Recently spent a very enjoyable 3 nights a Otukota hut in the Ruahines, this was part of an organised club hunt with 2 other parties of 3 going to Colenso hut and Ironbark hut. I haven't had a full rundown on how the other two parties got on but think they got an animal each between them, with the weather playing a big part on seeing a few deer.
The rivers had been running as low as they get until a week before our fly in date , but typical, heavy rain in the Ruahines meant all rivers were running high and uncrossable so for us at Otukota we were limited to the hut side of the river.
With little hunting in the area since the roar there were a few handy deer close to the hut, with Mark shooting a hind and yearling/fawn on a steep slip close to the hut and myself shooting what ill call a yearling that was standing on the track, but really just a fawn LOL, but it will be good eating.
Keith had some bad luck with his rifle bolt jamming which cost him a deer and the next day after he thought he had fixed the problem missed another deer with trigger problems on his rifle so very frustrating for him.
We really only had 2 days of reasonable weather with rain and wind coming in again on our last night there and only just cleared enough for the helicopter to pick us up mid afternoon.
There was originally a 1080 drop scheduled for the northern Ruahines in May but the drop has been put off till June/July. I was interested in having a look around soon after a 1080 drop just to see the results for myself so that will have wait for another time.
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Walked up to the boundary with Mokai station and off course seen a few up there which was good to see.Attachment 251791Attachment 251792
