2 week South Island DIY / Potential US Swap Hunt

Myself and three buddies just booked our tickets from the US to Christchurch for a dream hunt. We'll be on the South Island from March 30-April 14 with packs and rifles. Our plan at this point is to spend a good amount of the trip chasing stag and then spending some time going after tahr and chamois. We have no interest in hunting the giant, high fence "trophy" stags. We're in it for the adventure and would be happy to have an opportunity and any good representative stag/tahr/chamois/or anything else for that matter.We didn't enter any drawings for roar or tahr blocks, so we'll be hunting open permit areas. We may try to chopper into the tops for a few days, but otherwise, we'll be packing in with camp on our backs for the majority of the trip. We're still looking over maps and are deciding which areas we would like to concentrate on and where to avoid(easy access/crowds and recent 1080drops).

We're all experienced hunters in good physical shape and are not afraid to pack in a good distance if it means a better chance of seeing game. Our last Elk hunt ended with us packing out two elk on our backs for 8 miles(12.8km). We figure if we can get in far enough to get away from the day hunting crowd, our chances will go up.

We would love to find someone interested in taking us out and showing us the ropes in exchange for us doing the same for you in the US. Two of us have great Turkey and Black Bear Hunting with a lot of whitetail deer just off our doorsteps about 4 hours north of New York City. Another of us runs a guiding business in Missouri geared towards giant whitetail(see pictures below) and one guides in Northern California for ducks, salmon, striped bass, and sturgeon. We hunt elk/mule deer as often as we can and would be happy to help with that in any way, or try to get you in on one of our trips. Take a look at some of our photos below. Send me a message if interested in.

In our research, it seems that the West Coast has rougher terrain, more game, but a higher chance of having to deal with bad weather, where the east coast has less animals, but generally less severe weather and terrain. Is this generally true? I'm thinking at this point we should maximize our hunting time and spend most of it on the East coast, but maybe chopper into the tops on the west coast for a few days to experience some different terrain. It seems like James Scott is pretty highly recommended. Should be be looking at anyone else in particular(I understand this partially depends on location)?

As far as gear, we'll likely be packing similar gear to what we would take on a September/October backpack elk hunt in Colorado, but planning on more rain. It sounds like South Island temperatures in March/April are similar to Colorado in September/October.



If anyone has any input for us, whether about hunting, fishing, homekill butchers near Christchurch, gear, good restaurants, or you just want to meet up for a beer, it would be much appreciated.

My public land archery bear from this past September. No bait allowed in New York
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Me and Mike with two elk we shot within 20 seconds of each other. They died 75yds apart, 8 miles from our trucks.
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Mike's 2018 Archery Missouri buck 187"
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Zack's 2017 Archery Missouri buck 140"
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John with a bunch of ducks
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My archery Eastern Wild Turkey 2017
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Great pictures you posted of some of your hunting trips. Looks as if you have done a fair bit of research on your hunting options. I am a North Islander so can't really help much on the ground but sure hope that somebody down that way could help you out. I am sure you will have a great time and hopefully a successful trip. Will keep an eye out for future posts of your trip, take care our mountains can be unforgiving but are also a truly beautiful place to be.

Thanks mooseman, we'll definitely report back with a big write-up after the trip.

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Might be a good idea to book any helicopter flights now and get doc hunting permits organised its heading into the roar the time your coming could get busy for pilots

Are you bringing rifles? If so when you land at Auckland International, after you pick them up here is a photo of the Police office where you go to get your temp firearms licence, it’s opposite baggage claim 4. Here’s the link to the paperwork you need to do Visitor's firearms licence and import permits | New Zealand Police

Once outside it’s a 10min walk over to the domestic terminal or there’s a free transfer bus.

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cattermoles butchery in Kaiapoi (10min North ChCh) do wild meat processing. Hunting and Fishing shop at Tower Junction for anything you forget. Your in the South Island so Speights is the beer to drink. :thumbsup:
If your going into the alps bring a good quality tent as last roar down here it blew forty bastards and wrecked a lot of them.

You can get your hunting permits online from DOC and lastly don’t drive fatigued as we drive on the other side of the road here.
I’ll be in the hills hunting when your here otherwise I’d offer to take you for a jetboat ride, Good luck.

