This sees me hatching a plan to venture into the Canterbury high country in search of a mature Red stag that has begun to strip its velvet.
As a reoccurring theme on my agenda for well over a decade these trips have seen me exploring some truly remarkable mountain ranges, and this year was to be no different. Unlike last year where I had my tops trip struck down prematurely due to a nationwide Covid lockdown, I was determined to not let anything get in the way of me spending quality time hunting in the mountains or, for better use of words, the cathedrals where I practice my religion.
With my normal tops hunting companion now living across the ditch; and my wife feeling a little anxious about me hunting solo, I decided that I would invite a couple of friends to accompany me on this year's adventure. Ben, who has been a friend since school days, and Meagan, his American fiancée who is an ex-glacier guide, have done a fair bit of hunting but by their own admission they had never been on a comprehensive hunting trip along the tops where they were required to carry everything from their own water, camping, cooking and hunting equipment up and down undulating mountainous terrain for days on end.
Having given them both plenty of notice to be hill fit, they completed several hikes in the months leading up to our departure. To my surprise, they arrived at my place looking like highly tuned athletic machines
