Big Game Hunting New Zealand Jul/Aug 2015 | Page 50

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had been awake for what
seemed like hours when
the early alarm finally
went off. The drive to the
West Coast flew buy as
Dan and I talked about what
might be in store for us over
the next week. We pulled
into the Wanganui River car
park where we were meeting
the chopper to find another
few parties also waiting for
a pick up. We got chatting
to a couple of guys that had
spent a lot of time hunting
the West Coast, they’d had
our block the previous year
and the info they were giving
us was extremely helpful.

WEST COAST

MONSTER
Written by Logan Galloway

50 BGHNZ Issue 7 Jul/Aug 2015

www.bghnz.co.nz

The chopper arrived back
and it was our turn to load
up. The flight up the valley
was stunning and as we
turned around the corner
also quite overwhelming
with the massive steep faces
looming. Camp was set
up as quickly as possible
so we could get out for an
afternoon hunt. A handy
creek just across the valley
looked very promising, so we
set off to explore the area. It
didn't take us long to realise
that everything you wanted
to do would take three times
as long as you thought. If
you thought it would take you
half an hour to get somewhere you would be
there in an hour and a half.
Everything was BIG; huge boulders, deep
creek guts and the west coast scrub was
horrible. Neither of us had hunted the West
Coast before and we had been warned about
the scrub but man it is tough and slow going
through that stuff. We finally pushed through
the bush line and came out into a massive open
valley, the sun was shining and the evening
calm.
We parked up and had a good glass around,
spotting several hairy bulls high up in the bluff
www.bghnz.co.nz

Dan with his cracker bull from
the trip

systems but nothing worth chasing. We were
both being very picky and the mission was on
for wall hanger bulls and nothing less.
The day started to peter out so we thought
we better wander back, but it wasn't too
long before it was pitch black. Out came the
head torches and we picked our way through
the scrub for a very dodgy decent. A few times
we found ourselves looking over waterfalls and
thinking “where the hell did we go on the way
up”?
Once we were safely in the riverbed we came
to an agreement that in future if it was a bit
51 BGHNZ Issue 7 Jul/Aug 2015