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Does this happen to you? You read a hunt report on AH and you say to yourself, "I've got to do that hunt!" Well, this is exactly how this hunt came about. About two years ago, I read a hunt report from @Bhfs300 (https://www.africahunting.com/threads/new-zealand-red-stag-hunt-with-kiwi-wilderness-safaris.37106/) and after a few PMs and reading a few other New Zealand hunt reports from others here on AH (@gillettehunter , @cpr0312 & @firehuntfish ), I booked a hunt.
While flying to NZ (United from Houston, Sydney then Christchurch), I watched "First Man", the recent movie about Neil Armstrong. Actual film footage of JFK's famous speech, "We choose to go to moon" speech resonated with me, especially as I was laboring up steep mountains slopes in the Southern Alps.
We choose to do a wilderness hunt, not because they are easy, but because they are hard
I departed Houston the night of April 17th. Once again I was unimpressed with United's poor check in service with a firearm. The United counter in Terminal C was not busy and it still took about 30 minutes to check in. Amazingly, I was told that TSA doesn't have anyone in Terminal C to check a rifle case, so a United agent had to carry my rifle case and key over to Terminal B and then bring it back for me to complete the check in process. The 17 hour flight from Houston to Sydney on the 787 Dreamliner was good, but very long. I was able to get a business class ticket for 280,000 miles.
Kiwi Wilderness Safaris is owned and operated by Peter Chamberlain. With a simple $500 deposit, I booked the hunt about a year ago. Peter was always quick to reply to the multiple emails I sent him. When I arrived in Christchurch the afternoon of Apr 19 (Good Friday), one of Peter's sons, Leighton, picked me up at the airport. Peter lives about an hour north of Christchurch, in the small town of Waikari. From there, the Red Stag hunting cabin was a short 20-30 minute drive.
Saturday was Day 1 of a 7 day hunt. I shot my rifle to see that it was still good and off we went. Both Saturday and Easter Sunday were wet, rainy days. Leighton was serving as my main hunting guide and Peter was assisting. Peter had ankle surgery a few months ago and was walking around in a walking boot. He still managed to run circles around me, with his boundless energy. Peter is also a talkative, entertaining guy. The area we were hunting was low fenced, cattle and sheep farms. We saw several stags, fallow deer and chamois on Saturday, but no shooters.
Sunday morning was pouring down rain, so we weren't in a big hurry to get out early. By mid-afternoon, the rain lighten up, but the clouds were still low. Peter was going to drive to one mountain top and Leighton and I would go to another. As soon as we got to our designated spot, we got out and did a little hiking in the light rain and clouds. Visibility was only a couple hundred yards on the mountain top, but as we moved down slope and out of the clouds, visibility improved. We could hear a stag in a nearby stand of trees give out an occasional roar. We sat there for about a half hour, but the stag never walked out and presented itself. Leighton and I continued to move slowly down slope and got a radio call from Peter. Peter had spotted a good stag, lower in the valley. Leighton and I hiked at a brisker pace, which was still mainly down slope and easy going. We covered about half a mile, quickly and easily. We used the rolling terrain for cover and was able to move to within about 120 yards of the impressive stag. I sat down on the side slope and used Leighton's bi-pod shooting sticks. I had brought to NZ, my titanium Remington 700 in 270. I was shooting 130 gr. Hornady SST bullets. The first shot put the stag down where it stood. It was squirming on the ground and attempting to get up, so a second shot put it down for good.
I was extremely pleased with this 16 point (10 on left and 6 on right), free range Red Stag.
On Monday, we headed south to go after Tahr.
While flying to NZ (United from Houston, Sydney then Christchurch), I watched "First Man", the recent movie about Neil Armstrong. Actual film footage of JFK's famous speech, "We choose to go to moon" speech resonated with me, especially as I was laboring up steep mountains slopes in the Southern Alps.
We choose to do a wilderness hunt, not because they are easy, but because they are hard
I departed Houston the night of April 17th. Once again I was unimpressed with United's poor check in service with a firearm. The United counter in Terminal C was not busy and it still took about 30 minutes to check in. Amazingly, I was told that TSA doesn't have anyone in Terminal C to check a rifle case, so a United agent had to carry my rifle case and key over to Terminal B and then bring it back for me to complete the check in process. The 17 hour flight from Houston to Sydney on the 787 Dreamliner was good, but very long. I was able to get a business class ticket for 280,000 miles.
Kiwi Wilderness Safaris is owned and operated by Peter Chamberlain. With a simple $500 deposit, I booked the hunt about a year ago. Peter was always quick to reply to the multiple emails I sent him. When I arrived in Christchurch the afternoon of Apr 19 (Good Friday), one of Peter's sons, Leighton, picked me up at the airport. Peter lives about an hour north of Christchurch, in the small town of Waikari. From there, the Red Stag hunting cabin was a short 20-30 minute drive.
Saturday was Day 1 of a 7 day hunt. I shot my rifle to see that it was still good and off we went. Both Saturday and Easter Sunday were wet, rainy days. Leighton was serving as my main hunting guide and Peter was assisting. Peter had ankle surgery a few months ago and was walking around in a walking boot. He still managed to run circles around me, with his boundless energy. Peter is also a talkative, entertaining guy. The area we were hunting was low fenced, cattle and sheep farms. We saw several stags, fallow deer and chamois on Saturday, but no shooters.
Sunday morning was pouring down rain, so we weren't in a big hurry to get out early. By mid-afternoon, the rain lighten up, but the clouds were still low. Peter was going to drive to one mountain top and Leighton and I would go to another. As soon as we got to our designated spot, we got out and did a little hiking in the light rain and clouds. Visibility was only a couple hundred yards on the mountain top, but as we moved down slope and out of the clouds, visibility improved. We could hear a stag in a nearby stand of trees give out an occasional roar. We sat there for about a half hour, but the stag never walked out and presented itself. Leighton and I continued to move slowly down slope and got a radio call from Peter. Peter had spotted a good stag, lower in the valley. Leighton and I hiked at a brisker pace, which was still mainly down slope and easy going. We covered about half a mile, quickly and easily. We used the rolling terrain for cover and was able to move to within about 120 yards of the impressive stag. I sat down on the side slope and used Leighton's bi-pod shooting sticks. I had brought to NZ, my titanium Remington 700 in 270. I was shooting 130 gr. Hornady SST bullets. The first shot put the stag down where it stood. It was squirming on the ground and attempting to get up, so a second shot put it down for good.
I was extremely pleased with this 16 point (10 on left and 6 on right), free range Red Stag.
On Monday, we headed south to go after Tahr.
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