Thread: When men were men

..have at it all you young at heart grey beards.
let us know about the days of culling and meat hunting.... and buggeritall you meat hwks join in too..Rex Forresters books on the era spurred this K1W1 into the sport and my dreams were filled with riding the strop and piles of carcasses waiting for pick up.

Do stories recounted to you by old cullers and meat hunters count?

plurry oath it does...if we dont keep them alive the stories will die.

I was actually wondering - can anyone recommend good books of old nz hunting stories? With lockdown all we can do is dream..

@Micky Duck This was my first hunting book. I devoured it. Read and re-read it continuously for a couple of years... I was on $48 a week as an apprentice butcher in 1979, and the book cost me $5 new. And; my mum hit the roof that I would spend so much money on a book! Many years later I loaned it out and it never got returned....... Forrester was my hero.........

I found this pic online of the rifles to use for hunting in that book.... Parker Hales 303s and ex military 303s and Mausers

In Scotland right after WWII there was a legendary Highland poaching gang that used a lorry kitted out with searchlights and a modified anti-aircraft Bren gun mounted on the back...

Ahh yes. Memories of steep hills, leaky rumpty huts, even rumptier bivvies, heavy Anson D-ring boots festooned with hobnails and tricounies, Mountain Mule tanker frame packs, white spirit stoves, bulky food (apart from Deb instant mashed spuds and freeze-dried peas), woollen clothing which weighed a ton when wet, an oilskin parka, a Fairydown bag, my trusty .303 and a Green River knife. Those were the days! Yeah, right. Looking back we must have been bloody mad! Still, I wouldn't have missed it for quids! Hitting civilisation after a few weeks in the hills with a pocketful of cash also conjures up a few memories! The gear available today makes us look like Neanderthals!

Originally Posted by caberslash

In Scotland right after WWII there was a legendary Highland poaching gang that used a lorry kitted out with searchlights and a modified anti-aircraft Bren gun mounted on the back...

You can't leave us hanging like that

well it seems these fellas are a bit shy....
I will add short tale concerning a member on here....

we were away on hunting trip way down south....
the 3 of us had roared up 1 antlered stag,then spent afternoon looking around before splitting up and heading back to camp...my Swedish mate n I had drop on two big hinds and enjoyed watching them walk...no boyfriend...
anyway we got back to camp and me old mate chipped me for not shooting one for camp meat...need a fawn he says...head down stream he says,go over slip and look across river.....so off I go,mighty .270 in hand...down river,across slip,look across river and BUGGAMESIDEWAYS there is hind and fawn just poking out of bush,200 ish yards away...nah I can do closer than that so put the stalk on,got to within 10 yards of hind as she below bank,she spotted me and scarpered across open ground,fawn followed before I dropped it on run.
EVERY single time Ive hunted with this chap I learn something new...he does things without thinking that I have to ask why...and then penny drops... many years hunting it has become instinct for him..
you young fells listen when an old grey beard speaks....
you know who you are..
thanks mate.

Originally Posted by thatguy

I was actually wondering - can anyone recommend good books of old nz hunting stories? With lockdown all we can do is dream..

This is a good starting point https://thehunter.nz/recommended-hunting-books/

But be advised that many of these books are now collectors items and are priced accordingly, the Banwell ones particularly so. I would also recommend all three of Peter Ryan’s books as well, true modern day classics

pack n rifle...good keen man.....great NZ hunting stories...memories of NZ derstalking..pretty much anything written by Tony Orman....Rex Forrester...Charlie Janes...Brian Burdon....

I think the best book about the chopper era is Mike Bennett’s “The Venison Hunters” (a widely held opinion to be fair). But another good one that seems to fly under the radar is Dave Ratcliffe’s “An Era Gone”; not as well written as the classics from Holden, Crump, or Banwell etc. but still a great yarn about the meat hunting era, both on foot and then in the machines

Bill Axbey’s “Along The Track” is also a favourite

the chopper boys ...helicopter hunters..both by Rex Forrester .....man they got my blood stirred up as a teenager.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the chopper boys ...helicopter hunters..both by Rex Forrester .....man they got my blood stirred up as a teenager.

Haven’t read either of those two unfortunately. But I do have “true hunting adventures”, it was ok but not great, hate to say it but I prioritised buying books from other authors after reading that one