Thread: Beginner Hunter - need advice

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

sorry Oldbbloke but I just dont agree with this as Churbay rightly says bush navigation is one of the most important skills to learn for bush hunting - ya not going to learn that wandering around farms shooting bunnys - one needs real bush time to gain confidence - or did you think deer would be in same area - no only on farms - completely different hunting our bush and shooting bunnys wallabys - the trick is to start small - learn the country from a topo map - which way the ridges and creeks lie - hunt one catchment alone untill you get condident - you must know where you are within the catchment - from a high point or the valley bottom watch for a north facing area with slips open areas and carefully stalk it early morning or late evening - learn your nz natives and what species deer like - in Waioeka Te Urewera one looks for Mahoe faces five finger pate fushia any grassy clearings open areas ( mean sun = feed ) yes deer will feed under say a tawa canopy but they will be constantly moving looking for mainly windfall leaves or new growth - bush hunting takes time to learn - the single biggest mistakes new hunters make is to hunt wrong area at wrong time ( a creek bed midday is not likely to produce a deer )or see a lot of sign and just keep going - when was that deer there and is it still there - when hunting in eighties deer were scarce one did not go past good sign one targeted that area

This is great information thanks so much. Starting from absolute scratch is daunting for sure. I like the idea of starting small and getting to know small areas really well using topo maps etc. thanks a lot!