NZ 2015 - the huntin part

[Rugersingle]

Well, for my 55th birthday I figured I needed to do something special...so I booked a trip to New Zealand at the SCI show in Feb 2014. My .275 was tested during the 2014 fall deer season and it was deemed more then up to the task. So after a year long wait I finally left on March 1st and stayed for a whole month. It is an absolute incredible place!!!
I spent a week hunting and 3 weeks fishing and sight seeing...not near long enough to see all the sights on the South island. I based the trip out of Christchurch and stayed off and on at the Te Oka Lodge in Kaiapoi, just like staying with family. Pete and Carolyn were great and Pete is a dyed in the wool huntin and fishin fanatic...it was perfect. March there is our September so the weather was cooling off and the stags were starting to ROAR!! Their roar is crazy....especially up close, gets the blood movin alright.
Now that I have been once and kinda know the process I'll be going back next March....just for the fishing

http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_95131.JPG
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http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/P1020345_1.JPG
http://www.hunt101.com/data/500/medium/IMG_9661.JPG
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the fishing part is in the pic forum....

[rides bike to work]

That looks like an awesome trips
would love to see more.

[Doublelung]

Wicked!!!!

[M.Dean]

Incredible! A "Dream Hunt" for sure! Too many people leave taking the time, and spending the money for a trip like yours until they retire, then find out the hunt is very, very hard on them. You have to make the trip when you've still got your health, and can enjoy it to the fullest! Congrats on some fine looking animals!

[Mik]

Great photos, nice animals, Congrats.

[Crazy_Farmer]

Great trip!!!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Cool!

A DIY trip to NZ is on my bucket list. Just need to retire before my body does.

[BRvalley]

Incredible, my NZ hunt is late May, I hope I get a fallow buck like yours

I'm doing a week fishing and sight seeing and 3 days hunting, can't wait

[monasheemountainman]

wicked!!! cant wait to go back myself!

[The Hermit]

Great post! Looks like you had the trip of a lifetime. I'd much rather go to NZ than Africa for a hunt.

I spent a month on the north island with my wife and we really enjoyed the country and its people! I've told my wife that the next trip is to the south island but that I am either going for 10 days before her or after her for a hunt! She hasn't warmed to the idea so might have to convince our daughter to come along with her!! Thanks for the tips on who/where to stay!

[.264winmag]

Great stuff! Thanks for posting and congrats. Love to get me a red stag!

[Rugersingle]

Thankx everybody for the nice words. NZ is a fantastic place and if you can work it out its a great trip. The long plane ride from Van is worth it !! If you fly economy I recommend you DONT get a window seat and try to get an exit or bulkhead seat for the extra leg room....

[Brambles]

beautiful animals, congrats

[.264winmag]

Ruger maybe you could tell us a bit more on this .275? Maybe you've posted somewhere but I'm curious. .275h&h, rigby or? Looks like it does the job nicely!
Cheers

[Rugersingle]

Its stamped as .275 Rigby, which is the UK designation for a 7x57.
The round was developed by Paul Mauser in 1892; it launched a 173gr roundnose at about 2300 fps and was produced by Rigby starting in 1899. In 1907 Rigby created their own version by reducing the bullet weight to 140gr, which increased the velocity to 2800fps. It has a wonderful history as both a military and sporting rifle round. From a military standpoint it was the major factor in the the development of the 30-06 round and the updating of the .303 round to modern smokeless powder. As a sporting round it was used by W.D.M Bell, Jim Corbett and many others in Africa.
I have a soft spot for single shots and decided to cross a B78 with a # 1, throw in some new tech, and see what would happen. I used a Pac-Nor bbl 26" , machined octagon with a muzzle diameter of .612, that’s the same contour as a B78. Dropped the ruger 1/4 rib and used Talley bases machined to match the flat of the octagon and Talley light weight rings. Sweated on an under bbl lug, again machined to match the flats, finished all the metal in powder coat flat black and added a leather sling. A set of MPI fibreglass stocks with the Alexander cut fore end were finished by applying hydro-graphics. The donor rifle already had a set trigger and upgraded springs .I was going to use an ultra lite 3x9 Leupold but decided to go with an S&B 2.5x10x40, its bit out of scale on the rifle but its great to look through :) and there you have it. The work was done by Corlanes in Dawson.

My current load is a 140gr Accubond, half grain under book max, and I’m getting 2950fps over the chrony. Groups are <1" at a 100, if I do my job. Of the 4 animals taken so far none of them have travelled more than 40yrds after the hit. If I do it again I would take a couple hints from Ardent and mill the action a bit and shorten the fore-end up to the spring hanger. Otherwise it turned out just the way I wanted :)

[.264winmag]

Extremely cool rig! I am more familiar with it as the 7x57, pretty neat that it was developed that long ago. We've been trying to re-invent the wheel since the late 1800's :)

[Rugersingle]

Crate Day !!
13 months after my trip....my crate arrived home in Fort Nelson !!
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/nebc/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpstb2mzkna.jpeg
When I opened it up and put my hands on those horns again...... some great memories of an awesome trip.
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/nebc/95f9fbc0-d41d-4454-8900-42f953854053_zpsm6wpp2v2.jpg
http://i864.photobucket.com/albums/ab203/nebc/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zps78mvj2kp.jpeg
The taxidermy was done by Big Game Taxidermy in Christchurch, the expediting, packing and all the NZ paperwork was by Geoff at GO DO New Zealand and importing at the Canadian end was by Pam at Ron's Wildlife Services. An absolute excellent job by all parties made this a hitch free process.
Now the final part of the trip...hangin em on the walls...putting ice and a beverage in a glass...and remembering all the good people and fun times that were had.
Going back in 2017.... fishing there is..... addicting

[sheephunterab]

No better feeling!