I just spent some time in NZ and was a bit disappointed in the "hunting" opportunities. Virtually all the "hunted" species are exotic, introduced species.

I think I would feel like I was hunting in a big game farm if I hunted there.

A beautiful country and very nice people! Nice place to visit once.

Probably one of the most uneducated posts I've seen on AR thus far..
Just because something is "exotic" and introduced, doesn't make it any less difficult to hunt or any "less" of a formitable quarry. You show me what differences the Southern Alps in NZ have as opposed to the native ranges of the Chamois in Europe (Alps, Carpathian, Caucacus, Pyrenian, etc) and the Himalayan range in Asia for the Tahr, other than location and maybe a bit of altitude for the latter. All are steep, rocky, and damn hard to hunt!

Go tackle a tahr and Chamois hunt on the west coast on foot and then come back and tell us how your "farm" hunt was..

If you were on the North Island, go try your hand at a free range Sambar..

NZ has great hunting opportunities.

Red stag in Fiordland makes their home range in Scotland look like a park.

quote:

Just because something is "exotic" and introduced, doesn't make it any less difficult to hunt or any "less" of a formitable quarry.

If I had said that hunting in NZ would not be difficult or challenging then the above would be relevant.

If difficult and challenging was a big factor in my enjoyment of a hunt I may go after Norway Rats with a hammer, at night without a light or something.

I am sure that lots of folks love to hunt in NZ and thats great. I was just stating that I could not get into it because of the fact that the animals are introduced and are for the most part having a negative impact on the ecosystem there.

Then don't go! That was easy enough.

Have fun with the hammer.. watch the fingers.

So you wouldnt go to NM hunting those thumper Oryx? Or Those monster ibex down there because they are introed D4?

quote:

negative impact on the ecosystem there.

Are they??

years of labour government had a huge impact on the ecosystem

Difficult to understand just what the hell you expected to find. Didn't you do any homework before you left ?
You must be bloody bored to start off a topic with this observation.
Did you expect to be able to hunt "native" species ?
I would love to know which ones you intended chasing.

"negative impact on the ecosystem there"

Isnt that all the more reason to hunt/shoot the fuckers then?

"I would love to know which ones you intended chasing."

Wahines only by the sounds of it,nothing else is worth it eh!

Talk about a ridiculous original post.

Well, actually ALL our huntable animals are introduced.

The only mammals not introduced are 2 species of bats (rare and tiny) and a rat (Kiore). Well, the Maori brought the rat with them so it was introduced, just Pre-European times.

No huntable reptiles and very few native birds can be shot if at all.

Where did you look? There are quite a few canned hunting and farmed hunting operations around. Most of their customers are overseas visitors and they do tend to come from USA.

We Kiwis never use them and despise them. We hunt in "Fair Chase" conditions in a "Free Range" environment and those arent weasel words. All animals are free and truly wild and no game fences hold them in. Anything else to us is simply unacceptable and we just leave the other options to the tourists with big cheque books and in our opinion no morals, ethics, scruples. Our true back country includes some of the most unforgiving terrain in the world and we have every terrain type you could think of. The animals have adapted superbly and need to be hunted, not harvested like farm aninmals.

Where did you actually look around?

Can I suggest you visit again but this time with some guidance from some locals? We may even take you out hunting with us!

Well said Vince.

New Zealand is about the only place on the planet that had no terrestrial mammals pre-colonisation ( by whomever). Therefore every four-legged species we hunt is an introduced species , as is every species our farming system utilizes.

I suspect if you were disappointed with the hunting opportunities you found here you let yourself down by not doing your homework , and by not asking anyone on here where, what, or how .

Come back and have another go - this time do the preparation and you might surprise yourself.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kiwi Vince:


We Kiwis never use them and despise them. We hunt in "Fair Chase" conditions in a "Free Range" environment and those arent weasel words. All animals are free and truly wild and no game fences hold them in. Anything else to us is simply unacceptable..."

I couldn't agree more. I cannot see the point of "shooting fish in a barrel" and then call myself a hunter. Free Range and Fair Chase is the only huting I can enjoy.

So Fella's where would a fit hunter looking for free range trophy(s) be advised to visit in NZ and at what time of the year?

