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Yeah I'm pretty lucky in that sense, know plenty of mates that are only allowed 1 max in lounge like yourself. Nonetheless, hope the hills are treating you well mate!

Good stuff mate! The further you go back into my films the worse the quality gets haha. This film is where I changed up a few things and got a 4k camera (ZX80). Keep charging mate!

@bendb_wildaboutnz I'm stuck in Antarctica for another few months so just binge watching nz hunting videos each night is my therapy.

Thanks mate! I always want these films to be about New Zealand's beautiful rivers, mountains and game animals than having me at the center of each film. Its great that people like yourself see that this film is so much more than an amazing public land stag! Hope the hills are treating you well!

The mountains certainly teach you a lot about how to live that's for sure! Experience definitely helps making better calls in the mountains but fatigue can cancel that out. That's why I work hard at staying as fit as I possibly can. Game animal management should primarily focus on ecological health i.e healthy carrying capacity of different areas. Ultimately, the commercial interest (WARO) and recreational hunters need to work together to achieve better ratios of breeding females and males. Nonetheless, appreciate the feedback!

Thanks mate, certainly nice when hard work pays off! Good to see you getting after it in the outdoors! All the best!

Most of the footage comes from Fiordland, Canterbury High Country and Marlborough.

Appreciate the feedback mate, certainly feels good having more success this year. All the best in the hills!

Thanks mate, he's certainly a proper old stag! Hugely rewarding after so many years of coming home empty handed. All the best the hills mate, keep charging!

Thanks heaps mate! I'm glad I didn't waste your time! Keep charging and all the best in the hills!

Thanks mate glad you enjoy it! Hopefully fellas younger than me just think about that advice as its certainly help me! I see a lot of poor choices being made by young fellas these days, to which, a lot of the mental issues are due to. Nonetheless, Hope the hills are treating you well!

Cheers bro!

Thanks mate and your right, you need to be in it to win it! Hope the hills are treating you well!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz cheers mate, never a bad day in the hills 😀

Glad you enjoyed the video mate! All the best!

Thanks mate, the heaviness in his antlers is the real winner for me! Hope the hills are treating you well!

Yeah mate, I reckon the harder you work the more luck you build up. Certainly nice when it all comes together! Its interesting because he has the best mineralization/ compact bone in a set antlers I've ever held which suggest the feed was top notch. Not sure if that would affect his teeth degrading quicker, potentially though? Thanks mate, great to see and rose getting into the hills regularly! All the best!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz Minerals are key for sure. I've watched a slip for years and the deer gravitate to an area of about 2 square metres and it's a large slip. I'm guessing there's a natural mineral lick there with something they need. Rose has got her act together....mostly lol. Heading for a few days on Friday. looking like a wet walk in. Hopefully catch you in there sometime.

Cheers mate, glad you enjoyed the film! Keep charging!

That's for the feedback mate, glad you enjoyed the film!

Love it mate, nothing better than looking up at those stags smiling at all the hard work and time you invested to get them! Glad your running the same loungeroom set up!! All the best!

100% agree, crazy how life goes as a hunter though. One mission you've having the worst time with weather and animals the next you secure an amazing 12 point stag. What I didn't talk about was the fact that a party of hunters had just hunter that area. Everywhere I went fresh boot prints were found! Luck is a funny thing!

I know aye, couldn't believe how even he is when I got up to him. No more than a 2" different in all tines. The real winner for me is the weight of antlers, excellent compact bone/mineralization laid down. Hope the hills are treating you well!

Thanks for your feedback, certainly try to be consistent! All the best!

Thanks mate! Hope the hills are treating you well!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz yep got 2 meat animals last week(venny) and 2 stags and a meat animal in roar, and plenty of encounters, might try squeeze in a tahr hunt soon if im lucky🏕

@@Sako75.7mm08 That's the go mate, sounds like your freezer will be full for a while! All the best for your potential Tahr hunt, the mountains in Tahr country are starting to look epic with all the snow!

Thanks mate! For me, I'm constantly reminding myself of the 100's of mission I've gone home empty handed. You can do everything right but without luck it can never happen. Also good to see you working in that health and fitness space. Nothing better than helping people become better versions of themselves! Keep up the awesome work mate!

Cheers brother! Hopefully you'll enjoy the film, certainly worked hard! Hope all is well with you brother!

Cheers bro, I have no doubt you've been punching out some epic missions as well (if your the same Rueben I meet a couple years ago?). All the best bro!

Cheers bro, I have no doubt you've used the same skills gained from the mountains to help solve urban jungle problems. Hope all is well bro!

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback! Hard to beat a life in the Southern Alps! All the best!

