Thread: Help a newby hunter.

So I've been into guns and shooting for some time and I've been out hunting about 4 times so far.
Before I left the country I went with my mate a few times and now I have returned I have just been out again.
I have never even seen a deer on my trips!
I live in Christchurch so I have been mainly in Canterbury. and I have tried several different Technics that haven"t worked.
Can someone here who know what they're doing give me some advice on what sort of areas I should be looking for and strategies while hunting?
What are peoples success rates like? Am I just being impatient?
Any help is welcome.

I don't profess to know much but reading books is a huge help (stalking the seasons round) is a great book.Take everything you learnt from each hunt and it will all fall into place,I don't know about cantabury but coming back empty handed from four hunts up here is common practice when your starting out and in some cases its more like 8 or nine times so I wouldn't be dishearted.More time spent hunting and less time talking about it will also help.Some tips that have worked for me are always keep the wind in your face get into the browsing line go slower than your already are and look and listen more than you walk once your onto an animal.Good luck.

What do you guys do if the winds swirling around and theres not really any other place out of the wind near by?

Originally Posted by Toby

What do you guys do if the winds swirling around and theres not really any other place out of the wind near by?

Keep hunting and try to get back into a more wind friendly position.

Originally Posted by Neckshot

Keep hunting and try to get back into a more wind friendly position.

Sweet as thanks neckers

Originally Posted by Toby

What do you guys do if the winds swirling around and theres not really any other place out of the wind near by?

I have a spot i hunt in a howling southerly. Its the only sheltered spot for miles in that wind and of course it eddys and swirls.
Anytime it goes up my behind i speed up until it changes then slow right down again.
By going fast your scent won't get far in front and being in an eddy situation it will only be a couple of min and back to some other more favorable direction.

Mate I wouldn't be talking about success rates and to be frank if thats the way you want to look at it you might be choosing the wrong passion.
This question comes up a bit here and there by newbies and I always say the same thing. Deer hunting isn't about killing deer and really it's not even about seeing them. You need to just love being in the bush, escaping everything else in life, hearing all the sounds, smelling all the smells, seeing all the sights and always learning. Learning more about the bush, the birds and animals and the deer among many many other things. Just enjoy being out there and the rest will take care of itself.
So the long and the short yes you are being impatient - not having a go but thats the answer. I've been fortunate to grow up in a hunting family so have done it for over 10 years and I've been very blessed to be rewarded with some nice heads in my time, but what you don't see are the months, years, sweat, blood and tears in between every head that I've ever taken and at the end of the day those are the things that make hunting so special to me. The odd person gets lucky and takes a big deer early or shoots a heap in one go and flukey things like that but for the majority of us there is a hell of a lot of hard work to it. If it were easy everyone would do it and it'd be boring anyways. I've hunted sambar here for 3 years and am yet to take a stag. Seen several and had my chances at some just not what I'm looking for, but I don't care and I won't care if it's another 3 years before I take one.
Hunting is very addictive and at the end of the day can get pretty expensive once you get sucked in to buying all the gadgets but there is no point if your not really in it for the right reasons. I've got a mate here who is the same, it's just a matter of time before he chucks it in because all he cares about is putting animals on the ground and cracks the shits when he doesn't or when someone else does instead of him.

Originally Posted by Bavarian_Hunter

Mate I wouldn't be talking about success rates and to be frank if thats the way you want to look at it you might be choosing the wrong passion.
This question comes up a bit here and there by newbies and I always say the same thing. Deer hunting isn't about killing deer and really it's not even about seeing them. You need to just love being in the bush, escaping everything else in life, hearing all the sounds, smelling all the smells, seeing all the sights and always learning. Learning more about the bush, the birds and animals and the deer among many many other things. Just enjoy being out there and the rest will take care of itself.
So the long and the short yes you are being impatient - not having a go but thats the answer. I've been fortunate to grow up in a hunting family so have done it for over 10 years and I've been very blessed to be rewarded with some nice heads in my time, but what you don't see are the months, years, sweat, blood and tears in between every head that I've ever taken and at the end of the day those are the things that make hunting so special to me. The odd person gets lucky and takes a big deer early or shoots a heap in one go and flukey things like that but for the majority of us there is a hell of a lot of hard work to it. If it were easy everyone would do it and it'd be boring anyways. I've hunted sambar here for 3 years and am yet to take a stag. Seen several and had my chances at some just not what I'm looking for, but I don't care and I won't care if it's another 3 years before I take one.
Hunting is very addictive and at the end of the day can get pretty expensive once you get sucked in to buying all the gadgets but there is no point if your not really in it for the right reasons. I've got a mate here who is the same, it's just a matter of time before he chucks it in because all he cares about is putting animals on the ground and cracks the shits when he doesn't or when someone else does instead of him.

