For 2022 I had some Marlborough highcountry in mind. Visions of fat stags hoovering up the last of the summer grass in lush seeps surrounded by acres of briar and sun-scorched tussock had been plaguing me. Literally the night before we left Dad decided to jump in the ute too, and before I knew it we were steering the ute off the ferry and into the highcountry with my initial partner in the dog box, Poppy the lab.
The first day was a big slog in, and despite being March there was plenty of heat left in Old Yella. There's not a lot of driving access in this area, so the campsite was a sight for sore eyes after a summer of fishing and eating rather than training. We had time for an easy evening hunt just on dark and ambled across the river to glass back
