In the spring of 2015 our group drew the Upper Wairau Block. With little personal knowledge of the area and even less of the history of Molesworth Station, I was simply a participant, not a hunter, but a photographer and a goose hunt groupy!
I thought, hell yeah, I will tag along,. It will be a bit of an adventure, a break away, see something new, take some photos, and see what my son is up to on these goosing weekends. One visit and I was hooked, drawn in, permanently addicted to this amazing place, it's other-worldly environment and hunting the mighty Canada Goose.
That spring hunt delivered only 30 odd birds, all four seasons and a love affair with this big country that will never waver. Arriving at the Island Gully Hut, armpit high in big red tussock on a terrace overlooking the valley, this girl was immensely relieved to see a long drop standing alone on the edge of the terrace with a view to die for! It's not often a woman is relieved to see a long drop, but hey, in the Molesworth, that's a pretty sight for sure. It is the first and only time in Molesworth I have had the comfort of sleeping in a hut, although on the second night, I wondered if Holly, Hunter and I, and the hut might end up somewhere further down the line as a howling wind tore down the valley and rattled that roof and what seemed like the whole world all night and morning long. By dawn, as the few of us left in camp tried to resurrect the camp kitchen tent, I understood why the roof of both the hut and the loo were cabled and pegged into the ground with massive metal rods.
We hunted out of an A-frame blind and layouts The final tally seemed a little disappointing but was about right for the numbers that block normally produces at that time of year. As a newbie to this goose-hunting lark, I quickly realised that a lot of effort on the part of the hunter can never guarantee results, especially in a remote location where the luxury of scouting before a hunt is not always an option.
