Thread: Any hunting tips / advice

Originally Posted by oneshot

I know its stating the totally obvious but get out in the hills as often as you can, more time out will mean more success, if you can don't shoot the animal right away, watch it for a bit and learn its behaviour. Where are you?

Now watching them for a while before taking the shot is great advice, cheers!! Im in Hamilton

Can anyone recommend a good book for hunting sika that has their habits etc?

I reckon we can pick the guys who had hunting easy when they were kids where dads and uncles introduced the privileged little buggers to hunting in nice easy country (often private farmland) with plenty of game animals to harvest with little effort spent. Probably shot their first deer at 7 after already cutting teeth on goats earlier.
Seriously, some of you guys are so full of your own prowess that you can't even give a positive supportive tip of advice to a guy who's trying to teach himself. Shame.
For those who did throw a bone, thanks, from a self taught hunter who spent waaaaaay too long missing out on being successful because selfish bastards wouldn't share some basic info.
@BLR Bushpig - Start by choosing your preferred and/or most accessible area. From Hamilton, I suggest you should be heading to Pureora or Kaimais. Both are pretty challenging though, for very different reasons. Kaimanawas are awesome with healthy animal numbers of both species, particularly on the western side (Desert Rd). Then stick with it. Get to know the area by studying Google Earth and time on the hill working a grid. Eventually you'll learn where the deer prefer or travel through. Then slow right down, hunt with the breeze in your face and eventually you'll ambush or stumble over one (Murphy will always reverse the prevailing breeze just as you're getting close to a deer by the way, so always be ready for a burst of action).
Think about what a deer needs to live. Warmth and shelter, a safe place to sleep, a constant source of good food and, to a less extent, social interaction and water. So where will they be? Start with sheltered north facing gullyheads and slip faces/clay pans.
Remember: go slow, stop and scan often, wind is key, and...assume EVERYTHING that moves is human until you cannot possibly be mistaken that it's a deer.
The shooting is the easy part.
Good luck!!...Because much of this hunting game is just that. Right place, right time
Cheers


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Originally Posted by Hunt4life

I reckon we can pick the guys who had hunting easy when they were kids where dads and uncles introduced the privileged little buggers to hunting in nice easy country (often private farmland) with plenty of game animals to harvest with little effort spent. Probably shot their first deer at 7 after already cutting teeth on goats earlier.
Seriously, some of you guys are so full of your own prowess that you can't even give a positive supportive tip of advice to a guy who's trying to teach himself. Shame.
For those who did throw a bone, thanks, from a self taught hunter who spent waaaaaay too long missing out on being successful because selfish bastards wouldn't share some basic info.
@BLR Bushpig - Start by choosing your preferred and/or most accessible area. From Hamilton, I suggest you should be heading to Pureora or Kaimais. Both are pretty challenging though, for very different reasons. Kaimanawas are awesome with healthy animal numbers of both species, particularly on the western side (Desert Rd). Then stick with it. Get to know the area by studying Google Earth and time on the hill working a grid. Eventually you'll learn where the deer prefer or travel through. Then slow right down, hunt with the breeze in your face and eventually you'll ambush or stumble over one (Murphy will always reverse the prevailing breeze just as you're getting close to a deer by the way, so always be ready for a burst of action).
Think about what a deer needs to live. Warmth and shelter, a safe place to sleep, a constant source of good food and, to a less extent, social interaction and water. So where will they be? Start with sheltered north facing gullyheads and slip faces/clay pans.
Remember: go slow, stop and scan often, wind is key, and...assume EVERYTHING that moves is human until you cannot possibly be mistaken that it's a deer.
The shooting is the easy part.
Good luck!!...Because much of this hunting game is just that. Right place, right time
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for both your information and help!!!! It sounds like you started the same way as me with being self taught. Anyone can be handed a deer but that's shooting not hunting

Originally Posted by BLR-Bushpig

Can anyone recommend a good book for hunting sika that has their habits etc?

The Sika Hunters is a good book or nz hunter has seasonal calendars on there website with good info.

Personally find sika easier to hunt using the sit and wait method and lots of bino work. use google earth find some feed areas, slips, clearings, mountain tutu and wait it out. Sort out a spot to shoot that's far enough not to spook but close enough for you to shoot ethically.

Beat the feet and do some scouting, chances are your not the first guy in the area doing the same thing.

And enjoy it!!!!

Sika are reasonably predictable, I have found that this time of year they frequent areas of good food eg river flats, open tops, or slips and clearings in the bush. Come winter I have had good success hunting the sunny faces around clearings and gully heads as they are suckers for warmth, on a cold frosty morning work the faces into the wind and you will most likely run into animals.
During the rut they can be quite vocal so stalking into the wind until you close the distance then try and bring them in with a caller, the less you move the better the chances they are pretty switched on with all there senses.

