17 NEW ZEALAND HUNTING NEWS
www.thefishingpaper.co.nz
The Fairmead Hunting Experience By Anthony Eden aged 8, Auckland
My Dad, Uncle Phil and I stayed at the Totara Hut for our second time in February, and we stayed for three nights. Over the Friday and Saturday, between the three of us, we shot one management fallow buck, three spikers, an Arapawa ram, three rabbits and a turkey (a mercy kill). I shot my first deer, a fallow spiker, with my dad’s 7mm o8. We had the wind in our favour as we spotted the spiker sitting in some long grass with a couple of hinds. We crept up on our hands and knees to where I could get a good view. Dad set the tripod up on the 7mm 08 and chambered a round with the safety still on. I was pretty nervous but I took my time, was happy with the sight, slipped the safety off and squeezed the trigger gently. I hit it with a clean shot right in the chest and the spiker didn’t know what hit it!
We field dressed the deer and put it on the quad bike to take back and hang in the meat house. I like staying in the hut; it has no power, a big open fireplace and a longdrop toilet, which is pretty cool. Richard’s a good cook and we had my favourite, venison stew, for dinner on the Friday night, which he cooked over the fire. Barbara’s a good cook too; she made us a yummy corned silverside and a pavlova with ice-cream for dessert on Sat night. Sunday morning we helped Richard break down the deer we shot and came home with two big chilly bins full of venison, which made my mum very happy. My dad and I did the head as a European mount and tanned the skin so I can put it on the wall in my bedroom. We have booked another trip and I can’t wait to get back again!
Fairmead Hunting Lodge offers personalised professional guided hunting for fallow deer, trophy bucks and other game animals on a safe and controlled environment in Back Block, Wanganui.
• GIFT VOUCHERS
Birthdays, anniversaries, etc)
• TROPHY BUCK HUNT! March
• FALLOW RUT!
April - limited positions available
• Meat hunts - all year
2 nights accommodation + guided hunt ONLY $350 per hunter + a trophy or meat animal fee.
• Father & Son hunts • Ladies’ hunts • Beginner hunts
Meat Fallow Deer $200 Management Buck $500
Trophy Buck $2,500 Arapawa Ram $500
Richard & Barbara Turner Fairmead Lodge, RD 8, Wanganui, NZ Tel. 06 342 8767
www.fairmeadlodge.co.nz
Young Anthony earns success at Fairmead.
The Beginnings of a Hunt (A RidgeAir story)
By Daryl Crimp
“Tom, do you copy?” “Yeah gotcha!” We’d scarcely separated after pitching the tent and relaxing into a brew before heading out for an evening hunt, and already we had radio chatter. “Just spotted a deer crossing the scree above me - going up to check it out.” Tom continued up a ridge adjacent to the face I was now hungrily climbing. The wind was dodgy, blowing up our arses, so, in such circumstances, altitude is an advantage. Sweat dripped off my forehead and trickled down my neck. I zigzagged up the hill, periodically poking my head over the spur to see if I could spot the animal, then retreating to stay out of sight and keep my scent from funnelling up to where I thought the deer might be; it wasn’t feeding but tracking, so I wasn’t mucking about. While we were heading into summer, it was still spring in the High Country and it was for this reason that I’d contacted Aron O’Donnell from Ridge Air in Marlborough. The later growth in the back country provides excellent meat hunting opportunities that are often overlooked by hunters. We discussed some options and then he put me onto pilot, Willy Sage. He’s an experienced hunter and, because he’s flying his patch regularly, knows where the deer are. “Find the green grass, Crimpy, and you’ll find the deer!” his voice crackled over the headset. “You should do all right here,”
he chipped as he flared the R44 in preparation for landing, “providing you are a half decent hunter!” Once off-loaded, we hunkered in the rotor wash as Willy left us and the Waitellu valley behind. Now it was seven in the evening and I was halfway up a gnarly knob when I looked up to see the stag 200m away on spur above a cliff. My shooting position was poor and that first shot wasted, so I scrambled up the ridge to a better position. Even then, my next shot went low and the Norma ballistic tip blew up dust behind the deer; the shot low under the ribcage. Fortunately, I was using a Gunworks suppressor, so the stag wasn’t too alarmed. I cranked the Swarovski Z6 up a power or two and settled the crosshairs behind the front elbow joint. This time the deer staggered, tottered and tipped up in a cloud of dust. I saw legs flailing, then the deer cannoned over the brow of the cliff and barrelled down a chute above, stopping eventually on the lip of a drop. It was a precarious situation from which to retrieve the meat, but I accomplished it by hanging on with my teeth and sweating a lot. “Daryl… do you copy?” “Yeah gotcha!” “Sit tight - I’ve just spotted another two deer!” The hunt had only just begun.
HUNT
Marlborough
backcountry PRIME MEAT HUNTS REMOTE BACKBLOCKS LIMITED FOOT ACCESS GREAT TROPHY POTENTIAL SUPERB FREE RANGE HUNTING Freephone: 0800 743 432 FIXED WING & HELICOPTER SERVICES info@ridgeair.co.nz • www.ridgeair.co.nz HELI ADVENTURE SPECIALISTS
It’s steeper than it looks!
120 Rapaura Rd – Renwick, Blenheim
Helicopters are operated by: Tasman Helicopters Above and Beyond Ltd.