The Wild Side By Brian Rogers

The target: Pests, rabbit, pheasant
The weapon: Escort 20g semi auto shotgun
The sidekick: German shorthaired pointer
The vehicle: Mitsubishi Triton GLS 4WD ute

The Wild Side team responded to an SOS call this week; a landowner overrun with pests.

What else can keen shootin' huntin' fishin' lads do in the face of a pest crisis of a fellow man? Load up the truck, the weapons and lay waste to the vermin, of course!

Also on the list, a forestry block with reportedly a good quota of pheasants and quail. A two-pronged plan and a mighty good one.

Ady was quick to retreat to the comfort of the Mitsubishi Triton with the prize pheasant.

The truck in this case happened to be a handy Triton ute from the good folk at Bay Mitsubishi. We'd been looking for an outing to test drive the latest 4WD, four-door diesel manual – so the Triton fitted neatly into our line up of kit.

The first property, partly in orchard, some grazing and an impressive vegetable growing area, was being ravaged by rabbits and the occasional possum and rat from the ground; airborne assault from above by magpie and rosella ruining crops and giving the native birds a hiding; and a plague of pukeko wrecking the well-tended garden crops.

Even an electric fence at ankle height had failed to deter the wily pukes.

Some serious dissuasion was required, so The Wild Side team primed the pooch and packed their belts with light load ammo.
One of the lads was also keen to try the pukeko cooking ideas he'd picked up from a night out at Fantail Lodge, with gamebird guru Harrie Geraerts.

Now we need to point out that not all of the Wild Side team were in favour of the concept of eating pukeko, but our keen man insisted that ‘anything shot would make the pot.' So the pukes were on the menu, complying with the Wild Side philosophy of only taking what you can eat.

There was full agreement, however, that any rats or possums would not make the dinner list.

The Triton GLS was just the ticket for our day in the outdoors.
With a hardtop over the tray, all the gear including boots and gun cases were safely locked away and kept dry to boot.

The 2.5 litre intercooled, turbo diesel had a load of grunt – among the best of the utes we've driven lately. I settled quickly and easily into the feel of the drive and enjoyed the power on tap. The gear change was smooth and easy, the ride not too truckish and certainly a lot better over rougher roads than the utes of old.

A nice late season pheasant from a forestry block.

This felt like a real bloke's ute; a workhorse and plenty of power to pull loads up hills and would be a mean trailering machine. It's a hot looking customer, decked out with the extras such as back bar, big mags and wide tyres. The little touches also impressed; bonnet guard and window shields.

The hard top cover, with gas struts to lift clear was a winner for me. Aaron at Bay Mitsubishi says most opt for the full canopy. And that's probably a better option for dogs too. But I was visualising kayak racks on the roll bar and a T bar off the front bumper – leaving the nifty hard top cover for guns and gear.
The lock was good for a 4WD and, around town in was smooth and easy driving. Once out in the rough stuff, it was a slick and easy transition with the separate stick shift into four wheel mode, then into low ratio.

The four wheel drive experience was sure-footed and easily controlled, even with the amount of rain we've had lately, leaving the tracks greasy.

On the orchard, the lads gave the vermin a good hurry up, issued the rabbits a good seeing to, sent the Airborne Division packing, then reminded a few of the pukes that they had strayed on the wrong side of the fence. A lot were dispatched back to the swamp. Some were just dispatched.

Our keen culinary wannabe gathered up the terminated purple chickens and promised us delicacies beyond our wildest dreams – we're not sure what he's smokin', but I doubt that Kronic improves the taste of pukeko.

Watch this space.

The pointer did a great job on the flushing, but headed back to the Triton after a few laps of the orchard – clearly impressed with the ride in the back and keen to get onto phase two of the mission.

We followed soon after, declared it 'half time” and after a quick refreshment break headed off down the highway to the forestry block.

The Triton shook the mud off it tyres and, back in 2WD mode, we belted down the highway and into the back blocks. Again into 4WD at the flick of a lever and off into the bush. A glorious afternoon with the sun dropping amongst the pines and best of all – the cackle of a few cock pheasants echoing up the valley.
Ady the pointer went to work, in classic pointer style and quickly had a few birds in the air. The lads were onto it and after quite a lot of traipsing over difficult terrain and tactical ridge walking, the lead started flying and the birds dropping.

The Turkish made Escorts performed flawlessly, just as they have done through the duck season. As a budget gun, we use them in the maimai, duck punt and kayak. There's not much point in taking an expensive gun into those dodgy conditions with a lot of saltwater and mud. The 20g are ideal weight for pheasants, being easy to carry over long distances and quick to point.

A shooter needs to be 'onto it” in pheasant country because those suckers can come from anywhere, anytime. The guys with the 12s had a bit more stopping power and probably range, but they weren't as quick to get a bead on the prey as the guys using the lighter, shorter 20s.

Ady was delighted – and just like her first duck retrieval a few weeks earlier – you could see the cogs turning in that little doggy brain. 'This is what I do,” written all over her whiskered face.

Men and dog met back at the Triton and enjoyed a smooth run back to town, while Ady kept guard over the quarry, just in case it needed sorting out again.

Another great day out on an amazing mid winter Bay afternoon.
Our thanks to Bay Mitsubishi for supplying the Triton, the landowners for permission to hunt and Forestry officials for the permit.