
We were up and ready to go at about 0530hrs and headed to a friend's land where we had permission to knock over some Red Deer. But after a few hours of driving and walking around we realised we were probably a bit late in the morning to have success on this block. So we packed it up and went to another mate’s land we usually hunt on as we know there’s always plenty of goats, Red Deer and Fallow Deer. Plenty of pigs up there, too, but they’re out of bounds as the owner of the land is a keen pig hunter so we leave them for him and his dogs to chase up and down the rugged landscape.
By now its approximately 1000hrs with a nice cool spring breeze in the air so it's not too hot. We have about an hour's drive on the side-by-sides to get to our desired location, so with a bit of haste we begin our journey with a few stops along the way. As expected, there were plenty of goats on offer along the track which is a good sign for things to come. We also spotted some Fallow Hinds but they weren’t interested in hanging around to see what we were doing up there. We push on to reach our destination.
Upon arrival, we thought we should cook up a quick feed for breakfast, some classic bacon and egg muffins cooked on the Cobb Grill were sufficient to satisfy the hungry troops.

And so it begins… after a quick discussion with my husband we decide to knock some goats over so at least we have something for the table if we don’t see any more deer. Two minutes later, I knocked over a young billy goat. I know these guys are delicious so he’s prepped and left to pick up on our way back.
Just a bit further along the track, I manage to drop another tasty goat. Now we’re at our spot to glass for some deer, so it's all eyes on the clearing. Mark manages to spot some approximately 250-300m from our location on an upward shot over a gully. After a bit of discussion and realising we probably won’t find a better vantage point closer to the animals, we decide to have a go.
My husband Mikaere (Mike) stepped up to take this shot since I shot the goats, and it looks like he has to go for a walk to retrieve it. Better him than me! Mike managed to drop the deer from quite a distance. With a bit of guidance from my location, I directed the boys - Mike, Mark and Struan - into where the animal dropped. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for them to locate the animal and begin to make their way back to us.

We decided to call it a day as we have plenty of food to keep us going for the next couple of months. By now, it was about 1600hrs. Making our way back to the vehicles, we were able to reflect on the day with our son Kymani and it was safe to say we were all pretty stoked - another awesome whanau adventure done and dusted.