Hey guys and gals, I'm looking for info on hunting New Zealand. I'm going over next winter and have been doing some research but since I've never been there, deciphering good locations to start is difficult(atleast to me!)
I'm sure someone on here has gone and may be able to enlighten me a little.
P.S. I'm planning a solo bowhunt. PM if you like
Do a search in this thread as I believe there was a person not long ago explained hunting there. I don't think it's all that difficult other than the usual planning that goes into this type of thing. As well, Remi Warren wrote an article in Western Hunter that goes into good detail of requirements and some good info there. Have fun, beautiful piece of the world to visit.
I've been living in NZ for the last 18 months. Southernman (Grant) is an awesome dude, cant say enough good things about the guy.
A solo bowhunt here is no joke. Are you looking to hunt public land? What time of year? What species? The department of conservation gives a breakdown of each legal hunting area and what you can expect to find on their website. It's a great resource.
Couple things to look out for. Some areas of public land get hit hard by chopper operators that hunt for the meat market. It's a bit of a crap shoot as to where they go. They also drop poison from the sky in some areas to control pests like possums and rats and the deer in those areas should not be eaten for up to 18 months after a drop. Also there are balloted areas (similar to draw tags) during the rut (they call it the roar) that require drawing.
Advantages are there is a butt load of public land here and it's all fairly accessible. Even the cost of a helicopter isn't that expensive so getting real remote is possible. Animal numbers tend to be higher here than back home and there's a network of backcountry huts to stay in.
I've hunted public land on both the north and south island and had some real good success. 4 tahr, a chamy, a red stag all on public and several fallow deer on private through a good friend. Even got to do a few wild pig hunts with hounds. This place is wild and so awesome. The roar is coming up and I'm going after reds and fallow in March with a sika deer trip later in April. Feel free to send me a pm and I'll try and help the best I can.
PS the fishing and free diving/spearfishing is awesome too.
New Zealand hunting info
Linear Mode