I’m based in Wellington and am more than happy to take you out if you’re in this neck of the woods. We have access to some great public land, all within three hours drive of the capital.
The hunting is mainly red deer with some pigs and goats. There’s also somewhere for you to stay while your here.
If you don’t make it to the north island, I’m sure you’ll find sine keen people to take you out.

Thanks! That's good to know about the airport. We'll be filling out our firearm permit apps very soon. I just got my open area permit taken care of. The whole driving on the left is going to take some getting used to.

Are most doc roads passable in an AWD van or should we be looking at an SUV or truck? We have to rent, so river crossings will all be on foot.


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Hey guys...

In case you're keen to get a bit of insight into the areas you're planning to hunt, you might enjoy checking out our TV series, it's available to stream on Amazon in North America - https://www.amazon.com/The-Hunters-Club/dp/B07F8FCVD7

Or you can check out individual episodes that might be more relevant to your trip from our more recent seasons through Vimeo on Demand -

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thehuntersclub
https://vimeo.com/ondemand/huntersclub2

Best of luck!

Cameraman Dave - The Hunters Club

Thanks Dave! I've definitely seen some of your episodes, looking forward to checking out the rest!

Hey @mallard833 with driving on the left. The things to watch out for are junctions. Turning onto roads. Your natural instinct will be to pull to the right. Easy to do on back country roads in the South Island with no other traffic around. Stick a big arrow pointing left just above the staring wheel:thumbsup: Funny a drove from England all round Europe for four months without any trouble but had more miss when I got back to my normal driving on the left in England, so watch out when you get back to NY as well:)
Oh and a PLB is a life saver. But I recon you have already heard of them.

I remember seeing something in the arms act changes about the process for visitor's firearms licenses changing in March 2019 - something about having to do paperwork in advance? It looks like the website information has been updated but might be worth calling Wellington to confirm the exact details ( Firearms offices and contact details | New Zealand Police ). It wasn't relevant to me so I didn't pay close attention to exactly what the changes were or if they were important, but wouldn't want it to ruin a trip over a bureaucratic change.

Canross, thanks for that. I'll email them today to verify if there have been any changes.

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Hey @mallard833 some good solid tactical beards there, they'll come in handy for sure. :thumbsup:

Just to echo two things already said... the wind on the tops. Its made many a trip a miserable failure, both in terms of the hunting (excessive windage / dodgy shots and getting winded by the game) and especially with the tents. Sounds like you are well equipped, but do please ensure you are fully prepared for proper gale force and negligible natural shelter. I found that carry a USGI bivvy bag enabled me to avoid having to pitch a tent in locations where wind made life very difficult. Not for everyone, but works for me.

Second thing is the driving on the left. Its the reverse for me of course, but when driving in the US wilderness areas I've found I'm very much at risk of pulling away from a quick stop onto the wrong side of the road. This when I am in maximum "awe" mode and the mind has drifted away from driving and onto the scenery, when there's bugger all else around, especially on gravel roads or narrow tarmac roads with no road markings. Its not the junctions etc that get me, when there's other traffic around I'm fine, its the remote areas with no visual cues that can be a problem. We have a DOC campsite at the end our road, and every year we watch 3 or 4 tourist vehicles casually cruising up the hill and past our place... on the right. And that's only the ones we see. Having done it myself I know how easy it is...

(I did this in Colorado once, neither me nor the South African I was travelling with noticed what I'd done until a F250 came towards us in the distance, slowed up and carefully parked across both lanes... we had an entertaining conversation with the fair minded driver, who ended up giving us the advice on locations that turned that trip from good to bloody fantastic...)

Also of course here in NZ we have hundreds of roundabouts, whereas you have hardly any. This is where many a tourist comes unstuck by dithering and getting rear ended, or failing to give way and getting t-boned. Roundabouts, especially the 2 lane ones, caused my back country Colorado cuzzies some problems at first.

You'll be used to the lack of water in some the environments you hunt in the US, on the tops in the tussock or on the rock, good water can be very hard to come by. A bit counterintuitive that, for such a wet environment, but if you're in a windy dry spell it disappears very quick. Has caught out many an unprepared bloke. Definitely a case of use it and fill up whenever you come across it.

We have very high UV levels here, it will still be quite high in March. Sunburn is a killer here, and again many a tourist gets hammered. SPF 50+ a must.

Saving the worst til last...

