Greetings from Norway!

I am constantly dreaming about making a trip to NZ to hunt the south island and experience the country. I have been reading a lot on this forum and other web pages, magazines and so on about the country and the hunting, and I am truly facinated!

What I would really like to do is a 2-3 month trip, hunting by foot, mainly around the southern alps, maybe around the months february-may. That should be late summer going on to autumn, right?

Chamois, Tahr and Red Deer(other deer species in these areas??) being the main goals, I still wonder what other species, big and small game might be available in those mountains by that time of year?

Thinking about birds, goats, rabbits and so on..

I don't have any concrete plans yet, but it's still nice to know as much as possible about the options that exist!

All answers welcome!

Øystein

Rabbit, Hare and possum are the main small game you will find throuout the Alps. Wallabies are available in the right areas,Wirehunt may be able to sort you out on those. All birds worth hunting are either protected, or licenced so I wouldn't recommend shooting them unless you are here for the Gamebird season (Ducks,Geese Pheasant Swan).

Pigs and fallow deer too!! Quite a lot of them in some places...

Duck shooting starts first Saturday in May.
Up where you get the Tahr is also a good spot for hares and not far away from some good rabbiting.
The wallabies are spreading, good fun either with the shotgun and dogs flushing out of gulley's, longer range or mucking about with the .223 or .22. There might be a couple of people that can sort that for you.
February is bloody hot down here, not really the ideal time to be getting around trying to walk up these hills. Get up into some of the valley's and your into 40 degree's C +. In fact we don't do much hunting at all then, muck around with rabbits and thats about it.

I would advise to come mid March at the earlist, that way you'd be here for the red roar in April and duck shooting in May, although I would say that duck shooting would be the hardest thing of the lot if you haven't got good contacts here. Top spots are guarded more than a prison.
Fallow deer are do-able easily enough, a permit into the right area and you have as good a chance as anyone.

Hopefully this was helpful. Anything else and let us know.

Whack a few Wallaby when you're down here.
Good fun.
Long Distance Sniping, shooting across a valley. 200-600 yards.
Or flush them with a dog and shoot with shotgun.
At night spotlighting.
Biggest we've ever got was 27kg (60 pound)
Ideal caliber .222/.223/22-250 or similar.

Good looking wirey dog there....

She's good on Wallaby. Just had 11 pups, and the lot got scooped up real quick.
Likeable dogs, a bit more laid back than the GSP. Hunt anything that moves.
For some reason this one stopped retreiving, so hopefully get her back on track when Bird season comes around.
BTW is the "Wirehunt" label something to do with GWP's?

Sure is, and the offical kennel name. Mine just had a load as well, crossed with a bloody good black lab, gone apart from one we smooth black bitch. Had 11 as well but two died at birth (thank christ) I was going to trim a couple more as well but was informed that "NO YOUR NOT!"
In fact one of them is going to Wiamate.

The pups are six weeks now so I figured time for Kassie to get out hunting, down to the father inlaws to have a look for a rabbit or two. She did a couple of beautiful points and held very well. I was pleased cause she hasn't been hunting much this year, something to do with me working to much but she still has the touch

A few pics of her and the monsters here