Spartan
Melbourne, OZ

What do you call a trophy?

like to hunt pheasants - they're exotic having been introduced from china

quote:

Originally posted by The Spartan:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kiwi Vince:


We Kiwis never use them and despise them. We hunt in "Fair Chase" conditions in a "Free Range" environment and those arent weasel words. All animals are free and truly wild and no game fences hold them in. Anything else to us is simply unacceptable..."

I couldn't agree more. I cannot see the point of "shooting fish in a barrel" and then call myself a hunter. Free Range and Fair Chase is the only huting I can enjoy.

So Fella's where would a fit hunter looking for free range trophy(s) be advised to visit in NZ and at what time of the year?

Spartan
Melbourne, OZ

Time of year.... late march, to late May.
What speicies are you keen on?

Perhaps Duffy4 expected the animal numbers that I have seen in the US and Canada.........well I can tell him that aint ever going to happen as DOC would rather have all introduced animals exterminated, and being classed as pests we are allowed to hunt all indroduced animals 365 days of the year.

As for the statement
Quote"the animals are introduced and are for the most part having a negative impact on the ecosystem there."

Man has done more damage to every country on this planet than any animal has ever done, yet man would rather play God and exterminate the introduced animals.......and not even consider his own actions.

One other thing deer are a browsing animal......just like the Moa was present during the development of NZ, and was hunted to extinction by the Maori.

Duffy4 if you don't want to hunt exotic animals WHY did you come to New Zealand??.......Kiwi

quote:

Duffy4 if you don't want to hunt exotic animals WHY did you come to New Zealand??.......Kiwi

I did not come to NZ to hunt. I knew ahead of time that there were many introduced species and that they had caused some problems and were being culled.

I did not know that all four footed mammals were imported. I not keen on importing animals to new areas as they most often cause problems for the local plants and animals. And I have no desire to hunt exotic introduced wildlife.

Are the hunter waterfowl imports as well? I know the mallards are but what about the paradise ducks?

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
Probably one of the most uneducated posts I've seen on AR thus far..
Just because something is "exotic" and introduced, doesn't make it any less difficult to hunt or any "less" of a formitable quarry. You show me what differences the Southern Alps in NZ have as opposed to the native ranges of the Chamois in Europe (Alps, Carpathian, Caucacus, Pyrenian, etc) and the Himalayan range in Asia for the Tahr, other than location and maybe a bit of altitude for the latter. All are steep, rocky, and damn hard to hunt!

Go tackle a tahr and Chamois hunt on the west coast on foot and then come back and tell us how your "farm" hunt was..

If you were on the North Island, go try your hand at a free range Sambar..

Agree totally.

Also try hunting Sika deer in the central North Island. Even shooting a hind is not easy. They are extremely cunning & live only to good cover.

quote:

A beautiful country and very nice people! Nice place to visit once.

I for one are glad you won't be coming back

I just spent some time in the USA and was a bit disappointed in the "hunting" opportunities. Virtually all the "hunted" species are endemic, native species.

Very surprised and a bit put out that I couldn't just go out on public land whenever I felt like it and hunt as many animals as I saw fit.

A beautiful country and very nice people! Nice place to visit once.

Hey Duffy4, I kind of wonder about the people with whom you spent time with in NZ, what you are saying sounds very much like the output of The Royal Forest and Bird Society who we refer to as "Twigs and Tweets" or "Twigs and Twitters" and is decidedly left wing in attitude.

Any huntable mammals shot would have been doing us a favour.

You can shoot as many Australian Natives as you wish, they are endangered in Australia but a major pest here, a marsupial being the Brush Tailed Oppossum or simply, Possum. You will have seen plenty as roadkill while you were here. You shoot them by spotlight (lamping) which is fully legal here but more a shoot rather than a hunt.

Native Wildfowl you can hunt/shoot, you will have seen Pukeko's, a type of swamp hen or moor hen, bright blue with red beaks and long red legs and a white bum. Twigs and Tweets say they are endangered but they are everywhere including in parks in the middle of the cities and are actually a pest and if a farmer wants their numbers reduced you can shoot them. No sport though as they havent got the cunning of a pheasant or a goose etc.

If its wildlife you came to see you would have ahd your work cut out for you but heres a few examples of relatively unique creatures you could have observed here and in most cases no where else on earth:

Tuatara, a kind lizard that is the ancestor of the dinosaur. Pretty hard to find though due to predation by rats etc.

