Have a Blast With Hunting Aotearoa on Maori TV

PUBLICITY RELEASE
THURSDAY MARCH 22 2007

Have a Blast With Hunting Aotearoa on Maori Television

The only New Zealand television show for hunting and shooting enthusiasts, HUNTING AOTEAROA blasts off with a brand new series on Thursday April 5 at 9.30 PM.

Presented by good keen huntsman and entertainer Howie Morrison Junior, the second series of this popular show sees the HUNTING AOTEAROA team heading to the South Island for the first time. It’s a chance for the larger-than-life Morrison to meet local huntsmen, take in the spectacular scenery and bag some big game, Southern-style.

Places visited during the five-week hunting trip included Blenheim, Nelson, Hokitika, Franz Josef Glacier, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Dunedin and Stewart Island. Rotorua-based Morrison also managed to catch up with former All Black Glen Osborne in Wanganui for a tour of the best shooting spots around Osborne’s home area, as well as a stop-off for some hunting action in Taumarunui.

Morrison says South Island hunting proved very different to the North Island and not just because it was colder.

“The people were very down-to-earth and hospitable, but they keep the best hunting spots to themselves. Whenever I asked ‘where are we going today then?’ they’d say ‘it’s a secret, we don’t want those North Island cousins to know how good the hunting is here’. And it’s awesome so I don’t blame them. Of course, we’ll be sharing how good it is with the viewers now, so the secret’s out.”

The hardy Southerners also made sure Morrison saw the best scenery, even if it meant taking him up a mountain or along a glacier. “Every person who took me on a trip wanted to go up a mountain – and believe me, even though the views are amazing, it’s very cold up there!” he says. “I would be in my North Island springtime hunting gear of the old Swanni and boots, and knee-deep in snow.”

The treks uphill were well worth it though, with Morrison bagging some seriously good game including chamois, fallow deer and white tail deer. But the thar, a large goat-like animal that roams the Southern Alps, eluded Morrison, despite his best efforts. “At one point, I thought I’d finally got a thar but when the guy went to pick it up, he said ‘well, that’s another nice chamois you’ve shot there,” says Morrison. “I’ll be back for that thar though, you can be sure of that!”

HUNTING AOTEAROA, made by Hikoi Productions, runs for 13 weeks and any Maori language is fully subtitled in English. It tops off a trio of first-rate shows for sports fans every Thursday on Maori Television, kicking off at 8.00 PM with reality series NGATI NRL, which follows the fortunes of young league hopefuls across the ditch, then cult sports-entertainment show CODE at 8.30 PM.

Get fired up for the best shooting action on television with the premiere of HUNTING AOTEAROA on Maori Television on Thursday April 5 at 9.30 PM.

ENDS

© Scoop Media