Thread: Public land deer - 53 years ago.

About once a week a small farmer(500 bales=4-5hrs work for 3)might bring out morning tea.Hot flasks of tea,scones,biscuts and sandwiches.They went down a treat as you were so hungry.They treated you like kings.

More old pics from the meat days...

Puketois



Tararua head



Kaimanawas



Ruahines



Waewaepas with the old 303's. This was skin hunting.



Puketois



Puketois



Ruahines



Puketois



Ruahines



Ruahines



Fire lighting a 400 acre scrub block on the farm



Ruahines glassing up the Pari stream



Puketois



Kaimanawas

excellent pics @Tahr , can def see you're Craigs papa!

Very interesting Bruce, I meat hunted the Whirinaki area for a while in the mid 70s after culling for the NZFS. Have to say those were some of the best years of my life. We didn’t make heaps but enjoyed life, .60 cents a pound when I sold my first deer then it went up to a dollar plus a pound. Mostly used a Sako 243 over that period great rifle wish I still had it.After I got married I used to sell all the deer I shot as it was a good earner asRabbit Board pay wasn’t the beast back then. I never had a good camera back then which was a shame as I missed out on a lot of good photos and memories being recorded, since 1980 when I bought a decent camera I have photos of all the animals I have shot bar one. When the mind starts to fade I hope the photos will refresh my memory. It was a great era to be hunting in that’s for sure.

Great thread, i grew up, a touch late for the meat hunting, but Dad was a culler, bridge builder and hut builder for NZFS, so lots intresting yarns when his work mates were about,
I too, carted hay with an old bedford with a 1.5 m extension to the deck, bulls and Marton area, 6 high took us to just over 200, 240 with a double row to tie in the top if paddocks were roungh, had to stand on the side loader and biff up over head, sure was fit, 10 g hay the first summer, with a neighbour son who started contracting,
.75 .80c a bale, depending on distance from base, and cart distance, i got .10 cents, increased to .12c the second summer.
Hated pea straw as it would scratch the hell out of you legs,

Shot my first deer up the Ruahines, with a NZFS .222 sako, age 15

The old leather leggings were good for protecting the legs.These bloody tight baling twines on the early morning baled lucerne or pea straw were a bitch on the fingers.

Ah this is a great thread.

My great grandfather was a culler Sid kershaw, from a young age I loved reading his old diaries and seeing the photos, definately pass all you history down!

Nostalgic to say the least!

Originally Posted by Tahr

More old pics from the meat days...

Puketois

Attachment 214148

Tararua head

Attachment 214149

Kaimanawas

Attachment 214150

Ruahines

Attachment 214151

Waewaepas with the old 303's. This was skin hunting.

Attachment 214152

Puketois

Attachment 214153

Puketois

Attachment 214154

Ruahines

Attachment 214155

Puketois

Attachment 214156

Ruahines

Attachment 214157

Ruahines

Attachment 214158

Fire lighting a 400 acre scrub block on the farm

Attachment 214159

Ruahines glassing up the Pari stream

Attachment 214160

Puketois

Attachment 214161

Kaimanawas

Attachment 214162

Great how people could shoot deer back then without wearing camo clothing.

In the mid-late70s my younger cousin from Timaru was one of the youngest pilots to get his commercial chopper licence(18yrs old).He and his shooting partner brought a R22 for deer recovery.All going well till they got it serviced while on the West Coast.After the service,in the evening they were taking a few containers of fuel up a valley for the next days hunting.They never got half way up the valley.None commercial bolt was a replacement in the tail blade holder.R22 was shaken out of the sky on top of the fuel containers under neath.You can amagine the rest.Bloody waste of good lifes.

Originally Posted by Trout

In the mid-late70s my younger cousin from Timaru was one of the youngest pilots to get his commercial chopper licence(18yrs old).He and his shooting partner brought a R22 for deer recovery.All going well till they got it serviced while on the West Coast.After the service,in the evening they were taking a few containers of fuel up a valley for the next days hunting.They never got half way up the valley.None commercial bolt was a replacement in the tail blade holder.R22 was shaken out of the sky on top of the fuel containers under neath.You can amagine the rest.Bloody waste of good lifes.

Ouch. Not good.

Young cousine,saved every cent he earned.Worked his school holidays,left school at 15.Worked the freezing works in the summers and did possums skins down south in the winters.Never owned a car,lived on nothing.Got his flying licences and half deposit for buying chopper buy the time he was 18-19 years old.

Originally Posted by Trout

In the mid-late70s my younger cousin from Timaru was one of the youngest pilots to get his commercial chopper licence(18yrs old).He and his shooting partner brought a R22 for deer recovery.All going well till they got it serviced while on the West Coast.After the service,in the evening they were taking a few containers of fuel up a valley for the next days hunting.They never got half way up the valley.None commercial bolt was a replacement in the tail blade holder.R22 was shaken out of the sky on top of the fuel containers under neath.You can amagine the rest.Bloody waste of good lifes.

I didn't think any r22's were present in NZ until at least the eighties.

Hmm was about 1978 the accident.I always thort it was R22?.Any how it fell out of the sky.

Originally Posted by Trout

Hmm was about 1978 the accident.I always thort it was R22?.Any how it fell out of the sky.

Probably a 300. The white 300 I used to shoot out of got mistaken a few times by angry farmers for a white r22. Quite handy having the police looking to ID a white 22 when we had a 300! Anyhow tragic story. There was a similar accident Opotiki way in the 90's involving a r22 caused by tail rotor issues, I think the engineer ended up sharing a cell with Bubba.

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

Probably a 300. The white 300 I used to shoot out of got mistaken a few times by angry farmers for a white r22. Quite handy having the police looking to ID a white 22 when we had a 300! Anyhow tragic story. There was a similar accident Opotiki way in the 90's involving a r22 caused by tail rotor issues, I think the engineer ended up sharing a cell with Bubba.

yes- bogus tail rotor parts - I believe done in Singapore - just freshly painted used parts sold as new - I think it was the owner went away - flew with him a few times in a 300