Thread: "Fritz" wants his first Tahr...

- Can't help you with a hunt, but in case you haven't seen it, the DOC map web page is really helpful in figuring out hunting areas, huts, tracks etc.

Use the dropdown menus to change between satellite/topo maps, select huts, hunting areas, and all the different track options for developed routes.

https://www.doc.govt.nz/map/index.html

- DOC hunting permits are easy. Basically it's a form to say you've agreed to not shoot at night, on private/closed land, or shoot birds. Takes ~5 minutes to fill out.

https://huntingpermits.doc.govt.nz/huntingpermits/start

- Import permit for firearms is time consuming and slow, so start early. They can drag on a bit between slow response times and questions.

The biggest hangup for most people is having someone in NZ who will sign off as a storage location. If you're coming off the flight and going straight into the forest, then coming straight back out onto a flight then you are never storing the firearm, but if you're travelling around they'll want someone local on the application. If you can find someone, then you're set. If you can't, gun stores in a central location (arrival/departure/hub cities around where you're travelling) will usually store your firearm for a fee.

If you're arriving in Auckland and catching a transfer from there, give yourself some extra time between flights. You'll have to clear biosecurity, and customs, then get your firearm released by NZ police. There have been one or two stories where there weren't any police available to do the paperwork and people ended up missing their flights. If you get through all that faster than you expected, you can ask AirNZ staff if there are any spaces on earlier flights, often they'll just bump you forward if there are.

There are a few hunters on here from Europe - see if you can find them to see how transiting through other countries works with firearms. It sounds like Australia sometimes treats transferring through Aus with a firearm the same as deliberately importing it into Australia, and I've heard the USA can be the same way. I don't have first hand experience with it, just heresay, but it might save you some headaches if you can find someone to walk you through the process.

https://www.firearmssafetyauthority....rearms-licence