Table of contents for Issue 74 in NZ Hunter

This spring we’ve visited some interesting new places, and revisited some favourite old haunts. I never fail to be amazed by the variety of hunting experiences available in this country, and every time we come back from a trip I find it’s just opened the door to many more! I’ve seen some young and old fullas get their “first” of several species and trophies in the last couple of months, and as always it’s been a pleasure to see the enjoyment and respect they have gained from the trips we’ve done. We have been working hard on the new firearms legislation, alongside all the other hunting and firearms organisations to firstly get sensible submissions in about the ridiculous parts of the bill, and then secondly talk to the politicians to…

This particular mission had been in the pipeline for a good month, so we were all keen as mustard. We had been to a similar location the previous winter and had no luck but saw plenty of animals and sign and thought it would be easier this time without the snow! After a bouncy drive in, we shouldered our packs and trudged up the riverbed. It didn’t take long for the sandflies to find us once we were parked up on the binos. Before long, Jack had spotted the first group of deer: a few hinds and a young 8 point stag with good shape. We decided to leave him to grow, and then we spotted a few more groups feeding reasonably high up, which was surprising given the high…

Low cloud shrouded the rolling Canterbury hills, behind which stood higher summits, now unseen in the gathering dusk as we headed in on the Friday night. Steep forest-clad spurs descended from the ridge crests, their darkened shapes hard to discern as tendrils of mist floated over the faces, joining larger bodies of grey cloud in the valleys. It looked ominous as I tried to stay on-track in my ute while the flats gave way to the first terraces and the valley constricted around us. I was nervous and excited. Although I had been out on day hunts during the roar and had had several close encounters, I had not yet secured a stag. Having my 15 year old daughter along also served to up the ante and increase my desire…

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 SAFARI ULTRASHARP 10X42 BINOCULARS RRP $699 Entries should be emailed to editor@nzhunter.co.nz - Subject: Beretta Photo Competition Firearm used must be shown in photo…

If a buck is to reach that magical 10 inch mark, it will need to be very close to it after three years of age, otherwise it will not do so within its lifespan. This is because the hook of the horn is the greatest determinate of the horn size and all things being equal, it is genetics that determine the quality of the hooks on a buck. For this reason, it’s important to recognise the likely genetic potential of the chamois in the region you are hunting. Mature does can have some impressive horns too, with the New Zealand record for length currently being held by the horns from a doe. Normally however, doe horns will have neither the hook nor the same length as a similar-aged buck. A…

There are folk out there with better wilderness first aid knowledge and experience than me who may have some additions to this list. Use this to set yourself up, and do your own research for what else you might carry: DECENT PAINKILLERS - unless you have access to heavier-duty prescription painkillers like codeine or tramadol, just use ibuprofen. This also works if you need to relax some back strain. ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS. ANTISEPTIC WIPES. A NEEDLE (or two). Insert into some rubber tube to help protect the point MAXI-PADS. Quick use, to soak up blood. Other items can be used afterwards. FABRIC STRAPPING TAPE. Use this for everything – strapping, holding gauze pads in place to apply pressure to stop bleeding and to dress a wound, while it also sticks, even…

The draw length is correct, peep height is perfect and the arrow rest is tuned. Your form is okay, your broadheads and field points are grouping well and things are looking good. If this doesn’t sound like you – go and see someone who can help. This makes the whole experience a lot easier to start with. Now you’ve got the bow sorted out by someone who actually knows how to tune and adjust one of these things, you want to go hunting, right? I mean, that’s what you got it for! What should you do before launching an arrow at an unsuspecting critter? PRACTISE. But what should you practise? Well for a start, just shoot. Get plenty of shots in on a flat target with dots or a chest-kill…

It can be accessed on foot in a long day from the roadend by a fit party depending on river conditions, although most parties tend to take a couple to do it. The riverbed up and downstream of the hut is a mass of huge boulders, cascades, and icy blue pools. During a storm in 2013 a big piece of Mt. Evans in the head of the catchment collapsed and brought a tsunami of water downvalley that took out huge chunks of hillside and wiped out the Smyth swingbridge. The flash-flood went around both sides of Smyth hut leaving it on a small 200 by 50 metre island of forest. It would have been one hell of a night had anyone been staying there. Just up from the hut the…

This was not only a first for Ruger but they were also the first of the main stream firearms manufacturers to produce a chassis style rifle designed for the likes of competitive “steel” shooting. The RPR took off, and with very good performance for the price, provided excellent value for a rifle of this type. Now Ruger have released a beefed up action version chambered for the 300 Win Mag, the 300PRC and the 338 Lapua – this last a very popular round with the tacticool crowd that extends the supersonic range with the right projectile to over 2000 yards. Ruger developed a large version of their three lug American action with a whopping 1 inch diameter bolt for these new magnums. All other design features are the same, just…

