Thread: Southern Tararuas

Late Feburary Southern Tararuas Weekend Hunt

I enjoy reading other trip reports especially ones of ground that i want to explore in the future so I thought id provide one myself. I think it will also serve to highlight the hind to stag ratios, and deer numbers in the local area for hunters to interpret according to their own ethics and ideas around conservation.

My brother and I decided to get up to Alpha Hut last weekend for some tops hunting and general exploration of our own backyard. Too often I would drive to other parts of the country when the southern tararuas is only 20 mins from my home in the Hutt Valley. With good weather predicted for the weekend we shouldered packs on Friday night and made the 18km, 5 1/2hrs walk to Alpha Hut from the Kaitoke Rd End. Reaching the hut at about 1.30am the next morning we struggled quietly with the alarm going off at 6.30am to make it up to the tops for some early morning hunting.

400m from the hut and out of the bush line we quickly spied 3 young stags relaxing by a small tarn. Spooked on approach I rushed a shot on a startled stag missing him as he made his escape. On reflection, im glad i clean missed as he should be afforded the chance to grow into a mature animal for another hunter to take in the future. Moving on towards Aston Peak we saw a mob of 10 (3 spikers, 7 hinds) feeding alongside the track. With so many eyes we were quickly spotted and the group moved away from us down towards the bushline. Now slightly dispondent and coming to the realisation that tops hunting has different challenges to stalking deer we got onto the binos and let the eyes do the walking for a change. Even with a lot of ground to cover it wasnt long until we spotted a group of 3 hinds feeding on a steep sided spur. We closed in via a covered apporach through dead ground until I was in 50m from the group. This time my marksmanship was better and i was lucky enough to take a yearling and large hind. I always get a kick out of taking animals on public land and this was made better by my young pup calmy taking me in on both deer. Boning everything out we made our way back to Alpha Hut to relax before a evening hunt. Seeing another 6 animals that evening we saw around 25 animals all up on the trip including some under headlight on the way in. Sunday morning saw us repeat the route out which was definitely more of a grind given the packs were full of meat. 46km walked and two animals taken was a good way to spend a weekend with the bro.

All up it was awesome to explore the Tararua tops, see quite a few animals, and meet a some good characters along the way. Hunting Alpha Hut in summer is a good weekend trip to consider.