Thread: Gear for 2 weeks in Kawekas

Thanks Spook I am really looking forward to it and just can't wait to go. I will no doubt have plenty of time to record my experiences and share them with everyone when I get back. I am dreaming of shooting my first stag!

Originally Posted by Remington700.270

I am dreaming of shooting my first stag!

They will not have much in the way of headgear this time of year

Take at least three knives...one for working on animals, a second in case you lose it and a third for carving your name in the hut timber on those days it is too wet to go out. Take a machete, quality socks, a pair of crocs [your feet will bless you], take a stone for sharpening those knives [another rainy day job] ...forget all the fancy rain gear, buy a swandri and stay in the hut on really wet days...take a deck of cards, if you are any good at it, make a fortune out of hut mates, again on rainy days...yeah, yeah I know I go on about the rainy days, but fuck you are going to the Kaweka's and shit happens.
Have you made up your mind which hut you are going to?

take a compass. +1 for swandri bush shirt, Powder for your feet, med tape, electrical tape, gastrolyte this time of year, water sterilization tablets, survival blanket.
and 2 maps of the area, leave one in a dry bag.

I was thinking ballard hut.

Bit hard to gauge your experience from the above comments but 2 weeks is a decent stint in the bush.

As above, take plenty of tin food for your hut time as it is quick to heat and will last. If you take raw produce such as meat and veg, remember to eat them first. A chillie bin is a good option for the hut. Pasta meals, noodles & Back Country meals are lighter and better for fly camping adventures. Bread only lasts so long so consider crackers, OSM (one square meals), scrogen, muslie bars etc for lunches.

3 main cooker type options - White spirit types like MSR Whisperlite; gas canister type like Kovea style & fast boil type like Jetboil. White spirit type put out more heat above bush line in colder winter alpine conditions, fuel lasts well, but are more difficult to ignite. If you go this way, make sure you get a stove with a simmer option. Normal gas type cookers are simple to operate, pretty light weight and work well but gas canisters are more expensive and you need to take them out when empty. Jetboil type are similar to normal gas cookers but heat water very quickly. Not really suited to simmer type meals and more suited to meals which require hot water only.

Packs - plenty of options and makes available - There are the tramping ranges like Macpac, One Planet etc which probably the majority of hunter have, but these days there are more hunting brand packs in use like Eberlestock, Markhor, Stoney Creek etc. Size (litres) depends on the amount of gear you will be lugging. You can always squeeze a big pack down with compression straps but you cant make a small pack bigger! That said, the more room you have in a pack the more crap you can put in it, though the older you get, the less you lug! There are guys out there that can get away with a 45-50 litre pack for a 3 day hunting trip. Others need a 70-85 litre pack for the same trip. Meat is heavy so choose a pack with decent waste belts and padding. Poor quality packs generally don't last especially once you start filling them with 20 kgs of meat! Consider boning out your meat before you put it in your pack if you have a ways to go back to the hut...bones are heavy!

Raincoats/jackets - All the major NZ brands have an assortment of waterproof jackets available and they generally do what they are meant to do! Your choice will depend on your budget and style of hunting. There are a number of US brands available these days which are gaining popularity with Kiwi hunters. They tend to be shorter in length than the Kiwi brands so over trousers may be a requirement if you go this way. Be wary with over trousers and limit where you wear them, as bush lawyer/leather wood and over trousers don't mix! I have seen a brand new pair of expensive over trouser ruined on their first trip Tahr hunting in South Westland...it made the owner almost cry!

Greg Duley from NZ Hunter Magazine put out a number of articles a year or two back with food considerations and the gear he takes on over night and expedition trips. If you subscribe to the mag, go and have a good read. If not, email Greg or Fiona and ask them if they have any back issues left with the required articles. I got a back issue from them this week for a misplaced issue - had it in 3 days!

As suggested above, read the 'Equipment' section on this forum as there's a lot of good advice there!

Lastly don't forget binoculars, sunscreen, lip balm and a few candles for the hut. 'Replace' electrolyte powder would also be a good option at that time of the year.

