Dominie Hut area hunting

Location

Dominie Hut is located in the eastern Kaweka Forest Park, 80 minutes walk from the Makahu Saddle Hut and roadend.

Access

The sub-alpine tops above Makahu Saddle provide access to the creek heads that flow steeply down to the river catchments both north and south of the saddle. Deer may occasionally be seen on these sub-alpine tops during early morning and late evening periods. Day hunts are better focussed on the forested creek gullies that flow away from the adjoining open tops.

Below the open tops, the higher terrain tends to be of open scree slopes with pockets of steep mountain beech forest. They are surrounded by open rocky areas and clay pans. In the vicinity of the saddle, there are some flat to undulating stretches of beech forest/clay pans and open tussock areas that provide for easy hunting opportunities.

If heading north for bush hunting, a well marked track heads towards Kaweka Flats Bivouac (1 hour). If heading south, hunters can choose to use an old (overgrown) vehicle track from the rear of the car park or walk 10 minutes past the old DSIR Ngahere Hut (locked) and then onto Matauria Ridge. This provides access to many hunting opportunities. Further east (back along the road access) is Little's Clearing – a track heads south from the rear of this clearing along the Black Birch Range to reach Black Birch Bivouac and ultimately meets up with Lotkow Road.

Hunters should be aware that this saddle area also attracts reasonable numbers of day visitors and extreme care should be exercised when identifying your target.

Making the best use of main tracks when planning a hunting adventure will help ensure a safe and easy return.

Dogs

Only registered, avian aversion certified hunting dogs, guide dogs, companion dogs (certified by the Top Dog Companion Trust) and dogs used for special services (including conservation management activities) are permitted in the park. All other dogs are banned.