Thread: First Kills - with VietnamCam and KiwiGreg

Weekends that start in a police car seem to always end up well for me for some reason and this one was no different! After a quick ride to the airport to say good bye to the love of my life, I was off on my way to Sunny Nelson for a hunt that VietnamCam and I had been organising for a few weeks. Cam had sorted out a few spot x's and z's to ensure that I was well on my way to achieving my goal for a kill not of the varmint kind before Christmas.

Wellington was putting on a on a great show and I was greeted in Nelson with the same lovely weather.



Before the hunting could begin I was destined for my favourite Nelson pub for a catch up with my good friend Dave. Friday night saw me staying in a hostel for the first time. YHA Nelson was great for just twenty bucks! Also this soldier couldn’t handle leaving the room in such a state – I folded up blankets and duvets of departed guests to ensure we all matched before being picked up by Dave and heading to the NZDA range.



A quick play with the Russian 22 and the majority of our postal shoots were done. I’ve never really worn ear muffs when around a 22, but it was completely necessary on Saturday morning as some idiot at the main range had an elephant gun or a cannon or something similar. BOOM every sixty seconds. Like I said, madman…



Anyway a character emerged from around the corner and the mortar fire seemed to die off for a bit. It was KiwiGreg coming to give us a bit of a poke in the guts and a rack up for our less than sniper worthy efforts. We packed up our gear and moved over to the longer range to knock over our Wild Cats (if they hadn’t run off with the war going on already) and have a go at some other 100m targets with two different 243’s. I did pretty well with the heavier Remmington wooden stock 243 for sale but really put the cherry on top when I cracked out an inch grouping with Dave’s hot little rifle Don’t worry Dave, when you grow up you might be as awesome as me one day…

KiwiGreg had since left to give us some quiet and Cam rocked up to the range to collect me. We got some ‘advice’ from some dude who featured in both Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit and set off to kill some stuff. Hugs and waves goodbye to Dave as I loaded up the truck ready for the next day of unknown.



Within about half an hour of arriving at this beautiful playground, we spotted a mob of goats on a warm sunny face that Cam reckoned were fair game. It was go time for this soldier! I seemed to forget how stupid warm I was in my jeans and thermal and tried to hush the squeaky boots as we tip toed up a small track. We were following the bleat of a silly wee goat that showed herself to us around the bend. I watched her disappear around the corner through the scope of that heavy Remmington 243. Luckily she tottered along around to a good position and calmed with soft words from Cam, I was off with a well-aimed shot to the shoulder. I’d shot my first goat! Another two rounds had her falling down a scree slope a few hundred meters to our front. And all of a sudden I remembered how warm I was! After a chuckle and “I guess we should go get it now then eh!” I was tail end Charlie on Cam down into the small valley. I soon discovered that my new knife was not so sharp after all. Cam did a good job of not laughing too hard at me with my first handful of goat bum hole and blunt knife in the other, hopelessly hacking away. I (we) got there in the end.

Cam dragged the nanny up a few tens of meters up and I stupidly asked how heavy she was. Goat dropped, Cam was on his way back down. “You give it a go then. I’m off to get the camera..” Whoops! We met back at the wagon, stripped off some layers, got shorts on and shared a couple of cold Red Bulls and planned where to from there.



We headed up the road with more stunning views on either side. Cam was keen to check out a new hut being built at the summit. We glassed some goats a few hundred meters away and the lovely 308 made an appearance to knock over some billies. I had a play with the binos and enjoyed the breeze while Cam figured out some gadgets on his phone. Technology, eh?



The hut was awesome and the view even better. We then headed back down to the flat ground to check out another spot. We drove through a few teenage memory areas for Cam then arrived up into a spot that hadn’t seen much action in a while. Where we looking for pigs? I think so. Or maybe we were just walking around the bush aimlessly. I’m actually not too sure. One thing we did notice was the distinct lack of birds singing due to that old chestnut 1080. By the time we got back to the truck it was cooling off well and truly and I was hungry. As we found out later, too bad McD’s was on the menu for dinner.

