This is the tale of Two Vessels, 2 very different vessels but connected none the less.

In 2018 Clinton (Ozy Clint) and myself were organizing our annual hunt to the west coast of New Zealand. to spend time on the mountains and hunt the mighty Himilayan Tahr with our recurves.

We had not been in this area altogether since 2015

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Left to Right: Mark(Myself) Clinton (Ozy Clint) and Paul Rea.

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A chance meeting with Shankspony (Center) along the way 2015

Our 2018 trip would be much different though. As this would be Paul's last walk in with us. This time he would be free from the burden of a heavy pack and would not be hindered by terrain nor weather, not even time.

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Paul sadly lost a short battle with cancer on April 24th, 2018 at the age of 43, leaving a wife and 3 teenage kids behind. (I realize why this story has taken me so long to write as I still can't believe it really)

Paul's wife and mother had tasked us with putting a part of Paul somewhere that he would be at peace. This was a task Clinton and I didn't take lightly, But we knew what had to be done and very humbly excepted this honor.

The weather on this trip was typical Westland weather. The hours of walking with laden packs gave us time to reflect on the times we all hunted these mountains. I knew Paul would have been unhappy at the fact we were having to carry him, He would have been thinking what a burden he was being. This made me smile as I walked steadily along to our destination.

Entering the valley a faint rainbow greeted us on our quest. We even ran into another Aussie on the walk-in (He had also been hunting Tahr) that had known and hunted with Paul before. what are the odds?

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The weather had blocked our path to the top of the mountain. We could not cross the river and the creek that would provide our accent was a torrent. Such is Westland.

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In for the rest!!! 

Bisch

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We selected a special tree where we cross the river to climb the mountain. (Clinton and Paul had swum the river here on a previous trip on the decent from a successful hunt)

We had asked Paul's family if we could each have one of his arrows to mark this special place. As we released them straight and true into this old Ent of a beech tree, we released his soul into the mountains and his empty vessel would blow in the wind and return to the earth. For he did not need it anymore.

Wow

Well done, Mark and Clint; my hat's off to you.  Godspeed Paul.
Shick

Very touching story,RIP Paul. For you guys hat off for the great tribute to your buddy. We belong to the earth we'll come back to the earth.

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We hunted where we could and did some long walks on our side of the river. Ultimately we ended up having a lot of reflection time this trip.

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RIP Paul, he was blessed to have friends like this.

 

One of the best threads I have read in a very long time.
Thank you very much for taking the time to write this.
Gary

Touching Tale.  Adds even more depth for me to the meaning of 'Brothers of the Bow'. 
Well Done Brothers!   

This is a very touching story. You are all very blessed to have had such a friend, and your tribute to his memory is truly admirable.

Thank you for sharing this story, and thank you for being the kind of friends you guys were to Paul.

Paul was lucky to have you guys , thanks for taking us along on the hunt

Fantastic Tribute........very special !!! 

Excellent! High caliber men have high caliber friends. It's obvious you all are great men!
Best to you,
Matthew

WOW, hat is off and heart goes out to you all.     Lost my oldest son in 2008 , it's a hard road...

A fine tribute!  What beautiful country!

Awesome tribute guys!  Thanks for sharing this trip with us.