Seabirds, easily accessible at Miranda near Auckland. Probably a dozen varieties of mainly migratory birds including the Bar Tailed Godwit which migrates to Siberia and back each year, quite a journey but not quite a native. The Wrybill, a shore bird that has beak that curves to the side and is the only 1 in the world that does, makes getting insects out from under rocks easier!

Kakapo, a flightless native parrot and I think the biggest parrot in the world and has some unique traits and charateristics

Kea - reputed to be the most intelligent creature in the world according to a BBC program

Kiwi - our national symbol and icon, 4 varieties and lays the largest egg relative to body size of any bird

Kokako - my favourite. A wattled crow that has the widest range fo sounds of any bird in the world and used to be called the Organ Bird for that reason

Tui - similar to the Kokako but much more common and its every persons dream to have a melodious Tui living near their house for the pleasure fo hearing them sing. Used to be called the Parsons Bird due partly to its white wattles on its neck

Yellow Eyed Penguin - smallest penguin in the world

Native Hawk/Falcon which is rare and much smaller than the common Australian Harrier Hawk and has amazingly big eyes for its size

Native Pigeon - colourful

Native Owl - the Morepork called that because the name is what its call sounds like. Nocturnal and a real predator

I have spent countless hours with binos and spotting scope and often observe these while hunting also as many hunters so, we get as much enjoyment out of watching our wildlife as actually hunting.

There are quite a number of wildlife sanctuaries around the country (both public and private) that have intensive predator control to allow mainly bird and insect life to flourish. Problem is some of these places claim to show NZ like it was 80 million years ago (yes, thats what they say!) but the problem is that so many birds and insects and plants etc have become extinct it is a utopian dream but I am not knocking their conservation efforts.

We have native sea mammals but would you really want to shoot a seal on rock apart from the fact its illegal? Like shooting a fish in a barrel to quote someone else...

Hectors Dolphin and Maui's Dolphin are native to NZ and are the smallest dolphins in the worls and quite unique in many ways.

Whales and Orcas are common around NZ and many breed in our vicinity.

I will have missed quite a bit out but you get the picture. Boring? Plain? Not much to see?

You decide.

Where did you actually spend time and what did you come to see?

Seems to me its a pity you werent better prepared for what is here.

Paradise duck endemic to New Zealand a species of shell duck

quote:

I did not know that all four footed mammals were imported. I not keen on importing animals to new areas as they most often cause problems for the local plants and animals. And I have no desire to hunt exotic introduced wildlife.

Are the hunter waterfowl imports as well? I know the mallards are but what about the paradise ducks?

Most introductions of anything were in 1800's or very early 1900's. Today it simply wouldnt happen.

Had a bit of a read up, I am not a duckshooter so a bit hazy on game birds.

Grey Duck, Pukeko (already mentioned, often called "pooks"), Paradise Shelduck ("parries"), NZ Shoveler or Spoonbill Duck are all native and can be hunted.

The Grey Duck, Paradise Shelduck and Shoveler are all similar to others found around the world but ours are native varieties here.

[

Time of year.... late march, to late May.
What speicies are you keen on?[/QUOTE]""

Wirehunt/Shankspony,

By trophy I am loosely referring to any Deer or animal with "nice" rack/horns which, when mounted, will look good on my wall.

Looking at my trophy puts me at the locale and reminds me of the anguish and skill expelled to match its instinct.

And in order to make the trip at all possilbe I would need to supplement the Hunter's skill set with the skills necessary to coordinate the timing of a (hunting) trip to NZ with a ski holiday for the Big Boss and the kiddie's.

Spartan
Melbourne, OZ

Then you are kind of limited to mainly tahr or chamois alpine hunting cos they are available in the winter/spring when your family can ski at the same time ....

What time of the year to you hunt Red Deer and Whitetail on South Island?

Can all the deer mentioned be hunted on Public land or only on Private land (ie., paid Safari)?

Spartan

Best time for Red deer in Antler is end March to end April. The roar is early April onwards. Yes you can hunt them in public land and free range wilderness Maori land. Check out www.airchartertoupo.co.nz and www.helisika.co.nz

Whitetail deer in Strewart island is best hunted May June during the rut. You will get some wet weather and this can be a bit of a lottery. The 2 trips I was there for 14 days & 9 days - we lost only half day due to rain. Some others have not been so lucky. Again you can hunt in public or Maori land - total wilderness free range.

