No Deer?

by Rex De Rooy

No deer in the Tararua’s?

Well Easter came too early this year and the regular trip into the Ruahine tops for the roar was put on hold and we headed down south instead. After many kms of walking we managed to get into the head of an awesome valley and then proceeded to get only a fleeting glimpse of a good chammy buck which was our main target. As a consolation we managed to pick up a hind on the way out, so the old pack had some strain on it. Back in the north island Sabina and I racked our brains of where we could go to have a crack at a stag. We wanted to go somewhere (like every hunter) where we were unlikely to encounter many other hunters. We also wanted to go somewhere semi-local as we had limited time.

“What about the Tararua’s?” I said. “A lot of people I know don’t waste their time there anymore, so in terms of low hunter numbers it could be worth a crack?”. I knew of a spot that I hunted a few years back and managed to shoot an unlucky stag….

We got away into the bush Saturday morning in the Tararua's. The weather was settled and as we climbed we listened for stags. We heard a couple of moans on a distant ridge but nothing great. Our plan then was to make a fly camp just below the bush line and hunt the open tops just before dark. After losing a few pints of sweat we found a suitable campsite 10 minutes climb from the top. Time was moving on so we quickly dumped our gear and headed straight to the tussock for an evening hunt. I carefully approached the tussock bush edge as the last time I was here we had seen a stag less than 100yds away from the bush edge. Luck was not on our side that night as within 15 minutes the tops started to cloud in. We stayed out until just before dark hoping that it would clear, but it didn’t. On the way back down in the dark Sabina heard a slight roar straight opposite our ridge. We both looked at each other with a sly smile. I roared towards the stag once, and then all hell broke loose! He kept roaring really well for 30 minutes, during which time we thought we had a fairly good idea where he was roaring from, so we hatched a plan to climb to the top again in the morning and then come down on top of him slowly.

I found it hard to sleep that night as the anticipation of what tomorrow might bring kept rolling over in my mind. How big was he?. Would he still be there in morning? Would he be holding hinds?

In the morning we got to the top a little too soon as the catabatic wind was still coming down hill, so we stopped for 20 minutes and had breakfast. The early morning rays coming from the east made you feel like there was no other place on earth that you would rather be and an early morning moan from our friend down the ridge only added to the moment. When the wind finally shifted we cut around the tops to the ridge we thought he was on and started to head down. Just before we descended into the bush Sabina spotted 4 hinds, which were well out on the tops. Our focus was so intent on the stag below, we must have walked right past them! Heading down the ridge he was not roaring so we carefully made our way down. The mossy ground showed ample evidence of deer and a few destroyed pepperwood trees only intensified my focus on what lay below.

40 minutes down the ridge I gave a couple of roars and he roared back but from a different position. Damn! he was further down than we thought and off to the side of the ridge. I had been in this situation many times before and in the past my impatience had been my undoing. We sat tight wondering what to do as he had completely shut up. All of a sudden Finn (our hunting dog) started madly winding down towards our left (where the roars had come from) so we watched him for a while. He has an excellent nose for deer and has helped me to close the gap on many an unsuspecting deer in the past. We decided to drop over the side and angle in following Finns lead. 5 minutes in, I could hear something moving below us, but the tight scrub obscured my view. Just then I caught a blur of a shape heading straight towards us. I quickly signalled to Sabina to stop. When I turned back an 8pt stag appeared from behind a tree looking straight towards me. In one motion I pulled the rifle up and shot him front on through the chest.

He was 25 yards away when I shot. He wheeled and stumbled - fell 20 yards away and then never moved again. I gave it a few minutes before I slowly moved forward. Looking down to my right I could see the stags body. I sent Finn in so he could finish his part in the hunt. The shot took out 1 lung and destroyed the heart. We were all very pleased and although the head was disappointing, we had plenty of venison to carry out. We butchered him and took all the meat including the front shoulders which looked fine.

We stopped for lunch after that and then headed down hill well pleased with our efforts. 1 hour later we heard another single roar straight down the ridge in front of us. I gave a couple of roars and then listened. We heard nothing so we continued down the ridge carefully. 5 minutes later I heard sticks breaking lower down and I quickly signalled to Sabina to sit tight. We took our packs off and crouched behind a big tree. Next thing 30 yards below I saw some pepperwood shaking and then an antler appeared through the branches. I could see part of the stags body, but I waited as he laid his antlers back and pushed up through some crown fern. What a sight!

Now I could see most of him, but he was not presenting a very good shot so I waited. He had much better antlers than the first stag so I decided to take him when the shot presented. I watched him carefully as he looked up and down for the intruder! Just then he turned his neck completely side on, so I plugged him through the middle of the neck. At 20 odd yards with a rest on a tree I was confident of my shot.

He fell on the spot and never moved again. This guy was a 10pt stag and although not a monster, he was the best stag I have shot yet and I was very happy. He was still holding a fair bit of body condition and we took both hind quarters and the back steaks. Unfortunately we just could not carry the front shoulders. With a ridiculous weight on our backs we carefully began to descend the steep face. We wanted to make the bottom of the hill before dark and we did. We heard another stag roar not far from the bottom, but today he was safe from these two hunters. With head torches to guide our way back to the car we set ourselves on autopilot and headed for home….

Remember though, if anyone asks….”there are no deer in the Tararua’s!”

Rex