Thread: 2 week South Island DIY / Potential US Swap Hunt

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

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.

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.

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.
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


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

Zack, breaking down a Tahr leg

Mike taking break from hiking

Filling up on water

Jp's nanny tahr


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

My stag

Mike and I with my stag

JP and Zack with the spiker

Our rental van at full capacity before heading to the airport on the way home

group photo


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

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 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