Big Game Hunting New Zealand Jul/Aug 2015 | Page 42

Red deer where they should be,
out in the tussock.

deer a public land red. I knew it wasn’t going
to be easy hunting the tussock armed with a
stick and string but I was up for the challenge!
I sat watching and filming the local deer while
Mark tried his luck further along the ridge. I had
dinner sorted for Marks’ return and we hit the
sack pretty knackered but very excited to see
what day 2 would bring.
After another early start, Mark and I had
the Huntech bivy packed away and on the
hoof by day break. We worked our way up a
leading ridge heading towards the trickiest part
of the crossing, a high point with a set of bluffs
around the top. On a windy day this section
would be fairly tricky to traverse, but thankfully
the weather was ok and we made our way
around without too much hassle. Up ahead we
caught a glimpse of the Sawtooth Ridge a very
impressive part of the Ruahines and perfect
red deer country. It was nearing mid-day after
clearing the bluffs so we decided to stop for a
bite to eat. While having a quick glass between
watching my noodles cook, I saw the biggest
mob of red deer I’d seen in 10 years of hunting
this range. I had picked up that familiar sight
of bright orange about 1 km away on a sunny
42 BGHNZ Issue 7 Jul/Aug 2015

The plan was to sit tight in a fold
in the hill face and hope the deer
would feed up during the evening
to come parallel to me offering a
close range stalk. Everything was
going to plan as I had only been
waiting 5 minutes when I spotted a
red spiker feeding below me with
the wind drifting up nicely. I was fully
aware that this wind would soon
change as the evening cooled, so I
had to act quickly! I started a brisk
stalk straight at the deer and over
the next few minutes I edged closer
hoping to get within my desired
range of 40 yards. However, as I’m
sure all of you have experienced
before, I was about half way there
when the wind caught me out
sending a small puff in his direction
and the spiker was off! Bugger!
Deer one, me zero.

north facing spur. After seein