Jay Reeve's Hunting Journey: Milestones, Mates & Memories

Every trip is special and that's how I look at it. Special through the connections, sights and challenges. The real reward is being able to do it, taking home an animal is the bonus, I've already won by being out there.

My name is Jay Reeve and I am the luckiest person I know.

I pay tax and have the time of my life by working at The Rock radio in the afternoon on The Rock Drive and Not For Radio podcast with my buddies Dunc, Big Westie Lee and Showboss Tiegs.

I get to spend my life with an incredible woman called Anna Reeve, who created our amazing identical twin sons- Oscar and Hunter. I love the outdoors and ocean in particular-surfing is my passion. I learnt to spear fish but after moving to Auckland and having kids, anytime in the water needed to have waves and a board under me. Anna and I also helped create a drinks brand called Pals with two of our friends Mat and Nick and we are also currently part of the team creating New Zealand's first ever wave park, north of Auckland, which has me pretty fizzed up. I grew up on dairy farms, but my Dad was never a hunter. We would take out turkey mobs but that was about it. He didn't have a passion for it, my buddies at school didn't hunt, so I was never really exposed to it.

By the time I left school and the farm there wasn't a chance to learn how to or get into hunting. It's a tough pursuit without access or guidance.

I was introduced to a maimai through Dunc and a good friend Tilly who took me under his wing and along with his buddy Matty, taught me how to duck shoot. They are super passionate and knowledgeable, incredible shots, great teachers and run two great ponds for opening weekend.

The weekend carries a lot of tradition, it's an honor to shoot with them and it is now my longest standing tradition with mates and one I treasure.

I love to learn, I love being the worst and getting better.

I love everything about hunting, the challenge, the skills needed to harvest food for my family and friends, the people you meet and the places you get to go through it. We need to hunt in NZ to manage populations that will otherwise be eradicated, along with our ability to provide food for ourselves.

If every edible animal becomes privatised we are in a bad spot and I personally think that we could head that way, with Hunter numbers dropping and more pressure from people in cities making calls on hills they have never set foot on.

I have such great teachers supporting me. It is such an amazing community of humans from all walks of life that share a common goal and add to the history of hunting here in Aotearoa.

The connection to the land, the people and animals we take is special. I love to cook so providing for my family and friends making delicious meals out of what we harvest is a real buzz. Food connects so it makes sense hunting that food would too.

Learning the skills from the best has always been important to me.

The safety, respect for the animals, skill and stillness are what hooked me. I was introduced to Andrew Kitchener from Adventure Hunting by my buddy Ant and he changed my life.

He is the catalyst for everything I want to achieve now, an amazing teacher, human, athlete and hunter. So patient and the bridge needed to get non-hunters into the pursuit. His passion is infectious, knowledge and patience unrivalled, he sets a high standard and it's been awesome to get to know him and learn from him. He is the advocate for hunting we need.

I'm lucky because of people like Andrew and the operation he runs, most people wouldn't know where to start. It's not like joining a tennis club, pay ya cash, buy a racket off ya go and it shouldn't be for obvious reasons, but what hunter wants to give up their time and access to teach a random towny to hunt?

Without Andrew teaching me, making me aware of every aspect of the ecology, why animals do what they do, enforcing the safety elements, how to show respect to what you take and make the whole thing enjoyable I wouldn't be doing it.

Taking my first deer with Kitch, the setting, the selection, the stalk, the adrenaline. All that was going through my head was, aim small, breath, be sure and if the shot wasn't one hundred percent don't take it. I got talked through the whole thing calmly by Kitch, it made such a difference having him there, we spent the morning hitting targets on a range before heading out into the hills, all the minor things that build confidence and ultimately result in a clean dispatch.

I am currently going through the licensing process and documenting it to show what is involved for non-hunters keen to get involved. I want to be able to take up all the amazing offers I've had to hunt the blocks they have, spend more time out in isolation, test myself, improve the skills, fitness, and meet all the awesome humans that make up this amazing, passionate and much-needed hunting community that has been built over successive generations.

I spin a lot of plates and have a lot of hobbies, so after family time there isn't much left. 

Now my boys are getting into it, which means I can spend quality time with them, while doing something we all enjoy. I'm excited to spend time with my kids in the hills as they get older and have started making memories with them already, they happily eat nose to tail on most animals as a result.

One of my most memorable hunts would have to be one of my most recent - taking my sons out for the first time and seeing the whole thing again through their eyes. They loved it and now share the desire to learn. Once again we lean on Kitch and he has created another generation of hunters in my family. A tradition, pastime, passion, skillset and vehicle to make memories and connect with them. I love it all.

Jay’s MVP Kit

I have been collecting Hunters Element gear for the last 5 years, I love all of it, from the base layers through to the knives and packs. The Forge Jacket gets a workout, compact, super warm, practical everyday it's needed, from the hills to sidelines of kids sport in winter, durable, washable and packs down nicely for longer missions, it practically lives in my car so always on hand when needed, doubles as a sleeping bag for my kids on long car trips. The new Rural Range is awesome too, my jackets keep getting borrowed by my mates so get more wear than most being shuffled around. The commitment to hard-wearing technical gear the company has made is impressive, form, function and focus on sustainability really ticks all the boxes, a real NZ success story and one that deserves a bigger voice, I reckon.