Hey mate! I shot him right on last light and took a couple of rubbish photos. There will be another photo of the head in the next rod and rifle edition. I didn't take that many photos due to exhaustion and I also didn't want to give the spot away in the slightest with everything so competitive these days. When you read the article you'll see why this mission was a battle. The cast antler had 7 points and about 38-39" long. I actually filmed a clip with it but I didn't do it correctly as it showed exactly where I was. Been meaning to go back and get it but haven't had the time/motivation to get it. The spot blew up on social media only a couple day's after I shot him!! Then it was cleaned out! 100% mate, solo hunting would help everyone in some way or at the very least learn something valuable about yourself. Good to see you enjoying some quality time in the hills!!

Cheers mate, glad you enjoy it! Hope the roar treated you well!

Cheers bro! 100% aye gotta do the mahi to get the treats!

Someone has to bag and tag those who miscalculate, worth keeping at the back of the mind. Mum/wife/darling crying after unloading those who don't make it doesn't help, and the places the incautious end up in is often nasty, so someone else is put at risk. Looking before leaping, and knowing when to pull in the head makes sense. Getting wet because of underestimating an overnight storm is a lesson. Some storms there last days, when helicopters can't do the babysitting.

Cheers fellas, awesome to see you young fellas truly getting after life and punching out some solid mission. Good to know there are some solid next generation adventure hunters out there! keep charging fellas!

Thanks for the feedback Peter! I put a lot of thought into the structure of each film and stoked you enjoyed the film. Hard to beat time in the Southern Alps! All the best mate!

Thanks for the feedback mate, we are so lucky in NZ to such amazing backcountry and game animals only a stones throw from home. Yeah agree, the journey is far more important than the destination. Just yesterday I shot a ripper 38" long, heavy timber, old, super even 12 pointer public land stag. Funny how life goes as hunter. From massive miles and consecutive storms to a 2 day trip that produces a ripper stag, gotta love life in the hills! Hope the hills are treating you well mate!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz yep the hills always treat me well ..at age 62 I’m not as fit as I used to be but can still get anywhere I want to go . We really are lucky Well done with the stag mate - that’s the great thing about hunting is that you never know it certainly resonates with me sometimes you put massive effort in for little reward Then along comes a “ too easy one “ - you earn them all in the end hot barrels mate!

100% its such a humbling place, to which, I wish more people got to experience the life or death nature of being in the mountains. During a couple of those storms I knew with out a shelter its all over. I always laugh when I get back from a tough mission and read or watch people complaining about insignificant 1st world problems. That's a great attitude to have mate, hope the mountains give you plenty more soul enriching experiences and memories.

Couldn't agree more, it's no joke in the mountains! it's a classic case of, if you know you know because those that have never been pushed by mother nature will have no clue as to how brutal it can be. Awesome stuff mate, enjoy those hills!!

Thanks mate, gotta love New Zealand's backcountry! Hope the hills are treating you well!

Apologies about delayed reply mate don't have the comment notifications on. Oh mate it was heart breaking for sure!! I know a hunter who showed me photos of a helicopter illegally dropping hunters off in that exact spot a year later. All the best mate!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz oh no stress at all man!! Good luck on the next one

Thanks mate! We are pretty lucky to have the country we do in New Zealand, so many awe-inspiring landscapes! Hopefully a couple young fellas take that advice on board. I really feel for them in this digital world full of so much noise! All the best mate!

Thanks mate! Hope the hills are treating you well!

100% mate, no better place to help you deal with the complexities and difficulties of life than the mountains. haha yeah there's definitely things you can do to make hard times in the mountains more enjoyable. Big one for me is synthetic down products, would rather be wet and warm than wet and cold. Keep charging mate!

Thanks mate appreciate the feedback! Sometimes I don't know where the motivation comes from to make these films as its a lot of time and effort. Being a pretty disciplined person helps but also I want to give back to society in someway, that for me means doing things that don't come with any monetary gains. Hope life and the hills are treating you well mate!

Thanks mate, appreciate the feedback! Life's never easy but the mountains is great place for recharging all the batteries and gaining clarity/perspective. I really enjoyed not using background music as it had its technical challenges due to the fact I run a super low budget production. The beauty and chance to bag a stag of a lifetime is what draws me to South Westland. The pre 1960's stags are still there but usually get shot by the choppers. This trip had 5 continuous days of storms with some being as intense as you could get! Keep living Southern Alps dream mate!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz nice one yes so true mate, the right song can compliment the footage, i got out of the bush with a red stag that afternoon you dropped this latest production, ive been on a low sugar diet and was sweating profusely thru some absolute windfall vines rubbish, really sapped my energy, and while drinking water and sugar free V not a good choice without the electrolytes i was in the hurt locker zone, multiple muscle leg cramps all of it, anyway was allgood, got eldest sons 5th birthday on saturday then im off on my roar trip monday-sunday, excited is a under statement, havent had a overnight hunt since last roar for 3 nights so im chomping to get after it, running the farm and building a house for us in spare time im pumped for a reset recharge in the alps, getting gear checked prepped, rains set in on the west coast here which is good clears for 4 days and then is looking not ideal for 10 days, hoping it improves over weekend so i can stick with plan A for south westland, like you said thou after the storm bares fruits, shot my biggest bull tahr, buck chamio, red stag down south westland, it will always give you a animal encounter, and with the calibre of your latest red stag that would smooth over any less than ideal adventures, what a impressive specimen, unfortunatly there has been a lot of waro up and down and side to side of the alps, such a waste of a resource, keep up the charge and look forward to whats around that next corner🏕

