Hunt help

Hey team as per title just seeing if anyone can help. Been putting a fair bit of time into my hunting for the last 2 and a bit years and am really struggling with getting animals. Am still yet to crack a doc deer despite doing multiple trips to the kaimanawas, ureweras, kawekas, national park area. Costs are mounting up getting a bit of pressure applied for lack of return. Anyone able to help me out? Relatively fit and have great chat if you are happy with me to tag along as and always pay my way. Do not have much else to offer in return unless you are into seafood. Live in Auckland but am always travelling south to hunt on the weekend.
Cheers john

Hi John,
You will probably find most hunters like to keep their good hunting spots to themselves as they can be hard to come by. I have found it almost impossible to get onto private land accept for one time when a guy took me out and I made the most of it by shooting a nice little fellow spiker.

I have had to stick to Doc land and have had success due to perseverance, it sounds like you are going to the right places you just need to do things a bit differently, for example spend plenty of time glassing animals with the bino's. Find a couple of clearings and just sit over looking them right up to dark and see if any animals come out, look for a sunny face during the day with plenty of native, the deer like to come out for a nibble but still like a bit of cover.

Once you know where the animals are you can then plan your attack, I have been out the last 6 times and haven't shot anything however I have been watching some deer feeding in a clearing a bit further in so the next time I go out and now that my freezer is getting empty I am going to sit over that spot about 300 meters from them and all going well I should be bringing home some meat.

Keep trying John and you will get them and it will give you great satisfaction knowing you have done it all by yourself :thumbsup:

I have to agree with 7mm Rem Mag. Park up in a location with good country in front of you (making sure you are downwind of the area) and spend a lot of time glassing the sunny spots. A wee snooze in the sun is good for you as well! A couple of hours rest without moving around and you will be surprised what pops up. When they are lying down they can be very hard to spot so pay extra attention to any area that looks likely. There are an awful lot of animals missed by hunters who simply try to cover too much territory in a day. Animals are like people in that they don't like the cold and enjoy resting in the sun during the main part of the day.

Good advice here already, put in lots of leg work and you will get there, although its very tempting to pull the trigger as soon as you see something, you can learn a great deal more by observing animals undisturbed. As long as you have the wind in your face and you can stalk quietly the animals will come.

Pick one of the areas you mentioned you’ve been visiting. Keep going back . Learn your area well. Once you’ve shot one they will come much easier.

I know it can be very disheartening, all that time and effort without reward. Even though there are more deer about now (everywhere) than there have been for at least 40 years - they are no less wary and wild than they ever were. Its a mistake to think that large numbers equals easy to shoot!

Its hard to emphasis enough about first and last light, and careful glassing, deer are masters of "just appearing", one minute nothing, then you see one then several.

It may be old advice but its still none the less the best - spend the most money on your binos, then a good scope and finally a rifle. Hardly anyone heeds to that advice but I can tell you I've seen more game in the last 4 or 5 years I've had my Leica's (which cost a small fortune) than I did in the previous 10 years. You'll maybe find that having a fine bit of glass on you neck encourages you to stop and look, if only because they cost so much that you feel you must use them!!

@superdiver as @Sika Seeker said take a pic of one of the spots that you have been going too in your original op. Keep going back. Took me about the same time to get my first deer. That was out of the Kaimai rangers back in the early 90 when deer numbers were not so good. My mistake was always changing spots.
+1 also on what @Tentman said about the binoculars and scope rifle set up. Even if your bush stalking use those bins! If your sweating your going to fast, for bush stalking walk till you find sign then slow right down look under through and around trees vines.
Also useing bins means your not point your rifle at something you haven’t identified.
Some light dark colour gloves helps stop hand flash as you constantly bring your bins up to your face.
Good luck it will come as said above once you get your first it will fall into place.

great advice so far...... wind direction is paramount,carry and use a cig lighter to keep checking it.
when you find fresh sign slow down till you think you are going too slow then slow down some more..3 steps,look around...3 more steps stop and look around some more..... keep at it and dont give up,when you get a chance for a shot TAKE TIME TO GET A REST AND USE IT.... I spent years hunting nice open ridges and didnt see deer..they live sleep and eat in the gullies and slips walk up ridge till you find sign or old tracks leading off then sidle around faces...when you find level deer seem to be at STAY at that height the deer will be in band 20-100mtrs high as thats where feed is best at that time of year. get out of bed early and walk into area in dark...be Johnny on the spot as day breaks
slow down some more and use binos on any open areas...what are you looking for???? movement/colour/horizontal line/shape.....then look harder at IT and make 500% sure what you are looking at.

