
So slowly hunt our way back along the flats but with wet grass and sun the mist slowly grew to the point that visibility was down to 100 mtrs or so for a large chunk of the walk.....







Back to the truck wet tired and sore for the 1 1/2 hr drive back to hanmer followed by a 4 hr drive home.
And not a single 4 legged animal seen ( except hares and possums ).

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Up 4am Saturday morning and headed off to hanmer to meet a couple of mates and walk into Waiua hut hoping to stumble upon a red deer or maybe chamois .
Left the truck and was reasonable weather . Walked into the hut along the river flats keeping our ears and eyes open and glassed all faces and ground ahead .
Reached the hut to find already 5 people staying there so carried on to a bivy another 4 km on .
Canada geese everywhere which were taking flight and honking their beaks off every time we broke cover .
Reached the bivy to find a wooden shack half the size of your average small garden tool shed and set up camp under the trees.....then the heavens opened....

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So had a restless night in the tents while it pissed down and fairly high winds screaming down the valley .
And so it was all day Sunday as well . But we persevered and went walkies another couple or so kays up the track to check out the area and find any likely looking spots we thought the reds might be hiding in . Found a reasonable amount of sign in a few spots just up from camp and noted the locations . Glassed as much area as we could , faces and slips etc , but as was still raining visibility was poor . So after a days exploration head back to camp looking like drowned rats for another wet rainy windy night .
The rain finally stopped at 4am Monday morning so we decided to split up , I would hunt the flats and side creeks ( which at this point were rivers in their own right ), and the others would hit the tops.....
We were all back at camp around 4 with no animals sighted .... No roars heard or replied too....
Weather was looking dodgy again so we decided to head back to the first hut and packed up our gear and started the walk out hoping something would poke it's head out before dark . If we were hunting geese it would have seemed like xmas , but again nothing with four legs spotted....no roars heard or replied too....
Empty hut so off with all our cold wet clothes and spark up the fire for our one and only warm comfortable night .
Up next morning and pack up for a slow walk back to the truck . Blue skies above for the first time since leaving the truck Saturday .
So slowly hunt our way back along the flats but with wet grass and sun the mist slowly grew to the point that visibility was down to 100 mtrs or so for a large chunk of the walk.....

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Back to the truck wet tired and sore for the 1 1/2 hr drive back to hanmer followed by a 4 hr drive home.
And not a single 4 legged animal seen ( except hares and possums ).

Stunning. Small wonder that it's referred to as the Mainland.

Nice country to hunt in,should be a few deer around there.Maybe the big buzzard scared them off.

Know that 1st photo well,was camping there when the Kaikoura earthquake hit.Thort the whole place was going to cave in.

They are out there but hiding up, and definitely roaring in the St James area, at least they were on Tuesday evening.

Thanks for that little tale. Its always good (in a sad sort of way) to hear when things dont go to plan. Makes me realize that its not only me that comes home empty handed.

Choice looking country alright, shame there wasn't much happening but you have to go and check it out.

Awesome scenery, It's a shame you had to share it with the others at the hut.
Sounds like there was some potential up there if the.gods had allowed.
We are off into Springs Junction for a few days, I'll probably come out with photos too..

Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by ROKTOY

Awesome scenery, It's a shame you had to share it with the others at the hut.
Sounds like there was some potential up there if the.gods had allowed.
We are off into Springs Junction for a few days, I'll probably come out with photos too..

Sent from my SM-G390Y using Tapatalk

Truth be known it wasn't just photos we came out with. Also brought several litres of river water out in my boots and a large chunk of the sandfly population in my tent.....

get permit and go get you some goose meat..... if you happen to run into deer,awesome..... lovely looking country and excersise is good.

Originally Posted by Ftx325

Truth be known it wasn't just photos we came out with. Also brought several litres of river water out in my boots and a large chunk of the sandfly population in my tent.....

I thought you were to leave your foot prints only. Do you have a current sandfly license?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

get permit and go get you some goose meat..... if you happen to run into deer,awesome..... lovely looking country and excersise is good.

As far as I'm aware no permit required for canada geese . Would have shot a few for the pot but thought 338 may actually be overkill (rarely do I think that way) and ammo getting scarce . We had a 243 with us we could have used but the owner left the bolt in the truck ...... Ooops

Originally Posted by outlander

I thought you were to leave your foot prints only. Do you have a current sandfly license?

At one point I thought a blood transfusion may be required due to blood loss....
Voracious buggers and bloody huge too for sandflies . We were literally surrounded by clouds of them the moment we stopped moving.
It always baffles me what they eat when I'm not around....

Originally Posted by Ftx325

At one point I thought a blood transfusion may be required due to blood loss....
Voracious buggers and bloody huge too for sandflies . We were literally surrounded by clouds of them the moment we stopped moving.
It always baffles me what they eat when I'm not around....

Is the sandfly problem endemic to the South. Most exquisite areas are plagued by something bloody nasty. Australia the same with flies, sandflies and things with nails in their gums.

You taken Remmy out for an armed walk yet?