I've had a fair bit of time in lieu owing lately due to some solid weeks at work. I had a few too many days for my bosses liking and the mrs gave me the green light so the solution was to go bush.
The freezer is still pretty full from my last successful outing with @bigbear so I thought I'd burn the days heading somewhere new.
The weather all looked ok for at least four days and so I was off towards Taupo for something different to my usual Ruahine or Eastern Kaweka bush.
The walk through Poronui was both hot and boring but I managed to keep it relatively short, getting to Oamaru Hut in a shade under 3 hrs.
Oamaru is a nice spot but was a bit like Queen St with a party of ten or so high school kids hanging out for the week. It was an easy call to have a quick bite and soldier on to the famous Jap Creek.
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I still had plenty of time up my sleeve for a look around so sidled some faces on the true right of Jap Creek before dropping back into the Oamaru to nosey along the river bed. Finn indicated on the first deer of the trip on the rivers edge but as the big hind trotted across the river on the stones I was mindful of a possible ricochet so she went free.
Got up early the next morning to try catch another one out off the track towards Boyd but it wasn't our lucky day. 5 and a bit hrs after leaving Jap Creek I was standing here.
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That part of the Ngaruroro was quite scenic, in a stark and barren sort of way. Not much grows there apart from tussock and monowai scrub but there were a few areas of flushed up grass that I made a point to remember for another day. I had my eye on a particular gully downriver of the hut and so Finn and I shuffled up into some scrub to sit over it for the evening. Unfortunately for us the only thing we saw was a falcon as it hunted the valley, and so deerless once again we headed back in the dark. I read the hut book on arrival and the previous three weeks had been solidly booked so it was no surprise that the deer weren't out in the magic hours.
I awoke to fog clouding out the entire valley, and the top of the fog bank wasn't too far from the bottom of the hut deck. I wasn't confident of getting a deer in the mist even with the help of the dog so took a long breakfast and ended up at Tussock for lunch.
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I had wanted to get to Tussock for a long time now and I was stoked to have gotten there on foot. The feeling of satisfaction was made better when a guy popped his head out the door as if expecting me and told me he'd just boiled the jug!
The guy and his young viszla had flown in the same day I started walking. They hadn't seen too many deer either but were happy enough with their trip and so I spent an hour or so having lunch and chatting about the park. Dave from Te Horo if you're reading thanks for the cuppa mate!
He gave me a couple of pointers on the best way to get to my next destination and recommended to go straight up the valley. I took him at his word, set a compass bearing and after a good bush bash through some fine Kaweka scrub we were at this awesome spot in the Otorehinaiti Saddle.
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This shelter is a relatively recent addition to the Kawekas, put in in 2015 with a couple of others to encourage hunters to move further away from the main huts to control deer in areas where pressure might be less than usual.
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Finn was winding well while I unpacked and set up. It was rude to keep him waiting and 200m later he was locked up on a hind and her very young fawn. As they made their escape I gave him a good pat for his part in the situation. An hour or two later we were sitting over a couple of guts much like this.
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Finn got a wind and headed uphill on a mission. A few mins later a bedded stag peered over his little spur at us, ran off and squeaked himself hoarse as he ran away. I had ruined it by standing on a branch at the wrong moment. Typical.
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The next day I wanted to get down to Oamaru from the saddle and chose to go down a long ridge to the river, hunting my way down over the day.
I had the wind up my arse and across my sides for most of the day and I kept bumping deer after deer as I descended the ridge. The lower third of the ridge turned thick and the dog led me down the wrong spur after a deer which we never even saw. I was unhappy at this but the dog didn't care in the least. We got back onto the ridge, pushing through absolute crap for another couple of hours when Finn started to get keen on another side spur.
We didn't have too long to go to the valley bottom by then and where he was looking looked easier than the main ridge so I followed him down. 50 metres later Finn was locked up pointing downhill into an open beech gully. I walked out to his left to get a look when I heard a squeal from the gully. One squeal became more and as I shuffled further along the hillside a young hind broke from the bottom of the gut.
As she ran along an obvious game trail I set the crosshairs on where she was headed and squeezed off as she made thicker cover. I opened the bolt and heard some crashing before it got quiet. I was quite sure I had hit her, but Finn confirmed it as he found her within a few feet of where she disappeared. She was a tiny animal, both dry and not carrying a fawn so was a good one to take for the herd.
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From there I took the good bits and the jaw, gave the dog a few pats and some meat, and managed to fit it all in his pack without much effort. 9 hrs after leaving the biv I was at Oamaru as the sky grew black. 12.5 hours after leaving the biv I made it to the carpark and outran the rain, absolutely knackered after four great days in the hills and approximately 90 kms covered in total.
Now to rest the feet for a week or so before the next mission..
