​Once I go on a hunt, and do it regularly, I’m more likely to fit it into my life. In an increasingly busy world, we can forget to take time out and enjoy it. The outdoors has more benefits than we realize, but the big one is it shows us how much country is out there. Walking places in the backcountry is often slower than it looks, and its very vast. There are many other places out there unexplored. There always is that area you want to look in next time- and it all makes you eager to get back to where we belong, on a mountainside somewhere high in the alps chasing game.
This then brings us back to the planning stages of our next hunt- hopefully, it’s not far away. With the last trip fresh in your head, it makes it a lot easier to plan for the next. You’ve got a much better idea about your gear, fitness and what can be improved. As Ryan Nicholson has said in our previous articles, any shortcomings as a hunter are quickly found out. The best we can do is improve on these for next time, and if we’re improving as a hunter, then hopefully we’ll be enjoying it a lot more. Once someone gets fixed in their ideas, that can be their downfall. Hunting tests us, from several different angles. The big one is mental toughness- this can be exposed straight away. Especially on walk-in hunts, this can force us to dig deep when we’re worn out and can’t go any longer. In those situations, you must tell yourself to keep going, and this is a true show of character. It teaches us to not give up easily. If we don’t test ourselves, we can’t improve. We need to take a while to reflect on our last hunt and what can we do better. Hopefully, your next hunt isn’t far away!

​We have finished the final river crossing. It was sketchy in spots- we had to be careful. The rocks had a thick slimy layer, forcing us to tread slower and link up. Now for the walk back to the road end. The going is now flat and easy. The worst we can do is get caught up in a gorse bush. Part of me wants to turn back around and do it all again. The other half wants to get to the road end and crack into a couple of well-earned beers. We get to the car, and I give the classic “yahoo” or “we made it”. The sun was shining that day, but the same can’t be said for our trip. It was a hard slog through some Manuka to a spot which took much longer than expected. We never made it- we swallowed our pride and turned back before we would be camping out halfway up the trail. That’s what both of us thought anyway. If your anything like me, you’re wondering what you would have done differently. For a start (the obvious) is don’t go back there.  That’s not always the case, but in ours it is. Too far of a walk to make it worthwhile for a valley with not great animal numbers. It’s always intriguing to research the area you’ve been in, however. Shorter trips are always good for the fitness, test out some new gear (or realize something is on its last legs). Ideas always flood through about what to change in terms of gear. Being a student means the finances are stretched, but I try update gear regularly. It adds to the interest. Regardless of the result, its great to get away from the real world and lose touch. The end goal is to get an animal (a shallow reason), but that’s the explanation at least. I’m forever still learning, and this is what adds to the whole enjoyment. When I get an idea of what to do in my head, it makes me eager to get back out there and test it, while hopefully improving myself. Unpacking my pack is my least favorite part of the hunt. Putting everything back to where I got it is less stimulating than packing up, anticipating a few days. I’ll likely leave it to the next day before I unpack, I’ll always head straight for the shower. Getting back is always a different sensation to anything other part of the hunt. It takes a while to adjust back, but it gives a different perspective on where I live. More importantly, it gives me a bigger reason to get back out there. 

​The Fiordland Wapiti ballot is open, and expectedly many will apply. They opened on August 15th and will close on the 7th October. Dates are as follows; 1st period 20th March – 29th March 2021, 2nd period 30th March – 8th April, 3rd period 9th April – 18th April, and 4th Period 19th – 28th April. The fourth period are member only blocks, something introduced this year, and more details to come. For many Kiwi hunters Fiordland is the pinnacle and not for the faint hearted. It is some of the most testing conditions in the world. High rainfall and rugged country make the toughest hunting in the country. I’ve never gone there myself, but its on the radar. I’m semi preoccupied with trying to get a decent Red stag now, and I’m probably not quite there yet in terms of experience. Many hunters come out empty handed however their better from the experience and many will long to come back. The build up to the hunt is half the fun, with fitness levels needing to be up there. If you think you’re up to it, why not enter the ballot?
Find more info at ​http://www.fwf.net.nz/wapiti-blocks/

