My wife Jen was the lucky winner of the New Zealand Dream Hunt from the 2024 Alaska Wild Sheep Foundation annual banquet. A trip like this to New Zealand was on our bucket list to one day accomplish and winning this package made it happen. We had 11 months to plan and even though we had a budget for every aspect of the trip my wife was able to make our trip over and back a very comfortable one with a stop over in Hawaii with some very nice seats on each leg of the plane rides. The hotel recommended by Spey Creek in Christchurch was a short 2 hour drive to the ranch. The drive went by very fast with a great stop halfway for coffee and snacks. Our driver was one of the three guides at the ranch. His name was Brett and we were lucky enough to have him as our guide for our stay.
As you can imagine the drive was very scenic and as soon as we left the asphalt to the dirt road the journey to the ranch hits you, the trip of our life time is actually happening. After driving through the gate with the Spey Creek ranch arch you have to cross a very small creek to arrive at the 5 Star guest house with our hosts, John and Neroli, and the other guides greeting you as you exited out of the van. Right away this place amazed us by its location at the bottom of a valley with the mountains surrounding the lodge. After the greetings and picking my jaw off of the ground we were shown our room. The accommodation’s didn’t disappoint and we had a very large bathroom, king size bed with our own access to the deck and it even had a very large loft; we both soon regretted not bringing our son with us. By the time we had our luggage in the room Neroli had provided lunch for us that included a wide selection of beverages. In addition to the fabulous lunch we got to hear the roar of the red stags that were hiding in the trees surrounding us.
After warming up to our guide Brett, we asked when we he would like to get us out to the field. He indicated he wasn’t trying to rush us and we had the choice to stay at the lodge for the rest of the day or go out for a late afternoon hunt. As you can imagine we were ready within minutes and we were off to explore the beautiful land and animals. Their six seat Can-Am took us high above the lodge and right away we had a wide variety of animals to look at. We discussed the different animals we were looking for and decided whichever animal presented itself first we would hunt. As things unfolded the red stags and fallow deer were in abundance and Brett soon pointed out a very nice red stag in the 500 class range that we were looking for and we began to get closer to look at him. A short 1/4 mile trek down an old logging road got us closer for the views Brett needed to let us know if the stag was a good choice or not. After I was set up on a solid shooting rest a quick pull of the trigger at 235 yards put the stag down. Following the hugs and excitement Brett retrieved the Can-Am and Jen and I looked at one another and said “what just happened”. A short time later we had our hands on the 500+ red stag.
The next day was Jen’s turn. I had a talk with Brett on the limited hunting Jen has done and he tells me “No worries mate. I’ll make sure she’s comfortable and will not rush her.” He really lived up to that statement and both Jen and I learned a lot from him. The next morning he found Jen a fallow deer to pursue and since she liked the look of him it was time to make the stalk and see if a better view could present itself. We had a short trek down a two track path when Jen and Brett set up and just as she was about to pull the trigger the fallow deer ran uphill to a hiding place under a large boulder in the mountain surrounded by trees. To get out of the sun we moved to a better shaded area camouflaged by brush and trees and waited a short while to see if the fallow would pop back out into the open. A short time later another follow deer appeared in the meadow at the base of the mountain and Jen quickly changed her mind, that this fallow deer was the one. Unfortunately, the fallow deer Jen now had her eyes on laid down moments before she could get the scope dialed in to pull the trigger and she could only see a portion of his antlers through the brush. As we settled into the new spot which allowed Jen to use a short tree to help stabilize the rifle the waiting and anticipation became more intense with every movement of the deer’s antlers, wondering if this is the moment the deer will stand. Before we realized it, we had sat in that spot for 4.5 hours before that fallow deer stood up, which we thought was an incredible amount of time since the deer was lying in the hot sun. Jen was on a perfect rest the whole time and after a quick pull of the trigger the fallow deer was down with one shot at 285 yards. By this time we were late returning for lunch and when we got back to the lodge Neroli had whipped up a quick meal for us (Stag tacos that were awesome). Brett made quick work of taking care of the fallow deer and we were off again to see if a red stag could be seen for Jen.
Jen’s stag hunt was very similar to mine, however, I’d like to point out that as we stalked to a closer range for her stag we noticed Brett still had blood from her follow deer on his legs that he didn’t know was there. This guy is something else and even though we didn’t know what to expect from a “guided hunt” I believe we will never have another guide as good as him! Jen quickly spotted a stag that was as unique as she is and Brett once again set Jen up with a perfect rest and after a single 289 yard shot across a valley the stag dropped without taking more than 6 steps.
For the following two days Brett drove me to the West coast to try for the Tahr and Chamois. Jen chose to stay at the lodge to relax a bit and enjoy the lodge atmosphere. Brett and I arrived near Fox Glacier and met with the pilot, Nathan, who gave Brett and I the news we couldn’t fly because of the low clouds and drizzle over the mountain range we were headed to. The next mornings forecast was expected to be much better so we opted to go to the local pub for dinner and some drinks. The next day arrived with a blue sky and we were soon off. I have never been in a helicopter before so I tried to act like a pro and wondered if they noticed that I wasn’t. Within minutes Nathan could tell I was a rookie because I couldn’t control my breathing and all I could do was repeat the words “OMG, OMG, OMG”. Brett and Nathan had the eyes of hawks. They could point out animals I couldn’t spot and in a flash Nathan whipped the heli 180 degrees to land for Brett and I to get out. The next thing I knew I was set up with the rifle and heard “shoot”, then the next moment the Chamois was down. Nathan came back with the heli to load Brett and I with the Chamois tied off to venture around and look for a Tahr. After a short flight and many ridges later Nathan came to a very nice draw and spotted two Tahr’s he wanted to have a better look at. Brett and I unloaded from the heli and walked up the draw. Brett again got me situated and after hearing Brett say shoot, I realized I had very nice Tahr. The flight back was nice and I was able to get an arial view of the Fox and Franz Josef glaciers with Mt. Cook in the background. During the drive back Brett mentioned to me that the Chamois was one of the two largest that he has ever seen come off a mountain. Once back at the lodge we measured one side length at 10.5” and the other side measured at 10.25”. When the Chamois returns here to Alaska I will be looking at having it scored and hopefully we will have a true trophy of trophy’s.
Our final hunt day had Jen and I looking for a free range stag worthy of taking home. Even though we spent most of the day locating stags they were just not big enough. We changed our minds hunting for the free range stag when Jen found a very large and nice Arapawa Ram that she wanted to bring home. Once again Brett got her on a sold rest and after one shot had him on the ground. My wife doesn’t have the same experience hunting like I have and she is new to this type of adventure. For her to take up hunting, and for us to do this together, means so much to me. Brett really took the extra time to make it even more memorable for both of us and has made this trip one I could only ever dream about. I never imaged just how incredible this experience could be and every aspect of our time at Spey Creek exceeded all of our expectations.
Thank you Alaska Wild Sheep Foundation for putting a package like this together and for everyone else who supports conservation through raffles like this. It only takes one ticket (and a very lucky wife) to win a dream hunt that could change your life!
