Thread: Hello, and any tips to gain bush confidence?

Talking about rivers,couple of weeks ago i was down a local river watching the sun set.Went further down to a side river crossing.Bugger some of the river crossing concrete ladder slappes were washed out,8 mtrs of track at least.There was a concret slap drop off down into fast water n shingle and a vertical climb of 500mm out of fast water on to concret remaining slaps.Furhter down stream 10 mtrs there was a big hole,enough to drown truck in me in.I thort will i cross or not.If i cross n get stuck,im buggered and create all sorts of danger to me n truck.No cell phone reception.Il be buggered for the night.No i just turn around and go home,i can go hunting another night.
But i drove pass the pylon crossing,il have a look out in the main river which was flowing at about 45cu/secs.It normally flows at about 10 cu/sec but the lake was spilling further up into the river.I got out to main stream,600mm deep and about 100mtrs wide,could see the bottom and a nice area to cross,but the departure of river wasnt good.Hmm iv crossed this river safley for the last 40yrs,but not at high flow,dark at 7pm if the current grabbs me to much and im already driving at about 45degrees down stream with the fast current.The risk is to high to have a major accident and no help around for 40ks and its dark and freezing out there.I spent about 15 minuts looking at this river,na im turning around and going home,deer can wait another day.Was home at 9pm having a coffee,i was a bit pisssed off about the rivers,but i made the safe decision.
Deer can wait.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Josh has wide appeal and a large following because he is not just about hunting - he is actually all about entertainment and a certain type of humor to keep it interesting. A similar style of self deprecating and mocking, urine extracting humour as Russel Brand has perhaps, but mixed with cooking, gardening, fishing, kids, dogs and home life creating a broad interest base.
No where near the hunting skill set that Shae has but more viewers. Regardless, he has some clever tricks to share

We will need to agree to disagree.
Josh having more viewers than Shae is an indictment on our society and the perverse pleasure it derives from macho bullshit and seeing young kids with mullets drinking beer.

Originally Posted by Tahr

We will need to agree to disagree.
Josh having more viewers than Shae is an indictment on our society and the perverse pleasure it derives from macho bullshit and seeing young kids with mullets drinking beer.

I watched a couple of those vids last week,Tahr.Hmm i see what your talking about.

Originally Posted by Tahr

We will need to agree to disagree.
Josh having more viewers than Shae is an indictment on our society and the perverse pleasure it derives from macho bullshit and seeing young kids with mullets drinking beer.

I see it differently. What I see is not an 'indictment on our society', but a viewing audience that are completely sick of the Woke PC testicle
shrinking culture that has crept and pervaded every crack and vestige and are desperately looking for some refreshing escape from the dark cloud of lefty doom that is smothering kiwi bloke's humour ! Hark is that Barry Crump I hear turning in his grave ?
At least the forum Humour section is not sanitised, some of the stuff there is funny as fuck, totally non PC, I look at it every day for a laugh update

Never seen kids drinking beer, where was that ?

just to get back to the OP .....i hope he gives a report when he gets back from his weekend in the pureora . after all the good advise hes been given in this thread i for one am keen to see how much hes absorbed and managed to utilize

Just one tip I would give, no matter what anyone says do not pick up a peice of shit and sniff it and certainly don't lick it as that acheives nothing but risk catching a disease.

Okay...

So day 1 I slept in and decided to go for a scouting mission at 9am. My day 1 movements are marked in green. Saw boat loads of deer poo in the fern growth and tons of footprints especially at stream crossings. Stopped and waited for 30 minutes 3 at positions facing towards where the wind was coming from (No luck). Saw a game trail intersection which went 4 different directions and held decent poo sign. Decided to go back there the next day for sunrise.

Day 2 (movements in blue) - woke up at 4 and made the 2 hour walk in. (was early because forgot about daylight savings haha). Gave the intersection 1 hour. (nothing). Decided to take the long way back to the track to navigate some bush and practice some bush confidence. Stopped a few times for 30 minute silent scouts. nothing. Went for an afternoon reccy just for the hell of it but gave up after I realized that I had been walking a bit too much.