We might now be facing the biggest threat to our sport since the 70's/80's. ​In this era of Sage, we have gone in a big circle. We thought we were past the destructiveness and “if it hops it drops” mentality. By this I am referring to the chopper pilots cleaning out areas. The 70’s and 80’s were particularly bad for it, when Heli-hunting really took off and we were left with very little game to hunt. My father always said my generation of young fellas don’t know how lucky we are. The hunting opportunities that exist now compared to his day are much better. A vivid memory was an old tacky looking Fallow deer head hanging up in the garage when I was a wee fella. I asked him why its not in the house, and he said its cause its not a very good one. He’d shot it on the Albury range. This is the Albury Park herd, and a characteristic of these heads is their split palm. This one had a bit of length, little palms, and the split palm. They were never imported for trophies- just for a meat herd. He got that one mounted, as at that time in history, there wasn’t much better around. Meanwhile in the house there were a lot better heads from before the days of the choppers. It would have been demoralising to have grown up in that era. Hunters seemed to have less of a voice then- there wasn’t any backlash from hunters from what I’ve heard, but I may be wrong. Nowadays when the Tahr cull has been proposed there’s a huge backlash from the public- and that’s due to more hunters. Yes, there are more hunters around nowadays where a lot of people see that as a bad thing, but I think it has its positives. We have more of a voice, and politicians are more likely to listen to us because we make up more of the voting population. Groups like DoC will consider us more in issues because we make up a bigger proportion of outdoor users.
The early 2010’s saw us have a game animal council (GAC) formed. This was a huge break through as we now had a voice in parliamentary issues. Game animals were now being recognised as for what they are- a valuable resource, one that needs to be appropriately managed. In high numbers yes, they are a problem- but where there is a small, highly valued, and sustainable hunting resource it’s a win-win for everyone. Hunters get enjoyment out of the sport, which in turn brings economic growth to more remote areas creating jobs and bringing money to the regions (for example the West Coast with a small population). Overseas hunters bring in export revenue which in turn we can use to enhance our natural environment. Many political parties who are environmentally leaning struggle to explain how we can pay for all their policies- and the unfortunate truth is that money spent on enhancing the natural environment doesn’t bring a return on investment (that’s not entirely true as there’s tourism), however there isn’t a direct return. Eugenie Sage is very opinionated and has her own agenda on how her “ideal New Zealand” would look like. She wants no introduced species, New Zealand back to the way it was before anyone stepped foot on our shores. That’s not a realistic goal, we need a balance between environment and economy. Times have changed since then. Yes, we want to conserve native species that are apart of our identity, but we must be real about what we want to achieve.
I’ve got several friends who are hunters in North America, and a lot are asking me about the Tahr issue now. Saying they’ve heard about it, and what’s happening. Explaining the whole thing to them is plain embarrassing. North America has nothing like that, and all the game is managed very well. They find it hard to understand, and I do as well.
If the government gets another three years in power, that would be damaging for us. She’s keen to get rid of the trout, and all game animals. Its amazing how much influence one person in the wrong place can have. That’s why as hunters, we need to keep the foot to the throat. We can’t afford to lose our hard-earned resources all because of one politicians’ agenda. We need to keep fighting even if we think we’re losing. And from what the NZDA has been saying, the pressure is working. It might not get realized for a while, but that’s life. Ignorance makes it hard to get our point across, but I am of the opinion hunters have the more balanced viewpoint. We realize numbers need to be cut back, but we want a sustainable well managed population. None of us wants to be telling the next generation we don’t have the opportunities now than what we did have because we did nothing. So keep fighting. 

Thanks Jessie Wright for this- female hunters have increased a lot recently, and its only fitting (excuse the pun!) to have a clothing line especially for women. Make sure to have a look at their website and support them!
Since I was a little girl, hunting and fishing has been a massive part of my life. I came from a family of boys that where avid outdoorsman. I was holding a rod and gun as soon as I was old enough to do so, and as I grew so did my love for hunting and fishing. But as a hunter and gatherer I always struggled with finding good quality built purpose clothing for women, I always had to compromise with my clothing and had to get a size small men, which never fitted right. As a result I decided to start up my own clothing range designed for women. Forever Huntress is an outdoor clothing brand founded by Jessie wright, made by women for women. I strive to make the right quality and design clothing for kiwi women, clothing that looks good and feels comfortable doing the things we love doing. As active kiwi women we deserve a clothing range the fits right, looks good and gives us warmth and support doing what us out door girls love to do.
www.foreverhuntress.co.nz
@forever_huntress_clothing
​

