Thursday 17 August 2023

Mid-morning I picked up my good mate Dave from the Queenstown Airport. With Dave was Jim from Ireland. Both ex-military, they had met through work some years ago. Jim was wanting to come to NZ to go thar hunting and here he was absorbed in the great scenery surrounding Queenstown.

We headed over to our place between Wanaka and Cromwell to sort out kit and check zero a rifle before departing tomorrow for the hunt. I dragged out my 6.5 PRC and put it together, mounting the 8 to 35 power Night Force scope on it. We set up a target at a 100m for Jim to check the zero and get used to the gun. That done we set him onto a 12 inch disc at 720m, which, after working out the wind, he hit several times; next was a 6 inch disc at 820 meters that was struck first shot, and, after a few more hits, it was time to adjourn for an evening drink.

Friday 18 August 2023

Heading off mid-morning we made out way up the Lindis Valley and over the Lindis Pass, stopping  at Omarama for some lunch. We then headed up to the bottom of Lake Pukaki with the stunning views of Mount Cook and the surrounding mountains. We then went into Tekapo, where we stopped for a brew and took a look at the dog monument at the bottom of the lake. We drove up the west side of Lake Tekapo to Godley Peaks Station where we picked up the keys for the Angus hut, where we would be staying. From there we continued our journey up to the top of the lake and then alongside the Godley River a further 15 kilometres to the hut.

There we unloaded our kit and I got the fire going, receiving a considerable amount of abuse from the boys as it smoked out the hut. As the day was over, Dave cooked a meal and we sat around the hut table, chattting and getting a good run down from Jim on hunting in the UK.

Saturday 19 August 2023

After an early breakfast we headed off back down the river on foot, scanning the hills with or binoculars for bull thar. We had only gone about a kilometre and were observing a mob of bulls about 800m away up to our left on the face when Jim spotted what looked like a good bull about 450m away ahead of us. After watching this bull for some time we worked out it was worth shooting so I stayed on the river bed with the spotting scope while Jim and Dave moved up to a knoll about 100m away, where Jim was able to take a shot it from a range of 360m. I saw the thar through the spotting scope dash off down the hill and disappear into some matagauri. It was hard to know if it had been hit or not.

Jim and Dave headed up the hill to the area where the thar had been and commenced searching for it. The area they were searching was, I believed, above where the thar had been and I’m not sure whether Dave was just giving Jim the full experience of searching through New Zealand matagauri or had just had a different perspective on where the animal was from where they had been. Eventually I directed them to the spot where I believed the bull had been standing when it was shot and they soon located it nearby. They dragged the carcass out into a clear area, where they skinned out the cape and took the head off, discovering that the projectile had gone right through the animal’s heart.

As I was waiting for them to come back down the hill I saw a squirrel helicopter come down the valley above the hut and land beside it. When we arrived back at the hut, we discovered the helicopter belong to Mark, the owner of Tekapo helicopters, a friend of ours. He had just dropped some skiers off in the next valley and knew we were there so dropped in. We put the billy on and enjoyed a brew, then Mark said “well you’d better come for a ride” and suggested Jim bring his ice-axe and crampons, which he duly did. We took off and flew over the Hall Range into the Cass Valley, up past Memorial Hut, where I had hunted in the early 70’s.

Flying up a valley just above the Memorial Hut in some stunning mountain country, we observed a little red hut on a ridge at about 7,000 feet. Mark landed the machine near the hut, leaving the engine running as the weather looked a bit dodgy, and we wandered the 30 or so metres to the hut. Mark opened the door and indicated to Jim to go in. There were already a number of people in there and some skiers hanging around outside. To Jim’s surprise, the shelves in the hut were lined with bottles of whiskey. Mark reached over and selected a bottle and poured the three of us a wee dram, while we sat and chatted to some of the whiskey-drinking skiers in the hut.

There’s a funny story behind this hut… The farmer that owns Glenmore Station, on which the hut is situated, decided that a shelter was needed on this saddle to protect skiers in case of a bad weather change, which can happen very quickly around here. Mark flew the materials in and the hut was built. Somewhere along the way it was decided it should be a whiskey hut, so Mark flew Will, the farmer, and all the whiskey up there one day and they stocked the hut. Job done, Will decided he’d have a few drams. Then Will, an expert skier decided to ski back down the hill and Mark, the sober pilot, could pick him up at the bottom. Will had not gone very far before he fell over and when Mark collected him at the bottom off the hill he had fallen over a fair few more times. As he climbed into the helicopter he said “well that was a bad decision” so the hut now has a sign on the back wall: “A bad decision”. On the back of the door as you leave is another sign: “A good decision”. It’s good to see the South Island humour is still intact.

Prior to taking off again Jim put his crampons on, grabbed the thar head and the cape and we got a couple of photos of him with the thar in the snow.

We took off and flew up some other valleys and back over into the Godley, where we observed lots of thar, both high and low in the hills. Mark dropped us back at the hut and had a bit more of a yarn before heading off into the sunset.

Sunday 20 August 2023

After breakfast we packed up our kit, loaded it into the vehicle and made our way slowly down the track along the river-bed, stopping frequently to glass the hills for another good thar. The mob of bulls we had spotted yesterday had obviously moved on and there were quite a few animals up around the tops, well-over 1000m away. We spotted a group of nannies on the hill about 700m away. As part of keeping the numbers down, it is important that hunters don’t only shoot the bulls but also take out a few nannies during their trip as the thar population gets out of control very quickly. So after watching this mob for a while and trying to work out what the wind was doing, we got Jim to take a shot, but we hadn’t got the wind right so the shot missed.We stopped at another spot to glass the hills again and a mob of fallow deer burst out of the scrub about 20m away, ran past us along the track and then disappeared just as quickly back into the scrub.

 

A little further down the track, Jim shot a nanny at about 300m. Eventually we arrived at the Ribbonwood Hut. After a brew, we set out for a late afternoon hunt, heading back up the track the way we’d come. Just on last light Dave hit a fallow hind but as the light was fading fast by the time we got across to it, it was dark and we couldn’t find it. We headed back to the hut and turned in for the night.

Monday 21 August 2023

We woke to light snow and had had the intention of hunting back up the valley that morning, but after we packed up and headed up the track, the snow became really heavy and visibility was down to a few hundred metres so we turned around and headed back out to Tekapo.

By the time we got to the top of Lake Tekapo the weather had cleared and it was a beautiful day. After enjoying a brew in the town, we stopped in to see Mark at Tekapo Helicopters, which is situated about 5kms west of Tekapo. Just after we arrived, Mark returned from dropping a couple of hunters up in the hills. He showed us around his business. Jim was intrigued by what looked like a gun with a bucket on the end of it, which is called a net gun, and is used for netting thar, deer, chamois and hares. Mark very kindly loaded a net into the bucket and took Jim outside for a practice shot.

Our next stop was Glentanner Station, up the top left-hand side of Lake Pukaki, where we booked into a cabin in the camping ground for the night. After dinner we went over to see my good friends, the Ivy’s, who are the station’s owners and spent a great evening catching up with them, their daughter Sarah, her husband Sam and their children, who were visiting from the North Island.

Tuesday 22 August 2023

After a good breakfast with the Ivy’s, by the end of which it was snowing heavily, we hit the road heading back to Queensberry. By the time we reached the bottom of Lake Pukaki the snow had stopped and the sun was shining again.