Well after a couple or years talking about it my mate finally made the call for a quick trip up onto the mighty Tararua tops for a few days of hunting. Our destination was the iconic Carkeek... i haven't had the pleasure if hunting in open tussock country yet so this was a bit of an eye opener as we left the hut and moved up towards our first vantage point.... and i wasn't disapoined when after just 5min of glassing my mate spotted two on a clearing about a kilometer away... i was spellbound watching the hind and fawn feeding away totaly oblivious to our presence..... are they close enough to have a crack at?? was the first question out my mouth and a very welcome of course was the reply..... just one problem my mates bag for putting meat in was back at  the hut "no sweat i will run back and grab it" i offered "good on ya mate!" as i was just about to scarper i heard "hang about theres one just there we could shoot from here" to our suprise and my amazemant a hind was now feeding on the spur accross from us SWEEEET!! but my excitment was short lived when she looked up and straight at us catching us in the open and unable to move to get a bead on her... and then just as quickly as she arrived she gracefully slid back into the scrub leaving me a little dissapointed...
Not to worry thats three deer within half an hour of leaving the hut... so after a quick run back down the hill and a hard fast slog back up with the mates bag it was off to the next look out where we were greated by the sight of a stag and a spiker making a very quick dash for the top of the ridge on the other side of the rather wide basin... too far for a shot byt what a hoot to see the classic pause on the skyline and look back for real... another positive now having seen five deer since leaving the hut..... we had a quick yarn and decided we would cross over the main ridge sidle along and then cross back over and see if the stag and spiker were still about... so it was off and away up and down and over the ridge only to be welcomed by wind on our backs.... matt's walk went from a purposeful stalk to a casual "looks like were stuffed" stroll.... oh well we are here for a few more days yet... next thin Matt drops and cranks a round up and opens up.... next thing i see the stag and spiker making a far hastier dash away from us i put up a mercy shot but didn't feel so good about it but my mate was a bit more hopfull... as all this was unfolding i looked up and saw a bigger stag running down a ridge further along s@#t theres another on i said as i lined it up...... booom miss all right bit further away than i thought so i put my crosshairs just a hair over the front shoulder and just before the stag disappeared into the bush he paused.... booom "s@#t you hit him" my mate had been lining it up as well and was able to see the hit a puff of hair and a big lurch and the stag was gone... wow i couldn't believe it my longest shot would be about a hundred meters and this was a fair chunk more so i was stoked... so it was off to check for the stag and spiker (as they were closer) with shooting spot GPS'd we started searching only to not find a thing we searced accross the basin onto the slip on the other side without any sign of a dead deer bugger oh well theres always hope for the bigger stag.... all of a sudden there was a clatter of rocks and low and behold the spiker with the stag in tow climbed out of the top of the slip and started for the ridgetop on the other side i was well ready and settled on the stags shoulder and boom the .270 was on the mark and the stag crumbled, the spiker was out of my view but Matt had a perfect look.... boom... "did you get it??" "Not sure... didn't see where it went"
We decided that i should climb up and go around the top of the slip and come down on them while Matt stayed put and directed my..... half an hour later i made my slow decent down into the gut were we had shot at them.... not far down i can smell the tell tale tinge of deer... and in a head behind a leatherwood shrub was a very fat looking spiker not far from that was the stag in a pile.... i started hooting like an absolute idiot shouting to Matt "we got two"
The Stag and me still grinning

After a photo or two and the butchering it was just about dark so we decided to head for the hut and come back in the morning to look for the big stag.
Light drizzle and wind greated us on day two but i was far too excited to care we were off to search for my stag, i hardly slept imagining what size it was... after a long walk back to the area and a lot of theroising about exactly which ridge he ran down i finally found some promising prints and as i followed it it started to look familiar this was it my stag is just down here.... but i was disapointed again as there was no sign of him we searched in and out of the bush and i continued to loose hope untill Matt spotted some blood... well at least we are on the right track... as we moved into the bush i was on edge with what if's there was no trail inside the bush and agin i was loosing hope then as we crossed the head of a creek i heard movement.... we stopped and listened and whatever made the sound wasn't moving away, we played leap frog down each side of the creek watching as the other moved up and always nearly catching a glimps of it untill finally matt got a look at him and a carefully placed shot had the stag finished... it was a moment for me i was stoked to see it finished and gutted to have not done it cleanly in the first place.... as i approached i saw velvet hmmmmm but when i touched it and looked closer it was solid underneath YES 1,2,3.....12 points... i could not believe it i had managed to secure a very reasonable heavy timbered 12 point Tararua red stag... somthing my mate has been trying for over his 30+ year career... i felt very very lucky indeed...... the wather closed in for the remainder of the trip but i couldn't stop smiling.... i am by no means a trophy hunter in fact the reason i hunt is to feed the whanau... but i feel extreemly lucky to have achieved my trophy!!!

Where we found him


The walk back to the hut


Magic


The stripped head


My new favourite hang out

Good effort,real wild deer.

Nice one !!

Awesome stuff man. 

Well done

Awesome stag mate!!
I'm sure your still smiling .

good trip, brett.
good see theyr still out and about.

Nice shaped head there mate well done