New Zealand - Take 2

In the words of Ted Nugent, one of the main reasons we traveled to New Zealand was to "Whack 'em, stack 'em, and pack 'em." I quickly found out as I posted some of these photos on facebook, that hunting was much more acceptable in the eyes of our family and friends from Texas than that of SOME (not all) of our friends in Australia.  Oh well...

To say that our hunting trip was a success would be an understatement. The amount of animals seen as well as of the quality of animals surpassed what I had expected. On day 1, the hunters spent time shooting the guns they would be using to hunt. Australia has very strict rules on bringing guns into the country. Due to these rules, when we made the move, we left all our guns back in Texas with family. Since Dad and Belinda were coming to Australia after our New Zealand travels, it made more sense to borrow the guns of our guide. So, hunting actually started bright and early on day 2. You could feel the excitement as the hunters took off. It ended up being a great day. James started off the good vibe by taking his Red Stag.

In most of the pictures, the Stag has his mouth kind of open, like he has something to say. I very lovingly gave him the voice that Bill Murray uses in Caddyshack...and proceeded to pretend that he actually talked. "Hey guys..."

Day 3 of hunting yielded Belinda her beautiful Red Stag. Great rack huh? :)

Day 3 also meant that James added to what will be our future wall hangings. There was a story behind this guy. This fallow was at the top of a gorge when James made his shot. And then....he fell down the gorge...butt over rack...a few times. Now imagine the facial expression on James, watching this animal "roll" down the gorge. His thought..."Don't ruin you rack!" Luckily the fallow finished his acrobat routine with no damage done.

Dad took his fallow on Day 4. 

The final day of hunt was something that everyone had been looking forward to for the entire trip. This last day meant Tahr and Chamois hunting, up the mountain by helicopter. We had been waiting the whole time to be able to do this.  The weather had to be perfect in order to get the helicopter up the mountain. The helicopter could take 2 hunters, the guide and the pilot up the mountain at a time. If you managed to take a shot and kill, then they would tie the animals to the helicopter, load everyone up and come back down. It was an AWESOME experience. James and dad did the first trip followed by Belinda and myself. 

James and his Tahr.

Dad and his Tahr. Dad actually shot first. They then left his animal, and went after James' animal. After James had shot they came back around to get dad's Tahr, take pictures and tie the animals to the helicopter.

Ahh... Sammy the Shammy. Yes, I named my chamois. Have never hunted the way I did for Sammy. The helicopter takes you up, drops you off and you take your shot while laying on the ground. My heart was pounding. And I will forever have a hunting story that can "grow" every year...

"There I was. In 6 feet of snow. All you could see were my eyes. A blizzard had come in and I could barely see. My feet and hands were numb in the cold, and I had given up after being up there ALL day. When all of a sudden THERE HE WAS...just kidding. It would make for a good story though.

This was what Belinda and I got to see as we made our way in the helicopter to the mountain. New Zealand scenery is breathtaking. 

After the hunting was over, the girls got to take a ride in the helicopter. They loved it. Kenyon wore the  headset so she could talk to the pilot.Ashtyn was a little confused. She had watched the helicopter bring down dad and grandpa's animals, and then she watched it bring down mine. When we landed, she wanted to know where her animal was. Maybe next time Ashtyn. :)

Bringing the Tahr down off the mountain.

My girls and Sammy.

It will be awhile before we get to see the animals again. So far, they have yet to leave New Zealand and make their trip across the ocean to Texas so they can have their Doctor's appointment at the Taxidermist. 

For the animal lovers out there...the next post will be full of snow skiing and the tropical portion of our holiday with no animals being harmed. Except for the parrot I wanted to kill for trying to eat my Texans hat...once again, kidding.