How would one get started planning a do it yourself hunt to New Zealand?

Hi Howard,
First decide which speicies you want too target. That will give some Idea of the part of the country you need to be in. Also timeing, As a rule our Autumn is best anyway, but if after Red deer, you need to be here late in March for the rut in early April. Sika can rut through into May, and Tahr and Chamois are best targeted in May/June.
Let us know what you decide, and I'm sure the kiwi contingent here will help you out.

A time frame would be useful to.

I am not particular on time of year nor animals. My bro and his family recently moved to NZ and I will be visiting him while getting in some hunting and hopefully jet boating at the same time.

I would like to hunt both red stag and tahr if possible.

As far as time frame I am targeting 2011 and figure to spend three weeks including travel time.

Where has your bro moved to? That'll help with the recommendations too.

The red stag roar (rut) is the best time for a hard antler beasty and starts in late March and goes into April but they can be hunted all year, and Tahr's best time is around May/June, but again, can be hunted all year.

Howard, if you have family here its simple. Just go hunting. All you need is a permit from the Dept. of Conservation (free) and a map which shows public land boundarys. Best bet when your here is to ring the DOC office closest to the area you wish to hunt and ask to talk to a member of staff who hunts or is responsable for animal control, the'll send you in the right direction.

They live in Nelson on the South Island.

The tahr are about a seven-eight hour drive south from Nelson, right along side a lot of red stag ground
The lads have given you the important dates already. Ring the DoC office at Twizel for the best place to go for tahr, I'll rephrase that. Ring the Twizel DoC office for the highest numbers of tahr, which does not mean the best heads.

First, I suggest you become a member of the NZ Deer Stalkers Association - local Nelson area. Find out from them about club hunting trips. This will give you the first opportunity to hunt with the locals and find out about local rules, habits, etiquette etc.

Secondly, you will soon find out that shooting a trophy free range stag of reasonable score is extremely rare. Even getting a small 4X4 stag is not easy on public land. You may get lucky on a private farm if you can get permission to hunt there.

Thirdly you need to be exceptionally fit to hunt Tahr on public land. See this video clip of my recent hunt where I shot 4 nannies - I could not make it to the really high steep country as I was not fit enough and ended up shooting my nannies on a private property that was easier but still needed hard work. http://s243.photobucket.com/al...nt=Ashoks3rdtahr.flv

http://s243.photobucket.com/al...ent=Bivyatnight1.flv

The private stations tend to keep the Bull Tahr for trophy hunting & family.

PM me if you need more info. The other suggestion is to make friends here & get one of us friendly Kiwis to take you hunting! I have gone hunting with a friend in North Carolina when I was there & I have taken other friends out. great way to make new friends & also do some relaxed fun hunting (not trophy hunting).

Howard

I live in Nelson and spent a good part of my early years living and hunting in the South Westland region of the South Island. Also hunted in Canterbury, Otago, Fiordland and Stewart Island for most of the species of animals we have here to hunt.

As other posters have said, hunting on public owned land anywhere in NZ is free and is administered by the Dept. of Conservation (DOC). You only need to walk into the local DOC office and have a permit written out. The permit also safeguards you when carrying a firearm in a vehicle, boat, etc,when as you then have a legitimate reason for carrying the firearm as the permit 'gives' you a hunting area. You still must have a NZ Firearms License for Visitors.
As an example, the DOC permit for Nelson gives you access to hundreds of thousands of hectares of public land from island reserves to alps covering much of the top of the South Island.

The big issue then is getting into these areas. There is hunting available from easily accessible public roads but you are not likely to find good animals so close. You have to get back into the hills and ranges by tramping, boat, 4WD or helicopter. As much of NZ is unpopulated and fairly rugged country, you do need a reasonable degree of fitness and commonsense when out in some of the tougher country. There is no guarantee of success, a lot will depend on time of year, weather conditions and just pure good stalking and luck.

IMO to successfully hunt for both tahr and chamois (together in the same area, also with red deer) hire a chopper in Sth. Westland and get them to take you into the headwaters of the rivers that are well known for these animals. There are DOC huts in most of the areas and you can fly camp away from the huts. A chopper shared amongst 3 or 4 persons is economical, gets you in and out of the area safely with enough food and equipment to have a good hunt. Remember that tahr and chamois live in areas where the weather can turn nasty at any time of year so you need to be well equipped and prepared.

There is also good hunting for red deer in these same areas on the river flats, on the bush clad ridges and even on the open mountain tops.

With a little preparation and luck with weather you would have the trip of a lifetime in these sort of areas.

The other way of course is to hook up with an operator offering guided hunts in these same areas or over in some concession areas in Canterbury and North Otago. These will cost but due to the operator generally knowing the area and what animals are in the block, there are usually good success rates.

Nakihunter also makes good points in getting friendly with other hunters and going on trips with them. It would depend on what time you have to spend here in NZ.

Check these website out for fly in blocks in the North Island. Most of them are very popular & need advance booking during the roar (rutting season - March to end May).

www.airchartertaupo.co.nz
www.lakelandaviation.co.nz

Check the web for other such operations in the South Island. If you can get 3 or 4 people together with one person having some local knowledge, you should have a good & safe hunting trip that you will remember for a long time.

This might sound silly, BUT ....Be sure you know how to use a topo map & compass and / or GPS. The hills in NZ are very rugged & wrinkled. You could get 3 or 4 different water catchments within a ridge system of 3 or 4 square miles. It is very easy to drop down the wrong gully & end up miles from camp. You will not find forestry roads or tracks in most fly-in blocks.


Good luck.