​I was first introduced to hunting and fishing as a young fella. I grew up around Taupo, spending a lot of time fishing and shooting rabbits on local farms with my dad. We chopped the roof out of an old Subaru Leone that dad bought for forty bucks off a guy in Tauranga and used it to spotlight our friends’ farms. It was a great way to spend time with my family, learn safe handling and respect for firearms and help our friends keep the rabbit numbers down.
In my college years I started heading down a different track for a while (one with no orange triangles). I wrestled with alcohol, racked up a lot of debt through poor financial decisions and generally engaged in activities that weren’t beneficial. This continued for many years. I developed from a fairly or switched-on and confident kid into someone who didn’t hold a lot of value for himself, others and anything around me.
After coming short of the grade at university and resolving to work full time to pay off debt, I met up with some people who wanted to get into pig hunting. I ended up moving in with them, and it was there that I reacquired my love of the outdoors. Despite being a thoroughly incapable bunch (our best skills were probably smoking darts and eating pies), we pulled up a few pigs with our motley bunch of dogs and endeavoured to spend every moment possible outdoors.
A few years later, I met my friend George who would become one of my best hunting mates. George was a bit older than me and provided a lot of insight and inspiration as to what was possible in life if you were happy to work for it. He was a genuine guy, hilarious and always keen to get out there for a hunt. It was with George that I would shoot my first stag in the Ruahine Ranges. Over the years we would hunt Sambar deer in the Whanganui region, Red Deer in the Aorangi, Tararua and Ruahine Ranges, and Tahr in the Southern Alps. We caught the odd fish too.
Over the last few years I had some wake-up calls. I lost family members in quick succession and began to see a prevalence of mental health issues affecting others around me. With a quick look over my current situation I decided to implement a bit of change in my life. I began by prioritising friends, family, and doing what was meaningful to myself as a person. I chopped out drinking until the morning, started reading a few books and engaging in a lot physical exercise (focusing on fitness rather than beach muscles).
As a consequence, I also started taking hunting a lot more seriously. Developing from the odd day trip or overnighter with mates a few times each year into regular solo trips into the hills. Spending time outdoors slowly developed my skills and knowledge, confidence and mental well-being.
The achievement of a well-placed shot on an animal, carrying the meat out and being able to provide ethical free range for myself and others is a rewarding process in many ways. It helps promote self-worth as an individual, and a sense of community between myself and those I share with.
I developed a love of how hunting demands authenticity. Once you are on the hill, any shortcomings are quickly exposed (fitness is usually first). I describe myself as a “novice hunter-gatherer”. Hunting doesn’t let you get away with pretending to be something you’re not. I have made (and still make) plenty of mistakes: camping on river flats where deer would feed, slicing open gut-bags when processing deer, and missing shots at animals (one of my first trips with my girlfriend involved me missing a hind and under 100 metres). I learned to own my mistakes, learn from them, and improve in confidence as a result.
Be it completing a NZDA Hunts course, accompanying other experienced hunters and picking up tips, reading up on hunting, or just slowly blundering around in the bush until you get the hang of it, skills and knowledge of how to hunt come over time. It’s all part of learning the ropes and encourages you to accept your hunting skills, learn from others, and avoid comparison of those that are doing better than you – a valuable lesson that can be applied in other areas of life.
Hunting helped teach me other important life lessons. I learned that less is more - buying heaps of things to stuff in my pack doesn’t always make for a good trip. I learned that things don’t always come easy - to get that Instagram picture on a main ridge with an animal on the deck, there are hours of effort and practice involved. I learned that you don’t need a lot of friends – just some trustworthy dependable ones. And I also learned about solitude – that sometimes the best conversations we have are with ourselves.
I found that when I could disconnect from a world where I was constantly connected, I was able to take the time to actually think. I was more focused, present and calm when not being bombarded by phone notifications and emails. A summer evening walking the tussock tops of the Ruahine Ranges is one of my favourite feelings. It has the ability to separate life’s trivial concerns and allow you to enjoy the present moment in a way that struggles to be rivalled by any other.
Research has found that spending time in the outdoors has numerous benefits, from immune system health and cancer prevention. But interacting with nature has also benefits on both life satisfaction and relaxation and is strongly linked to better physical and mental health. It assists in the reduction of depression and anxiety, creation of positive moods and self-esteem and helps social interaction and cognitive function.
Our country is now reporting concerning trends of social wellbeing. Ngā Tūtohu Aotearoa – Indicators Aotearoa New Zealand, shows that from 2014 there are trends indicating decreased life satisfaction, decreased sense of purpose, decreased perceived health, increased loneliness, and increased mental health issues across a variety of ages.
Having benefited from the physical and mental health benefits of improving my lifestyle and spending more time outdoors, I decided to start up my Instagram page Equilibrium Environment with the idea that I might be able to identify ideas that help bring a balanced foundation into my life and share them with others. I also began to write online about the struggles and shortcomings I have experienced and ways that they could be addressed.
In an increasingly digital world where success is often measured by jobs and material wealth, I wanted to encourage people to look at the other factors of their life which could be beneficial to developing into more fulfilled, confident and resilient people. I wholeheartedly believe that spending more time in the outdoors is an important component in this.
As hunters, fisherman and outdoor enthusiasts I believe that it is important to advocate the value of the outdoors for physical and mental health. I feel we ought to conduct ourselves in positive ways that promote these activities to others. It is also imperative that we continue to look for opportunities to contribute genuinely to helping those new to the outdoors to grow as hunters, fishermen and ultimately, people.
Ryan Nicholson

@equilibriumenvironment
www.equilibriumenvironment.com