Thread: Goating around Auckland...

Been thinking it'd be nice to take the kid out hunting, but not sure he has the patience yet it would take for deer.

Are there any likely spots to find goats within reasonably easy reach of AKL..?

There used to be a few in Hunuas, but DOC used ‘Judas’ goats to cull them. Similar story for northern end of Kaimais. Coromandel has had a hammering, so perhaps Taranaki reserves?

None in the Waitaks..that is my old stamping ground. And no firearms permitted there. I've seen a lot in the hills immediately south of Huntly from SH 1. Try door knocking there.

Heaps in awhitu but hard to get access due to landowners trusting no one after constantly getting poaced

tangihua forest but it is pretty crap bush, nice old goat cullers hut which is free at the northern end. lions club for access at the southern end. Dennis Deeming is the farmer for access through the northern end. DOC whangarei should have his number.

You can’t hunt the Auckland catchment side of the Hunuas unless you are a contractor.
It’s Auckland Council managed, not DOC.
Waikato Regional Council manage the other part.

Just drive to the Waitomo/King Country reserves, but be aware any with access via farms might be closed until after lambing/calving finishes at Labour weekend.

Consider looking south of the waikato river mouth, there were heaps there years ago Klondike road in particular springs to mind.
It's a question of door knocking.

Access at the northern end is gone. New owners.
Lions end is hard work. Quite a few pigs but stalking without a dog in tight shit is low odds.
I was in there yesterday doing some training with a young dog. Other than pigs it took most of the day to find any sign. Pup did a good find in the end. Found a tiny but of sign amoungst some bluffs and after some pissing around found its owner.
It gets too much attention. Dog found to young fellas having a hunt and when I got back to car there was another hunter there.
If it wasn't for the bloody cullers killing all the close goats to me and needing somewhere to training an indicating dog, I wouldn't bother. Bloody Northland cullers lol I did too good a job.

If you're fit as hell you could walk to the northern end and stay in the trampers hut and hunt back. The bulk of goats on that end are in some dodgy country.

Originally Posted by Cowboy

If it wasn't for the bloody cullers killing all the close goats to me and needing somewhere to training an indicating dog, I wouldn't bother. Bloody Northland cullers lol I did too good a job.

If you're fit as hell you could walk to the northern end and stay in the trampers hut and hunt back. The bulk of goats on that end are in some dodgy country.

That's my feeling too. I wouldn't waste your time.

Originally Posted by MB

That's my feeling too. I wouldn't waste your time.

I was sort of taking the piss out of myself. I was a culler up here until we ran out of goats.

Tangis has never been done. It's all rec hunters and wayward pig dogs that has smashed the populations at this end. There's still some good goat numbers in parts(not many) of northland but people keep wanting to have bomb ups so I don't publicly say anymore.

Might put my pups first big game animal in the dog section if you want to see what we got.

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Consider looking south of the waikato river mouth, there were heaps there years ago Klondike road in particular springs to mind.
It's a question of door knocking.

Yep, there were a few dead goats at the base of the cliffs by the river mouth. Not sure if they are from the cliffs, or washed down river. Heaps of prints too.

everyone knows that the Greatest of All Time are Cantabs :p

Originally Posted by Cowboy

I was sort of taking the piss out of myself. I was a culler up here until we ran out of goats.

Tangis has never been done. It's all rec hunters and wayward pig dogs that has smashed the populations at this end. There's still some good goat numbers in parts(not many) of northland but people keep wanting to have bomb ups so I don't publicly say anymore.

Yeah, don't understand why people shoot everything that moves one day and then complain the next day that there's nothing to shoot. I have been guilty of one or two bomb-ups on private land in the past (farmer wanted them gone), but tend to only shoot one or two animals for meat on public land. Since the bush is so dense, I only usually get one or two chances anyway before they are gone.

There's a few old goats on here.
Not suggesting you shoot them but they can be a bit of fun to bait if there's nothing better to do on a rainy day

Where I shoot in the Naki it started out with farmer saying "Kill them all, please!". Then about 18mths ago he discovered a guy with good dogs that could round them up and they got $35-45 a head for them at the farm gate which they split. Two weeks ago their round up paid $65 a head. Since that started its " you can have a couple for meat if you cull a few of the old billies that evade the dogs". So don't expect every farmer is going to invite you in to shoot up what might be a good little income source for him.