The above comments are based on my experience and not everybody will agree with them. I have tried to make more general comments as opposed to specific brand/model types as everybody has their individual preferences which work for their type of hunting. Best of luck!

Originally Posted by Remington700.270

I was thinking ballard hut.

Oh so you'll be needing rat bait too!


Sent from my LT25i

I have done the 14 days in the bush a wee while back. my main meals were museli for breakfast, couple of museli bars while on the move and pasta, and what ever else I could find, for dinner. I carried dehy bacon bits and packets of cheese sauce to add some flavour to the pasta. This trip was in the Urewera going from hut to hut so I didnt need a lot of gear, one billy, gas cooker and a telescopic spinning road. Plenty of trout to add to the pasta.

Most cooking was done on an open fire and the cooker was for a quick brew in between huts. I did have a food dump that I picked up half way through the stroll. Best part was that it had three cans of beer in it plus some of the small cans of tuna and a new roll of dunnie paper Got to have it.

Clothing was couple of tee shirts, one bush shirt and the proverbial bush singlet, oh, and a couple set of undies. I washed them out every couple of days, got to smell nice. Pack might have hit 20 kgs if it was lucky.

You will have different priorities food and clothing wise than I had as you are being dropped of by a machine. As some have said, if you are moving on from a hut to another place then make a food dump of what you dont need, bury it, hang it in a tree or do what I did for my food dump, 20 or 30 litre platic bucket with a good lid.

I saw a shit load of deer on my stroll so go for and enjoy it.

Extra bit, I didnt have a PLB or GPS on the walk as there were no PLB,s around then and a GPS was about a zillion dollars to buy but I did run into a bloke I knew who was picking some hunters in the northern part of Urewera and he passed on a message to my other half

Oh rats! Today I bought myself some Stoney Creek Gaiters, a Markhor IBEX II 65+10 pack, Stoney Creek Hunt Lite Jacket, Stoney Creek HydroTough Overtrousers, Kovea SPIDER Stove with a couple of cannisters of gas, North Ridge regular fly tent and ground sheet and Kovea ESCAPE pots and fry pan. Oh I also got some Back Country Cuisine meals. They are Roast Chicken, Cottage Pie, Spaghetti Bolengase and Venison Risotto.

I was looking at a 22 litre chilly bin that is supposed to keep ice for up to 10 days but I am not sure whether that will be big enough.

Any tips of inflatable mattress brands or types? Also I currently keep my binoculars hanging around my neck and I see there is a different strap thing that looks more comfortable. Any tips on brand for that??

Haven't seen an inflatable mattress yet that didn't deflate in the bush...just take a ground sheet and cut heaps of brush to put under it.
What size chopper are you using and what is your weight limit?

2 sets of clothing, one for hunting and one for sleeping/camp: longjohns/shorts, tshirt/singlet, and jersey, 2 pair socks

Waterproof jacket, gaiters

billy, mug, cooker + gas ( the big cannisters ,3 might do it) knife fork and spoon.

Sleeping bag, tent/fly or staying in hut. Take a few lengths of rope as they are handy for tying up your tent flys, meat etc etc

FIRST AID KIT, map, compass ,spare ammo, camera, gps etc

headlamp and spare batteries, candles and lighter. hunting knife plus spare and one for camp.

Spare the piss, loose some weight and youll feel better having worked off them kilos!

Everything you need is right here. Anything else is surplus

FishnHunt - New Zealands Famous Hunting and Fishing Forum Since 1995 - NIMRODS pack contents

I did a 16 day stint in the Otutu / Manson area a few years back. This is all I used. The only variable was food and a few extra clothes since I flew in. Even
the laundry needed doing after a couple of good fly strikes

PS do NOT take a woolen swandri up there. Once its wet it weighs a ton and is useless. Buy / borrow a good goretex coat that will also be windproof. Ballards is up with the gods and the weather can be inclement.

Good Luck

Really windy up there yesterday and today , hoping the wind drops for this afternoon