We have the sandfly, nature's most disproportionately itch size to insect size biting bastard, it will deliver an itch completely out of control to those with no built up immunity. High up you'll mostly be fine, but the minute you go down lower, especially on the West Coast, you'll get hammered. Ever been bitten inside your ears? You will fucking hate them. Cover up, use DEET, keep your tent closed and do not take sandflies lightly. Take hayfever type antihistamines proactively to control the itch response and use topical anti-itch creams immediately you get bitten, Anthisan is the best.

Good luck and please write up your experiences for us.

To answer one of your other questions, I drive a four-wheel-drive truck but on a recent tour of the South Island and accessing numerous trailheads I can't honestly remember a time when four-wheel-drive / high clearance / low ratio was a requirement to get in there.

Some of the roads are pretty rough and you have to be very aware of washouts, but a decent AWD van should be fine. I am reminded of the fact that whenever we have covered a particularly rough part of road there's always a regular Subaru or SUV in the carpark at the end. I only use the full capability of the four-wheel-drive going past the road end, up the braided river systems, or on properly rough four-wheel-drive / quad tracks, which you won't be allowed to do anyway with a hire car.

If I were you I would hire the largest all wheel drive SUV you can according to your budget. It is a better option for carrying your gear than a truck (called a ute here). You would certainly need a canopy on a truck... a couple of hired trucks i've used recently in the South Island have had a leaky seals on the canopy resulting in a shitload of dust all over the gear. Irritating. And SUV is more secure than a truck.

A Toyota Highlander AWD would be a bloody good option for you. Massive trunk, heaps of power and very reasonable cruising fuel consumption for the size of the vehicle (I've got one of those as well, great touring car).

And one last comment on the security side of things. Unfortunately in recent years there has been an increase in car break-ins at trailheads, particularly on roads that are easily accessed from Christchurch where there is a large population of shitheads. So it really is the best policy not to leave significant valuables inside your vehicle, and definitely find a place like under the carpet or up behind the glove box for things like passports, if you don't want to take them up the mountain with you. My cuzzies used a safety deposit box at a company in Christchurch and left all that stuff there.

@Flyblown has covered most of the bases here @mallard833 if you follow that advice you should have a ball.
On a totally separate note have you tried any of the white tail calls?
When in NY just now I purchased a Extinguisher deer call to try out on them for my trip to Stewart Island this March April.
Just wondering if you had any tips on when to use how often extra? Hunters here in general don’t use them here, just bush stalking them.
Cheers

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

@Flyblown has covered most of the bases here @mallard833 if you follow that advice you should have a ball.
On a totally separate note have you tried any of the white tail calls?
When in NY just now I purchased a Extinguisher deer call to try out on them for my trip to Stewart Island this March April.
Just wondering if you had any tips on when to use how often extra? Hunters here in general don’t use them here, just bush stalking them.
Cheers

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Generally, whitetail are not as vocal as elk or red deer(from what I've seen in videos, no real experience with red deer...yet,) but do respond to calls. I don't leave home without a grunt call during archery season here in NY(or anywhere I would whitetail hunt for that matter). Their calls are are very soft compared to a elk or stag, and do not travel very far, so I don't find them as useful for rifle hunting. You can easily shoot a rifle further than a grunt call can be heard from(150-200yds max on a calm day). They are great for bowhunting though, as they can draw them in that extra bit you need with a archery equipment.

As for using a grunt call, I find they work best when you can see a deer, but they are too far away(again, mostly for archery hunting). Whitetail are very good at pinpointing sound, so you do not want to call to a deer looking at you. Wait for them to start walking or feeding and stop calling as soon as they start to look in your direction.

A fawn bleat can be useful to call in a doe early in the fall when fawns are still fairly small. Fawns usually bleat when in distress, so a doe may come running, so be ready. I don't use a lot of doe bleats but some people use them successfully during the rut. I find buck grunts useful from mid fall on through the rut when whitetails become territorial. I think multiple short grunts work better than long drawn out grunts(like a roar or elk bugle). Some deer will totally ignore grunts and others will stop on a dime, turn around and charge in, so be ready if you are calling. Grunts can be also be useful to stop a walking deer for a shot. Let me know if that makes sense. For what it's worth, the only time I every hear bucks grunting, is when they are actively chasing a doe during the rut. Hope this helps.

Thanks for that! I’ll give it a go and see how it turns up. Bush on the island is pretty heavy in places so I’ll have to pick my spots.

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Originally Posted by Sideshow

Thanks for that! I’ll give it a go and see how it turns up. Bush on the island is pretty heavy in places so I’ll have to pick my spots.

