My First Sergeant is a passionate bow hunter and has convinced my wife to give it a try. While we can't have a bow while over here in Korea, we have plans to pick some up when we get back to the USA.
In the mean time, BJ is a passionate bow hunter and took the rainy weather as an opportunity to give my wife a beginner's lesson on archery! He has a covered range set up near the farm house and ran my wife through the basics. Needless to say, she's hooked!
And not a bad shot either!
The next day, we set out early for more sheep. Another beautiful day at Ample Hunting!
I found a nice one, with tight curls.
I particularly like all the battle damage- this guy was clearly a grump!
Since we were done hunting before lunch, after lunch BJ took us out and demonstrated how his cattle dogs work. There are two type- eye dogs and bark dogs. Eye dogs just use their presence to move sheep and cows. Bark dogs, on the other hand, do as their name implies and bark at them. The eye dogs are best if you are moving a smaller group and if you want to do so without making too much noise. The bark dogs get the job done faster, but the animals sometimes get panicked (so if you're pushing them through a small space, eye dogs are better). Their training is impressive- different whistle tones mean different things and they respond immediately. Very cool to see them in action.
As a final treat, we went out possum hunting in the late afternoon. There are outrageous amounts of possum all over NZ. They're a significant pest animal that threaten many of the indigenous birds. Interestingly, they are not like North American possums- these guys have very soft fur and fluffy tails. The New Zealanders actually mix their fur with wool to make garments and blankets and the like- I highly recommend buying some of these products while visiting NZ. Its soft like cashmere and very warm.
To hunt the possums, we borrowed a .22LR. BJ actually has a little lap dog named Maddie. While not useful for most types of hunting, she does a great job of finding possums in the trees. Here's one hiding out:
Just walking a short section of trees, we shot 4 of these buggers. There are actually significantly more possums in NZ than people!
What's funny is that for all the hunting my wife has done, all the trophies, she did not like shooting the possum. Something about their little human-like hands and their soft and fluffy hides just rubbed her the wrong way. She plans to stick to big game for now!
And so ended our hunting trip to New Zealand. BJ's property is beautiful and the game is certainly ample! The trophy quality is exceptional and you'll have a great time.
Of note, if you've managed to stick with me through this long report... 2018 is a particularly ideal year to book a hunt with BJ. He has the unique problem of having too many 400+ stags in his herd. Most of his clients have been booking gold medal stags (350-399) because his prices are so good. He has some absolute monster stags that we saw, just waiting for an interested hunter to show up! I'm a big fan of his pricing too- rather than charging for every increase of 10 or 20 points, he just has two categories- less than 400 and 400+. It keeps things simple and it means there's no need for angst over inches.
If anyone has questions about his operation, feel free to shoot me a PM.