Hi all kiwi hunters

Hi all

I'm a 19 year old danish boy, and i'm planning what i hope is going to be a trip of a lifetime. I was planning on going to NZ in late April throughout May. I was considering renting a campervan to drive around and explore NZ while doing some hunting, might be going alone or with my dad and cousin. I'm not coming for any big trophies, mostly the experience. We are all quite inexperienced in the mountain hunting and therefore i hope that i can either meet or get in contact with some NZ hunter that could help me plan my trip, regarding areas and tips and tricks in general.

Is it possible to go on day trips into the area or is it better to go for a couple of days at a time?

Would be much appreciated with any help with the trip.

Welcome. Our back country is beautiful but can also be treacherous so research well and be prepared for unexpected change in the weather.

Hello @Young dane. I tell the less experienced visitors we get (extended family and their friends) who want to head off into the mountains, that the New Zealand backcountry is like a leopard, very beautiful to look at, and quite keen on killing you. Corny and OTT I know, but it gets their attention. So the first and most important task for you is to carefully read through the Mountain Safety Council website, and take everything they say very seriously.

https://www.mountainsafety.org.nz/re...r-safety-code/

Your preparation will determine your success, not so much in terms of animals you shoot, but how much you are able to enjoy the environment without stressing. This is particularly relevant to our visitors who might be on a tight schedule. The fear of missing out can lead to otherwise intelligent people making very poor decisions!

May is a difficult month to plan for. Being autumn, the weather can be summer like, or very winter like. Sometimes both on the same day. You have to be prepared to change location, if the forecast is shit for 2 weeks, move, there's no point hanging around. Moving as far as you need to is important, leave the Southern Alps and drive to the Central North Island if you have to.

Planning a trip is fun, I enjoy it at least. I try to have two options for each part of the trip, a good weather option, a poor weather option.

In terms of meeting people to help you, I would make sure you can demonstrate to people you have worked through all the basics first, and have some sensible plans to discuss.

If you are coming through Wanganui at all I might be able to take you out for a hunt for a Fallow Deer.........

I have been looking at doc.govt.nz for a long time, and might have found a couple areas that I find interesting, but I can't decide whether to go to the northern island or the south, I have been looking at Otago and maybe canterbury, for chamois, red deer and fallow deer, not that we are hunting for any big trophies og specific animals. But also looking at the Whanganui and central north island for red deer, fallow sika deer. By looking at maps and reading the internet I got the feeling, that the South Island is steeper mountains but very open, and the north is smaller mountains but dense forest is that correct?

Good idea with the back up spots, the hunting areas is my main concern right now, mostly getting to an area that isn't going to be to dangerous and preferably a hunting block where you can park you car and walk around for a day in the block and go back to sleep in the car.

I am considering flying to Auckland and driving down to Wanganui and hunt I that area, so that might very possible be a very nice possibility to go with someone that knows the area, I will definitely keep in touch!

welcome to the forum, you will enjoy hunting here but take all precautions and rent a PLB (locator beacon) in case things go wrong.

Be an awesome trip for ya

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Originally Posted by Young dane

Good idea with the back up spots, the hunting areas is my main concern right now, mostly getting to an area that isn't going to be to dangerous and preferably a hunting block where you can park you car and walk around for a day in the block and go back to sleep in the car.

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No such thing as a hunting block where it isn't going to be dangerous, @Young dane. Shit can happen anywhere, especially if you are on your own. There are only spots that are either more or less dangerous then somewhere else. Lots of day hunters get rescued out of country that isn't that remote, after breaking a leg or similar.

The central North Island is great. However a lot of the hill country to the west can be pretty treacherous in terms of gradient and in particular in the papa-rock country, through the Taranaki and western Ruapehu regions down towards Wanganui. The gullies and gorges are basically vertical gradient and have caught out many a hunter (and many a pig dog). So whilst day trips are a good idea, don't for a moment think that something is less likely to go wrong just because you are planning to go back to your car...

(I can say this because I've got myself into real difficulty a couple of times, including knocking myself out by falling on a steep slope.)

Welcome , you are already off to a good start some real GC,s on here , May is not such a bad month to come over your best bet is to plan a Tahr hunt on the first Saturday in may you can guarantee blue sky,s for the weekend, defiantly plan a Thar hunt , pluss May is a time of year when deer are feeding up to put extra condition on before winter especially stags , don't expect to see mobs of deer just roaming around the hills that doesn't really exist even experienced hunters sometimes struggle to find animals , weather wise & in general hope for the best plan for the worst , so many places to park a camper & hunt .

You'll have to translate GC into Danish @Boaraxa!

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

You'll have to translate GC into Danish @Boaraxa!

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Excuse my ignorance, GC is kiwi slang for Godt Kusser ��