The Whanganui River hunting journey

Hunting and Wildlife Magazine - Issue 224 - Autumn 2024

Words By: Isabell Zitzelsberger

The Whanganui River is one of the Great Walks in New Zealand, and the section from Whakahoro to Pipiriki is a popular tourist trail during the hot summer months . An 88km paddle with breath-taking scenery, showing New Zealand from its most beautiful side, also turned into a fantastic trip for a bunch of keen deerstalkers, who were eager to cull some goats and potentially shoot a deer. This group’s main motivation however, was to go on an adventure of a lifetime with a good bunch of like-minded people.

Friday after work, just before the long King’s Birthday weekend in June, 13 passionate and excited hunters were heading towards the Owhango Hotel, where we stayed the first night as part of the package. There is a pub attached, so we caught up over a few beers and burgers, planned the trip for the morning, and got to know each other a little bit better.

The river levels were high due to the last months of rain, and the decision about whether we could go on would have to be made in the morning. The water was fast-flowing, and safety was paramount, but secretly, we all knew we were strong, experienced paddlers and happy to take on a fast-flowing river to shoot some animals.

For safety reasons, we paired up - one canoe, two people, and three barrels to keep our gear dry. So, for the rest of the night, there was a lot of packing, shifting stuff from barrel to barrel, and trying to make sense of the order. Food, snacks, dry clothes, gun cleaning gear, socks, beers, more socks and more snacks…that’ll do!

After a good night, we met at 7am for coffee and a safety briefing. Then it was time to load the barrels onto the trailer with the canoes and pack the rifles. Off we went on an hour’s journey through winding roads to Whakahoro, where we entered the river. Exciting. The river level had just dropped to an acceptable level, so we were good to go.

A few more safety words to be said, “Don’t shoot over anyone’s head and basically - don’t be a dick.” That’s the number one rule; stick to it, and we’ll have the best time.

After we were all set up with our canoes, life jackets, barrels, paddles, and guns, six canoes and one kayak were heading down the river; we were off!.

In the first few minutes, we all had to get used to our setups and start the journey slowly. The river flows super fast, and not too much hard paddling is required. The first shot was fired after a few minutes - a goat. It missed the target. It’s not easy - a moving canoe, the flowing river, the moving goat - but something we could practice over the next few days.

Luckily, thanks to a friend of a friend, we were permitted to enter a piece of private land to look for deer. Unfortunately, we didn’t spot any, but the team was able to shoot three goats which was an excellent start to the trip.

As the journey continued, the weather played ball - blue sky, sunshine, and a slightly chilly breeze coming through the gorge. The landscape is just stunning, and many photos were taken. We stopped for lunch and a cup of coffee before heading further. The camaraderie was building, and we realised we were lucky that we had already gelled, and everyone was sticking to the number one rule.

We continued our journey down the river, even enjoying a bit of warmth in the pleasant sunshine. A few more goats were shot (and a punga - it’s incredible how much your eyesight can trick you when you really would like to see a goat - identifying your target is critical).

By around 4pm, most of us had arrived at John Coull Hut, which is a beautiful hut in the bush with a quiet, luxurious set up of 20 beds, a fireplace, and even gas and electric lights. We were all very impressed, chose our beds, and lit the fire to dry our wet socks and pants. It was a beautiful night with a full moon, a good dinner, and lots of laughter - just a group of new friends in the middle of nowhere having the best time. No phones, stress, or appointments - just being in the moment. How good is that?

We left early the following day – deer are out and about early, so we wanted to increase our chances. Everyone was launching the canoes by 7:30am (sunrise) and were back in the water. The mist was hanging in the trees over the gorge and looked terrific. We kept our eyes peeled for deer, but unfortunately, they must have been still asleep or found other water sources to not come down to the river. We rafted up and drifted down the river together for more yarns and laughter before we stopped for lunch at Mangapurua landing, from where we explored the area and the Bridge to Nowhere. A 40-minute walk was enough to warm those toes and see if our legs were still working properly. The biggest success was for Chris, one of our team members, who was able to shoot his first animal - three goats straight away. Congratulations, Chris.

Another group also stopped on the side of the river to explore a bit by foot (which is not easy with all the steep terrain) and managed to shoot three goats. We cut them up on the side of the river.

We stopped at the Tieke Marae/Kāinga that evening for our next stay. A few goats were shot that day. We lit the fire, dried our gear, and started skinning and cutting up our goats. At sunset, a group disappeared for a quick evening mission. After a good feed, we all sat around the fire, cleaned the guns, laughed, and chatted - our last evening was coming to an end.

It rained quite a bit overnight, but luckily by the following day, it was all gone. It was still muddy everywhere, but we could spot some blue sky and were happy about that. We put the barrels back in the canoes, and off we went.

The highlight that morning was spotting a deer straight after leaving, much to everyone's surprise. Well done, Kirk. It was an achievement to shoot a beautiful fallow spiker from the canoe on the last day.

That day there were a few more rapids to overcome, but we were pros by now and mastered most of them without getting too wet. Apart from Henry on the kayak… coming down one of the rapids, he hit a rock and cracked the kayak, so we retrieved him off the rocks at Ngaporo campsite. He changed his wet clothes and realised there was no way he could use this kayak anymore. Luckily, Tim is such an experienced canoer that it was no problem to give Henry a ride and make room for one more person in their well-built Ruahine Waka. How lucky. We had a little lunch stop in the sun at the campsite and warmed up with coffee before heading onto the final leg of our journey.

Strong headwinds were developing. They were cold and nasty - even if the river was flowing fast, a lot of strength was required to push against that wind, and a lot of yelling was going on. Left-right-not left-better-straight! WTF?

We were told at the beginning that the journey often caused divorces, and every party member could see why. Every animal could stand on the side of the river laughing, as there wouldn’t be a chance in the world to shoot any of them. After a few more rapids, wind, yelling, and sore arms, we reached the corner where we could spot the bus to pick us up. At 1pm on Monday, the journey was over. I was sad it was over; we could have stayed longer, at least for another few days. Maybe next time?

Everyone was exhausted, and the drive back to Owhango was quiet. What a journey and what a crew. I miss it and can’t wait for more laughter, fun and adventures with the Deerstalkers.

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