Anyone Else Hunted with Outdoor HQ (formerly Hunting HQ)?

Interested in other's experiences with this lot?

Have hunted once on one of their promoted rural properties, and suffice to say that from a hunting perspective it was a less than satisfactory experience. We paid quite a lot of money paid for the pleasure, but despite going hard over 2 days and having considerable experience (we almost always get an animal or three) we determined there were basically no deer on the farm.

I don't necessarily want to dish on Outdoor HQ. Just interested as to others' experiences?

Access pimps, the whole concept stinks!

Its the same as a lot of the blocks of land for sale Taranaki Waitotara Wanganui since the collapse of the honey industry advertised as hunting blocks many have no deer at all the last pig went passed strapped to a ute and goats were there in 1930

I haven't hunted with them but a property I used to hunt has signed with Hunting HQ. It used to hold lots of animals, wasn't uncommon to see mobs of 10 to 20 hinds.

It is now hunted mercilessly day in and day out, Neighbors are getting peed off because HQ clients are crossing the boundaries trying to find an animal.

Staff are really pissed as they have effectively lost their hunting due to the pressure.

The deer haven't been shot out, they have just moved on to quieter areas.

Interesting to hear such bad press on this because the concept is sound. Put hunters who want an access to hunting areas in contact with people who own those areas and are willing to come to an amicable arrangement. Paying for your hunting is nothing new, you do the every time you hope on a chopper. Its a shame that this concept cannot get past the teething stages, I think it has merit.

That's the problem with money, some people ( and I emphasis "some") just get greedy.

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Originally Posted by zeropak

Interesting to hear such bad press on this because the concept is sound. Put hunters who want an access to hunting areas in contact with people who own those areas and are willing to come to an amicable arrangement. Paying for your hunting is nothing new, you do the every time you hope on a chopper. Its a shame that this concept cannot get past the teething stages, I think it has merit.

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The concept isn’t sound

There’s no guides to ensure the “hunters” treat the animals in a manner fitting a hunting asset

The animals are shot at in every conceivable situation, ending in wounded/lost/ terrified animals

Numbers dwindle due to unregulated attempts and the situation declines to one’s described above

It’s bad enough when there’s guides keeping an eye on everything let alone when random people are set free on new properties

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Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

The concept isn’t sound

There’s no guides to ensure the “hunters” treat the animals in a manner fitting a hunting asset

The animals are shot at in every conceivable situation, ending in wounded/lost/ terrified animals

Numbers dwindle due to unregulated attempts and the situation declines to one’s described above

It’s bad enough when there’s guides keeping an eye on everything let alone when random people are set free on new properties

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From an animal welfare perspective, how is this different to public land hunting? From an economic perspective, it's up to the land owner.

It has merit in my opinon, I have not hunted with them but.
You have to complete some basic OSH type stuff and you get insurance cover for yourself and more importantly the land owner.
Without this Joe public such as myself who does not live close to landowners with deer would never get a look in.

Its easy to get your nose out of joint if you happen to live ruraly or know people who you have built a trust up wih and will give you acccess to their land.

And yes I have experianced the frustration of a property that I used to hunt on 1-2x a year being listed with HQ and now being booked out or having the game shift. However thats not HQ's fault, thats more to do with the landowner (and DOC with green rain), In the end deer are a pest on most farms.

So for me If I wanted to do a weekend hunt with a high likehood of success in diferant places around NZ it works.
Like I said at the start not all of us live close to good hunting opertunities or have the contacts. When you are not in a position to do regular trips into a location to build up a feel for where the game is at differant times of the year something like HQ works and makes sense.
Ie many people in our main cities who no longer have rural contacts.
Z
PS, you want to grow our sport, this is a good entry point for many.

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Originally Posted by MB

From an animal welfare perspective, how is this different to public land hunting? From an economic perspective, it's up to the land owner.

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Yes agreed, Everything you have said is not unique to Private land, it applies to Public land also.

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Originally Posted by zeropak

Yes agreed, Everything you have said is not unique to Private land, it applies to Public land also.

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Yes I agree
A reasonable number of animals in any area will always command a lot of pressure. Doesn't matter if its private land or public. What does matter is paying for something described in the advertising, and then finding out that reality is quite the opposite.
On top of that, some hunters aren't actually hunters, they're just shooters with very few hunting skills, so they're gonna whinge about the lack of animals. Secondly, animals are affected by seasons so a pic of several deer munching on fresh spring growth might be quite different to the situation in the middle of winter.

My last place, I was faced with a burgeoning deer and pig population. Ive always been keen on management and really didnt want more tham 300 deer in the herd. Too achieve that I needed to be killing minimum 75 a year. I couldn't handle all that venison myself and decided to turn them into added on farm income. I looked at Hunting HQ and decided to go it alone. Initially I let guys go by themselves. It was a disaster! At least I wasn't happy. Wounded or missed animals, Shot volleys etc.
It all went better when I decided too go along and guide. After a while I got too know some of the hunters and sorted out who I could rely on, and it became an unofficial privilege for me to say, you know where to go. You dont need me. That system worked best.

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Originally Posted by whanahuia

My last place, I was faced with a burgeoning deer and pig population. Ive always been keen on management and really didnt want more tham 300 deer in the herd. Too achieve that I needed to be killing minimum 75 a year. I couldn't handle all that venison myself and decided to turn them into added on farm income. I looked at Hunting HQ and decided to go it alone. Initially I let guys go by themselves. It was a disaster! At least I wasn't happy. Wounded or missed animals, Shot volleys etc.
It all went better when I decided too go along and guide. After a while I got too know some of the hunters and sorted out who I could rely on, and it became an unofficial privilege for me to say, you know where to go. You dont need me. That system worked best.

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Which is more than likely the reason a lot of land owners, even those with deer problems, are reluctant to allow access.
They then get bagged by hunters for not allowing access.
Vicious circle. But we'll explained whanahuia.

Its horses for courses and each farm will be different, But for me it was also a H&S issue. The hills of my place overlooked a busy road and there were houses and a school down there. Not to mention family and farm staff. As organiser, I had to know where everyone was and where to hunt and what was a safe shot angle.

Even now On the new farm, we made the decision too have myself as hunting co ordinator. Everyone on farm who wants to go hunting has to tell me when and where, so that we dont have double ups. Shooting close to work etc. Its not a huge issue, But we find it worth doing.