i hunted south west arm back in feb 2002 before the hut was put on the block.  there were 8 hunters in our party and we only managed to see 5 deer between us and only one was shot.  the block is long and a little steep if i remember rightly.  i think the block is like any other on the island you get out of it what you put into it.  one thing i will say is we had really bad luck with our fishing all we could catch were little sharks.  i hope you have better luck in the block than we did.

this is an excelant thread 12pointer, well done mate!! just thought i would put this up as most guys seem to go by boat, as i did on my first trip there. im not really into big groups on hunting trips so ours are three person trips(2 hunters and one diver/fisherman/camp bitch). as i live in the upper north island(whangerei) its quite a logistcle mission to get every thing there and as we want to maximise our hunting time, we have found that choppers are better for us. rakiura maori land trust are fine with chopper access as long as you go with aproved operators. we send all our gear down in fishbins with lids, duck taped closed, a few weeks prior to our trip, then courier our riffles down in hard cases a few days prior. we fly down and land at invercargill, the chopper company will buy all our food, beers etc of an e mailed list and also organise an inflatable boat, out board, fuel, gas bottle and mountain radio. they pick us up from the airport and we go straight to there hanger, get changed and throw our packs in the chopper which they have allready loaded the rest of our gear into, we are in the air within an hour of landing and at our block no more than an hour after that, move in, unpack and its off for an evening hunt. for the chopper it costs $2800 return, boat etc hire is on top of this, all up about $1500 per person for a party of three. when we get back we shower at the hanger and get changed, they then drop us at the airport and were home in time for tea that night, our gear follows a few days later. it works really well and is fairly cost effective for small parties. just another option for guys looking to hunt that stunning little island and its cunning whitetail deer!!, good luck to all who do!

yeagh its a bit pricey but $1500 for two weeks of hunting those crafty little huas in that paradise is money well spent i rekon!! yeagh its just easier to courier the rifles, no hassles then and i know there there safely, ive had a fair bit of lost lugauge over the years and that would be a real piss off, two weeks on stewy and no rifle!! we are so far away we dont bother shooting meat animals apart from a camp meat, saw heaps but the only part of a buck i saw was a huge white arse going flat out in the oposite direction!! this year is my year!!

yeagh i had a hind leg in my walk in lugauge last year looked a bit funny with a hock stikin out of my bag!! i can shoot meat a lot closer to home than that and i really hunt stewy for trophys so not that interested in meat.

Hello everyone. We normally head down to Mason Bay every Jan.
As we work over the xmas period so we treat this as our xmas holiday.
The only reason we head down this time of year is because it suits.
Here are some reasons why we go.

The Fantastic Sun Sets



A few Beers



Great Food


The Fishing



The Hunting



The Bird Life



Top Mates


Oh Yeah We Just Love Going Home (Not)

Nice pics 7mil08.  Is that the new mason homestead hut?

This may be a stupid question, but is there any freshwater fly fishing to be had on Stewart Island?  As if the quality of the hunting and saltwater fishing weren't enough 

ive hunted cavalier and little glory ,some of the huts have sheep raddle(chalk) in them if you feel you must mark tracks use the raddle it will wash of ,There is nothing more annoying than pink tape or spray paint everywhere , Please treat the island with respect and take only what you need.