Sheephunter in New Zealand! - Page 2

Bouhuntress · #31 04-30-2011, 01:53 PM

We are off on a sightseeing flight today to Milford Sound then tomorrow we are going to do some rabbit shooting with a suppressed .222 then we are going to spotlight some possums that night. They have so many cool opportunities here. The days are quickly winding down but what an incredible experience so far. You are going to be busy in few months Curtis!

Double Shovel · #32 04-30-2011, 03:36 PM

The possum shooting is what I would really like to do. I will be meeting up next week with my friend from New Zealand and probably get some plans in the works for next spring. Hope the rest of your trip is as fun.
Curtis

crazyfish · #33 05-01-2011, 01:10 AM

thanks for the updates ! looks like an amazing trip ! congrats ,

and well done !

Bouhuntress · #34 05-02-2011, 09:45 PM

We had a really busy 24 hours. We did a night run for possums last night and then went turkey hunting today. Sadly tomorrow is our last day.

Possum/Turkey pictures

huntinstuff · #35 05-03-2011, 06:38 PM

Great stuff you two

Sounds like an excellent place to have a hunt

Enjoy the evening

Come home to a Conservative majority!

#36 05-03-2011, 08:52 PM

Thanks Randy! This has been a truly outstanding experience. I'd rate it at the top of places I've ever hunted. I will be back!

We watched the election results come in last night.....WOOHOO!

huntinstuff · #37 05-03-2011, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Thanks Randy! This has been a truly outstanding experience. I'd rate it at the top of places I've ever hunted. I will be back!

We watched the election results come in last night.....WOOHOO!

Awesome. I am very happy you and Vanessa are having/had a great time. Trip that dreams are made of. Travel safe.

#38 05-03-2011, 09:28 PM

Well our hunt has come to an end and we having our first rain day today so I thought I'd take the opportunity to post a few pics and share a few thoughts. New Zealand is an incredible place to hunt with an incredible amount of opportunity. We've been lucky to experience a great deal of what the South Island has to offer. We elected to do a totally free-range hunt; all on foot and it it really tested our physical ability. The terrain is very mountainous and some of the animals live in the the steepest areas imaginable. The one animal I gained the most respect for is the chamois. They make our mountain goats look like whimps.

The hardest thing to get your head around here is that there are no predators and many of the animal populations have exploded out of control. Rabbits are likely the worst and the destruction they cause is unimaginable. Some farms employ full-time rabbiters just to control rabbit numbers. Humans really are the only means of animal control here and most animals have no seasons or limits and what seems like mass killing doesn't even keep up with population numbers. It's a very target rich and a very hunter friendly environment. In our time here we've taken red stag, arapowa ram, fallow deer, chamois, tahr, rabbits, hares, tasmanian bush possums and Merriams turkey. Duck season opens Saturday so we'll miss it but I'd love to come back and hunt paradise ducks. Interestingly they have loads of Canada geese here and they can be hunted year round with no limit. Some landowners will even supply shells and lodging if you will come hunt their geese.

The weather has been great and we are in a very dry area of the country that only sees about 20" of rain a year. It has been a great trip.

#39 05-03-2011, 09:32 PM

And a few more...

flyguyd · #40 05-03-2011, 09:58 PM

Nice pics TJ ,i sure wanna go just having problems gettin the wife to let me spend 10 or 12 grand to go to New Zealand. You guys get to catch any yabbies when you were there?

walleyechaser · #41 05-03-2011, 10:00 PM

looks like a great place to hunt.

great trophies, really like the photo with the turkey's

#42 05-03-2011, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyguyd

Nice pics TJ ,i sure wanna go just having problems gettin the wife to let me spend 10 or 12 grand to go to New Zealand. You guys get to catch any yabbies when you were there?

Bring her along! Lots of things for her to do here as well!

What's a yabbie?

Lefty-Canuck · #43 05-03-2011, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Bring her along! Lots of things for her to do here as well!

What's a yabbie?

Same thing as a Crobob.......duh?

Lefty

flyguyd · #44 05-04-2011, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sheephunter

Bring her along! Lots of things for her to do here as well!

What's a yabbie?

