Hi
Here are a couple of pics of my sons first 2 deer, shot in the Hacket river South Westland N.Z. at the beging of April. He shot the hind first on a slip in the river, about a 150 meter shot sitting down, the stag I had roaing but didn't relise he was so close so we walked onto him, the hind with him ran but he stayed so was able to give the rifle to my son who then stepped forward and bagged him. Both were one shot kills in the chest, heart lung shots. Saw a total of 11 deer over 6 days but the roaring was a bit stop start with stags sneaking in without roaring. Great service from Morgan Saxton of Heliventures at Haast. Rifle is a 30 something year old Tikka 6mm rem with a bushnell elite 3-9

Hope this worked

Wazza

I see your son is wearing orange clothing. Was there a lot of hunters in the area that visibility (to humans) was advisable?

A great hunt for a young guy with Dad.

We had half the block to ourselves, with another party in the top part. I'm a big fan of high vis clothing as I was shot twice in the seventies while hunting in NZ in my late teens and early 20s and am extremly lucky to be here. As deer are colour blind they don't see the blaze colour, hopefully other hunters will, two hunters were shot this April in NZ, one dead the other injured. Sure wouldn't like to have to explain to the wife why the son didn't come back. Most times it's your mate who shoots you.

Nitro mate - you might laugh at the Americans in their orange hunting gear but here in NZ it can be a life saver at this time of the year. Lots of guys hunt only in the roar so there are more people in the bush at this time than any other , and unfortunately we have a lot of guys who forget the cardinal rule with firearms - positively identify your target.
In the last shooting incident a guy sitting in his sleeping bag in camp eating his breakfast got shot in the shoulder by another hunter who was "lost"
I personally dont wear blaze-orange , but I dont hunt in the roar either, or at least not at the weekend , and only on private land that I am pretty sure wont have any other hunters . Being shot at is fine if you are in the military - they pay you to be a target - but not for this kid .

quote:

Being shot at is fine if you are in the military - they pay you to be a target - but not for this kid .

They don't pay enough for that mate

Wazza
Congrats to you and your son. Well done.

Bakes is already high visibility.

Links to news articles on those incidents - sobering stuff.

Incident 1
Incident 2
Edit: Bloody hell - another casualty today, pig hunting this time: Incident 3- updated

Thanks for those links Gadge - just shows how a great hunt can change at the squeeze of a trigger.....

I dont know how many guys I have seen that didnt know I was there , guess there are plenty who have viewed me through a rifle scope as well but so far I havent shot any one , and havent been shot at yet . Having said that I choose not to hunt in the roar these days .

Great hunt Wazza and son , hope you come back for many more .

And Bakes - I doubt they can make Hi-Viz clothes in your size yet mate .....the parcel should be in the post on wednesday...

Not being the only one in the area during the roar is now the main reason I hunt the roar blocks in south westland, as if you score a block your party is the only one there. I used to hunt at Lake Waikaremoana where I grew up and did most of my early hunting, but you are now never alone in the bush. Takes all the fun out of it wondering if that noise is a deer or a person, not good for the nerves. It's far more reasuring knowing after your helicopter flight it's a 2-3 day tramp for anyone else to be near you. And the heli operators know where the other parties are. Disapointing to see that new incident in NZ, gives more ammo to the no guns

7 people died in motor accidents in 2 hours on Queensland roads yesterday. Tragic for sure, but it didn't make the front page of the Sunday paper.

Priorities.......

We had better ban cars then

Now T-P - you know as well as anyone else that being killed in a motor vehicle accident is old hat and boring , nowhere near as impressive and newsworthy as grown men shooting each other with real guns .

Same as a good old domestic murder or a Saturday night stabbing - we have become immune to that sort of stuff and need some excitement in our tv viewing lives , and a hunting incident supplies that in all its gory details .

Thanks Muzza

Its just a shame guys don't take a little more trouble in identifying their target before pulling the trigger. It would be hard to live with yourself if you terminated someone elses life through stupidity.

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:


Thanks Muzza

Bakesey isn't a fat guy, he is big enough in build not to miss. I was referring more to "reflective" surfaces (as a joke of course).