TLDR: Poldi Waldmann-Moloney, 24, from Hokitika on New Zealand’s West Coast, is a whitewater kayak instructor and self-taught traditional bowhunter who has harvested over 100 big-game animals with a recurve bow.
He represented New Zealand on Alone Season 13 and tapped out on Day 14 after an oversized shelter construction created a severe caloric deficit that left him emotionally depleted and desperately homesick.
Most people who end up on Alone come from hunting families. They grew up with firearms in the truck and a freezer full of venison. Poldi Waldmann-Moloney is not one of those people.
He grew up on a hobby farm in Hokitika, a small coastal town on New Zealand’s South Island, with parents who did not hunt. Everything he knows about backcountry hunting he taught himself, starting at age fourteen with a compound bow and a lot of trial and error in the Southern Alps.
Who He Is
His first name, Poldi, is a traditional German and Austrian diminutive for Leopold. He is professionally listed as Poldi Waldmann-Moloney, though New Zealand hunting publications occasionally credit him simply as Poldi Moloney.
After finishing school he pursued formal qualifications at the Ara Institute of Canterbury in Timaru, earning a degree in outdoor education.
He returned to the West Coast and now works as Operations Manager and a senior instructor at the New Zealand Kayak School in Murchison, one of the South Island’s premier whitewater destinations.
He holds NZOIA Kayak Leader and Kayak 1 Instructor certifications, the professional standards governing river guiding in New Zealand.
The Hunting Record
The claim of over 100 big-game animals harvested with a traditional bow by age 24 sounds extraordinary to North American audiences, and it would be if he were hunting under North American regulations. In New Zealand it is entirely plausible.
Wild deer, tahr, chamois, and feral pigs in New Zealand are classified as invasive pests by the Department of Conservation, having no native predators.
There are no bag limits, no closed seasons, and no license tag requirements on public conservation land. Hunting is permitted 365 days a year.
Waldmann-Moloney spends approximately 150 days a year in the Southern Alps. He began with a compound bow at fourteen, then committed to traditional archery only, hunting exclusively with a 50-pound Samick recurve bow using heavy arrows tipped with two-blade, cut-on-contact broadheads.
His primary targets are Himalayan tahr on steep alpine faces, alpine chamois in open scree, and large red deer stags in the swamp country of the West Coast.
He has written about these hunts for Rod and Rifle Magazine, New Zealand’s premier hunting publication.
He conducts many of his hunts via pack-rafting, using portable inflatable rafts to access remote river valleys and carry game back out by water. His whitewater skills and his hunting are the same skill set applied in different directions.
Is He the Youngest in Alone History?
Pre-season coverage described Waldmann-Moloney as potentially the youngest contestant in Alone franchise history. He is not.
Three contestants competed at age 19: Josh Richardson and Logan Ribar on the US series Season 4, and Kian on the UK series Season 1. Sam Larson competed in the US Season 1 at age 22. Waldmann-Moloney, at 24, is among the youngest solo competitors in the US mainline series but does not hold the franchise record.
What Happened on Season 13
Waldmann-Moloney was dropped at a site called Horsetail Flat in the Richardson Mountains of Canada’s Northwest Territories. He started well, harvesting spruce grouse on Day 1 and establishing a productive fishing operation that provided consistent calories through the early weeks.
The problem was his shelter. He designed a massive conical tipi-style structure that required an enormous volume of spruce poles and insulating boughs.
The physical labor of building it created a caloric deficit that outpaced his food intake. The large interior was also difficult to heat efficiently as sub-Arctic temperatures dropped, demanding even more firewood.
Before the drop he had identified homesickness as his greatest vulnerability. As physical exhaustion set in, that prediction proved accurate.
On Day 14 he tapped out, citing emotional distress and a longing for his family that the deteriorating physical state made impossible to manage.
He has since returned to Hokitika and the New Zealand Kayak School. You can follow his expeditions on YouTube at @westcoastadventures8877 and on Instagram at @poldi_wm.
For the full picture of the Season 13 cast, see our Season 13 hub.
Poldi Waldmann-Moloney and Alone Season 13: Frequently Asked Questions
Why did Poldi tap out of Alone Season 13?
Poldi Waldmann-Moloney tapped out on Day 14 after building an oversized tipi shelter that required enormous physical labor, creating a severe caloric deficit. Combined with the psychological isolation and intense homesickness he had identified as his greatest weakness before the drop, the physical exhaustion left him emotionally unable to continue.
Is Poldi Waldmann-Moloney the youngest contestant in Alone history?
No. Three contestants competed at age 19 across the franchise: Josh Richardson and Logan Ribar on Alone US Season 4, and Kian on Alone UK Series 1. Waldmann-Moloney, at 24, is among the youngest solo competitors in the US mainline series but does not hold the franchise record.
How did Poldi Waldmann-Moloney harvest over 100 big game animals by age 24?
New Zealand classifies wild deer, tahr, chamois, and feral pigs as invasive pests. There are no bag limits, no closed seasons, and no license tag requirements on public conservation land. Waldmann-Moloney spends approximately 150 days per year hunting in the Southern Alps with a traditional recurve bow, making a high lifetime harvest entirely plausible.
