Hunting can be easy

David Eaton

Hunting does not always have to involve miles of heart breaking pack carrying to remote locations to be successful.  There are times when luck favours the brave, but other times when it’s pure jammy the way things turn out.  The old scout motto of being prepared is always true with hunting.  Never be far from your rifle as opportunities can often be just around the corner.  If you happen to end up in a remote spot don’t even go to the toilet or collect water without taking your rifle with you.  That doesn’t mean that you up and shoot without due consideration, it means that with the rifle available you have the option to shoot.  Never use your last bullet for meat unless you are starving, that once in a life time trophy may just be over the next log.  Shooting deer from bed or camp is great but that is not what I’m talking about today.

Tararua Fun

By David Eaton

Sitting in the tussock overlooking a saddle on a perfect day during the roar is what dreams are made of.  Living my dream I settled down to enjoy an apple in the sun while making use of my trusty roaring tube, ( 40 mm PVC pipe).  Reality soon disturbed my slumber as an eight point red stag popped into view a few hundred metres away roaring his head off. Noting his small set of antlers I sat back to watch developments.  With a little encouragement from me, he located my direction and started to zero in.  “Excellent,” I thought with a smile on my face.

South Westland Adventure

by David Eaton

There is something very special about wild and remote regions, that is, hard to deny.  Add to that the chances of encountering a majestic bull tahr or an agile chamois and you have the perfect ingredients for great adventure.  With living in the north island the magnetic pull may be to the north, but the spiritual pull is definitely to the big country of the south island and in particular the central Southern Alps and South West Land.  One day I may live closer, but in the mean time I try to head south twice a year.  Ideally a summer and a winter sojourn.  For some time I had been waiting for my son Fraser to be physically big enough to handle the rugged stuff that tends to pop up around there.  Over the last year he sprouted faster than a new set of antlers, so plans were made to head into the Douglas River in January 2005 with his older sister Kelly.  Unfortunately Kelly had to pull out and this opened the door for Fraser’s mate Kieron Waldman to go.

Winter Tahr Hunt 2004

by David Eaton

Most winters find me spending a couple of weeks either wandering about looking for tahr or sticking sharp things into ice while tied to the end of a rope. Or both at the same time, as luck would have it. This past July, we three members of the Porirua Branch of the N.Z.D.A., Andrew Rowland, Don Hawinkels and I headed into the Macaulay and Godley valleys in search of tahr. It was the first trip together for some time and we all had our own goals. Andrew hadn’t as yet had success on tahr and was naturally keen to do so. Don was keen to find a larger bull than previously shot. My number one objective was for Andrew to have success and then I would look for ‘mister big’, with all of us having plenty of fresh meat to take home.