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When picking your spot, keep in mind that they will usually try to circle downwind when coming in to a call. It just depends on how worked up they are.

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I should be in Christchurch early April. Flick me a PM and we can have a chat about things.

Welcome to the forum.

I think you are cutting your stay dangerously short.You will likely loose 4 days on arrival due to jet lag.This combined with the likely lack of sleep from the flight,anticipation of having to get an animal,driving on the opposite side of the road etc makes for a extremely hazardous combination for you and us as New Zealanders.

I lost a good mate to a Tourist straight off the plane,the driver took the corner and collided with his pickup,killing him and his co-workers.My parents neighbor was involved in an accident with a tourist that didn't "yeild" at a stop sign,now he has permanent brain damage.

I used to work between NZ and Alaska,get off the plane and straight into work.I used to get a few close calls with traffic and foolishly just think it was just bad luck. Now I live in Norway,I got back on Sunday and know it takes me a week get my shit together mentally.

I know we are all different,but you know what? You have a higher chance of enjoying yourself,coming home safely and getting some animals if you are well rested before you begin.

Norsk,
Thanks for the insight. Unfortunately, that is about as much time as we can get off of work /leave families, so we're just going to have to do our best with the time we've got. Our flight gets into Christchurch in the morning, so our plan is to stock up and any gear/food, then crash at a hotel for the night and get a good nights sleep before doing much driving to hunting locations. If need be, we might stick around for a couple of days before heading out. Sorry to hear about your friend...that's horrible. Definitely not taking the driving on the left lightly as the last thing we want to do is cause and accident. One of us was recently in the UK and spent some time driving there, so he'll probably be first up to drive.

@mallard833 thanks for the tips on the call I’ll let you know how I get on.

As for jet lag don’t fight it! If you feel tired sleep. With any luck you will feel most awake at dawn. So you could plan for your long drives then. Less traffic not that the South Island traffic could compare to NY state;)
I used to try and stay awake and sleep when it got dark, but you just end up fighting it. Most of the time I get of the plane and get home then unpack and hit the hey (bed) for a few hours then get up do some more stuff and try again to sleep. But am sure to be awake at 3am.
You could use that to your advantage and walk into areas then. Depending on the roar a lot of stags can be active at dawn.

But year be careful on them roads. At lest you won’t be tackling the North Island drivers there a whole different kettle of fish:O_O:.
Good luck and look forward to a report.

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I've been super busy since we got back from our trip in April and just realized that I never posted a re-cap. I'll start off by saying thank you to anyone who replied to this thread with tips, information, etc... it was very helpful. We were able to meet up with a particular forum member(you know who you are) who offered a ton of help with our planning, logistics, and showing us around once we got there! We couldn't have pulled this off without your help! I hope we get to return the favor when you make it over to hunt in the USA.

I won't got into a ton of detail, but this was an awesome experience. We were on the South Island for just over two weeks in late March/early April. We got to meet some awesome people, see some amazing scenery, and do some hunting that we'll not soon forget. I think we're all just trying to figure out when we can get back there.