Feed done, more shit talking ticked off, layers piled on and we were off to pick up KiwiGreg and head out to spot x. Despite being adamant that I would stay in the front seat I was soon kicked out to the back to accommodate the legs of Greg. After a bit of a drive and more mud-slinging we were there. My gosh, just seeing the reflection of a red’s blue-green eyes got me excited for the night to come. We cracked out the 22 and swapped positions in the truck and I was set to work sniping bunnies for a good few hours. What fun! The layers I had piled on seemed to be more of a burden during a few truck to ground transitional moments. I was happy to hear “Good shot!” “Well done!” ring out from the truck and was set on continuing this as a theme for the evening. We collected up a few of the bunnies that landed near the truck and kept up the muddy farm land in search of something bigger and better.

Near midnight saw that familiar blue green flash in the spotlight a few hundred meters out of my rifle’s capability with me behind the wheel of it. But wait – another pair closer. Greg snatched his plan B out of the wagon and I was instructed to the front. Whispers started, directions were given. Then the light came out again and BOOM it was giggles all round as our ‘closer pair’ turned out to be a load of miffed sheep, slightly upset that we’d woken them. Ah well, off to another stupid Taranaki gate or whatever the heck those dumbs things are called and up and onward to get a better position for the actual deer we had seen further away. We were there sooner than I thought. Out of the ute and whispered directions started again. The boys led the way with squeaky boots not far behind, this time armed with the heavy goat-killer. Greg still had his plan B.

Over a fence and we were onto the money. The silly stag thought he was safe – he thought wrong! We flanked to a new position that proved a window to a neck shot. I, none the wiser of what would follow this shot, moved into position and sent one flying over the paddock to the Stag in the bush. “Good shot!” and he was down. I caught my breath and followed the boys to the bushline. Once I caught up to them I soon realised that with neck shots sometimes a little help is needed to put the beast to bed. It wasn’t long until it was goodnight nurse for this Red; sweat poured off the faces of my companions. Well, I’d done it! With a little help from my friends (Joe Cocker, anyone?) of course.





Any other Red would be miles away by then as we laughed, shook hands and hugged over my first deer. It was time to get dirty and Greg’s natural instruction style took over as I soon was up to my elbows in deer. What was that about a big handful of nuts, Cam? Guts well and truly gone, it was time to learn how to carry it. With a hand from Greg we were away. Phew, hard work!









Back at the wagon it was time for another red bull and chocolate bar. This soldier has never eaten so much crap in such a small space of time. The men loaded up the truck and we were off for another looksee somewhere else. I promptly nodded off in the back seat.

Sometime after that I woke to the sound of a river and we were parked up. Sleep time for the boys too, I was told. After an hour of the engine being turned off I snuck my sleeping bag out from my pack and managed to doze off again, despite complaints of cold from softcock Cam in the front seat. I offered to share the unzipped bag as a giant down blanket but was met with a cheeky retort from the jokers in the front seat, naturally.

Six AM and it was time for a stalk. First though we had to empty our guts and apparently my tummy wanted to do it through the front end. Too much teenager food is never good for such an esteemed young athlete like myself… a few more goes of trying to get rid of the stuff and I still felt like crap but we were on a mission and stalking we would go!
This spot proved results quickly as two great big Reds looked down the barrel straight at Greg. Too slow though, they were off with a shot. Three blaze NZHS beanies would put the shits up any creature though to be fair.

We walked a little further and I gave up carrying Greg’s cannon as the adrenaline wore off and I was feeling sickly again. The boys whipped out the awesome binos and we enjoyed the country we were suddenly surrounded by.





We were back to the truck and the hunting was done. A few more Army stories were told as we packed up our gear. A quick thanks over a brew at the cocky’s farm house saw the end of a long night for us. It was smiles all round of course as we headed to Cam’s old man’s to chop up the still warm Stag in the back of the wagon.







More anatomy lessons for me and the job was done. What an amazing weekend!

Loose ends were tied up and the 243 returned after Cam lopped the legs off my goat that was hanging in his wood shed. My pack was full and it was home time. Luckily a bit of eyelid batting still does the trick as I was 26kg over weight for my flight back to Wellington! Not a penny was paid for the extra luggage. I made it home just in time to shoot off to graduate from dog obedience school and receive my free trip to Auckland as a prize for top student.

I want to give another huge thanks to KiwiGreg and VietnamCam for such an amazing weekend. I really feel like I’ve made some friends for life and couldn’t have picked nicer guys to share my first small game hunting experience with. I’m looking forward to the next trip, but maybe I’ll bring my own food next time!