NZ Hunter

a word from the editor

Well here we are approaching that time of year again. It’s the countdown to the roar and our favourite time of year. The maps are out, heads being scratched and plans schemed to work out where we’re headed this year to try and find that true wilderness stag to top all stags! The good thing is there’s been little WARO this season, so there should be more animals out and about in some of those west coast alpine areas that were absolutely trashed last year. Numbers will still be very low, but the survivors shouldn’t have been driven into the bush, and should have had ample feed to grow a good set of antlers. If you are in an area with a lot of animals like the Ureweras and Lake…

q & a suppressors

HI GREG What maintenance do I need to do on my suppressor? I’ve heard all sorts of things and not sure what is correct? HI SIMON, CHEERS, SIMON This is an interesting question that has a range of answers depending on what brand of suppressor you are using. Firstly, the most important thing to remember with suppressors is take them off the barrel after shooting and store them separately – not screwed onto the barrel. The powder fouling left in the bore and suppressor itself is not corrosive, but the condensation created by the heating and cooling combined with some of the powder residue creates ammonia amongst other compounds. This can be corrosive and etch not only the inside of the suppressor but the muzzle face and the inside of your bore. Most especially,…

roar success

Anyway with the hunting having taken bit of a back seat over the last couple of years while I worked to keep our heads above water in Wanaka, I vowed this year was going to be different. Getting a bad bout of giardia threw a serious spanner in the works. I lost 12kg in six weeks – not ideal when I normally weigh only 72kg on a good day. Late March finally rolled around and the weather was somewhat settled with 4-day fine spells on each side of the Alps, and although temperatures were quite warm, it was good enough for me. I’d done a few solo overnighters by this stage so I was good to go. Cole and I headed west on the 28th March to Haast for a couple of…

the clarence reserve

This year we decided to explore the Clarence Reserve country with plenty of local help from all-round good bugger Shaun Ford, or Fordy as he’s known to most. Sam and I were in the trusty ol’ Patrol and Mum and Dad were in their Ranger. The Clarence is very open, clad mostly in sweet briar, a bit of matagouri and a few stands of dry alpine manuka, with bright green poplar and willow in the creeks. Mildly reminiscent of the Otago tussock lands but with short summer-beaten grass instead, it’s the division between the scrubby coastal Kaikoura country and the vast, dry Molesworth territory. The harsh country felt almost desert-like by New Zealand standards, but absolutely beautiful because of it. It’s got some really varied geology along with active faults, highlighted…

bushnell live animal gallery

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!…

westland epic

We kept talking about the urge we both had to do a proper backpack mission; one that pushed us out of our usual comfort zones, both physically and mentally. Over a couple of midweek beers at the local pub we got to work on brainstorming a few ideas. There was only one place we both thought could offer what we were looking for – South Westland. We did a bit of research and planning before choosing a valley to fly in and hunt out of that would take us at least three days of solid walking to reach our truck. This would leave us three days of hunting tahr and chamois in the headwaters and side creeks before hopefully knocking over a handy deer or two on the flats to fill…