Genlemen and ladies,
Sitting in Montana several thousand miles away, it seems like a grand idea to take a rifle and a pack and go to New Zealand and go hunting. I'm not the least bit against guides and outfitters, I'm just an independent type who likes the idea of DIY. I've been doing it for 33 years in Montana, BUT I know the country pretty well too. So, my questions are----------Am I nuts? South Island for tahr? How's the stag hunting relative to both islands? Do the hunting seasons overlap and are there quotas on game harvest? How much public land is available, such as forest reserves and national parks? Is landowner permission easily obtained from those who are not in the business? Where do I start the paper trail for firearms and ammuntition import/registration? I'm looking down the road to 2007 as this years hunting is already in place. Read that as the vacation is accounted for and the money is already spent before I earned it!! Is April and May a good time for tahr, as I assume it would be for stag? Conversely, summer for tahr? Must be some websites you guys can list, but nothing takes the place of talking to local hunters on the ground. Any help or comments are apprecitated. Thanks.
"No such place as too far, no such thing as too ready."

Heres a very generalised answer to some of your questions....in no particular order.

*We have no hunting seasons or licences for any game species except fish . No tags , no quotas.
You can hunt in our National Parks - you do need an entry permit from the department of Conservation .
*Bringing your rifle or shotgun isnt a hassle - you need proof of authority to own the firearm in your own country - like a gun licence - and you need to go to the NZ Police counter at the airport of entry and apply for a visitors firearms permit , which will be issued on the spot. No handguns allowed though ....
*How you find private land to hunt on from a foreign land is probably the biggest challenge.This is where the hunting guide comes in cos they have access and they know where to go .A lot of our backcountry doesnt have "drive into" access so you may want to look at helicopter transport.
*Mostly though , for a first trip here , you would be very well advised to not go solo . the mountains here claim more than a few lives every year due to extremes of weather. Local knowledge is invaluable.
* Tahr are traditionally hunted from june through the winter to about end of august. Skins are best then , but they can be hunted anytime . Chamois skins are best in winter too , although summer skins are pretty too.
* Stags are mostly hunted in the roar - april through to about june , depends on the breed of deer and mostly the temperatures at night - cold is good .

There is an earlier thread along similar lines to this on this forum , do a search for it and there will be lots of good information there .

I am sure some of the other local guys will have more info to add .

Muzza - good advise! i think as a first trip especially to go solo would be basically a waste of time. You woukd not know where to begin trying to arrange things prior.
Get a guide - it will be cheaper in the long run. there is a chap who posts here from central south island who would be a good start.
Based at Methven I believe.
He may jump in here and give his details.
I go there each year on a semi self guided now but only after small game such as rabbits and wing shooting. Even wing shooting pays to have a local guide.
I certainly wouldn't head into the mountains alone after tahr and chamois.
APB

Time Buma posts here as TrackersNZ. He might be who APB is referring to. I hunted with him last year...I would highly recommend him. At least do yourself a favor and spend the $5 to give him a call and see what he can put together for you.

As far as the point above about having a gun lisence with you...I don't have a "gun lisense" as most Americans gon't that I know of. I provided a Concealed Handgun Lisence, although I don't think it would have been a problem anyway. A hunting lisence would probably be just as good, as would a US Customs form 4417 (might not be the right #).

From what I found out while traversing the West side of the South Island, most areas were public land, and hunting is allowed almost anywhere in the non-populated areas. Trophy hunting for free range stags is almost non-existent, since the trophy quality is very low.

Tahr and Chamois are found in most of the mountainous regions. There are government huts build all over the mountains. You can hire a helicopter to take you into one of these huts in a good area (if the pilot knows the game populations), then arrange to have them pick you up xx days later. They are simple plywood buildings, with bunks (including mattresses), wood stoves, cisterns for water, etc.

I think you could do a self-guided hunt, but I think you're best bet by far would be to hire a guide the first time out.

Just read you post again. I think May/early June would be the best bet. The weather can get around freezing, but days are nice, with snow not too low on the mountains.

Also, you could get meat cool enough to keep.

Tahr and Chamois capes start coming into shape around then, and with the Tahr especially, the hide is as much a trophy as the horns.

You can shoot anything you want, as many as you want, except the rare native birds and such. Many stags are shot off the roads at night, all legal as far as I can tell.

Here's a link to our hunt report.

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tp.../723103183#723103183

Yellowstone join the boys on this forum ..make a few friends and those Kiwi`s will show you some of their famous hospitality,you will get it right from the horses mouth there with hints times places and offers..try it out eh!

http://www.fishnhunt.co.nz/issues/index.htm

Then you can cross the ditch to Aussie and have a hunt with me for some deer here if ya want....we are all obliging bastards downunder haha

Heres a paste from there today


I was just talking to me old man. They have just returned from a holiday in the Sth Island. They went for a scenic flight in a chopper from Haast. The company they flew with were doing venison recovery. They had shot 60 from 2 choppers in 1 hour stints the previous evening and that morning. The venison was then refrigerated and shipped to CHCH and freighted to Germany.


