Thread: Hihitahi Challenge 2018

I am very pleased to announce the date for the 2018 Hihitahi Challenge. The Challenge will be held on Saturday the 27th of January, 2018. The 2018 event will be very similar to the 2017 event but we always try to improve it and change a few things to keep competitors on their toes. The event will still include hiking, basic navigation, shooting, distance estimation, flora & fauna identification, first aid, observation and we will see about throwing in something new as well.

We have been extremely well supported with sponsors (always more prizes than we have had competitors!). We will be approaching sponsors again for prizes for the 2018 event. If you know someone or a business that might be interested in supporting the event (or even being involved on the day) then let me know and I’ll get in touch with them.





Navigation Skills:
The competitor will come across several designated navigation points while moving around the course. At each of these points the competitor will determine the navigation values indicated on their score card. The values may include a magnetic bearing to another location, a distance estimate to another location, a grid reference, or an estimate of the competitor’s arrival time to another location. The use of a GPS will not be allowed!

Distance Estimation Skills:
At each shoot stage the competitor will have to estimate the distance to each target as their actual distances will not be given. The competitors distance estimate will be recorded on their score card. No rangefinders will be allowed. In order to score the competitor will typically be required to estimate the distance to target to within 10% (or there abouts).

Shooting Skills:
The competitor will come across several stages that require them to shoot at targets. Each shoot stage will involve multiple target to be shot under a time limit.

Medical First Aid Skills:
The competitor will be presented with one of three different practical medical exercises i.e. an actual patient with a fake injury. A first aid kit will be provided to them and they will be asked to treat the patient within a time limit. The competitor will also be given 10x first aid related, mostly multi-choice questions to answer as well.

Flora and Fauna Identification:
A section of the course will have trees and or animals identified on it. The competitor shall record the tree type or animal on their score card. Tree identification books or other resources i.e. your smart phone will not be allowed! We have made this section of the competitor multi-choice as well.

Observation Skills:
Competitors will be challenged to locate and identify a number of object placed in front of them. They will be given an area to observe to try and find these objects. The objects will mostly be hunting and camping related.
This is a favourite stage for competitors and is much harder than it sounds!

Also we will again be placing numbers around the course at random intervals and locations. Competitors will be scored on how many of these numbers they can locate and record correctly on their course map.

Basic fitness:
The course follows a farm access track, is approximately 10km in length and involves an elevation change of about 200m. Competitors will choose their own pace though and a high level of fitness is not required to be able to complete the course.
There will be no weather cancellation. If it rains then the competition will still continue, wet weather gear is advisable if it does rain. The shoot location is exposed and so competitors should plan to be out in the weather/wind all day. The course is between 800m and 1000m above sea level.

Individuals and Teams:
For the 2018 event we will have entry for both individual competitors and also two person teams. Each individual and each team will receive one score card and individuals will not compete directly against teams.
Only an individual competitor can pick up the trophy!

Entry fees:
The entry fee for the 2018 Hihitahi Challenge will be $40 per competitor and half that for competitors 16 years of age or under.

Just message me or send me an email to register and I'll send you some details.

Good on ya Gillie

Hi Everyone,
We are just approaching sponsor at the moment i will be sorting entries and more details very early in the New Year.

Video from last year:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FcE1WSSZrY&t=4s

Trophy is done. Course is basically all planned out. A bit of last minute set up to do on Friday but all good to go.

Could do with some more competitors though!

Looks good

It is with a fair amount of disappointment that we won't be running this competition again (at least in this format). In spite of all the support this event has received from organisers, volunteers, and sponsoring organisations we simply haven't had enough competitors on the day to make the event financially viable.

Looks like we might do something similar for the kids in our family but we won't be running the Hihitahi Challenge again... The most disappointing bit of this is myself or my father never got to give it a go as a competitor.

Originally Posted by Gillie

It is with a fair amount of disappointment that we won't be running this competition again (at least in this format). In spite of all the support this event has received from organisers, volunteers, and sponsoring organisations we simply haven't had enough competitors on the day to make the event financially viable.

Looks like we might do something similar for the kids in our family but we won't be running the Hihitahi Challenge again... The most disappointing bit of this is myself or my father never got to give it a go as a competitor.

That is sad. I never attended but may have one day.
Past winners should probably count themselves lucky Malcolm didn't give it a go.



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It is a bit sad - but such is life. We are not entirely sure why this event hasn't been better supported. I imagine the set of challenges includes a few things that most people don't use much these days (fauna and flora multi-choice ID, distance estimation, map and compass skills, practical first aid, etc.). Our pure shooting events are much better supported and we will turn one of these into a prize event to take over from this one.

Originally Posted by Gillie

It is a bit sad - but such is life. We are not entirely sure why this event hasn't been better supported. I imagine the set of challenges includes a few things that most people don't use much these days (fauna and flora multi-choice ID, distance estimation, map and compass skills, practical first aid, etc.). Our pure shooting events are much better supported and we will turn one of these into a prize event to take over from this one.

I think you are spot on. GPS, PLB and other advancements have caused a lot of the basics that were essential years ago to be missed or ignored today.

When I seen the stand lay out and watched some videos I knew I lacked a decent knowledge of flora. I knew what the animals I hunt liked and what scratched or injured you, but that was it.

I think it was a great concept.
However I always thought you had numbers capped and more often than not, seemed to meet those requirements?

Maybe at your future shooting events you could run a small stand off to the side like JDs, obsies and flora/fauna ID
for a wee prize etc. Introduce people to it in a way that would generate an interest.

At a lot of sporting clay events they used to run a separate stand that was really hard. Punter paid $5 for 5 clays and the winner at the completion of the main event took a %
It was crazy how much interest it generated and the money they would turn over was substantial.
Hope you get to run it again and it goes nuts.









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I would have done ok in the flora fauna but not great - having this multi choice helped scores a lot. We always threw some easy ones in there as well so no one has ever come out of the flora fauna with a 0. Flora fauna made up less than 20% of your overall score...

Following a compass bearing for a set distance to find a card was hard for a lot of people... some people were pretty good but always guessed their bearing was out not their distance estimation! Getting people to work out a magnetic bearing from their map has always been hard - made harder if you are only using a tiny little compass and don't have a flat surface to put your map on... Again navigation was only worth less than 20% of the score and most people got half the points for being able to read the map if not work out the bearings. What was funny was you would ask them what was at "grid reference" and everyone would look at the map EVEN if they could actually see the point from their location! That tripped a few

Overall the team really enjoys the event and we have had a lot of fun with it over the 5 years we have run it. We are genuinely disappointed that it hasn't been successful.


Our other pure shooting events these days are selling out or very close to it. Hihitahi needs to be about 70% full to break even and most years we were about 50% or a little more.

Glad I got to attend one of these, but sorry to have found out about them so late in the piece. As a recent starter in the practical rifle style, I see there are a good number of keen shooters but that doesnt perhaps transfer over to the full plate that is an event like the Hihitahi challenge.

Thanks for all your hard effort Simon and team.