Took my Spotx plb system. Relied heavily on my topo on phone and double checked its reading with my compass. Used ridges as directional paths to stay in one direction. Had half an anxiety attack when I "what if'd" my way into thinking that my phone topo might be giving me incorrect readings but at that moment I found a pink possum trail marking which calmed me down. Was very quiet as I peaked over ridges, went slow when I saw decent sign. Travelled with wind in my face (used bic lighter.) Was pretty gutted I didn't see an animal tbh. I still had a great time and it was a good experience, but seeing so much sign I was convinced I might see an animal. Oh ill add that where I was, the bush was massively forgiving. Beautiful. saw kaka and morepork and kereru and even a bat. Could travel any direction I wanted very easily. None of that supplejack trash that smoked me in the kaimais.

good stuff...now the next time you go back there,will have some idea of where to look...the next month should be good hunting and deer should be out seeking new growth on grassy edges.... keep looking...also realize that first and last light will always be the most productive times.

You did well. Any photos of the bush and of the Bat? I have never seen a bat in NZ totally cool !
The deer sign you saw, was that all from travelling deer or did you come onto feeding areas too ?

I'd happily get blanked on a hunting trip to see a bat. Would be really cool to see one.

i notice you have deer symbols around a north facing creek head , i take it this where you saw plenty of sign or "deer highway" ?
in one of the earlier posts it was mentioned to check out these areas.
the next step is to fly camp alot closer to your hunting area the time and energy used to get up that panhandle track is wasted hunting energy......
anyways id be smashing that spot right thru spring into summer at different times of the day towards the end of summer at piropiro they come down lower chasing the water as it drys up.....they are getting used to human traffic on the cycleway so will quite often quietly watch from the safety of cover as you move on by.

Love the Pureoras but is very easy to get turned around in.

Become familiar with Map and Compass , it's definitely a nice skill to have, there are some great videos from the British Military (Cold war Era) on youtube about Map and compass nav - definitely worth a watch.

Few things I'd reccomend

1) If you're not listening to the birds as you're hunting you're going stalking too fast.
2) As others have said , always take a torch, water , and some emergency rations (Chocolate Bar / Cashews etc) regardless of duration.
3) Be careful with GPS' , they will turn you around and mess you about , but so long as you have batteries they will generally get you home.
4) If you do get lost, give yourself 5 minutes to calm down and ground yourself before you look at your map - then you won't make panicked decisions.
5) If you're stalking at what seems like a slow pace , chances are you will remember where you've been , and will be able to backtrack if you get geographically embarrassed.
6) While the dark isn't your friend there's also no need to be afraid of it, but don't try to navigate in it. If you get caught out , stay put. ( Of course , given that you are warm )
7) I can not stress enough , always carry a bic lighter in a Ziploc, and if the excrement hits the whirly thing your boot rubber makes a nice fire starter.
8) Take not of significant terrain features that don't change - waterways , prominent high points. this also helps you back track.

Just my 2c , probably a bit over the top but just my thoughts for a beginner trying to build confidence. While I'm not as experienced as some of these other lads (I'm only 26!) I'm always learning and it's never a good idea to take the skills you have as gospel. Be open to advice at all times from all avenues even if it contradicts what you've been told. try it out and build your own method of what you're doing.

Good luck.

My old trick was to snap down a fern frond as I walked along. Depending on terrain you might bend a frond every 5 metres, or 50 metres.
Go anywhere you like...to get back 'home' just follow the trail of bent fronds.
It's quiet (the fronds don't go 'snap' as you bend them). The bent frond usually hangs down and shows you the underneath 'white/silver' side...like a nice wee marker to follow back.
Hard to get lost when you have left a trail...and might help someone find you if you need to be rescued.
Should add that I used a map and compass a lot when out with FPO party (Artillery) so I'm comfortable with figuring where I am even in close surroundings.
By all means learn to use a 'proper' compass (no batteries!), and get a quality one. No place for cheap Chinesium junk out in the bush.

Welcome aboard