An hour driving on narrow gravel roads from National Park Village we got to the Blue Duck Lodge in Whakahoro where we would be staying the next couple of nights.
Upon arrival we where told a little about the endangered Blue Duck and why the lodge was named after it. The people in the lodge were all in some way working on protecting it from extinction. One way this was done was to hunt goats and boars, which are not native to New Zealand and are today considered a pest here, and then use parts of the meat to set up traps for the predators that otherwise could have killed the Blue Duck. The best meat was of course eaten, bones and the rest was fed to the pigs.
Me and a British guy called Frankie were so lucky to go hunting with a guy called Flake. He drove us up to the hills and taught us how to track, aim and shoot goats. When we walked uphill and already after an hour found a pack of goats with two huge Billie goats he got super excited. In his whispery voice he said that he had not seen as big goats for about seven months and that we should take our time sneaking up on them to make sure they did not get away. We approached them from above and Frankie would took the first shot on the alpha male that fell straight to the ground. Me and Flake grabbed the rifle to chase the rest of the goats running away and then laid down when they started slowing down. I shot my bullet shortly after that landing at the other billy boats chest and we were then shown how to gut the goats before carrying them an hour down to the car.
At the bottom we were shown how to skin the goats and cut meat from them that we got to keep and cook. It all gave me quite a taste for the wilderness and the lessons learned were priceless.