Post of the year contender here

You hit the nail on the head your not in it for just shootibg deer your in it for the journey and its a journey that can go on until the day you cant carry your bang stick.

Welcome to the forum William. There is no magic ingredient or formula to hunting and all the advice above is right on the money. Go slower than slow, look, listen and smell intently and above all enjoy every experience. Ten minutes hunting into the wind will likely be far better than a day with it at your back.

Welcome to the forum William, excellent advice so far.....im in the same boat as you mate, took up hunting this year, yet to put a wild DOC deer on the ground, but the more you 'do it' the more you will learn....

books and courses and hunters yarns & advice are all a help.....but you will only build up experience by 'doing it'.....no passport to success......you have to put in the 'hard yakka'....welcome to the wonderful, infuriating, frustrating, magic world of hunting!!!!!

William , get onto the tops ,ie above the bush line . From about December onwards this is your best bet .This includes up to and after the roar April / may . The further you are back into the alps the later the grass comes on Remember deer must eat ! So if you get it right and are where the feed is bingo ! You are in the money .Depending on chopper pressure (,but assume there has been)deer will be not far from cover /bush . Usually slips or fingers of tussock/ grass or creeks that retreat back down into the bush are the hot spots . You will need reasonable binos and plenty of patience to sit and watch . Concentrate on those hot arears first and scan whole faces as there may be chamois deer or even seen big old boars out in the open . I would add you on my list and take you out but I've got a couple of promised take outs already plus my usuall trips

A good start would be joing NZDA . There is a branch here in Christchurch. Monthly meetings and the opportunity to get out hunting with some more experienced hunters.Like Bavarian Hunter said its not about numbers. If you have got a good pack , boots and sleeping bag PM me. I may be able to take you for a walk. When I was starting out I didnt really have a clue but kept at it. Being young fit and keen really help. Me and a young dude off the other forum used to go wandering over the back of the Kawekas most weekends on extended walks. If nothing else we got fit
Just have to do the miles. You soon learn what works and what doesnt. Where to look etc. Most importantly at the end of the day what I learnt was as long as I was warm and dry and had a feed on the hill nothing else really mattered in life!

Hi William,
As others have said you do need to be patient, accept there is a lot to learn and 'success' may take a while to achieve.

Get out as much as you can over the next couple of months as spring is one of the best times to be hunting. The deer are feeding up after winter and their hunger can drive them to stay out longer in the mornings and emerge earlier in the afternoon/evenings. They are generaly feeding on grass rather than browsing in the bush -which of course means they are in the open and so easier to spot. The other big factor on the hunters side this time of year is the fact that the hinds will drive away their current crop of offspring before they fawn again in Nov/Dec -this means you have a lot of inexperienced yearlings and spikers wandering about being less cautious than is healthy for them.

Get hold of some books and do some research -that 'Stalking the Seasons' already mentioned is a brillant one. If you can't find a copy to buy then check out the CHCH library system. When I first started out my biggest mistake was not learning enough about my quarry. Sussing out where to find deer at differnt times of year in different weather conditions and at different times of day is the key.

Once you start seeing them, or regularly coming across sign you will know you its all coming together for you, which is a great boost for moral.

Good luck fella - it sounds like you have been getting your boots dirty - keep at it !!

Actually bugger it. I will take you out. If your fit and sensible and safe with firearms we are on. I was given a lot of help when I started out and will return some karma back. PM me.
Got me thinking back. I cracked the shits with work one afternoon years ago. It was about this time of the year-early spring. I shot home and grabbed my pack and rifle and headed for the ruahine tops.
Long story short I was wandering down a creek in the evening and a few lightbulbs started to go off in my head from what I had read and been told. Lovely warm evening about 7pm. Wind in my face. Slowly making my way down these mint looking river flats I spied brown. DEER !! 5 shots later from the ole Sako I had two deer on the deck(they were on the hoof) .

Now I wish I had someone experienced with me as I wasted a lot of meat that night. Still two reds of heavily hunted DOC land. I was hooked.

Originally Posted by Nathan F

Actually bugger it. I will take you out. If your fit and sensible and safe with firearms we are on. I was given a lot of help when I started out and will return some karma back. PM me.
Got me thinking back. I cracked the shits with work one afternoon years ago. It was about this time of the year-early spring. I shot home and grabbed my pack and rifle and headed for the ruahine tops.
Long story short I was wandering down a creek in the evening and a few lightbulbs started to go off in my head from what I had read and been told. Lovely warm evening about 7pm. Wind in my face. Slowly making my way down these mint looking river flats I spied brown. DEER !! 5 shots later from the ole Sako I had two deer on the deck(they were on the hoof) .

Now I wish I had someone experienced with me as I wasted a lot of meat that night. Still two reds of heavily hunted DOC land. I was hooked.

Bloody nice looking Sako there Nathan