Its a big azz crayfish

whitetailsheds · #45 05-04-2011, 10:24 AM

Very nice! Thanks for posting and taking us along!

westren · #46 05-04-2011, 10:48 AM

Fantastic hunt, fantastic pics,fantastic trophys.....many congrats TJ and V...Guess i waited too long ,wouldn,t be able to now ,but great to see your hunt anyway....

Double Shovel · #47 05-04-2011, 11:11 AM

Just met up with our friends from New Zealand here at the World Taxidermy Competition in Missouri and discussed about heading over for next April. Were going to try our best to make it happen. Glad to see you guys had fun,
Curtis

Rockymtnx · #48 05-04-2011, 12:02 PM

Congrats on a great trip TJ & Vanessa.
I look forward to hearing some stories when you get back.

Juicy · #49 05-04-2011, 03:05 PM

Nice pics for sure, looking at them really make me want to go back and hunt the thar and chamios again. It definatley is one of the coolest places I have been and I enjoyed every minuite hunting there. Great free range stag by the way, that is a real beauty for sure. He looks super heavy and those thar look mighty impressive as well. Congrats to the both of you, I want to go back so bad.....

Tundra Monkey · #50 05-04-2011, 04:52 PM

Thanx for the pics Sheep......looks like an amazing trip to say the least.

New Zealand sounds fantastic. I hear they have no bugs.......that would be a draw in itself!!!!!!

tm

#51 05-04-2011, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tundra Monkey

Thanx for the pics Sheep......looks like an amazing trip to say the least.

New Zealand sounds fantastic. I hear they have no bugs.......that would be a draw in itself!!!!!!

tm

Ya, it's amazing how few bugs there are although some areas do have a lot of sandflies (aka blackflies) but for the most part it's pretty bug free. No snakes or really anything to worry about other than rabbits and possums...lol

Frans · #52 05-04-2011, 10:30 PM

I do believe there is one (1) poisenous spider in NZ, but forgot if it lives on both islands.

This site seems to imply it only lives on the north island: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/spiders-...er-arachnids/5

#53 05-04-2011, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frans

I do believe there is one (1) poisenous spider in NZ, but forgot if it lives on both islands.

This site seems to imply it only lives on the north island: http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/spiders-...er-arachnids/5

Ya they do have them here on the south Island too but apparently they are so rare that 99% of people that live here will never see one. It's rare to even see a spider web anywhere. A bit different than Africa...lol It's so bizzare that some critters flourish so well here and others are non-existent.

Rockymtnx · #54 05-04-2011, 10:43 PM

Sheephunter, do you know what species of turkeys those are? Are they like our North American ones?

lucky_magic_stick · #55 05-04-2011, 10:52 PM

I believe the whitetail spiders eat the daddy longleg spiders and the poison is ingested into thier system and then makes them a little more toxic.But they only make you sick for a few days I was told.Nice pic's and animals you both got congrats also bet you enjoyed a beautiful country and people as well.Cheers Andy

#56 05-04-2011, 11:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockymtnx

Sheephunter, do you know what species of turkeys those are? Are they like our North American ones?

Yup, they are Merriams....no licence required and no limit. They aren't nearly as wiley as the North American version though. I'm sure we could have killed a few dozen. Apparently they don't often have very long beards or spurs although the second one Vanessa killed was really old and had huge spurs and a 7" beard which is as big as they get. He was really skinny and around 14 pounds. Her first one was close to 20 pounds but only had a 4" beard and small spurs.

gunslinger · #57 05-05-2011, 08:20 AM

great tahr tj hes a dandy for sure, was he killed above the arangatang river, spelling is probably along way off.......I killed mine above that river and that looks exactly like the place.

packhuntr · #58 05-05-2011, 09:51 AM

Beautiful stuff, capes look fantastic too. Right on for persueing fair chase hunts on your over seas adventures as well.

Rather Be Hunting · #59 05-05-2011, 11:52 AM

Well done!

Looks like a super place to hunt.
Hard to wipe those smiles off your faces, I imagine.
RBH

#60 05-05-2011, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunslinger

great tahr tj hes a dandy for sure, was he killed above the arangatang river, spelling is probably along way off.......I killed mine above that river and that looks exactly like the place.

No Pat, it was up the Dobson Valley not too far from Mt Cook.