Eagle eyed Billy Telford stood in front of the Golden Hills Hut on our recent club chopper trip to the Kawekas and scanned for any sign of deer near the stream edges and up to the bush fringes beyond. He turned to Ashley and called him outside as he had spotted a sika on a grassy patch to the north about 500 metres or so away. Ashley moved onto the deck where he could watch the distant grey animal feeding. Ian grabbed a pair of binoculars and joined Billy and Ashley who pointed out the direction. The magnified view revealed another one, then a third hind slowly feeding their way across the distant hillside clearing. It was Billy's sighting so it was his chance to shoot one. He headed up the track towards the old derelict hut, then cut up and over the low ridge to where he should hopefully have a drop on the deer still feeding on the fresh grasses.

Ashley and Ian heard no shots from Billy's likely quarter as they hunted their own areas that day but the team had no luck. Returning to the hut on a warm sunny afternoon we rehydrated before cooking up our meals on the big double burner gas cooker provided by Helisika. A hut notice recommended that the gas should be turned off at the gas bottle at night. Wise advice as the hose connections can sometimes leak and the build up of gas in a small hut can explode with catastrophic results, which is probably what happened to the unfortunate individuals at Parahaki Hut recently when they were both killed in an apparent gas explosion which blew the little Urewera structure apart.

Some cool drinks on the warm evening trading tales meant a late night and consequently it was an enthusiastic Ashley with the advantage of youth who leapt out of his bunk at dawn to head out for an early morning hunt. We didn't hear his shot but his efforts were worthwhile as his heavy boots stomping back to the hut indicated to us that he had been successful. On that same grassy clearing just over 500 metres away from the hut, Ashley dropped a good sized sika hind for his second deer shot. A great result. - Ed