Originally Posted by Hunt4life

I reckon we can pick the guys who had hunting easy when they were kids where dads and uncles introduced the privileged little buggers to hunting in nice easy country (often private farmland) with plenty of game animals to harvest with little effort spent. Probably shot their first deer at 7 after already cutting teeth on goats earlier.
Seriously, some of you guys are so full of your own prowess that you can't even give a positive supportive tip of advice to a guy who's trying to teach himself. Shame.
For those who did throw a bone, thanks, from a self taught hunter who spent waaaaaay too long missing out on being successful because selfish bastards wouldn't share some basic info.
@BLR Bushpig - Start by choosing your preferred and/or most accessible area. From Hamilton, I suggest you should be heading to Pureora or Kaimais. Both are pretty challenging though, for very different reasons. Kaimanawas are awesome with healthy animal numbers of both species, particularly on the western side (Desert Rd). Then stick with it. Get to know the area by studying Google Earth and time on the hill working a grid. Eventually you'll learn where the deer prefer or travel through. Then slow right down, hunt with the breeze in your face and eventually you'll ambush or stumble over one (Murphy will always reverse the prevailing breeze just as you're getting close to a deer by the way, so always be ready for a burst of action).
Think about what a deer needs to live. Warmth and shelter, a safe place to sleep, a constant source of good food and, to a less extent, social interaction and water. So where will they be? Start with sheltered north facing gullyheads and slip faces/clay pans.
Remember: go slow, stop and scan often, wind is key, and...assume EVERYTHING that moves is human until you cannot possibly be mistaken that it's a deer.
The shooting is the easy part.
Good luck!!...Because much of this hunting game is just that. Right place, right time
Cheers


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

+1. And your local deerstalkers club and do the Hunts course. The first ones are handed on a plate, but there are good buggers that don't mind sharing info and even offering a tag along trip.

if your handle is anything to go by you have the rifle bit sorted out right from the get go.
the books by lentle n saxton especially red deer in new zealand are well worth the time to read over and over again.
bush huntin is all about taking your time and keeping the wind right...at 44 and having been hunting since early teen years Im still learning and still loving it.harvesting a deer out in the open is a bonus..a deer in the bush is a buzz.

Thought I should add this.
I got sick of going for armed walks with the boy,seeing his disappointment and interest disappearing. The course cost was around $280 and that gave the both of us membership. It seemed a lot, but in reality was only a drop in the bucket to what I'd wasted with nothing to show. They took us back to basics along with first aid, navigation and marksmanship, ethics...... We had 2 hunts, which while challenging, put us in pretty good locations to achieve our goal of taking an animal. Then got shown how to process it properly.
I thought it would be full of blowhards and big noters, but I haven't come across them. At the end of the day every group, club and organisation has them, but no sign yet. The knowledge that was shared, along with invitations to hunt other places and animals far outweighs the negatives. Then you add in access not normally given to 'Joe Public' and the huts,insurance etc, I believe it far outweighs the negatives and is great value for money, especially as someone trying to learn and teach your child.

Yep self taught as well.
Thats why it was three years before I got my first.
Hunt4life is right in that the Kaimias are a challenging place. But I did see plenty of animals it was just i was busted most of the time and the rest where out of range.
From memory I think I was busted five times before I shot my first.
I don't have my dairy's on me but Id say that I was out once a month in those three years
Thats 36 outings, most where just to find where the animals where. So id say 15 where recon. Once I had access to a good spot it still took me the rest to get one on the ground.
One Stag that I missed out on in early on had his head down eating I was aiming at the wrong end but did not want to pull the trigger as I could not identify the kill zone, was not until I moved to get a better sight line that he lifted his head and ran. Not sure weather he saw the movement our smelt me. But very very frustrating watching horns run away.
In the end I very nearly chucked the whole game in but I stuck with it and finally it came right.
I must also say that not long after my first I had a trip down to Stewart Island with the Thames Valley deer stalkers, after all the frustration of hunting the Kaimais it really paid off down there with one on the floor on the first day and three in total for the whole trip.
Keep at it and good luck.

Perseverance is the key. Hunts course is a very gooid Idea too.
I grew up in a "non hunting" family. I am mostly self taught and had given hunting away until a certain forum member here dragged me out. Now I am back into it.
I am sure you will succeed it just takes time. People too are wary of taking people to their "private access only" spots ie private land. Trust is something that has all but disappeared.

Good luck

Basically get up and get into it

You can do all the reading on the net but until you have experience out there doing it its basically just reading on the net

When I started out I joined the Auckland Deerstalkers and meet up with other young fella's keen on hunting. We hunted every weekend we could and went on all the monthly party hunts.( despite this it was a year and a half before I shot my first deer. The mates I made back then are still mates other than two who have passed on, one in a hunting accident. Joining the club is a good way to start out and getting to know people. You will get some people that are blow hards but generally you will meet some really good buggers.

Originally Posted by Mooseman

Sika are reasonably predictable, I have found that this time of year they frequent areas of good food eg river flats, open tops, or slips and clearings in the bush. Come winter I have had good success hunting the sunny faces around clearings and gully heads as they are suckers for warmth, on a cold frosty morning work the faces into the wind and you will most likely run into animals.
During the rut they can be quite vocal so stalking into the wind until you close the distance then try and bring them in with a caller, the less you move the better the chances they are pretty switched on with all there senses.

Thanks Mooseman, i had my first sika roar last year and coudn't tell you how many i spooked, i think i was a bit early though because no matter how long i waited none of them came in, or their hinds would catch me.

Great information though thanks!!!!!!

Originally Posted by 199p

Basically get up and get into it

You can do all the reading on the net but until you have experience out there doing it its basically just reading on the net

Thats exactly what im doing, just trying to learn as much as i can between hunts as well