New Zealand has new fans and it’s my family!!!! To say we loved our trip is selling it way short. I have been on some great trips but as a family vacation, this was tops. The hunting was a total blast but being able to do it alongside my son and have my family there was just an all-time thrill for me. Our plan was to leave June 1st, hunt from the 5th -9th, then rent a car and drive up the west coast over the next 8 days ending in Nelson and flying back to Auckland then back to Houston on the 17th. We hunted with Shaun Allison at Exclusive Adventures New Zealand. Shaun runs a first class operation. His guides are fantastic, the lodging was very nice, roomy and comfortable. He had a hostess available for my wife and girls and they went out each day horseback riding, shopping, sightseeing or whatever they wanted. Shaun definitely understands that New Zealand is a family destination and he takes care of everyone. He also had a first class chef that really did a wonderful job for lunch and dinner. Prior to the hunt, we spent the first couple days knocking around Queenstown, the girls went parasailing (yes even in 30 degree weather) and shopping, Henry did an underwater jet boat thing that looked cool and we took a family boat trip across the lake to Walter Peak Farm for a really cool tour and incredible lunch. The weather was low 20’s in the mornings and 30’s in the afternoons to start out. I was very cold for a couple days until I adjusted. Going from 95 to 25 was a bit of a shock to me. Just so happened I was following Jon Paul and his wife Kristie on TBH and their NZ trip when he posted a pic that I noticed was from the same hotel we were staying in! So I reached out to him and we ended up having breakfast that morning. He told me all about their adventures. It was a fantastic experience meeting up with someone halfway across the world with common ties of TBH.
Our hunt began on the afternoon of Tuesday June 5th and finished Saturday June 9th. We were picked up at our hotel by my guide Tom and the girls hostess, Maria and driven about an hour and half north towards Wanaka. Stopped and had lunch in Cromwell at a cool place called 5 Stags. We got settled in to the lodge and Henry and I started prepping our gear for the hunt. The initial plan was for me to go after an archery stag and let Henry kill a management stag with the rifle. We drove the short distance to the hunting area nearby the lodge. It is about 3500 acres of high fenced mountainside. This is some steep country. Hillsides look bare but really are a maze of 6’ -8’ tall scrub brush, lots of thorns and tangle. The dang animals disappear in the stuff. First evening we saw a few stags and cows. The rut is over so the stags were back in their bachelor groups. First off, we saw one group that had a stag that was definitely a Henry management stag. It was first hunt and we hadn’t looked around much so we passed. There was a stag in that group that caught my eye, it had double drops and was otherwise a heavy typical. As we were leaving them and later that night I really questioned myself for passing but it was early and definitely wanted to see what the options were. Plus he was not in a position for us to put a stalk on him with the amount of light we had left. Next morning we awaken to snow covered mountains. It was cold and snowing pretty good. Seemed most of the animals were bedded up. We spotted a couple really good stags on the side of the hill and worked our way on top of them with the plan to stalk down. Wind changed and they were gone before we ever had a chance. Had several stags spotted throughout the day and tried several stalks but nothing was working. Late in the evening put a stalk on a big palmated stag. We got to about 80 yards and they busted us. When he broke, I saw that double drop stag again and told my guide I would shoot him if given the opportunity. So the stalk being busted, the guide gives me two options, work my way back up the mountain to where Henry was watching us from above and where the buggy was or work my way down to a big boulder on the road below and wait for them. I chose to go down. Actually got to the big boulder about the same time as the buggy with my guide Tom and Henry. We sit there for a bit getting water and Henry spots a stag up the mountain and across the valley and Tom confirms it is a management stag. It looked great but it was about 275 yards away and light was fading. We just didn’t feel comfortable for Henry to take the shot. In the process of working to look at that stag, we see the double drop stag down below us. When he busted earlier, we thought he went to the north but had gone north and then doubled back underneath us to this little pocket of a valley. Light is fading so I succumbed to the urge and asked for the rifle. I snuck about 50 yards to a good sized boulder, using it to put the bipod on and made the 175 yard shot. He whirled when he was hit and I expected him to go down but he stayed on his feet so I put another round in him. We were all excited! He definitely looked better up close and I was pumped. Fortunately he died within about 20 yards of the road so the packing was easy.