@@Sako75.7mm08 Yeah mate getting that nutrition right is super important, dehydration is far more crippling than low energy/low food. Muscles rely heavily on electrolytes to contract and release, certainly worth keeping on top off. A good tip is if you start cramping up stop for 30-60 while drinking and and eating because your body struggles to process and replenish energy/fluid stores when on the move. Good luck on the coast that's by far the hardest place to get a mature stag due to the constant waro pressure. Weathers not looking great next week!! Have a great time mate, I'm sure you'll create some awesome memories!! Keep charging!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz cheers mate il let you know how i get on 🏕

Thanks for another great video.Nice stag and chamois. Makes my day when I see you release a new vid. I'm 62 this year and still try to do the hard yards.just come home from a big trip into the Lewis pass area. Knee pain and cramp are my big problems. Will try your tips in a few weeks when I walk in for the sika roar. What doesn't kill you definitely makes you stronger.

Thanks mate, I reckon still shots are easier to digest than motion shots. So I make the effort to set the tripod up as often as possible. haha yeah mate, especially when your cold, wet and got a big day ahead of you! Hope the hills are treating you well!

Cheers mate! Life's certainly a challenge for everyone, nobody goes through it unscathed. Hope life and hills are treating you as well as they can mate. All the best!

Hey Mate, I'll detail all the basics of public land hunting below. 1. Go to DOC maps and use overlayers to find out where you can hunt - www.doc.govt.nz/map/index.html 2. Use DOCS Block info to figure out where you can hunt Red Deer 3. Get a hunting permit for your intended hunting area - huntingpermits.doc.govt.nz/huntingpermits/start (During the roar some areas are balloted) Once thats done you are free to hunt, below are some tips to maximise your success. Of note mature stags are super rare on public land so dont expect to get a mature stag. *Chose a block in the South Island. *Get as far away from any Huts and Tracks as possible. *Avoid areas that can be easily access by 4x4. *Avoid hunting during the roar Mid March to Mid April. If you want to hunt the roar then epxect to see a lot of hunters. *Chose a block between Malborough and Queestown. Best genetics for Red Deer between those two locations. Our Red Deer herds are not managed well hence why its so difficult to secure a mature red stag on public land. Nonetheless, if you beat the feet you'll 100% have an adventure and create many memories. Hope that helps!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz Thanks a lot, Ben! This is very helpful to kickstart the planning process!

@@steffenguschmann1969 All good mate. That's pretty much how I plan hunts. Also the harder you work, the more opportunities you will create. Especially when hunting on public land. Lastly, the east coast usually holds more Red Deer than the west coast of the south island due to less Helicopter / venison recovery pressure. If feral venison prices are high I would stay away from any west coast blocks. Happy hunting mate!

@@bendb_wildaboutnz To be more specific, which area should we generally consider since we currently have no idea?

@@steffenguschmann1969 I would look at blocks in Canterbury and Otago regions. Each block has a good overview by DOC as to animal numbers i.e. moderate numbers of deer will be outlined in the description - "Pigs, red deer and chamois are present in low to moderate numbers" < look for blocks with moderate levels if you want more opportunities. Great resource > www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/hunting/ The biggest thing is research (I put hours of research into finding areas) and follow the tips I gave in the first comment. Best thing about New Zealand if you try a block and its no good then all you need to do is travel 1 hour in a direction and you'll likely have more luck.

Thanks mate, glad you enjoyed the video! Getting the music right or as close to right is bloody hard when your only using copy right free soundtracks. Takes hours to find reasonable ones that fit. Hope the hills and 2024 treat you well! Keep charging!

Cheers mate for the feedback. Life is a beautiful thing and the mountains are a great place to live life! Keep charging mate!

Thanks mate! Just trying to do my best in this tough old world! Hope the hills are treating you well! Keep charging!

Geoff, nah they didn't live in Reefton. I must look like their son! Would be classic if it was the case! Hope the hills are treating you well!