Table of contents for Issue 72 in NZ Hunter

I hope the tahr ballot block weather worked more in your favour than it did in ours. We had Speculation Creek the 3rd week in May and it was a complete washout, no-one was able to get in. Oh well, back to walking in when the weather is more suitable, which is more our style anyway. We’ve had some great success off camera since then, doing shorter trips driving in up the East Coast rivers, thinking we won’t film this as we probably won’t find anything very mature. Murphy’s law of course and we managed to find the Garmin guys (one of one of our sponsors and true good barstards in the NZ outdoor industry) a cracker bull up an often forgotten headwater. Look out for that story in a…

It began with seeing photos of guys with big trophy bucks in magazines when I first started hunting and progressed to seeing and harvesting a young chamois buck, my first ever animal taken on DoC land on a solo hunt. Something about chamois has always piqued my interest, probably because it generally involves being high above the bush line in the alpine country, where I’m most at home. I’ve spent many hours in the scrub watching them, gaining more and more respect for the animals and increasing my knowledge of their behaviour on each trip – although they always find a way to surprise me! I’ve been lucky enough to take three respectable bucks all at the 9½ inch mark on my adventures so far, as well as a few…

It pays to do your research when choosing your African outfitter. First priority, study your main target species, check their natural range and the trophy quality of the animals taken by the outfitter. Secondly, check his referees and contact a previous hunter. Ensure the hunting concessions and grounds are extensive enough for free range populations. Our party of five – three hunters and two partners – made an excellent choice with Lynedoch Hunting Safaris. This is the story of my hunts with them. CAPE ELAND: In early October, the intense South African sun was making its presence felt, and it was only 7.30am. The Land Cruiser laboured up the steep cutting flicking out red dust behind as the tyres clawed at loose rubble and rock to get traction. Three hundred…

I want to emphasise again that your success and fun will depend significantly on the raw material of the dog you are working with. If you have a calm-natured, intelligent, biddable dog, you will enjoy your journey so much more and vastly increase your chance of success, so choose carefully. My ideal is a dog with hunt drive, but also a temperament that means it really wants to please you, ensuring that when it’s tracking an animal, it also remains naturally aware of not getting too far in front. If you are picking a pup, be very careful about the breeding, choose from a proven line. If you are looking at a rehomed dog, look carefully at its nature in relation to the way it has been raised. Getting a…

We had been there several times before and usually came home with a pig or a deer, however we were keen to see if we could get a roaring stag this time. After attaching the four wheeler on the trailer to the car and dumping our packs in the back along with Bella the dog, the 22 and Dad’s Tikka T3, we headed off, hoping to make it to the farm by 6pm. Dad had been there a month before with a mate and had seen multiple hunters, but he was confident that we would find something as he’d seen and heard a lot of animals and discovered some hidden slips and gullies. After a quick stop in Opotiki to grab something to eat, we made it to where we…

Recreational hunters are a hugely diverse group, some of which think of hunting as a kind of birth right in this country, but the reality is that hunting only remains available to us as long as the general public believes it’s still relevant from a recreational and commercial perspective, and that it plays a role in conservation. To have a say in the future, we need to pay. THE HISTORY We and all our visitors have enjoyed free hunting here since 1932 when all management of big game animals ceased. This occurred because of population increase and the "science" of the day pointing to deer as the cause of erosion in the high country. Animal numbers are now nothing like the populations they once were, and the sky, or should…

The Robinson valley is under-rated as a destination in my view, getting fairly low visitation levels despite its relative ease of access. It has something to offer hunters, trampers and anglers alike, and the two huts in the valley are DoC maintained and in excellent condition currently. The mid hut has six bunks, the top eight, and both have efficient woodburners and a good wood supply in the adjoining forest. DoC staff from Greymouth were in the valley earlier this year doing a bit of trackwork and hut maintenance. The Robinson valley is accessed from the end of Palmers Road which branches off from SH7, three kilometres west of Springs Junction. There are 18 kilometres of reasonably good gravel road with a number of small fords that shouldn’t be a…

WE ALL DO 'CARDIO', BUT WHY? Your heart is a ‘cardiac’ muscle at the centre of your circulatory system. The cardiovascular system consists of a network of blood vessels that carry blood and nutrients to (via the arteries) and from (via the veins) all areas of your body. Your heart is controlled by internal receptors that produce electrical signals to contract and relax the heart. When the walls contract, blood is pumped into your circulatory system. THE FACTS At rest, the cardiac output (total volume of blood pumped out of the heart) is about 5 litres per minute. When the heart is pumping at full force, the cardiac output reaches around 20-25 litres per minute. During exercise, by-products from muscles (lactic acid, hydrogen ions, carbon dioxide) in the blood stimulate…