The next morning we went out and immediately found a Henry stag. He and another stag were bedded way up on the hillside. We immediately decided to put a stalk on him and took off on foot, headed uphill. The plan was to get below him out of sight and work our way one ridge over. Come up the valley to a point where we come up the far side of the ridge, sneak up and to the ridge top and shoot him from across the valley. It took us two hours to work our way in to position. It was steep, we were going slow to make sure we were quiet and strategic in our approach. We got in position, Henry and Tom were well concealed under a set of trees, he had the bipod on the rifle and was just waiting for his shot. The stag had no idea we were there and got up about 15 minutes after we were set up. Tom called the shot and Henry drilled him at 183 yards. Now the work began!!! The stag was on the side of a super steep hill and we could get the buggy to about 800 yards of him. After obligatory back slapping and photos, we caped and quartered him there and packed him down. It was early afternoon by the time we got back to the house and had lunch and everyone was pooped so we rested the remaining couple hours of daylight.
That evening Shaun asked me what we wanted to do the next day since Henry and I had harvested our stags. He said we could continue to stag hunt or since I had previously mentioned tahr we could do that? He really urged me to do the tahr hunt. He laid out the plan. We were to meet the helicopter pilot at 7:30am and depending on weather, take off and head to the west mountain range. We would locate the tahr and then they would drop us off. The great part is the entire family gets to come with us! It was awesome. They take us up in the mountains, fly until they find the right tahr then let Shaun and I out. The helicopter then backs away and watch from a distance. We worked in to position and I had him on a full run coming around a ridge to me. He was probably at 200yds and I shot 3 times, all misses. Shaun radioed for the pilot to come get us and get us in another position. This is steep, precarious country with varying snow depths. It could be 4" deep or 4' deep! So the helicopter picks us up and gets us up to another location where we believe the tahr is headed. They back out and we wait for a few minutes and the tahr comes across a ridge where he stops in a ravine for a brief second. I shoot and hit him facing me straight on and he buckles. My son said he could see the whole thing from the helicopter. It was so exciting. The family was pumped and we all were amazed at how stout these animals were and the amazing scenery around us. These big mountains sure make you feel small!!! Shaun had said it was one of the most exciting hunts you can do and he was spot on. I thanked him for urging me to do it. We had planned on hunting chamois that morning as well but my wife experienced bad motion sickness. After we took pics on the mountain she said for me to go on with the helicopter and continue my chamois hunt then come back to get here when we were done. She was being nice but I knew better than to do that!! No way I was going to leave her on the top of a mountain by herself. So we headed back to the airport and were done by noon that morning. That gave Henry and I the afternoon to hunt for more stag and Henry really liked the arapawa rams that we had seen and asked if he could harvest one. So we took out after one that afternoon. We immediately found them and Henry made a great shot on a great ram. It will make a great mount for sure!
Later that evening we were glassing for stags and found one bedded on the hillside. He was a very heavy, non-typical that I thought was awesome looking. After getting in position I made a 225 yard shot. The interesting thing is they put suppressors on all their rifles. It really reduces the recoil for Henry and it felt like shooting a 22 cal to me. It was a steep caping job and getting him down wasn't awful but it took some work!
Shaun and his team did a great job! We were excited to take off for the remaining part of our vacation but definitely sad to leave! In fact about 4 or 5 days later, one of my girls said she wished we were still at Shaun's and everyone at the table agreed!!!
We had many more adventures, went helihiking on Franz Josef Glacier, hiked through national forest and just spent some great family time together.
Sorry for the long read, as you can tell I am excited about it.
Our hunt began on the afternoon of Tuesday June 5th and finished Saturday June 9th. We were picked up at our hotel by my guide Tom and the girls hostess, Maria and driven about an hour and half north towards Wanaka. Stopped and had lunch in Cromwell at a cool place called 5 Stags. We got settled in to the lodge and Henry and I started prepping our gear for the hunt. The initial plan was for me to go after an archery stag and let Henry kill a management stag with the rifle. We drove the short distance to the hunting area nearby the lodge. It is about 3500 acres of high fenced mountainside. This is some steep country. Hillsides look bare but really are a maze of 6’ -8’ tall scrub brush, lots of thorns and tangle. The dang animals disappear in the stuff. First evening we saw a few stags and cows. The rut is over so the stags were back in their bachelor groups. First off, we saw one group that had a stag that was definitely a Henry management stag. It was first hunt and we hadn’t looked around much so we passed. There was a stag in that group that caught my eye, it had double drops and was otherwise a heavy typical. As we were leaving them and later that night I really questioned myself for passing but it was early and definitely wanted to see what the options were. Plus he was not in a position for us to put a stalk on him with the amount of light we had left. Next morning we awaken to snow covered mountains. It was cold and snowing pretty good. Seemed most of the animals were bedded up. We spotted a couple really good stags on the side of the hill and worked our way on top of them with the plan to stalk down. Wind changed and they were gone before we ever had a chance. Had several stags spotted throughout the day and tried several stalks but nothing was working. Late in the evening put a stalk on a big palmated stag. We got to about 80 yards and they busted us. When he broke, I saw that double drop stag again and told my guide I would shoot him if given the opportunity. So the stalk being busted, the guide gives me two options, work my way back up the mountain to where Henry was watching us from above and where the buggy was or work my way down to a big boulder on the road below and wait for them. I chose to go down. Actually got to the big boulder about the same time as the buggy with my guide Tom and Henry. We sit there for a bit getting water and Henry spots a stag up the mountain and across the valley and Tom confirms it is a management stag. It looked great but it was about 275 yards away and light was fading. We just didn’t feel comfortable for Henry to take the shot. In the process of working to look at that stag, we see the double drop stag down below us. When he busted earlier, we thought he went to the north but had gone north and then doubled back underneath us to this little pocket of a valley. Light is fading so I succumbed to the urge and asked for the rifle. I snuck about 50 yards to a good sized boulder, using it to put the bipod on and made the 175 yard shot. He whirled when he was hit and I expected him to go down but he stayed on his feet so I put another round in him. We were all excited! He definitely looked better up close and I was pumped. Fortunately he died within about 20 yards of the road so the packing was easy.
