101 and not out
Friday came around quickly and my son Conor, his wife Cady and I found ourselves at the dinner table at the Tiki Bush hut just before dark.
As we ate, a Sika roar pierced the cooling air.This filled us with promise for the next day and dawn couldn't come quickly enough
The early morning red sky had faded as we stepped into the beech forest, which was dry underfoot but not too crunchy. Cady accompanied us - this was her firstever time along on a hunt and it would be an exciting one. The going was easy as we wove our way through the bush.
Mitchell spotted a movement in a maze of manuka 70 yards above us and we saw four deer browsing their way through it on the way to their bedding area. The first three were hinds but tail-end Charlie was a stag. Despite Mitchell's best efforts at calling, the stag just kept on walking, following the ladies.
Conor and Mitchell could see the deer quite well,