This head will again be on display at the Trust’s Sika Show stand at Taupo. The following is a brief background about the securing of that magnificent trophy. The brothers Edgar and Herman Nitz were farmers from the Wairarapa and keen hunters. In those early days of the 1910s and 1920s, when the first Wapiti blocks were drawn, the official maps of the Wapiti country still showed the area in patches of white marked “unexplored”. Early in the 1920s the brothers decided to try for Wapiti. In 1928 they stalked the George Sound block without success. Better luck was had in 1930 when in the Caswell Sound block where Edger Nitz secured a good 13 pointer, 50 ¼ inches long and 47 ½ wide. It was Herman’s turn in 1932…

Suddenly he asked me “Would you like to go hunting in Marlborough and fly in a chopper?” I said ‘yes’ immediately. The wait to go hunting in the roar was over. Dad contacted the school to let them know that I would be away for a few days – and that I was gaining some outdoor education – which they said was fine. Before I knew it, school was over and I was packing my bag while I waited for Granddad and my cousin Will Inglis, to arrive at our place. As soon as we had packed everything into the ute, we were off from Nelson. After almost two hours of driving, we ended up at the hangar and saw the chopper, a red Robinson R44. Not long after that,…

YOU CAN WIN SEND US YOUR HUNTING PHOTOS FEATURING ONE OF THE BERETTA FAMILY OF PRODUCTS AS LISTED ABOVE AND THE WINNING PHOTO WILL RECEIVE A PAIR OF STEINER OBSERVER 10X42 BINOCULARS RRP $699 Entries should be emailed to editor@nzhunter.co.nz - Subject: Beretta Photo Competition Firearm used must be shown in photo…

We all understand what Forest & Bird’s extreme ideological views are, but what we are truly up against here is the size of their bank balance not their membership. Those that oppose the existence of our deer, tahr, chamois and wild pigs are well organised, well-funded and use paid professionals to further their ideals. This what we must be if we are to maintain our hunting resource. We know this model works and Fish & Game prime example. , quail trout etc are valued for the resource they are. This extends as far as creating better habitat for ducks and stocking rivers with trout. But remember these are also introduced species, so what’s the difference? Again, funding and lobbying power. A quick look at the expenses from Fish & Game’s…

You see, I’d been hunting a cracking little stream on this particular farm for over 20 years and at certain times of the season it absolutely loads up with Mallards. Over the years I’ve been privileged to watch two other dogs of mine retrieve ducks from the exact same tangle of rubbish that Kiera was hunting. As her head emerged with a mouthful of Mallard, it brought back so many good memories of my other dogs, Nikko and Ripley. This is an article I’ve often thought about writing but have never quite known where to start. How do you sum up years of hunting adventures, loyalty and companionship with one dog – let alone two? Bear with me as I take a walk down memory lane. I grew up in…

Used by a large percentage of special forces and in particular the snipers, they have proved themselves to be one of the most reliable optical sights in the world. Their advertising used that classic image of a Nightforce scope with a bullet hole right through the tube, and the story of the sniper carrying on to finish his assignment and the scope performing it’s duty perfectly - despite the near catastrophic damage. The NXS was the model most of their reputation has been built on, and while the reliability has been first class, optically it always left me wanting more. With the advent of scopes with higher zoom ranges and significantly better optics, Nightforce have stepped up to the plate with their latest models offering up to 8x zoom and…

That then allows you to perform at your best, and therefore enjoy your time in the hills Add your better half into the equation, and then it’s even more important she gets a good night’s sleep! If you have a double sleeping bag, or zip your bags together, trying to sleep side by side on two of the latest mummy shaped ultralight air mattresses is not the most comfortable way to spend the night. One of you is going to end up lying in the hole in the middle for sure. You are better off with the rectangular shaped air mattresses in this situation, and some manufacturers have come up with various ways to strap them together to minimise the hole in the middle syndrome. Then of course the obvious…

