Thread: Advice for red deer

Hello everyone,

I'm the American, new on your site.
I appreciate the non-commercial emphasis of your site. I am very opposed to commercialization of wildlife. The wild animals should be a resource for everyone.
I've been doing a lot of reading and watching YouTube videos to try to decide on a good location for red deer hunting on public land, self-guided.
It seems that Central/North Canterbury has good trophy potential and better weather than the West Coast so I would like to get your advice on the following areas. Maybe you could rank them #1, 2, 3.

I will be happy with an 8 point or larger stag.

Planning to pack out all the meat so I am still looking for someone who would like to trade meat for use of a freezer in Canterbury.

Arthurs Pass Nat. Park, Poulter river

Lake Sumner RHA, Hurunui River

Rakaia/Wilberforce/Matthias area.

My friend and I are planning to use mountain bikes to access the hunting area. I'm not sure if the land owners allow mountain bike access to the Rakaia. The other 2 are bike friendly.

Thanks for the advice