The Gear I use

 

The tools I need for my work are paper, tobacco, food and a little whiskey

William Faulkner

 

Rifles of Choice;

Go to and Alpine rifle ; Sako Forester L579 Custom .308 with barrel band ;Leupold Vari x 3   1-5 x 20mm   25 mm scope and Leupold C.D.S. turrets & 20″ Shilen  S.S. select barrel #2 /Alumina scope covers; Triad stock pack/Macmillan  Hunters edge ultralight stock/ Timney trigger

Bush rifle ; Sako Vixen L461 .222   19″ Sako Barrel with barrel band ;Leupold Vari x 3  1-5 x 20mm  25 mm scope /Macmillan Hunters edge ultralight stock, blind magazine /Canjar set trigger

Client RifleRemington S.S. 700 ADL .243 with barrel band; leupold VX11 vari 2-7 x 33 mm 25 mm scope/ Timney Calvin elite trigger, Leupold C.D.S. turrets, & 20″ Remington Barrel /EGW Picatinny rail

Assorted gear;

Casio Pathfinder watch,A pair of Buck “Omni” folding knives, LeicaTrinovids” 8×20 binos,Leica 900 rangefinder, Olympus TG-870 Stylus camera, Panasonic HC-V100 camcorder, Canon powershot  SX 60 Macpac “Cascade”85 litre rucksack, Markhor Eterlou 45 litre day pack, [Summer/winter alpine] Ridgeline ultimate pikau [bush hunting] Ledlenser h6R headlamp, Mountain Hardware “Phantom” down jacket,Macpac “microlight” one man tent, Meindl “Makalu”Pro 3000 GTX alpine boots, Smart Wool socks, Buller gum boots. Swazi Tahr coat, Swazi swandri, Ridgeline Classic bush shirt, marmot light gloves, Ridgelineglacier gloves”,Thermarest“Pro light 4 sleeping mat, “Everwarm heavy weight thermals,Under Armour coldgear base 2.0 thermal top,Black Diamond “Raven” ice axe 60cms., Grivel crampons. Ridgeline Sable Air-Flow L/S Zip top, Stoney Creek airmesh shirt, Huntech Gaitors Long and short. MSR Titanium spork, MSR titanium mug, MSR Titanium kettle,MSR Pocket Rocket stove, 165 grn. Nosler Accubond bullets,[.308 cal.] 53 grain Barnes TSX 53 grain bullets [.222 cal.], Nosler  Ballistic Tip 90grn. (.243 cal) Kannad safelink Solo P.L.B.,Macpac “Plateau” two man alpine tent, Vaude bivvy bag, USGI woodland bivvy bag, Fairydown Everest Down Sleeping bag [winter]  Domex synthetic Sleeping bag ( 3 season) Konus 20 – 60 x 80 spotting scope Agnes Hitchens UL -6c Downtek sleeping bag (4 season) Solo Zpacks ultralight tent. Sitka mountain pants, First Light Wick QZ shirt, Tatonka 65 liter backpack, Lowa Z-8S GTX boots, Thermarest NeoAir Uberlight Sleeping pad

 

Personal Transport;

Nissan Safari 4×4

SenatorSilver Shark” boat

Flavour of the month -Favourite Gunsmith

Allen J Carr

 

Best & affiliated with, NZ hunting/gun Magazine;

NZ Guns & Hunting

Favourite music

Native American flute & Drums – Wolves Prayer

By; Billie Whitefox

The Mountain

By; Steve Earle

A Soft Place to Fall and  Angel flying to close to the ground

Allison Moorer

 

 

 

10 Responses to The Gear I use

  1. Mark Gardiner says:

    Hi, I am planning a Kaweka Winter Trip, just me, my trusty
    fox terrier, my Remington 788 in .308 and plenty of Rollie Tobacco, I am going for approximately 8 weeks from the Cameron Hut to the likes of Ballards, Rocks Ahead, Makino, Harkness to name a few, I have 30 Sika for 11 years hunting, half of those shot in close bush hunting, NO SPOTLIGHTING AT ALL, just after some tips on gear, ie boots, gloves etc was thinking on Gri Sport Aoraki Boots and most importantly Dry Firewood Collecting Tips, types of wood more so than North Faceing slopes for collecting