Napier Of London Field Masters Napier is pleased to announce the formation of a new group of industry professionals dedicated to the pursuit of excellence in field sports. For some time Napier has benefitted from feedback from a number of shooters around the world, and has always sought consumer comments to aid the development and improvement of its products. Now the Napier Field Masters group has been assembled specifically to gather invaluable hands on feedback on all Napier products, but in particular the prototypes of new lines as they are developed. All regions have specific needs and challenges, and with this in mind the FIELD MASTERS group is drawn from around the world. Apart from working closely with Napier, each Field Master will present an informative article regularly that will…

Bushnell are proud to promote this page aimed at celebrating our game animals. Send in your photos of live game animals to luke@nzhunter.co.nz to go in the draw to win an exciting product each issue. The prize for this issue is... Bushnell Prime 10x28 Binoculars With an RRP of $299!…

Only minutes before, Annie the dog had tried to force her way back into my sleeping bag after sneaking out for a call of nature and her sharp claws had ripped a hole in my poofter pad. I was gutted – my expensive mattress was history! That got me up and about, piling on warm clothes and boots before sparking the gas cooker into life. Eventually the hissing steam from the billy woke the Gotman from his slumber and I poured hot coffee into our mugs for our first fix of the day. The new dawn spread light to the east in the dripping forest as we organized ourselves for the day ahead. This primarily involved a 100 yard walk through the bush before we broke out into the sparse…

I term these single exposure, star trail-less shots as ‘static images’. By using super-long exposures or combining multiple images into one however, we can give our images a real sense of motion and movement. 'Star trail' photographs are always very dynamic, with a lot of visual impact. METHOD 1 – SUPER-LONG EXPOSURES To create these stunning star trail images, much of what I wrote in the last issue for ‘static’ night sky shots applies. Same sturdy tripod, same dark sky conditions, same focusing technique and same camera equipment. The major difference between the two shots is that of exposure times. With the static star images, we were using exposure times of no more than 30 seconds to eliminate the possibility of trails forming behind each star. This time, that is…

They also happen to be our largest game bird and are known for their fantastic eating qualities. North Island pheasant populations are significantly healthier than the South Island so for a wildlife photographer hailing from Marlborough, merely seeing a pheasant is a fairly momentous occasion...and actually getting a photograph of one is next level. The Marlborough pheasant population has fluctuated over the years with habitat changes and destruction being one of the major causes. Urbanisation, roads, walkways and especially grapes have all contributed to loss of habitat, which in turn means fewer feeding and breeding opportunities. Every once in a while during the first three decades or so of my hunting 'life', I would see a pheasant as a byproduct of duck, quail or rabbit hunting. I always enjoyed the…

Gazza is a keen hunter and he asked me to explain the disease and its effect on the animal. As I gave him a rundown on it, we started talking about posts we had recently seen on internet forums where hunters had shot something unusual and were asking others if they thought it was safe to eat. Gazza then suggested I should write an article about diseases and defects that hunters may come across in the field and if I did, he would definitely read it. So here it is Gazza, a basic rundown on what we talked about. I’ve been a meat inspector for 23 years now and during that time I’ve inspected millions of animals and seen some pretty weird and wonderful things. These range from 6-legged animals,…

For the past 19 years a dedicated group of volunteers have amassed a valuable, rare, and museum grade collection of hunting and outdoors related items – including rare artefacts, books, gear and equipment, photographs, firearms, trophies, and taxidermy. The Heritage Trust owns a grand 1910s villa located a stone’s throw away from Parliament, National Archives, National Reference Library, and the many other museums in Wellington’s CBD. The project is sponsored and run by members of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc. (NZDA) and will be funded in a collaboration among the Heritage Trust, NZDA, and the NZDA Wellington Branch. The Lottery Environment and Heritage Grants Board is granting the Heritage Trust $500,000 towards project costs. An existing building will form the basis of the museum, which is a large, high-stud,…

The cookers themselves are great for boiling water but try cooking on that super-concentrated flame with any old frypan, the steak will be nuclear waste in the centre and raw on the outside. To get around this the manufacturers released proprietary pans, in Jetboil’s case it was the FluxRing, featuring attachments that distribute the heat around the base. These are effective but are also reasonably specialized because of it, the rings on the base make them a bit of a pain for cooking on any other kind of element. Enter the Summit Skillet. On the outside it appears to be a conventional 8” frypan, but it’s actually a ceramic non-stick coated aluminium skillet with a cleverly constructed base that distributes the heat of a Jetboil cooker. This means it doesn’t…