You can see that with 60 shot in no time there are plenty there, Gryph

Gentlemen,
Thanks for the input so far. It is all sage advice and I appreciate your collective input. I certainly wouldn't do this alone, especially in the high country and I have a hunting partner who is "game" for most anything. You're all very gracious not to say that this Yank has lost his marbles. I guess since we have some great elk hunting here in Montana, we'd head for southern latitudes to hunt tahr. There is a full body mount of one here at the local sporting goods store. It is very impressive! That is something else to consider. What the hell do you do with it once it's on the ground? How do you prepare and pack trophys for shipment home? I would guess, if we were so lucky to score, we'd leave the critter with a Kiwi taxidermist and wait. I'll see what other posts show up in the next day or so and perhaps an outfitter will join in the discussion.
Tex, thanks also for the hunt report. It looks like a terrific trip. What a great honeymoon!

Gryph,
Thanks for the links. I was on the NZ site the other night and kind of forgot about it. I've marked it as a favorite and will surf it at my leisure. Are you one of the miscreants in the sambar photos on the Aussie page? That would be another great trip and I'd love to walkabout all over your lovely country. Too many places and not enough time.
By the way, no reason to be a greedy bastard, I'd certainly be happy with only 58 deer. Holy crap, don't Germans have anything left to ear over there? Must be something besides pigs in the Black Forest.

Guys - Mr TrackersNZ hunts out of Kurow in the South Island - he is hunt manager for a large hunting operation down there . They have their own helicopter and several guides.At present he is in Germany at a hunting show , should be back next week I think .

There are many good guides in the country , do a google search and see how many appear . The Fish and Hunt site is a great place to start too .

The big thing to be aware of is the changeability of our weather - its real easy to get trapped for days on a mountaintop due to whiteout conditions - specially on the western side of the country cos thats the side the weather comes from . This can happen in a matter of hours. The NZ alpine region is not the same as your home range , I can not stress that enough . This is were local knowledge will save your skin .

quote:

That is something else to consider. What the hell do you do with it once it's on the ground? How do you prepare and pack trophys for shipment home?

We did some tourist stuff after we hunted, and Tim had our hides salted and dried, and skulls cleaned and boiled by the time we departed. We packed them all in a box, then stopped by a game department office right next to the airport in Christchurch, and got CITES and veterinarian certificates for them. Then, we just checked the box as luggage. When we entered customs at LA, we told them what we had, but the customs officials were on union break, so we just walked on through with no problem. It cost something around $100 for the permits in NZ. I suspect we would have had little to no trouble at customs in the US, had they been on duty, but as it was, we had ZERO trouble bringing them back as luggage.

It sure beat leaving them in NZ and then paying freight after a couple month wait.

Yellowstone the aussie page is mine of some days ago so i suppose i have to put my hand up to it...so yes!

Trademark Texan is correct about taking your headskins home with you . The wait for taxidermy in NZ is about a year for the more recognised practitioners. I suspect a local taxidermist may make a better job on chamois or tahr but the cost may not be worth it in the long run .

Ask on the New Zealand fishnhunt forum,as there is a lot of good guys on there that do not post here.

Yellowstone,

Some one mentioned Tim Buma. He no longer operates solo out of Methven but now manages the New Zealand Trophy Hunting Limited operation. You can email Tim at timbuma@REMOVEhotmail.com. Even if you don't hunt wih him, I'd bet he would provide plenty of help. That's the kind of guy he is.

As for getting guns in, it's a pretty easy process. I did most of it before I left by emailing the paperwork to the police station at the Auckland airport. All we had to do was sign one paper and pay the fee. Everything else was waiting for us.

Also, if I recall, the only permit or license we had to get was a special permit for waterfowl, which was free at the local conservation office. Nothing needed for big game or other land critters.

Like several others have advised, I'd suggest you forgo the DIY aspect for your first trip, even though you can manage it eventually. There's a lot of country to hunt, and choosing the right places at the right time, plus getting the logistics together to get to them, might prove to be tough sledding.

If you have any questions, holler.

The two links below are to two message threads here about my hunt with Tim out of Methven in 2004. My partner and I had a great time. Lots of photos scattered from beginning to end, so they'll load slow if you're on a DUN connection. -TONY

Outdoor Writer's NZ Hunt Photos - Day 1
Outdoor Writer's NZ Hunt Photos - Day 2-3

I would do both. I did a guided hunt first and then Ms AXwriter and I hired a helicopter to drop us off 25 miles inside a natl park. We hiked back. Didn't get anything, but was not disappointed, as I already had shot a nice tahr and chamois.

If you do go, don't hunt out of a helicopter. The mountains aren't that hard.

Yellowstone, I am from Montana and have the similar number of hunting years that you have. I set up a self guided hunt in New Zealand at the SCI convnetion in Reno two weeks ago. A hunting guide on the South Island will fly me to several huts for Red Deer, Chamois and Tahr in April. I know that you are planning this for 2007 but think about 2006. Email me at PardL@aol.com

Pard,
Check your email.
To eveyone else. Once again, I thank you all for you input. It gives me lots to work with. I never thought I would be the type to get into a chat room, but AR is a great meeting ground. Best regards to all,
Where ever in the world you might be
from the banks of the Yallerstone River