THE OTHER DOWN UNDER
by Roy K. Keefer

The sound that echoed through the nearby valley was eerie, something I had never heard before.  I tried to figure how I could type letters for this story to imitate the sound but came up short on ideas.  The bugle of a mature bull elk doesn't come close to resembling the sound and the grunt of a breeding whitetail buck is mild by comparison.  The natives call it a ?roar? and that's an accurate description of what it sounds like.  We were in New Zealand hunting the tail end of the rutting season of the red stag.

My wife, Shelby, and I bought a trip for two to hunt red stag and fallow deer at the annual Las Vegas (Desert Chapter) Safari Club International banquet.   I had heard so many good things about hunting in New Zealand that I wanted to experience it for myself and now it was going to happen. 

The non-stop long flight from Los Angeles is grueling, taking nine hours to reach Auckland, population 1, 400,000, and another hour to Christ's Church, a city of 300,000.  Our host, Lindsey Fraser, met us at the airport and three hours later we arrived at his ranch (they call them stations).  We looked out the car window to see majestic mountains going straight up from the road.  It was beautiful.  The lodge sits high on a mountain side and has cottages nearby for the hunters.  In the distance, 10 miles away we could see the Pacific Ocean.  What a view! 

We settled into our cottage, unpacked our luggage and I set up my hunting gear.  A few shots into a styrofoam target I had brought gave me confidence my bow had not been affected by the long flight.  Tomorrow we would hunt the red stag and fallow deer. 

The red stag is a beautiful animal slightly smaller than an elk. Its horns are usually not as long as those of an elk, but they have a crown of points on the end.  The crown typically is made of four or five points, so a good stag might be 14 to 16 points or more.  The horns have good mass to them so they are not flimsy and make good weapons in waging fights for breeding rights.

Red stag, fallow deer and nearly every other animal in New Zealand, except for two mammals, one of which is a bat, were introduced to the island many years ago and have thrived.  There are no predators except for hawks and this has enabled them to do well in a country resembling their native European homes.

Much of the area on the station was mountainous and open.  We would be hunting the valleys, which were very (emphasis on the word very) brushy.  This would allow us to spot and stalk our quarry. 

At daylight we were up and on the road.  We traveled to the bottom of the mountain and began to walk the valleys.  Occasionally we would hear stags but didn't see any. 

After several hours of slow stalking, we saw two stags in the thick brush ahead of us.  Quietly we made our way toward them and got to within 30 yards.  I made out an opening that would allow a shot.  The shot was good and passed through the stag's lungs.   The stag went about 200 yards and went down. 

The first thing I noticed was the massiveness of the stag's horns.  Although somewhat similar to an elk's horns, the stag's were thicker than most elk I've shot and the horns formed a beautiful crown at their end.  It was a magnificent animal.

The station had a good population of fallow deer and I planned to chase them for a while to see if my luck would continue.  The deer live in the same terrain as the stags, very thick, vine covered brush.  The vines were large, often an inch to an inch and a half thick.  I thought maybe we would see Tarzan swinging through the jungle one day but remembered we were on the wrong continent for that to happen. 

One day during the hunt, we smelled something rotten and soon discovered a nice 8x8 red stag that had tangled its horns in the vines and died.  Whether it broke its neck or simple died of starvation I'll never know but it met its end nonetheless in this thick wilderness.  On another day we found a fallow deer that had met the same fate.  Due to the absence of predators in New Zealand both of these carcasses were rotting away without being disturbed.

Every day I would see the deer but stalking close for a shot was another matter.  They were spooky and elusive and the vegetation usually prevented a shot.  Finally after three days of being frustrated we saw a fallow deer moving below us.  We were on a steep slope working our way on the side of a hill and the deer was moving toward us.  With a favorable wind and the elevated position we were in, the deer had no idea we were close by. 

The deer bedded down not over twenty yards away.  Having no shot, we decided to sit and see if he would eventually get up.  Good fortune was on my side again and after some time he rose to feed. 

The Thunderhead broadhead on an Easton A/C/C arrow found its way through the thick growth and penetrated the deer's shoulder.  It took three steps and expired.  Once again I was impressed with the killing power of a properly placed arrow.

My hunt was not over.  We still had time to hunt for another stag.  Our routine was similar to the other days; moving each day to the thick ravines at the bottom of the mountains and slowly making our way hoping to ambush a stag. 

Late one morning we spotted a pair of stags on a hillside.  Our plan was for the guide to move around the mountain and above the stags.  If all went well they would spot or smell him and move my way.  Things went as we had hoped and the stags moved slowly down the hillside toward my ambush spot.  

At twenty yards one of them stopped and stood broadside.  As if on autopilot, my Mathews bow was at full draw and the arrow was released.  The lung shot stag ran down the hill and stopped 35 yards away.  Another arrow through the chest brought him down and I had my second stag. 

After the hunt, we rented a car and toured the island taking five days to see the sights.  New Zealand is such a beautiful country and the people are so friendly.  We hated to leave but reluctantly we boarded a plane for the long ride home.

Some additional facts about New Zealand and hunting there:

Red stag hunts are reasonably priced starting at $3,500 for a five day hunt.  Air fare from Los Angeles is about $1,000.  No licenses are required.  If you don't do any sight seeing, you won't need to rent a car, but if you do it's an experience.  They drive on the opposite side of the road.  The roundabouts in the city are a little frightening until you get the hang of it.

Remember the seasons are reversed on the other side of the equator.  We had some snow during May.  It can be pretty cool in the morning and evening.

No inoculations are required.

The mountains are impressive.  Being younger than the Rockies, they are much steeper and sharper on the tops.  You won't have to worry about them unless you go after tahr or chamois.  Otherwise, the mountains aren't all that bad.

It's a great place to buy wool clothes.  The Merino sheep raised there have soft, strong wool that is famous worldwide and clothing is very reasonably priced.