I posted a brief hunt report in the appropriate place and thought I would put a few lines here on out trip

I met Johnathon Cristian and his sidekick Zion at the SCI Convention in Brisbane this year, top blokes and they run a first class outfit.

I booked with them because the access is easy, no hikes, scary chopper rides or long up river drives, no living in wet clothes for days at a time and eating ordinary food. All those things are part of the hunt for me, but not my non hunting wife and 10yo daughter.

The accommodation is fantastic. Although a little spartan (there was only a 120cm wide screen tele, a full kitchen, Internet, wood fire, proper beds and linen, a washer and dryer) The lodge was built by the Wilderness Quest New Zealand team last year and another one was days off completion when we were there.

The food was excellent. We had Tahr, venison, fish and chips, too much food in fact, and all of a very high quality with a good deal of it home grown and cooked fresh by Johnathon and Zion, who also ate with us at dinner and tea time most nights.

Wilderness Quest New Zealand have free range and preserve hunting for Red deer, Arapawa Ram, pigs, Wapiti, Fallow deer, wild goats and game birds, depending on the season.

I hunted free range.

On the first morning we hunted the river flats for three hours, finding arapawa sheep and about 6 red hinds. They decided we would sit on a large tussock flat until the sun had risen properly and see what might appear.

We had just found a good spot to recline, when a hind came trotting up the flat, she was moving pretty quick and came within 10 meters of us, but she was on a mission and didn't even look in our direction. I thought to myself, where is the cause of her haste, when in her tracks came the above stag. He is no world beater by any means, but he is just what I was after. I don't score my trophies or rate my hunts by the score of the critter. This hunt was a great experience, having the minister for finance and my daughter along to experience the hunt without the stuff they don't want to experience, was good.

They were treated like royalty. The Wilderness Quest team go to extraordinary lengths to ensure non hunters enjoy their time a as much as the hunters. An example of this came on my daughters 10th birthday, which she celebrated while we hunting. We had told Johnathon and Zion that it was her birthday but didn't make a fuss. Just a small gift from us and a happy birthday cuddle was all we were planning. Mid afternoon, they turned up with a home made chocolate birthday cake for my girl, complete with candles, and a plate of fresh nibbles so we could have a little party for her.

I cannot recommend Wilderness Quest New Zealand highly enough. They are a top notch outfit, who go out of their way to ensure your stay is as enjoyable as possible. They have top class animals both inside and outside the fence. And the whole crew are down to earth, decent people.

Cheers

CF