NZ Hunter

New Zealand’s premier hunting and outdoor magazine. For everything hunting - adventures, tips, how-tos, and reviews of the latest products. A great read with something for everyone.

NZ Hunter Magazine Ltd

A WORD FROM THE EDITOR

Q&A

Alpine Double • I’ve always had a passion for exploring remote alpine areas, rich with deerstalking history and, as there was a long weekend on the horizon, mates Tom, Kobi and I were keen to further explore one of my favourite valleys

KAIMANAWA GIANT • The 2020 roar was a non-event due to covid and the frustration of sitting around was high, knowing the stags would be loving the lack of human scent in the bush. The 2021 roar was not shaping well for me either, though I wasn’t going to let a ruptured disc in my back stop me from trying. No training meant I entered April in less than prime physical condition and ended up being dubbed‘Muffin Man’by the other boys.

Kaweka Crusty Demons • Beer and bullshit flowed around the table as the Gotman recalled tales from 40 years earlier - cray boats, Ray Tinsley and sleeping rough with dead bulls helped steer the conversation towards the coming Wapiti ballot

DAVE’S STORY

IT'S CALLED PERSEVERANCE! • Trophy hunting holds no guarantees. After shooting a couple of small Rusa stags in the mid 70's, I then spent 30-odd years hunting for a record book Rusa

TAHR TANGLE AT THE TARNS • With a good stretch of fine weather days looming on the Westland horizon our team of five; Bernadette (my daughter), Friar John, Sister Rachel, and Nathan, all headed for Fox Glacier. It was the starting point for a flight in with James Scott the next morning, to camp out on the tops for much of the week ahead

MR CONSISTENT

SOUNDING OUT THE RUT • For me, the sound of a Fallow buck croaking his heart out brings a sense of anticipation like no other. The deep grunts lack the volume of a Red roar or the eeriness of a Sika’s call, but there’s nothing quite like the circus that surrounds a dominant buck in the rut. As a bowhunter, I absolutely love trying to get within bow range (40 yards and under) of a rampant buck

SEARCH AND RESCUE • Even the best laid plans with the right preparation can go wrong in the great outdoors

FIORDLAND FIRST TIMERS • The first week of April had finally rolled around, and we were headed off on our roar trip - destination Fiordland

THE MAHITAHI • The upper half of the Mahitahi Valley is equal parts impressive as it is intimidating, where you’re surrounded by peaks over 2000m in every direction, with hanging ice and permanent snow on the shady face

MANUKA & KANUKA Latin - Leptospermum scoparium & Kunzea ericoides • Manuka and Kanuka …. I’d venture to say, the two most confused and misidentified native plants in New Zealand. Historically, for what ever reason, the two seem to have always been lumped under the name ‘manuka’

HUNTING IS ACTIVE RECREATION • Many of us are well aware that hunting can be physically demanding at times but how often do we acknowledge and showcase the fitness, physical and wide-ranging wellbeing aspects a hunting lifestyle to others?

ROBIN SADDLE HUT • Robin Saddle Hut is a considerable distance from my normal stamping ground and as usual it took some prompting from my hut-bagging friend Mauricio to pry me out of my pleasant backyard west of the Alps to journey into the far reaches of Fiordland

WYOMING COYOTE • When Kory, our host, asked if I wanted to go coyote hunting my response might have been a little too enthusiastic - I was in. We hadn’t even dropped off the Pronghorn buck from the earlier hunt (a story in Issue 79) before turning down a side road to a place he’d regularly shot coyotes

THE GAC UPDATE • Accurately age Red stags this roar

OLD MAN TROPHY...