The next morning we went out and immediately found a Henry stag. He and another stag were bedded way up on the hillside. We immediately decided to put a stalk on him and took off on foot, headed uphill. The plan was to get below him out of sight and work our way one ridge over. Come up the valley to a point where we come up the far side of the ridge, sneak up and to the ridge top and shoot him from across the valley. It took us two hours to work our way in to position. It was steep, we were going slow to make sure we were quiet and strategic in our approach. We got in position, Henry and Tom were well concealed under a set of trees, he had the bipod on the rifle and was just waiting for his shot. The stag had no idea we were there and got up about 15 minutes after we were set up. Tom called the shot and Henry drilled him at 183 yards. Now the work began!!! The stag was on the side of a super steep hill and we could get the buggy to about 800 yards of him. After obligatory back slapping and photos, we caped and quartered him there and packed him down. It was early afternoon by the time we got back to the house and had lunch and everyone was pooped so we rested the remaining couple hours of daylight.
That evening Shaun asked me what we wanted to do the next day since Henry and I had harvested our stags. He said we could continue to stag hunt or since I had previously mentioned tahr we could do that? He really urged me to do the tahr hunt. He laid out the plan. We were to meet the helicopter pilot at 7:30am and depending on weather, take off and head to the west mountain range. We would locate the tahr and then they would drop us off. The great part is the entire family gets to come with us! It was awesome. They take us up in the mountains, fly until they find the right tahr then let Shaun and I out. The helicopter then backs away and watch from a distance. We worked in to position and I had him on a full run coming around a ridge to me. He was probably at 200yds and I shot 3 times, all misses. Shaun radioed for the pilot to come get us and get us in another position. This is steep, precarious country with varying snow depths. It could be 4" deep or 4' deep! So the helicopter picks us up and gets us up to another location where we believe the tahr is headed. They back out and we wait for a few minutes and the tahr comes across a ridge where he stops in a ravine for a brief second. I shoot and hit him facing me straight on and he buckles. My son said he could see the whole thing from the helicopter. It was so exciting. The family was pumped and we all were amazed at how stout these animals were and the amazing scenery around us. These big mountains sure make you feel small!!! Shaun had said it was one of the most exciting hunts you can do and he was spot on. I thanked him for urging me to do it. We had planned on hunting chamois that morning as well but my wife experienced bad motion sickness. After we took pics on the mountain she said for me to go on with the helicopter and continue my chamois hunt then come back to get here when we were done. She was being nice but I knew better than to do that!! No way I was going to leave her on the top of a mountain by herself. So we headed back to the airport and were done by noon that morning. That gave Henry and I the afternoon to hunt for more stag and Henry really liked the arapawa rams that we had seen and asked if he could harvest one. So we took out after one that afternoon. We immediately found them and Henry made a great shot on a great ram. It will make a great mount for sure!
Later that evening we were glassing for stags and found one bedded on the hillside. He was a very heavy, non-typical that I thought was awesome looking. After getting in position I made a 225 yard shot. The interesting thing is they put suppressors on all their rifles. It really reduces the recoil for Henry and it felt like shooting a 22 cal to me. It was a steep caping job and getting him down wasn't awful but it took some work!
Shaun and his team did a great job! We were excited to take off for the remaining part of our vacation but definitely sad to leave! In fact about 4 or 5 days later, one of my girls said she wished we were still at Shaun's and everyone at the table agreed!!!
We had many more adventures, went helihiking on Franz Josef Glacier, hiked through national forest and just spent some great family time together.
Sorry for the long read, as you can tell I am excited about it.
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