Land of the Kiwi

 

I had always wanted to go hunt New Zealand, so this year when I got the invite...I was all in! We hunted the South Island with Glen Dene, their 15,000 acre property sits between Lake Hawea to the east and Lake Wanaka to the west.

 

New Zealand Southern Alps, south island
  First sight of the Southern Alps, South Island of New Zealand -- mid April, their fall season

 

New Zealand airport, kiwi  i went hunting in new zealand

              At the airport...the only Kiwi bird we saw :)                         One of several lodges, this one all to ourselves

i went hunting sheep Arapawa ram i went hunting new zealand, i went hunting arapawa sheep

 Bunch of Arapawa sheep hanging out on the rocky slopes                       With my Arapawa ram (203 yrds)

 

It turns out that we had quite an adventure packed into a week's time. We were up before dawn, out hunting during the day and then back to the lodge for dinner. Sometimes we had enough time to come back to the lodge for lunch, but we always made time to relax in the hot tub a night -- which was the remedy for sore/tired leg muscles!

 

i went hunting red stag, Young red stag in new zealand
              Young red stag munching on grass in hopes of becoming one of the big boys

 

I went hunting red stag
                                          ...and I was first to connect on a red stag

 

huge drop tine red stag  i went hunting red stag, two huge red stags

      Tempted, but decided against a drop tine stag                     Unlike the grass muncher, these are the big boys

 

Not only do the Burdon's host an amazing hunt, Richard and Sarah wine and dine their guests and specialize in the social aspect of the trip. The food and drink were first-rate! We ate like kings at every meal and enjoyed story swapping with Richard, Sarah, Dick, Cheryl, Jack, Furgus, Olivia and Stacey.

 

I went hunting in new zealand, fall colors  i went hunting new zealand

     Upon arrival, stopped for lunch...vivid fall colors                Venison from our hunt, possibly the best I've eaten

 

I could go on and on, but instead I'll continue to post pics that somewhat tell the story themselves.

 

i went hunting in new zealand  i went hunting in new zealand

       Over looking lake Hawea, looking for the chocolate fallow deer             Spotted a nice fallow buck, going after him...

 

i went hunting fallow deer, fallow buck  fallow deer buck, new zealand

            Dallas with fallow deer, nice back scratchers            Never found the big mature chocolate fallow seen previously

 

i went hunting red stag during the roar
Hunting New Zealand during the roar was amazing! Oops...caught up in the moment and bumped stag before getting a shot...his hinds are already on the move

 

        Backed out and came back in the afternoon and found him again...look at that crown up top!

 

I went hunting in new zealand after fallow deert  fallow deer buck new zealand

    Spotted this rutting fallow buck and put on the stalk         His slightly smaller nemesis walked within 50 yrds of us                                                                                                                   during the stalk, almost mistakenly shot the wrong buck

 

hunting red stag, huge crown royal  i went hunting new zealand

   Couldn't resist trying for huge stag with unreal crown        While searching for sheds, found two tahr skulls (no pics)

 

red stag huge crown new zealand
                                     As if his 1st one wasn't big enough... ☺  Scored 413!   (273 yrds)

 

New zealand red stag
                         Overlooking lake Wanaka...too many other scenic pics to post in this article

 

i went hunting tahr in new zealand  i went hunting new zealand tahr

On last day, came across herd of nanny tahr (197 yrds)          Great way to end the hunt, each with a tahr (250 yrds)