The chances of anyone getting a trophy head on these blocks is very remote. There are places in South Westland where you get lots of red deer and the heads are on an average better. This is very wild & wet country.

Good luck

quote:

Originally posted by The Spartan:
What time of the year to you hunt Red Deer and Whitetail on South Island?

Can all the deer mentioned be hunted on Public land or only on Private land (ie., paid Safari)?

Spartan

Any conservation land (administered by Dept of Conservation) that allows hunting can be hunted free and without a guide as long as you have a permit. A few exceptions are where due to demand or other reasons there is a season or a ballot for hunts and sometimes a small charge for the permit or ballot entry.

The Maori land blocks on Stewart Island are not expensive.

My opinion is you would be better to come on your own to hunt and either have the Boss join you or all come over another time. You wont really get a good hunt from the same accommodation as the ski fields. Air fares are only around $300 - $400 return and up to 4 hours each way unless coming from WA or Darwin etc.

You have great Red, Fallow and Sambar hunting at home (and pigs and goats etc). The different species here for you are Sika, Whitetail, Chamois & Tahr and maybe Arapawa Ram.

Sika are only in the North Island and all the rest are only in the South Island although the best Whitetail hunting is on Stewart Island an Arapawa Rams are also on the Chatham & Pitt Islands just to confuse you!

Dont underestimate some of our country which can be very unforgiving.

PM sent.

Edit: Apologies to all, I overlooked the mighty Wapiti (Elk). Wirehunts post prompted me! Fiordland Region in South Island only. Posted late after a 5am start, been a long day!

There is always the Wapiti blocks, June the skiing has normally come good, then a week into there. But it is BLOODY hard country, that time of year would be very cold and wet. If you got a reasonable deer in there it would be well earnt at that time of year.

There is also whitetail very close to Queenstown....

Yeah, all very useful info/advice. I'm onto it - head down and bum up .

Will try to get across there some time. Hopefully sooner than later. I'll let y'all know well in advance so you can ease up on the big stags and leave some for me to stalk .

Spartan

i am amazed that anybody from North America would travel all the way to NZ and not do enough research in advance to know that essentially all mammals there are introduced. this guy's posts sound suspiciously like something from the bunnyhugger/PETA camp. either that or he is just plain stupid.

takes all kinds to make the world , dude . Stupid isnt fussy who it resides in .......

quote:

Originally posted by jdollar:
i am amazed that anybody from North America would travel all the way to NZ and not do enough research in advance to know that essentially all mammals there are introduced. this guy's posts sound suspiciously like something from the bunnyhugger/PETA camp. either that or he is just plain stupid.

Ya know I didn't research the plants and flowers or the crops grown or the kinds of wines and beers produced in NZ either. I guess I should have totally researched everything about NZ and then what would be the point of going there as I would know all about it.

Why on earth do you think I should have researched all of NZs wildlife???

Ummmm - you are a hunter are you not?

The title of this thread indicates you might be. I have my suspicions that you are perhaps of the internet variety.

Your thread is about hunting in NZ on a hunting/firearms forum. You moan about hunting in NZ and then all of a sudden you didn't actually come to NZ to hunt anyway. Forgive me if I'm a tad confused about what you are on about.

Sorry Aussies it looks like your only DG hunting is out. Your buffalo are only lowly introduced exotic species too according to Duffy4's rule book. You can't possibly call that hunting now can we.

I guess there must be a "cultural" difference between Au/NZ hunters and Canadian hunters.

(Sorry I must correct this, I should not generalize what "Au/NZ hunters" do or say. It is just a couple on here who have over reacted)

I am more used to a forum where a fellow can express his opinion and not be called "stupid" or being accused of "moaning" or pushing "Duffy4's rule book".

Enjoy yourselves hunting in NZ.

I am getting a general hunting permit in S.A. and hope to do some bow hunting for ferrals.

Come on Robin, you gotta do less shit disturbing and more hunting. I must say, we Canadians ARE more polite.

Note, they even let me say shit, here. Try that on the other forum.

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:

quote:

negative impact on the ecosystem there.

Are they??

years of labour government had a huge impact on the ecosystem

Bwahahahahahaha!
That man deserves a DB! or a VB(YUK!)