My wife and I got in at 4:00 AM this morning (Sunday, 4/23). I hunted with Terry Pierson near Queenstown and also at the north end of the south island. Here are some photos. You Kiwis have a beautiful country, and we enjoyed visiting you immensely. Good on ya.

Congrats on the Hunt.

Just as your name says, welcome home for turkey season....George, beautiful animals..that stag looks really royal with the crown of points...

Mike

Well done . Its always pleasing to see guys have a good time here , sometimes we forget just how good our local hunting can be .

Grate Tar and Stag thats my hunt next year.

Well done mate very nice trophys

Very nice trophies you have there.

Looks like you had a ton of fun!!

Great pictures.

Welcome back George, great trophies. How were the temps compared to here? Drove thru St Thomas Thur. on my way to Keystone Fur Dressers. Delievered my Gariffi and Mt Zebra for tanning after a year in storage at home. I guess 416 will report in about a month. Leaving the first of June for Lake Wanka to spend a week with the Telfords. Went to Cabelas yesterday for some last minute supplies for Sat. Cheers!

quote:

Originally posted by Die Ou Jagter:
Welcome back George, great trophies. How were the temps compared to here? Drove thru St Thomas Thur. on my way to Keystone Fur Dressers. Delievered my Gariffi and Mt Zebra for tanning after a year in storage at home. I guess 416 will report in about a month. Leaving the first of June for Lake Wanka to spend a week with the Telfords. Went to Cabelas yesterday for some last minute supplies for Sat. Cheers!

Good morning, Ed. It was unseasonably warm most of the time in NZ, at least according to the locals where we hunted. Temps ranged from the thirties to the sixties (Fahrenheit). We had some rain, but it wasn't cold enough to make hunting in it miserable.
Good luck at Lake Wanaka.
G

I like the fallow.

Heavy beams on the red stag. It must have had good feed to develop like that.

I am starting to itch myself to try for tahr and chamois in Kiwiland one of these days soon.

Hey Big J - a trip to your doctor should cure that itch pretty fast.....

It has been very warm in NZ lately , with no sign of much change for a while . Its raining most everywhere at present but still warm..

Those bull tahr wont have very good coats yet , but summer ones are still ok by me .

patrkyhntr,

Nice critters. Congrats on a successful hunt. -TONY

Very nice. Was it hard going after them? Particularly the thar? Those heads would look pretty neat mounted, I reckon. What calibre where you using? Curious bloke, aren't I.

Doubted our determination to get over there soon. Three family members for (son, daughter, me); one gainst (wife). What does that make the odds?

Very nice heads.

quote:

Originally posted by GreybeardBushman:
Very nice. Was it hard going after them? Particularly the thar? Those heads would look pretty neat mounted, I reckon. What calibre where you using? Curious bloke, aren't I.

Doubted our determination to get over there soon. Three family members for (son, daughter, me); one gainst (wife). What does that make the odds?

Thanks, and no problem about your being a curious bloke.

I was using my Remington model 799 mountain rifle in .30-06. Handloads of Nosler Partition and Speer Grand Slam 180 grain bullets.

Thar are located where it is hard to get to them no matter what. I love hunting the mountains, so I really enjoyed this. The red stag and fallow buck were taken at much lower elevations and on much less steep terrain, so it wasn't too physically demanding.

My taxidermist is doing a full mount of the thar, coming down from one rock to another. The fallow buck will be a pedistal mount. With a rack like that, I need to be able to walk around it and view it from all sides. I haven't decided how to do the red stag.

This trip pushed me over the edge as to trophy mounting space in my house, so we are in the process of planning an addition which will be all trophy room. Damm, but this hunting thing is getting expensive (LOL). I don't think I'll quit just yet, though.

George, momey is the least of your concers . I sent PM but will follow up here - what did you use on your NZ Visitors Firearms License where it asks for FL# in country of origin and issued by.

I left those sections blank, Ed. When asked, I told them that the USA does not issue firearms licenses. Your form 4457 should satisfy them that you are authorized to own one. It is after all a registration form. Sorry I misunderstood your question when I replied to your PM.

If you are traveling on Quantas, you will need to contact them and let them know you will be bringing a firearm. Call the USA toll free number and tell them you will be traveling with them and are bringing a hunting rifle. They will take the information over the phone and will email or send postal mail your letter of approval to carry ammunition and firearms. You must have this to take a firearm on Quantas. Again, if you need more, email me. Good luck on your trip. Let us know how you do. gndnaugle@comcast.net

Congratulations on your purchase

Looks like a Doughboy red stag

Great trophies George!

You should do your Red Stag in a pedastal too! With the mass of points that yours has you need to walk agound it to see it!

Looks like you enjoyed yourself just a bit!

Good to see your home safe! Look forward to meeting up with you!

Again congrats on your "very" sucessful trip!

I am leaving on the 26th for a hunt. What did that stag score? Silver?

Green score is 341 for the stag. It has 21 points.

Ron, the pedistal mount is what I have in mind for the stag. I am getting the tahr done full body. Not sure about the fallow buck yet. By the score, it will rank in the top ten for Pacific fallow deer. Green score was 239 4/8.

George, that is a nice Fallow my taxidermist Marcus Zimmerman said mine was the biggest he had mounted at 220 2/8 have someone else do yours. . Did you get a reaponse from the NZ police when you faxed your gun permit ahead of time?

No, I didn't, Ed. You can assume (dangerous stuff) that they got it and they will be ready for you.
Good luck on your trip. I know you will have a great time. The Kiwis are super nice people.

The guy who does all my work is Mike McCullough in Fort Loudon. If Ron (Widowmaker) lived a bit closer, I would have him so some. I like the idea of having someone close enough to grab if I need to (LOL).

I agree with close, I have two I use Marcus Zimmermann about 25 min over the mountain in Blair Co and Russ Oneal about 25 min down in Yellow Creek. Russ comes to my office and we work out the way I want the mount. I forgot to tell you I was down your way a couple of weeks ago. I took my Gariffi, Mt Zebra and a Springbok to Keystone Fur Dressing for tanning - have you used these guys?

Yes, I have, Ed. I know Mike Showers well. He is a good friend of my buddy Larry Guise (you don't know him) who introduced us some time ago. He does nice taxidermy work also.

George I talked with Mike yesterday about my Buffalo as they are finally ready to ship and he is handleing it for me. He is goiong to have a company in Iowa do the tanning as I am doing a skull mt and having the flat skin leather tanned for some use which I have not decided on as of yet. Doing any good on the Turkeys?