In rural towns anywhere in New Zealand, on almost any given weekend, you will see a ute with a pig on top of the dog box. We love this sport and the food it produces. With the festive season almost upon us, this terrine is easy to make and will go down a treat if you need to attend a party. It freezes well and a large slice in your lunch box is also great! I must confess that the pig used in this recipe wasn’t the biggest, but I thought as it is a small pig then it would fit the bill perfectly - a 200lb boar will make quite a few of these terrines! The term terrine is a French word used to describe a mixture of seasoned…

HI GREG Just a quick question about your Carbonlight 7mm Rem Mag On your show you say you have a 180 grain long range load, I’m guessing you have no problems stabilising it with standard 1:9.5 twist? Also what projectile are you using? I have a 7mm-300wsm 1:8” twist shooting 180 ELD-M and it works great, but I’m just curious about your combo. DANIEL HI DANIEL, Yeah, the 9.5" twist stabilises the 180gn Berger Hybrid okay, and driven at 3000fps by Reloder 33 it’s the best long range load we’ve found for these barrels. We have shot stuff to 800 yds with the TV Show rifle. I would prefer more twist, but we've shot them for years in our 9" twist Bartleins with no issues out to long range, and…

There was me and my husband Maco (Max), his bro Dave and our three nephews Baz, Phil and Dave’s boy, James. He’s the one I call Neff It was like herding cats to coordinate a trip for six people with busy lives from different parts of NZ but all the rest of us had to do was keep up with Neff’s enthusiastic email traffic as he made the plans, and mark the date in our calendars. Too easy. February should have been a cinch for settled weather but as we loaded our gear onto the Mana Charters boat in Bluff, skipper Bob Hawkless told us to be prepared for a lumpy ride. The real seas started as soon as we got past Dog Island and into open water. Every wave…

Countless hours of looking down on my beloved Ngaruroro River from the surrounding Kaweka mountains while glassing for Sika deer always kept that fire burning…one day I would drift down this river to see what was around the next bend. Countless hours of looking down on my beloved Ngaruroro River from the surrounding Kaweka mountains while glassing for Sika deer always kept that fire burning…one day I would drift down this river to see what was around the next bend. The upper half of the Ngaruroro catchment kicks off in the Kaimanawa ranges and runs for about 164 km to its mouth in Hawke’s Bay. It’s a world-class trout fishery and it also holds fantastic species of native fish including mullet, flounder and eels to name but a few. The…

I also included a wee story to demonstrate what Sami was capable of doing at what I consider to be a young age for an indicator dog. There is no doubt that she was doing well. Most of the best dogs I have seen showed their colours early and then got better with age (maturity) and training. The great thing about this is that a good pup will often be showing traits and mannerisms that you will identify as things that will in time lead to a dog with ‘the right stuff’. I reckon a young dog with the right stuff is twice as good at three years old as it was at two. It’s not so good though when a handler fails to recognise negative traits that are part…

Often this is due to bad lighting. When dealing with moving subjects or simply movement in general, even higher shutter speeds are necessary to stop or freeze the motion to make sure the subject is in sharp focus ie does not blur. With careful use of camera settings, focus modes and good technique, it is possible to capture fast moving subjects or scenes with movement, without resulting in image blur. The isolated Kahurangi coast is a pretty special place – remote, untouched, rugged yet beautiful. It’s a fantastic place to spend time working for several weeks each year. During one trip we took a few days off work to explore the country around the Kahurangi lighthouse. The old light keeper’s house is now a DoC 'hut' and is an awesome…

This is a hugely complex system that would take hundreds of pages to cover in depth so I will try to describe what happens in as few words as possible whilst still hopefully explaining things properly. We all know we need our lungs to breathe and that if we have an issue with them, breathing and sustaining life is very difficult. Even a small amount of damage to this process can severely affect our health. There are three main parts to the respiratory system: the airway, the lungs, and the muscles of respiration. The airway includes the oral cavity (mouth), nasal cavity (nose), pharynx (throat), larynx (voice box), trachea (windpipe), bronchi and bronchioles. Most hunters know what lungs look like, but for those of you who are yet to gut…

The winning photo receives a Hunting & Fishing voucher to the value of $100. Send all your photos to editor@nzhunter.co.nz Note: Photos must be of a suitable size for printing - a minimum file size of 1MB is preferred.…

It’s a tentative step towards our own Greig Caigou’s world of ultralight hunting, built for travelling fast and light. In fact Big Agnes themselves (distributed here by Hamish at Gearshop) refer to it as ‘crazylight’. This tent is built around its weight, everything the tent came with, including a footprint (usually purchased separately but a must for hunting) came to a scarcely believable 1150 grams. While it doesn’t have the robust materials you’d look for in an expedition tent it’s the perfect spring/summer/bush exploration tent. DESIGN Double-wall tents around the 1kg mark that don’t come with a heap of sacrifices are difficult to find. The Tiger Wall Platinum 2 still keeps all of the conveniences you’ve come to expect with conventional tents. It’s standard 2 person (2p) size inside, and…

