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Hello from the central plateau
Hi all,
I’ve been lurking on this site for many years, but thought it was time to say g’day. I have picked up a lot of tips from this forum that have helped my hunting massively. So, a bit about me.
I took to hunting later than most people on here I’m guessing. I grew up in Northland and did a lot of fishing growing up. Options were limited for deer hunting, but I moved to Central North Island around 7 years ago and since then have gotten right into it.
I knew a few keen hunters when I moved down here, but I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of figuring things out myself and hunting was no different I suppose. It was certainly a slow way to learn, but I think it’s also incredibly satisfying to become reasonably successful at something you’ve taught yourself to do. Learning to navigate in the bush was a particularly interesting challenge to pick up in my 30s. I’d done a lot of tramping but had never left a well-formed DOC track before in my life. I got myself a cheap Garmin, but taught myself to navigate firstly using a map and compass in the Kaimanawas (where, I’d add, it’s a lot harder to get lost than in the Pureoras!). I started out just leaving the track a couple of hundred metres and getting comfortable being somewhat off the beaten path. After a few months I was comfortable spending the whole day off the track hunting and was doing overnight missions into more remote areas.
It took a very long time to get my first deer. I honestly would say it was 20 trips or so before I came home with a pack full of venison. After seeing and spooking plenty of sika in the Kaimanawas, and reds in the Pureoras, it finally came together. I’d done a day hunt in the Pureoras and it seemed like it was going to be another fruitless affair. Just as late afternoon was fading into evening, I’d decided to call it a day and was making my way back to the track. A group of 3 hinds seemed to materialise about 20 metres ahead of me, completely unaware of my presence. I had unloaded my rifle earlier so I slowly opened the bolt and drew it back. Slowly I pushed the bolt forward, and in that moment with my eyes fixated on the deer, I became acutely aware of what an absolute metallic racket loading a rifle makes in the bush. The 3 deer all looked up, and directly at me. They looked agitated and alert, but hadn’t bolted to my astonishment. It was now or never. The deer closest to me was standing broadside. I slowly raised up my rifle, lined up the base of its neck and squeezed the trigger. The shot flattened the deer instantly and I couldn’t believe it, I’d got my first deer. After gathering myself, I walked over to see a nice fat mature hind. I had a 2-3 hr walk back to the car and I’d never butchered a deer before, despite watching hours of youtube videos on the process. It was going to be a long night. I put my pack down, grabbed my headtorch and was digging around for my knife. It was at that moment that the deer got up and ran off. I literally couldn’t believe it. I stared at the pool of blood where it had been lying, then sat dumbfounded looking in the direction it ran off in. Then the guilt set in, I felt a horrible sinking feeling when I realised I can’t have hit the spine as I had originally thought when it dropped on the spot. I loaded my rifle, and headed after it. Thankfully, it had only run maybe 50 metres and had bedded down in a patch of pepperwood. I lined her up again and shot her in the shoulder. I think I learn something every time I go into the bush, and on that trip I certainly learnt to be sure the deer that is lying on the deck in front of you is actually dead, and not just stunned from a poorly placed shot. Of all the deer I have shot in the 7 years since then, I can thankfully say that I’ve never again had a deer get up and run off like that again.
Since then hunting has become a big part of my life. I try to spend at least one day hunting every week. I hunt solo the majority of the time, and bush stalking is what I really love. I'd say that I’m at a stage now where I would see animals that haven’t spooked more often than not on a hunt. But I would by no means say I am an experienced hunter yet, and I still have much to learn. I've shot plenty of reds and sika, and have had so many interesting encounters with deer in the bush. I've attached a picture below of a bush stag that I roared in and shot at about 8 metres last year, he had a very peculiar high-pitched roar and sounded somewhat similar to a cattle beast bellowing. I spend more and more time just watching deer in the bush, in fact I would sit and observe far more deer than I shoot nowadays. I started hunting with a bow this year, and took my first red deer with the bow recently, which was my most intense bush stalking experience to date. My ultimate hunting goal is to take a nice 8pt sika stag in the rut with the bow.
Anyway that’s a bit about me, I’d like to thank the forum and all the members whose posts have helped in my hunting journey. Hopefully I can repay that back by sharing what I’ve learnt and spinning a few hunting yarns.
Cheers, Bow Out
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