Howdy B.J.
Enjoy your posts, you sound like one hard-out dude.
To answer your question, I' m from down in New Zealand, which is the last stopping place before you head down to the Antartic and just South East of Australia. We inherited some of your fine Elk as a gift from President Roosevelt.
Unfortunately our Government doesn' t like imported animals in our Back Country and has a policy of extermination. This sounds good for hunters, as you can shoot as many as you want, at any time of the year, but it' s not really as the herd has been virtually exterminated and the quality of trophies has declined.
50 years or so ago we produced some very fine trophies. (A few over the 60 inch mark.) Nowadays you are a very lucky man to shoot a rack over 40 inch.
Our season is opposite to yours. Our Elk (We call them Wapiti.) are about to start bugling any day now. Whats left of them live in a very remote and very mountainous part of the South Island. Hunts are balloted in the prime areas during the Bugle period (24th March to 21st April.)
I' ve been lucky enough to draw a ballot and can take up to 6 hunters.
This will be the 9th time I' ve hunted the region.
Access is by helicoptor, but once you are there it is real hard physical hunting, and the weather is usually very cold and wet. Get the picture, you have to be really passionate about hunting Elk to come here, and sucess is hard-won.
Anyways here' s an offer for you, come down and join us, and help us find the owner of the 63 inch cast that was found in the area. We can fit one more in the helicoptor. We share the costs around and all up it' s about 500 bucks. This isn' t a commercialised trip, just three of us who have done a bit of hunting together over the past 20 years or so.
The Block we have is called " The Wild Natives River" but the natives left there at least a 100 years ago.
And hey I can guarantee you can drink the water here without a worry in the world.