We rented an awd minivan in Christchurch, stocked up on groceries, last minute camp gear and headed toward the west coast. We had time for a couple quick hunts before we had to meet the chopper for our ride to the tops for the next week or so. JP bagged a nice chammy on one of these hunts, and we got to hear our first roars on another. We dropped the meat off at the butcher before we headed up to the tops.
Jp and Zack, with Jp's chammy
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After a short chopper ride, we were all on the tops and setting up camp for the next five days. That afternoon, Zack and I headed uphill to try and spot a tahr. None of us had never hunted in terrain like this, so that was a learning experience in itself. As luck would have it, I was able to spot and shoot this young bull the first afternoon. A few days later, we were able to take a nanny and juvenile. We ate a lot of tahr while we were up in the tops. Overall, the weather was pretty decent. We got some rain, some fog, and had one night of snow and strong wind.
My Tahr
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Zack, breaking down a Tahr leg
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Mike taking break from hiking
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Filling up on water
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Jp's nanny tahr
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After catching our chopper ride out, we dropped the tahr meat off at the butcher and went off to search for roaring stags in the bush. We did some scouting the first evening and saw more stag sign than we had seen anywhere else prior, but didn't see any deer. Our hopes were high for the next morning, which turned out to be quite the cluster. We got in later than planned due to a wrong turn and trying to get four people/gear situated. Mike and I dropped JP and Zack at one spot, then split up ourselves. I finally go to the terrace I had been eyeing on the map around 8am, and almost instantly hear roars on the other side of the creek. After dropping down, then climbing up the other side, I slowly worked into the wind getting closer to the roars. I got to within 50-75 yds of one stag, but never caught a glimpse before I heard him walk off. About half and hour later, just when the roaring had seemed to die down, I got a response from a few hundred yards away. As I slowly worked through the bush, I was startled by a roar only 50 yards away followed by the sound of the stag crashing through the brush towards me. He came into my view at about 15 yards, and stopped in a small opening about 12 yards away. I hit him high in the shoulder and he dropped on the spot. I believe that he was the same stag I had been close to earlier in the morning. I think he tried to circle downwind of me initially, but the wind had switched at the same time, so he never got my scent. His last bit of roaring hot gotten another stag started. I radioed Mike who was hunting about a mile away, to head my way, but by the time we met up and got back in the roaring had stopped. We took some photos, butchered/caped the stag and dragged ourselves through the bush and downed trees to meet JP and Zack. They had gotten lucky as well in the form of a tasty little spiker. I took meat to the butcher that afternoon while the other three hunted. Zack roared a stag in at last light, but it was too dark to see, then had another close encounter the next day.

first meal after chasing Tahr for 5 days
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My stag
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Mike and I with my stag
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JP and Zack with the spiker
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Our rental van at full capacity before heading to the airport on the way home
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group photo
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After almost 2.5 weeks on the South Island and over a day of combined flying/layovers to get home, about the only thing on our minds was when we would be back!

some final notes:

- When filling out the customs form for entry to NZ, check the "other" box, and write in "hunting trip" for the reason of entry. I checked the vacation/holiday box, as I considered this trip a vacation. This caused a slight delay in customs, while they questioned me about why I was bringing a rifle on vacation.

- I don't think we met an unhelpful person the entire time we were in NZ. Everyone was friendly and glad to offer help.

- We've all got a newfound definition of "thick" after battling through monkey scrub, and chasing bush stags.

-When it rains in NZ, it RAINS!

- Tahr stew with onions and potatoes, cooked all day in an old cast iron dutch oven(I think you guys call it a Billy) you find under a big rock, just might be the tastiest meal you'll ever eat. If it was your pan we found, thanks! We cleaned it up and put it back well seasoned.

- Thomson Butchery in HariHari was wonderful to work with. They even provided us with foam coolers to fly home with. All our meat was packed frozen in foam coolers and checked in duffell bags for our flights. It all arrived back in the states frozen solid and it great shape. We were allowed to bring back 50lbs of meat each and it was super easy to get through customs.

-We cleaned/boiled skull caps and skulls, and cleaned/salted capes before leaving. We all filed forms on the USFW website declaring the meat/capes/skulls/antlers, and had no issues getting them back in the states.

Again, thanks to all who helped to make this trip possible! Send me a PM if you have any questions about hunting in the US and I'll do my best to help you out.

Some great photos for sure. Nice stag too

Delighted to hear you had a great trip. Had wondered what happened, how you got on.

Awesome outcome. I must admit I laughed a bit when I read ‘none of us had hunted in terrain like this before’!

Yeah our hills are steep!

I glad you enjoyed the trip and I’m amazed you’re allowed to take the meat home. Pretty cool!

mallard 33 -re west coast sandflies -the well known coasters cure is whiskey and sand-pour the whiskey on the areas they land then sand -they get pissed+++++++and throw the friggin rocks at each other so none wanna stay!

Awesome well done guys:thumbsup:

Looks like stumpers in hoki

@mallard833 thanks for the tips on the calling horn for white tail.
Good to see you got the NZ bug:thumbsup: and thanks a lot for the trip report, I’m sure the guys on here really appreciate it :)
Let us know when you plan round two;)

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Originally Posted by MSL

Looks like stumpers in hoki

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That's correct, I think the waitress was a bit surprised when the four of us walked in and ordered 6 entrees. After eating Backcountry Cuisine for 5 days in a row we were pretty excited to eat some real food...

Awesome writeup man. Would love to make a trip like to did someday. I may pick your brain later.

Awesome writeup.pleased you fellas had such a great trip. WHEN you come back,get in touch and go shoot a wallaby or twenty just because you can.