Thread: When men were men

Originally Posted by gundoc

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!

You forgot to add; the b.o. pong around you after weeks in the bush and how others in civilization noticed it even when you didn’t !

Seems an ok spot to throw up some sorta shelter eh..lol can get a tad damp over in the Off Topic area.

My contribution. I reckon Venison Hunters is the best book I’ve read on that era. But…

About 40 years ago I was really lucky to spend a weekend with an ex West Coast culler, Selwyn Bucknell. He is mentioned a bit in Sea of Gold by Lew Sutherland. He also was the subject of a story in the old Outdoor (i think) called Bonanza which essentially was a story about how he poached Lew Sutherland’s block. As a young fella it was a great experience. He reckoned he never hunted the big tally blocks and only averaged about 600-800 a season. Now that’s a lot of deer. He talked about some of his culling mates with great reverence - John Henham, Lew Sutherland, Jock Fisher, Johnny Cummings etc. but when I mentioned Mike Bennett he had absolutely no time for him.

A few years later I was doing possums with an ex meat hunter/ chopper shooter from Fiordland and the Coast and he was of the same opinion about Mike Bennett. Reckoned he was an absolute piece of work and once he got his piper cub license was a poacher of all his “mates” blocks. He was at Mussel Point when Cliff Eggling and Cliff Peart fenced his plane in. Reckoned Cliff Peart was one of the most generous guys he ever met but he was totally exasperated by Boneheads poaching and general attitude. If you read River of Blood and Brian Conroys books there are a couple of veiled and not so veiled references to him.

Anyway thought I’d share this. Just an opinion from a couple of guys that I met that were part of a time we will never see again.