    • Steve says:

      Hey Mark
      I would have thought food would have been the biggest issue. It is pretty easy country by NZ standards. Buller gum boots would certainly cope with that unless in the dead of winter, (mind you I am old school ). You don’t say what months you are going in. I personally don’t bother much with fires (although 8 weeks is a long time in which to carry gas )instead I carry a very light down jacket and use gas for cooking. 30 deer for 11 years is certainly not excessive so you are either very selective or don’t get out too much. Good luck with the trip….The gear I use page on the website will tell you what I use.
      Cheers

  2. Kelly says:

    Hi Steve,

    I currently hunt with a Remington 700 in .308 with a Leupold VXII 1-4×20 and find it great. It has a 24 inch barrel and as you have mentioned it can get hung up on things from time to time. I am planning on shortening it down to 20 inches and some have even recommended 18 inches. An 18 inch barrel would be prefect but I am worried about excessive muzzle blast and I don’t want to fit a suppressor or hunt with ear plugs. But I am concerned about ending up with ny ears ringing for the next 2 days after firing a shot, how have you found yours?
    Thanks.

    • steveg308 says:

      Hey Kelly
      I love mine with its 18″ barrel and the reason I chose the .308 was that you can chop the barrel down and still have great performance. To be honest Kelly I use mine mainly on the tops these days and the muzzle blast does not bother me one bit. There have been times in the bush that it has been harsh on my ears and I am afraid with every ones ears a little different in sensitivity it will ultimately come down to you. I would recommend highly the shortening of your barrel however, and maybe go the 20″ route first if you are not sure.
      In my opinion in New Zealand an 18″barrel [or 20″] in a cal. such as the .308 is unbeatable. With a 4x scope 400 meter shots are quite within the realistic domain of such an outfit. Purely as a back up of course and even then you must practice to make sure you can consistently hit a 6″ circle or similar, but still nice insurance.
      The short barrel will make your piece very lively in your hands and ideal for snap shooting. Good on you for not wanting the suppressor added as they are ungainly creatures and will do nothing for your snap shooting although very pleasant to shoot.
      Let me know how you get on…Cheers

  3. Kyle Tainsh says:

    hey mate, this is an excellent website! I have just added hunting to my routine, being a fisherman all my life, it is a new challenge(not to say that i have given up the fishing of course!) Thankyou for the stories and advice.
    Kyle.T

  4. stephen says:

    Nice article on your gear, I am about to start hunting again after a few years away and am shocked by the current trend of 44 gallon drum scopes being offered on caliber’s way to big for NZ shooting. I was taught by an ex culler like you and he made us start with a .222 to so we didn’t develop a flinch or fear of the rifle, plenty big enough for bush shooting and none of the dear got up! My plan is to get a Howa .243 with leupold VX3 1.5-5×20 on low weaver mounts. Great site keep us updated.

    • steveg308 says:

      Hey Stephen thanks for your words its nice to hear from like minded people at any time. The .243 is a great choice and you cant really go wrong with it and the VX3 is a great scope. Good luck

  5. Bruce says:

    How do the 53grn TSX perform for you on deer? I’ve just loaded some for my 223.

    Thanks

    • steveg308 says:

      They are THE bullet to use in the .222 IMO Bruce and I cant see there being much of a difference in your .223.
      A ton of years ago the Nosler solid base spitzer in 50/55 grn used to be the baby and I shot hundreds of sika and red deer with this round but unfortunately has been obsolete for a long while now. Barnes has come to the party thank god and although I have not shot nowhere near the amount of deer as I did with Noslers I still rate them “as good as” – they also do 55 62 and 70grn. in TSX in this cal. too.

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