Thread: Ruahine fly-in: The good and the bad of helicopters for hunters

I've been hunting now for 6 or 7 years, and have only just had my first fly-in trip.

We planned to head over the main range of the Ruahines to the Western side into a rarely used hut in an area that was miles from anywhere that received very little traffic, and had heaps of big grassy slips and faces above the main river and up side creeks.

Peter had been in there 8 years ago with his son and had a pretty special trip where they saw multiple deer each day, they shot a stag each off slip faces including his son shooting his very first deer. Good times.

As the trip was getting closer the anticipation was building, and the week before we were to go the weather forecast wasn't looking that promising, however it came good just in time. Got the word from the Pilot the day before that the trip was on!

Gear waiting to be loaded into the big machine


Ruahines here we come




The pilot gave us an up-close and personal view of some of the area on the way...




Our first view of our temporary home


After a quick un-load of the taxi we quickly settled into the hut


After seeing plenty of stag shit on the hut clearing, and reading in the hut book that no one had been in here for at least 3 months (trampers) and no hunters for ages, we were buzzing at the thought of undisturbed deer out feeding up on all the grassy faces up and down the main river.

Later that afternoon the three of us split up and went our separate ways to watch various slip faces, it was a a stunner of an evening, light winds, clear skys, the last of the sun was shining on the two faces i was watching.....i was quietly confident i was going to see deer very soon....



Next minute....the silence was shattered...

This blue bastard come buzzing down the river checking out every slip and clearing along the way....


Then a few minutes later he heads back over overhead....with another passenger! .....Bastards!


He continued back and forth buzzing around until dark.

We all arrived back at the hut after dark to share stories of the blue bastard, we were a little disheartened as we cooked our dinner.




For the next two days, (Friday and Saturday) we put in a good effort mostly focused on watching faces and slips, all with good grass that appeared to be mowed off short indicating deer were feeding on them.



Came across some Whio (Blue ducks) two adults with 5 young....


The river has some big boulders and some deep gorgy bits and travel was slow in some spots...


For a change of scenery on the Saturday afternoon i climbed high up the track behind the hut heading towards the tops gaining 400 meters of Altitude, sidling thru some nicer areas of more open bush and looking into various head basins and other faces that i came across....


On returning to the hut on Saturday night and catching up with the others, not a single deer had been seen the whole trip to that point, and we were being picked up at 11am the next morning, to say we were disappointed and quite bewildered was an under statement! Our only conclusion was that the choppers had been thrashing the area for a little while and the deer have become fully nocturnal and are not venturing out into the open at all until well after dark.

We had a few drinks and talked a bit of the normal shit, had a late feed. Then set the alarm for early the next morning for one last ditch effort to find a deer.

Once again we went our separate ways, the others heading up and down the main river to watch more faces, and i decided to head up the side creek in behind the hut. The others had each been up there in the previous days, but i hadnt and wanted to check it out.

I was told i had to go up past the log jam, then it started to open out and be less gorgy and there were a few nice slip faces. Well I got up to the log jam and climbed up the steep side above the creek on the true left to sidle around and above the jam.

As i was moving above the log jam the wind had a back gust and i felt it strong against the back of my neck, hmmm bugger. At that very moment i noticed quick movement down in the creek, a large stag must have got my wind not far in front of me and had spooked down into the creek and was heading up the other side directly opposite me.

As i un-slinged my rifle and quickly chambered a round and removed the scope cover i let out a yell which promptly stopped the stag, perfectly broadside in the open at around 40 yards, the stag looked straight at me, he threw his head back in an arrogant pissed off manor, my cross hair settled on his large shoulder and i squeezed the trigger......

Nothing!....... I bloody near pulled the trigger from the rifle......bloody safety was on.....

In the split second it took to flick that off he had turned and was sprinting up a steep rocky water fall up the side of the creek, i yelled again in an attempt to halt him again, hes not as stupid as i think, this time he wasnt stopping for anything, he knew he was right in the shit and was gapping it.....

My options would soon be out if he made the cover of the thicker bush, i had just one option....

He was running straight up, so i lined up on his back and as he gained height i swung the rifle upwards and squeezed the trigger as my crosshair passed over his neck.......Boom!

On the shot, he instantly fell and spectacularly tumbled end for end about four times back down the water fall he'd just ran up.

Even tho he ended up out of sight, there was no question he was down and dead. As i unloaded my rifle i noticed the water coming down the waterfall he was in turned fully red.

I made my way up to him, he had come to rest in an awkward steep spot, one of his long velvet antlers was broken in two places. So i tipped him over the edge and let him tumble a bit further down to a flatter spot to deal with him.











I got him broken down and cooled off, had a drink and a bite to eat in prep for the heavy slog back down the bouldery creek and back to the hut to make the agreed 9am return to get packed up all ready for our 11am pickup.



I arrived back at the hut to find the other two already there and eagerly awaiting my arrival after them hearing my shot.

They were stoked that i'd got one and retrieved the situation from going home total empty handed. The boys made me a cracker bacon sandwich while i cleaned myself up.

A couple of hours later our taxi home pulled up


All in all a bloody enjoyable trip, new country seen, good times with mates, and enjoyed the travel in the chopper, it wont be my last.

Looks like some great country, pity about the blue chopper.

Nice one

Nice looking area and well done on the Stag.

Did he get hung up on a branch, looks like two wounds to the back?

Did Jim no who's the robby was mate?
Nice write up.

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Cheers for the report.
Well done on the stag.
Shame about the heli pressure but its a lot better than the alternative.

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

Did he get hung up on a branch, looks like two wounds to the back?

I think the bullet skimmed his back, opening the skin just before connecting with his neck, either that or it got opened up by a sharp rock as he fell down the waterfall.

Great story - enjoyed it immensely.
Good you got the stag - despite the blue 'buzzard' nearly ruining your trip.

Nice. What rifle did you take?

Ok thanks

Originally Posted by BRADS

Did Jim no who's the robby was mate?
Nice write up.

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Jimmy never picked us up, he got a young fella to come grab us, but yeah he seemed to know whos the R22 was, based over the Western side by the sounds.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Nice. What rifle did you take?

I'd been told there was some pretty stretchy stuff so took the Mod 7 7Saum (and there was), however one of my bushpigs probably would have been more suitable in the end, but hey the 7Saum only has a 22" tube (without the Can). And i had some of my mag-fit spook and shoot 150 SGK rounds with me so no drama, did the deed.

Hope you claimed the reward on those wanted blue ducks aye @BRADS

Shame about the heli activity, good to see the old mate getting back out there.