Thread: How often are you successful?

Remember that you are hunting in two of the N Island’s toughest habitats.

I know a couple of guys local to me who hunt the Kaimais frequently, and have done for probably 25 years plus. One from each side. They get a deer roughly one in every two trips I guess? Sometimes a deer every trip for a while, then a dry spell.

One hunts with a deer dog, the other doesn’t. What they have in common is that they seem to hunt the exact same areas every time.

Talking to them about this, it is because they have a highly detailed knowledge of the terrain, deer trails, clearings, slips and vantage points. I have not asked to go with them and nor has it been offered, because I know that they guard this knowledge jealously. But I have seen the one guy’s GPS screen and whilst it was impossible to glean where it was in the ranges, it was absolutely packed with routes and waypoints. And I also know that he bought some very high resolution aerial photography from one of the mapping companies awhile back, for finding small slips and working out how to get to a good overwatch position.

What I’m saying is that the knowledge built up of these hunting areas has taken them years to amass. Their access points are highly unlikely to be the standard DOC walking trials. I am 99% certain that the one guy accessing from near Katikati is going through private land and then up an improbably steep climb before topping out well away from others.

Keep on going mate, and fastidiously record what you see / smell / here, where and when.