One Heck Of A Ride

201 The South Pacific from boulder to boulder when my right foot smacked against a rock. It hurt to put my weight on it, but I managed to get to a spot that offered a halfway-decent shelter for spending the night on the side of the mountain. Terry pulled a bag out of his pack and got some water from a creek, built a fire and cooked some small pieces of meat cut from my chamois. It was delicious, and not just because I was hungry. Terry was worried about my foot and our having to bivouac without survival gear. I told him not to worry. I had a comfortable place to stretch out, good boots, a wool sweater and pants, and I was in good shape. We both managed to sleep a few hours. I suspect Terry was worried the word would get around that he didn’t properly take care of Author at the hut. A forestry hut we reserved for 5 days for our Tahr and Chamois hunt his clients, because he cooked more food than twenty-five people could eat after we reached the hut. I told him it wasn’t the first time I’d been forced to spend a night out in the forest, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. By then, my foot was swollen and walking more than a few yards without stopping to rest was painful. By using the helicopter to locate game, then landing and stalking short distances with frequent stops, I got close enough to shoot another chamois and a Himalayan tahr. I’d spent nearly a month in the South Pacific, and had wonderful hunts in some of the remotest and most beautiful areas on this planet. Marty Hunts With Me In New Zealand I returned to New Zealand in 1999 with my wife Marty and Norm and Jeannie Epley, and hunted red deer, Arapawa sheep and feral goat on a large high-fenced estate near Taihape on the North Island with professional hunter Mike Moss of Shane Quinn’s Alpine Hunting Adventures. Before the trip, I had taken Marty to a rifle range only once. After watching her shoot a .22 rimfire and a .22-250, I felt she would handle larger calibers well if needed. I was not going to push her, but deep down I really wanted her to experience taking a trophy animal if the opportunity presented itself on this trip. The ground outside the estate’s lodge was covered with frost when we awoke the first morning, and Marty decided she would spend the day next to the fireplace, which was fine. It was her vacation as well as mine. Meanwhile, Norm and Jeannie left with another couple from the lodge to hunt tahr and chamois on the South Island. With the entire estate to ourselves, Mike and I looked over a number of very good stags that first morning and returned to the lodge at noon for lunch. Marty was ready to do something now, so Mike took us to a lake and gave both of us a lesson in fly-casting. Lo and behold, I caught a beautiful rainbow trout. I think Mike was more excited than I was, and he fumbled to videotape me landing and releasing it.