Thread: When men were men

Originally Posted by mudgripz

Opa - well well!! Wondered if anyone would know of it.

Take the road from Whakamaru towards Turangi/Taupo, then turn right about 8ks up onto Arataki road. 3-4ks to our old farm. Another k on there used to be a sawmill there by the river back in the 50s-60s - Tutukau. Go across old logging bridge over Mangakino stream there and head left way off into hills - down a very steep forestry track known then as the zig-zag, and way back through the bush to Opa. From memory there was a river a few miles past Opa. Very few will know of that place - we hunted there often for many years. Probably all farmland now?

I used to haunt that area during the early '70s we called the Bullring. Hauled a lot of deer out of there up the steep part of the track in, where only those with a winch would venture down. Winches were rare back then. I caught my first deer in there 20th Jan. 1973. Shot the hind and put my dog after the fawn which came back down the gut out of the bush and I jumped in front of it. It knocked it's self out on my rifle leaving me with a trigger guard scar under my knee cap I still have today. I had about a 2k carry back to the Landrover left him untied as I had to retrieve mum for the chiller.
He, like all pet deer turned into a right asshole, but that was the start of my deer farming career.

Something I miss from those old meat hunting days is that flying feeling you get after you off load a heavy deer after a long carry.
Who remembers the $1 a pound months?

Originally Posted by Gamehunter

I used to haunt that area during the early '70s we called the Bullring. Hauled a lot of deer out of there up the steep part of the track in, where only those with a winch would venture down. Winches were rare back then. I caught my first deer in there 20th Jan. 1973. Shot the hind and put my dog after the fawn which came back down the gut out of the bush and I jumped in front of it. It knocked it's self out on my rifle leaving me with a trigger guard scar under my knee cap I still have today. I had about a 2k carry back to the Landrover left him untied as I had to retrieve mum for the chiller.
He, like all pet deer turned into a right asshole, but that was the start of my deer farming career.

Something I miss from those old meat hunting days is that flying feeling you get after you off load a heavy deer after a long carry.
Who remembers the $1 a pound months?

Ha,the flying feeling was actually a hard case thing alright,,twas bloody murder on the shoulders the next day though.
When veni hit the dollar a pound most chaps I knew went crazy, myself included, was full on madness .. good though.