For the last two years I have helped out at the Invercargill Hunting & Fishing store duck night, showing hunters how easy it is flock decoys. The comments above are the most common things I hear after hunters have watched how I do it. Despite a number of good articles and lots of info on the net, many hunters are still under the illusion that flocking is an expensive and difficult thing to do. I can assure you it’s not. In all honesty when it comes to anything DIY, I’m totally hopeless. I have no clue where to start and I don’t really care, so if I can flock and paint decoys, then take my word for it – anyone can do it. Most keen hunters who don’t own flocked…

Robert, now 83 years old, is a seasoned hunter who has done it all. His many stories of hunting around the world always intrigued me, but the story that captivated me most was the one about hunting Wapiti bulls in Fiordland in the late ’60s. Listening to his words started a fire within me. That fire was fuelled further when he gifted me copies of his personal photos from these trips. I was hooked! Fast forward to 2013 when Rob Fickling’s first season of ‘Beyond the Divide’ aired on Australian TV. In it was a double episode of a Fiordland bugle hunt he did with a friend in George Block. These episodes drew me in like a moth to a flame. The scenery, the hardships, the bulls, the bugles and…

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!…

Our first goal was to get a public land Ruahine deer for both Conrad (10 yrs) and Jack (7 yrs) and also drag their sister Madison along for a trip or two. The boys had been on many adventures with me through some amazing country but they had both only taken Fallow deer on some local conservation blocks. I have brought the kids up to appreciate just how lucky we are to be able to enjoy our passion together and although we do still enjoy Fallow hunting and they are very handy to our home town, I have always made a point of showing them how much more enjoyable and stimulating it is to put in the hard yards on public land. Not that I have any issue with private…

I used to head to the tops with my parka tied around my waist and nothing more than a belt with my sheath knife on it and a tiny leather pouch containing some extra rounds of ammo. Another small pouch held a few plasters and some tape, along with an old bandage that smelt musty. Over time I ceased being stupid-light and became more prepared for all sorts of ‘what-if’ scenarios and therefore the amount of gear I carried increased. But now I’m not so ignorant and find myself again adopting a minimalist approach with the gear I carry…including what I have with me for first aid requirements as a solo hunter. Let’s flash back to a hunt over a weekend in the North Canterbury high country a long time…

» Panting in dogs, cats, birds and some other animals is less about breathing and more about providing a way of reducing body temperature by evaporating saliva in the mouth. Other animals like us evaporate sweat through the skin. » Interestingly, horses are obligate nasal breathers. They do not have the option of breathing through their mouths, they must take their air in through their noses. » Elephants are the only known animals that have no pleural space. Instead they have dense connective tissue and an unusually thick diaphragm. These are thought to be evolutionary adaptations so they can remain underwater for long periods of time while using their trunks as snorkels. » Birds have rigid lungs that don’t expand. Their lungs are 15% smaller than those in a mammal…

A GREAT DAYS HUNTING BY DYLAN PEAKE 11 One morning, I'm thinking it’s time to go for a hunt Warm clothes on, guns ready, ute packed, time to head off into the misty darkness of the morning. We were spotting and looking out the back of our own farm, heading towards the river. I think I see an animals head. I tapped on the roof, and we came to a stop. I showed Dad where I thought the deer was. He aims straight at the deer. He breathes in and out before slowly putting pressure on the trigger... boom! The deer drops, rolling down the hill and into a swamp. We go to get the deer and it's still alive. I finish the 12 pointer deer with a 22 bolt.…

They make a range of rifle scopes, binoculars and thermal imaging products which are designed and assembled in Germany, with components made in Asia. Paul, Craig and the boys from the NZ Ammunition Company are importers for this new range of optics, and Craig dropped in a pair of their hot-off-the-production-line new rangefinding binoculars – the RangeGuide 2800. These are roof prism binoculars with a magnesium body with a single, wide bridge, piano style hinge with the main focusing knob in the usual place at the near end, and the battery compartment behind a screw cap at the far end. There are no bulges to contain the electronics as on most other rangefinding binos. Everything is contained inside the bridge/hinge housing. The ranging and mode buttons are on the right…

Bushnell Nitro 1800 Laser Rangefinder with Bluetooth and Applied Ballistics Designed for field or range with industry-leading finishes. Experienced hunters and shooters know that accurate shots begin with an accurate distance to target. Bushnell Nitro laser rangefinders are next level, with range extending to one mile and beyond (displaying in your choice of metres or yards). Forged polymer armour housing and EXO Barrier protective coating on the lenses ensure that Nitro laser rangefinders perform, rain or shine. Nitro 1800 allows you to connect to your Smartphone to update display and settings as well as configure ballistics data to get near perfect holdovers and wind adjustment. Can also be paired with a “Link” enabled Kestrel to utilise environmental data. Angle Range Compensation accounts for uphill and downhill angles when ranging, providing…