Thread: New Years Harkness Trip

Morning All,

Last month I asked on here for some advice on hunting in the Harkness Valley. Thanks to all who gave a few tips etc on the area. And I said I would put up how I got on when I got back. But I suppose its easier to let the pictures to the talking!...

Cheers
Scott

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrXx7h5z8O8

Too slow - I watched that vid a couple of days ago!

Great Video, awesome to have the view/description of the area.

Thanks for taking the time to film/share

Thanks for that. Good result.

Cool, your video captured the real beauty of that area, I particularly liked the vegetation in the gully where the deer spent its last minutes.

Cheers

Solid haul up to the TePuke tops, great to see the family out there doing it and enjoying the scenery and experience. Nice fat stag to finish off the trip nicely.

Originally Posted by chainsaw

Solid haul up to the TePuke tops, great to see the family out there doing it and enjoying the scenery and experience. Nice fat stag to finish off the trip nicely.

Actually it was the opposite and looks can be deceiving. On that first split second glance I thought "Gee, thats a nice fat stag!". He had a big guts but actually he was in very poor condition. I took all 4 legs and back steaks out and when I boned it out there was bugger all! As an example, in the following few days after I got home I shot a Fallow Spiker and he had a tonne load more meat on the fallow spiker compared to the sika stag. So they must be struggling to find the good tucker up there.

Nice man. Cool spot. River crossing are a bit nicer in the summer, pretty fresh mid winter haha.

thanks for searing

sorry shearing searing

Looks as if you had a great trip and in good weather. Interesting to hear you say the stag was in poor condition as a while back now we were in Tussock and a stag I shot in November was in extremely poor condition , it was skin and bone, it still had hard antler which should have been dropped a month or so earlier. It was a while back (2010) but it appears that some animals struggle to find good feed, the brother in law shot a hind on the same trip and it was in good condition.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Looks as if you had a great trip and in good weather. Interesting to hear you say the stag was in poor condition as a while back now we were in Tussock and a stag I shot in November was in extremely poor condition , it was skin and bone, it still had hard antler which should have been dropped a month or so earlier.Attachment 128605Attachment 128606 It was a while back (2010) but it appears that some animals struggle to find good feed, the brother in law shot a hind on the same trip and it was in good condition.

Yes, the same situation. The bottom picture of yours the stag looks in good nick. But when you start skinning it you realise there is not much meat on the bones.

Interesting @Mooseman I think it was a hard year right across most of no for the deer last year.
The hind that I shot on Stewart Island was also very skinny, and barren! If I’d had a better look at her, not the glimpse through the crown fern I’d probably have let her go. When I butchered her she was pail like the the above stag. Seems to be almost veal in colour.
Mind you the one I did miss the next day was a big old hind that did look in good nick.
You can see the ribs stick through in this pic.

Lucky there was no one hunting further down the valley when you were flying the drone. It could have been in danger.

The areas these animals have been taken in have been subjected to Search and Destroy missions from DOC to reduce the animal numbers to improve Beech Forest recovery. May need to take a few more out, maybe, or is it that there isn't enough good feed about for all the deer.....don't really know the answer to that one.