took my son out for a hunt yesterday. we had a lovely mutton roast with all the trimmings (roast spuds, mushrooms, zuchinis,carrots,red cabbage and gravey) before we left to fuel the long slog up the hill.
our packs seemed heavy enough but really had stuff all in them just sleeping bag and cover(both old ex army jobs) 1 change of warm fleece cloths and a change of socks. food was some of those great instant breakfasts "up &go" which gives the same as 2 weetbix and milk per 250mls...I took 1 litre just for me!!!!! some chocolate and 2 litres of water each. my son had a wee camera and compact 8x28 binos while I took the rifle and the big Carl Zeiss 10x50mm set.those binos are fantastic it doesnt matter if you are looking 50 yrds down the hill or 2-3 kms away they are crystal clear and very easy on the eyes as they dont "suck your eyes out" like some Ive used over the years.
we trudged up through the bush on a loopy track till we broke out into the open scrub about an hour before dark. finding a place to stop for the night was easy, we just piled off the track to a likely spot to glass for animals and found enough flatish ground to spread out the good old elcheapo fartsacks and camp was set. nothing was seen before dark so we crawled into the said fartsacks and settled in for the night.
"whats that noise down there?" asked the lad
"pass.. get some sleep " replies tired old man
just get my head down when I hear it too...
crackling and crunching coming from the wee creek beside us about 150-200yrds away hmmmm now just aswell I left the good headlamp at home or I might have been tempted to just have a wee look. nothing doing in the artifical daylight department(just aswell as its illegal on public land over here) well the noise could have been any animal untill Mrs Piggy and the squeelers started grunting etc and let us know what it was making the racket.
off to sleep we got and a plurry good sleep it was too
my snoring didnt roar up any stags or look sick billy goats so all was well till alarm went off at 05:30.....still too dark to see but by 06:00 the binos were busy while still in bed .
nothing doing so we moved on trudging through the heater and tussock and that other plant that the pomgolians brought over to make fences out of hint hint guys ever heard of posts and wires if I could find the halfwit who decided to bring gorse over I would gladly kick him fair n square you know where
we covered a lot of ground with the binos but couldnt find an animal at all. we went over the top of little Mt Peel and down the other side and homeward. 9 hours on our feet minus glassing stops but a great time had all the same. lost a heck of a lot of sweat I tell you hunting in summer might be good for some but winter is much more my cuppa tea.
photos to follow.

1st picture is from where we slept looking down on the mighty Rangitata river.
2nd,3rd and 4th are from beside the hut on top of Little Mt Peel 1230mtrs, really nice country and makes a fella humble to be there, real long range country.

Beautiful country Elvis...but I'm glad it was you and not me traipsing up and down those bloody great yarmas mate.

Most importantly, you had a good day out with your young fella.

Hiking terrain like that will keep you young and fit! Thanks for sharing.

Wow! Beautiful country! Sounds like it was a good trip too. Any trip away from "civilization" is a good trip!

Nice trip elvis.
Great view there.

My legs are killing me....the quads are very tender but at least the young fella is suffering too...

Elvis wrote:

My legs are killing me....the quads are very tender but at least the young fella is suffering too...

Gee mate...it's ya head that's knockin' me around.

Nice country and great trip.

Is that pretty much ALL gorse in the photo's matey?

If so, you have it far worse than here.

Awesome post Elvis. My boys a tad older (15). I think its great you take him with you on a hunting adventure. I've done the same with mine, but all we have here in Florida is basically swamps, no hills. One of these days were going to Colorado and do a mule deer hunt in the mountains. Spend all the time with your son you can. We have a saying here in the south "Take your kids hunting so you wont have to hunt for your kids." Thanks for the pics.

English Mike wrote:

Is that pretty much ALL gorse in the photo's matey? If so, you have it far worse than here.

not all gorse but the plurry stuff is intermingled(hows that for a wheelbarrow word!!) with the heater and tussock.

I used google earth to locate 'Little Mount Peel, New Zeland' and I landed right on the little shelter at 1245m elevation. Beautifull country to be observed fron that spot.

Hiking terrain like that will keep you young and fit! Thanks for sharing.

That's simply awesome. My better half and I have commented many times that if he make an "exotic" trip, it will be to your beautiful country. The amazing countryside, the hunting, fishing, oh yeah, One day. And who knows, maybe we can bribe you into a bit of tour guiding....

It's also very cool to see you passing on the passion to the next generation, good on ya!