Moose Film launched in Te Anau on Sunday night.

We had a full room and I hope we convinced a few more people of the continuing survival of Moose in Fiordland.

Congratulations to Ken & Marg for their commitment and dedication that has gone into this project over many years. Without Kens meticulous accumulation of historical records and the time spent on the ground in the remote and challenging terrain that is South West Fiordland, this film could never have been made. I feel very privileged to have been a part of it.

Aotearoa Hunting were there to film the launch and have spent some time with Ken over the last week venturing into Fiordland to see sign for themselves.

TV3 have done the same and here is a link to their news piece. http://www.3news.co.nz/Moose-doco-the-culmination-of-years-of-chasing/tabid/1216/articleID/236193/Default.aspx

Ken has also just been interviewed by Paul Henry on Radiolive - Monday 3.15. 

So there has been a lot of very positive media exposure on the Moose story over the last few weeks.

A portion of sales from this film have been dedicated to the continuation of the camera project, and this continues to be the best chance of getting some footage of a live Moose walking around in Fiordland. Fingers crossed for the next camer pick up in 5 months time.

Great gift for all those that have followed this story for many years.

Click HERE to get your copy today.

Grand Premiere

New Zealand's Fiordland Moose DVD 

Sunday 11th of December, Te Anau Club, 7pm

All welcome. Proceeds to the Wapitit Foundation.



BRAND NEW DVD RELEASED

Do North American Moose continue to survive in remote Fiordland, South Island New Zealand?  

YES !

New Zealand Wildlife Trust Biologist Ken Tustin unravels one of NZ's most enduring wilderness mysteries. 

This film answers ALL your questions.

'New Zealand's Fiordland Moose' -View the Trailer 

I recently travelled with Headhunter Chronicles to video Jason Bruce hunting in South Africa. We bow hunted for some of the smaller, and as it turned out, more difficult species. Klipspringer, Mountain Reedbuck, Gray Duiker and all the Spring Buck varieties.

We spent a lot of time sitting in purpose built hides located near water - a very different style of hunting, but very effective with the bow. Animals came in to within 20-30 metres.

This will be edited into a new programme on air next season - Visit Headhunter Chronicles

Pete Rivera from the US spent 10 days in New Zealand with Leithen Valley Trophy hunts.

Pete was constantly amazing us with his great shooting !

We travelled all over the South Island and had great success everywhere.  Thanks to Leithen Valley for a great hunt.

I hunted with Tim Buma & Jace Pace for a week with the owners of the Strasser rifle company in  Austria.

They produce beautiful rifles with many unique features.  We hunted for Red Stags and Himalayan Tahr with great success. 

A terrific week enjoyed by all.

I missed last season at Manuka Point so it was great to spend a few days on this wonderful property again.  The views and animals are both spectacular.  Don, Julie and Will run a world class operation.

The ROAR was still going and the Stags did not disappoint !  Great to see groups of animals interacting as you would expect. The dominant Stag holding the hinds with the pretenders in close attendance. 

No wonder Stags lose so much condition over the roar - the big guys were kept pretty busy !

I took the opportunity to visit and film Glen Martin and John Ham's operation while I was in the North Island.  They run an operation to the east of Taumaranui.  Native bush opeining onto scrub and grass - ideal deer habitat and there were certainly plenty of animals.

They cater for international trophy hunters on an extensive Safari block with lots of cover and some great animals. New Zealand hunters have also discovered the hunting opportunities here on their extensive private Native Bush blocks.

Being the middle of the ROAR there were plenty of Kiwi hunters taking the opportunity to hunt for a good Red Stag 'safely' with the knowledge no other hunters were in the same area .  Exciting hunting with plenty of deer and great bush for stalking. A comfortable hut greats you at the end of the day - even has a hot shower !

Some prety good heads were coming out of the bush.  The headwaters of the Wanganui River runs through the property and offers some great Trout fishing as well. A great destination for a good Free Range Red Stag.

I took the opportunity for a few days filming with Rachel at Leithen Valley Trophy Hunting in Southland. I was getting some background footage for a client that I will be filming there later in the season.

A great deal of thought has gone into the lodge and accessory buildings.  They show all their hunters great hospitality and run a very smooth operation.

A great property with a combination of bush filled gullies opening out to scrubbyfaces with plenty of grass. Great animal habitat.

Animals were pretty active getting organised for the ROAR.

I look forward to getting back to do some hunting.

It was the second of April and the ROAR was in full swing !  Rob Holt, owner of Kaweka Hunting, showed us some great hunting, matched closely by his wonderful hospitality.

Jason Bruce from Headhunter Chronicles was back to film another episode for his TV show.  We hunted Red & Sika Stags and Fallow Bucks, all with the bow.

The Team from Zeiss Optics in Germany joined us and took some wonderful trophies.

Several of Jasons friends also joined us and they too secured some fabulous animals.

I got a very short notice call saying that Jason had won a Desert Sheep hunt and we were off to Baja Mexico in just a few days.

We arrived and were immediately on the back of Mules to take us to a base camp at the edge of the hunting area. 

We had a grand view over miles of terrain.  Sheep were hard to find and after 3 days of glassing we found a ram worthy of closer inspection.  He was 2 and a half k's away according to our binoculars !

It took us a day and a half to get anywhere near him and some rough sleeping in between. When we finally spotted the group again they were on top of another mountain and out of our reach.  Back to base camp !

What a hunt tnis turned out to be - hot, everything had spikes and the terrain was pertty rough.  We spent days glassing to try and find a good ram and it wasn't until day 9 of 10 that we were successful.  It was worth all the hard work !  A great hunt that will be remembered forever for it's challenges and finally it's rewards ....

After the last trip to Iran where we experienced tough hunting we returned for another attempt at a few species of their wild Sheep. It was mid winter and the weather was very unsettled.

This trip we experienced much greater success with 3 species of Sheep successfully hunted. 

                    Esfahan Mouflon :                                                     

                     Kerman Sheep :                                                   Armenian Mouflon :

I can only repeat the fact that Iran is a great destination whether you are there for hunting or as a tourist wishing to visit the many culural / historic sites.  It is safe and the hospitality is wonderful.  All tourists are welcomed with open arms.

Forget everything you know about Iran.  I filmed there recently and only have good things to say about the place.

I had a great filming trip through NZ with American bow hunter Jason Bruce.  Rob Holt from Kaweka Hunting was the outfitter and we spent 10 days chasing all manner of game. A fabulous trip !

In July I travelled to Australia & New Guinea. Once again filming American bowhunter Jason Bruce.

Introduce some new hunters to the sport.

Spring growth is finally appearing in the hills and we took advantage of this to introduce a couple of keen young hunters to their first GOAT HUNT !

We headed away mid April for another roar trip. This time into the hills of central Otago.

Open tussock country with absolutely no cover. We hunted to altitudes approaching 6000 feet.

A day on the Lochy River in the Queenstown area where the Rainbows were chasing Cicadas hard. Even though late in the season with low river conditions and good heat there were still reasonable fish numbers in the river.

A wonderful hot day on the Mataura. Low river levels made fishing hard - at least for me - very picky fish but a couple fell to a spent spinner even though Cicadas were everywhere.

I spent a few hours up the Remarkables to get in shape for the fast approaching 'Roar'. Took out a few wilding ...... pines. Interested parties came in for a look !