NZ Hunter

nz hunter magazine

EDITOR Greg Duley ASSOCIATE EDITOR Luke Care PRODUCTION MANAGER Fi Duley SUBSCRIPTIONS Andy Lyver COLUMNISTS John Bissell, Andrew Buglass Greig Caigou, Corey Carston, Richard Hingston, Glenn Morris, Hunter Morrow, Roy Sloan, Points South, Paul Stenning, Matt Winter COVER PHOTO Billy Burn Wapiti – Richie HeazlewoodMallard Ducks – Matt Winter…

a word from the editor

As I sit to write this it's been just two days since the tragedy in Christchurch. Our sincerest condolences go out to the families of the victims, and to all of those affected directly. And we are all going to be affected - whether directly or indirectly. New Zealand lost its innocence on March 15, 2019.Within hours of the shootings various commentators and the Prime Minister were calling for a change in gun laws. The gunman used an MSSA bought as an A Category under our current gun laws, which means far less vetting, background checks, yearly inspections of security etc than was required when they were an E Cat. He was then able to walk round the corner and buy high capacity magazines and other modular components and…

q&a

RELOADING HEY GREG Love the magazine and the show. I’ve been following your posts around various forums on your various customs rifles Greg and notice you often use Reloder 33 in your big rifles. I was wondering, how have you found the temperature stability out to 1200yds in normal NZ conditions (2-25 degrees C)? Do you prefer it over 2225 for the speed increase or does the variation in speed under different temps make it require a bit more homework and drop work depending on the temperature?Many thanks and kind regards, DAVE HI DAVE, Yes, all the powders that produce more velocity like Re33, the ball powders etc, need some thought to temp changes for longer range. We have a simple system once we've worked out what powder charge…

the magical season

We knew we wanted to go after Sika at some point but were waiting on ballot results to confirm our plans. With fingers crossed, we watched the Wapiti ballot online and although we didn’t draw a central core block, we were happy to get the second period in the Large Burn. We were also lucky enough to draw a Wanaka roar block and the dates coincided perfectly. Our Wanaka trip started in typical fashion with the Subaru loaded up and headed south from Ashburton. We stopped at the house in Twizel in time for a quick fish that evening, securing a couple of good salmon for the people we would stay with along the way. The next day we headed to Makarora where we met family friend Rick…

sika in the ngaruroro

This year was no different except that one of Ed’s mates, Wills from England was coming along. Our hunting party consisted of Lee, Ed, Wills and I. We have done a few trips together into the Kaimanawas, staying in a private cabin and then heading up onto the tops. Every year we seem to get better and wiser. I have learned so much with this crew that I usually hunt with and I’m very confident in all our abilities.On the first day Ed and Wills teamed up and headed off to the tops to set up the fly camp. Lee and I were doing a day mission. We have set areas in which each party will be and we carry UHFs and have set times for communication.Once Ed…

bull gully the catseye

A skilful landing on the Bull Gully beach at high tide meant a hasty unload and a wave to our pilot before Jack and I were left to the heavy stillness of a drizzly, misty evening. Despite the rain we were eager to get into the bush. We set up camp, strung up a fly and headed up the ridge for the last hour of light. We were rewarded by a bugle opposite us on the big slip, and it was tempting to think that this steep ridge we were on could be used to access the main coastal ridge. I’m not recommending it, but if you’ve done it, let me know!The next morning we crossed the creek and went straight up the face through wet boulder terrain…