Had an awesome couple of days with my 13yo son at Rangitoto Lands, cabin is a superb spot and all set up with everything you need, just roll up with a sleeping bag and some tucker and you're good to go.
The farmland is pretty large and laid out in a long strip along a plateau above the river valley. Farm is well tracked and signposted so you can find your way round, easy 4x4 country with good tires but suggest your Toyota Camry stays at the woolshed for the weekend.
Hunting was good and saw 10-12 reds around the place, the valley is reasonably steep up from the river, good mix of willows, native and farm edge to hunt. Take plenty of spare socks as the hunting is never far from the river and you'll need to pack any meat out if hunting the river bed. Farmland is 90% accessible with a vehicle if you were out hunting the fringes on the top. The fishing is pretty good and recommend throwing your fly/spinning rod in the truck.
Landowner Duncan is a top bloke and super accommodating - thanks again Duncan. My daughter is keen for a trip now having seen the photos so we'll be back!
Had an awesome 2 days at Rangitoto lands. Duncan and his family are outstanding hosts. The hut is next level, couldn’t believe it when we found out it had a generator, lights, flushing toilet ect. Deer numbers are really good, our group got 4 over 2 days. The terrain is pretty easy and you can cover a lot of ground but take your gaiters as there’s a bit of blackberry along the river. Definitely need a 4x4 or a quad is ideal to get around and didn’t seem to spook the deer. Can’t wait to book another trip!
Had an excellent trip with family, spent most of the time fishing on the river amazing hut and location, very relaxing.
Thank you Duncan. My son and I had an excellent time. We'll definitely be back.
Great spot! Thanks Duncan and Rhonda for being very hospitable and sharing what you have created with us - it was appreciated.
The hut is in a neat position on the farm and will make use of the outdoor bathtubs next time.
Bush + bush-edge hunting at this time of year and will take fishing rod next time.
Cheers!
Duncan and Rhonda are the owners and very welcoming and friendly. Cup of tea and a bickie on the way in and They even fed us dinner on the way out. Top people. It’s a great spot. The farm and hunting area is massive and the hut is brilliant and very remote. I recommend you take a fly rod as the river has plenty of fish. We got 1 deer, spooked another and saw another 4 crossing the river but couldn’t get into a shooting position quick enough sadly. We will be back for sure as I reckon we only covered 10% of the territory. Thanks again guys
Highly recommend, great property, very well setup hut and amazing hosts. Thanks again for a awesome weekend.
Great property, Duncan and Rhonda are fantastic hosts, had a beer with them first night and on the way out! Duncan also recovered my stranded trailer and quad which I could not get out because of the wet weather. Legend! Saw plenty of sign, but did not manage to get a deer, however it is winter hunting and a new property so finding them was never going to be easy! Bush hunting up river was difficult, lots of supplejack vines to contend with and back tracking to find a way through but found some good deer feed areas and where they bed down. Getting familiar with the property in winter would be key to success. Would be a great property to hunt in the Spring and Summer when the deer are out and active. Thanks again. Will be back.
Awesome people, great setting, great hut. Very enjoyable - even in the rain!!! (the hot tub made up for that!) Thank you
Amazing property, Duncan was a great host, had time to give us a full rundown on arrival and keen to hear how it went on our way out. Over three days we sighted 5 deer and three pigs, had four kids in tow so wasn't really expecting to take an animal. We had two quad bikes which made life easier. The crib was perfect, good bedding, everything you need including pots, pans, plates, cups and utensils. Very warm with the pot belly cranking and with the convenience of power and lights via the generator. We even managed to have a hot bath. Very cool property, access to river flats and great bush country as well as pines. Kids had a crack at fishing during the day to kill time between hunts. Spotted a few deer from the hut on the open faces across the river. Will definitely be back. Cheers Duncan!
It was an absolute privilege to stay and hunt on Duncan and Rhondas property.
An absolute slice of paradise.
Exellent hut and location.
Welcoming salt of the earth hosts.
Lots of deer.
It doesn't get any better.
Awesome place, good hunting if your fit and aren't afraid of step hills. I got one on the first day and another on the second day. Exalent cabin with a good fire for hot water. Lit it once and it stayed hot for days.
Three of us had a great long weekend despite the best efforts of cyclone Dovi. We saw deer on both evenings & if we had been a bit more stealthy & decisive we would have had at least one animal down. We had a side-by-side as backup but the tracks were so good that we were able to drive over the entire farm in our 4x4 ute within an hour of the heavy rain stopping. The hut is beautifully situated by the river & has everything you need - gas cooker, genny for lights, toilet & shower (hot if you fire up the wet-back or outside burner. There are kilometres of bush edge & plenty of adjoining gullies to provide hunting opportunities in different wind directions. It is my first King Country hunting experience & hopefully we will be back. Many thanks to Duncan & his family will allowing us to share his piece of paradise.
We were at Rangitoto lands for nights from 2/3/22. The drive into the hut is an adventure in itself. You get to a point on the track where you are looking down into the Waipa river, the river flats and the hut. It's an awesome view of where you are headed. The hut itself has to be the highlight of the trip, in a word its "Awesome". Sitting on the deck in the evening and watching the deer come out on the faces around the river never gets old. It was pretty dry while we were there and the river was really low. This made upstream travel quite easy, although not much game was spotted up river. There are plenty of hunting opportunities on the block. We managed a couple of easy Deer down on the river flats and another which was silly enough to come out onto the clearing behind the hut. There is also the bush edge where the bush meets the farmland. You can climb the track beside the hut which goes up to the bush edge where it meets the farmland, its a pretty solid climb but is the quickest way up. There are lots of trout in the river, mostly rainbow which were pretty hungry for any lure you care to toss at them. Had a lot of fun there catching and releasing fish. Duncan is a a great host, we enjoyed our trip immensely and would definitely go back again.
Thank you for action packed weekend at your farm.Saw 1 big stag I tried to get in closer for better shot but he gapped it.seen 2 spikers and prob a dozen or more hinds.Had fun catch and releasing some huge trout .Was good to be able to take a red hind home for the freezer.
Awesome host and great location. .Hutt has everything you could ask for .Deer are there just be prepared to put in the hard yards.Definately be back again
Duncan is a legend and the spot they have created down by the river is amazing. 10/10