Another point I found, is rather than offer to tag along with another hunter to their spot, see if you can get a more experienced (successful) hunter to tag along with you. Getting them to see what you are doing and help you to learn what you need to do is what you want. And being able to do this where you have looked before can be a great way of seeing what you missed last time.

Dont despair it took me two years to get my first deer. You have already got some very god advice in the threads written so far. Pay special attention to the tread written by tentman as I know what he is talkin about. I have been on two hunting trips with him and he is always first to spot deer with his Leica. I have been on a two month hunting trip to NZ and the biggest animal I shot was a wallaby:P The thing is that one does not just walk in to the bush/mountains and shoot a big stag. My advice to you is have patience and eventually your hunting will pay off. In the meanwhile just enjoy the great NZ outdoors which I consider the very best i the whole world.

find a area with decent sign shouldn't be hard where your going keep going back an get to know the area like the back of ur hand . invest in a trail cam it's gonna happen sooner or later mate! I know a bloke that s 3 years deep I've put him onto 3 separate deer an he's fucked them all up so ur not alone . in a certain area notorious for being hard it took me three years to bag one. iv shot 3 there this year . failing that go an shoot a free range fallow at one of the many places avalible an get the monkey off ur back then get back into th public land . my 20c anyway

Thanks for the info and offers guys. I will be in touch with those who have offered help. @300blk I have actually shot a few deer but not getting as much satisfaction shooting them on private land even though some of them have been bush stalked. I just want to crack them on Doc land. I may sound a bits ungrateful but I can assure you I am not. (to everyone) Been focusing on areas that are just bush so cannot sit and glass unfortunately. If any experienced hunter wants to come for a hunt let me know and we will see what we can arrange.
Cheers John

hey mate I'm in a similar boat to you, also a previous JAFA except I live in Palmy now so hunt in the Ruahines a fair bit. The only difference between us is that recently I have started looking for spots where I can get up high, and glass over an entire catchment- not just one slip. Since doing this every hunt I have been on this year I have seen deer and have shot a few public land ones already this year after only getting one by fluke in the last couple of years. Give it a go, it's not as good as getting one proper public land bush stalking but it''s good to get some shit in the freezer- then when your freezer is full you can turn your attention to mastering bush stalking. I agree with you that private land deer are pretty much not deer at all

My two cents worth.

In the last 18 months or so, I've been hunting areas I've never hunted before in my life, and my freezer is always in good order. To see what was happening where, I ask the question: where is the shelter from the wind and traps the sun? and has access to food and cover close by, then park myself on the opposite side in the cold/dark joyless side in a spot that gives the widest vision angle and watch all day, accepting the fact you'll shoot nothing that day (or days ). Have a printed map handy (I use Freashmaps, has 3D as well) and take compass bearings on the animals you see and mark their position on the map and note the timings. Build a picture of the daily routines, be patient doing it and never go near it while you study it. Don't go after the first animal you see if you want to future proof your new spot x. If nothing transpires, move to a new location and do it again.

I tend to look for an east/west creek/stream/river and park it in a good spot on the south facing side. We all have our own methodologies, mine works for me, but the most important thing to do is: have a plan in the first place!

ok I hear where you are coming from.... get into the gullies with the wind right and keep at it....find the food and you will find the deer sooner or later.

Sounds like I need to get up high and glass. Time to hit new spots then. The joys of living in Auckland means everywhere is far away.

but far far away will probably take you less driving time than a trip across town...... a trip down to clements road to chase the wiley sika will be good for the soul...you might not manage to shoot one or even see one but at least those huas let you know when youve been busted at close range which means you learn quickly what does n doesnt work,transpherable to all deer stalking...this is hard time of year for deer come spring time things become much esier.

I have been in clements 2 weekends in the last month. No luck yet but hopefully soon

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

but far far away will probably take you less driving time than a trip across town...... .

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yea bought the missus a new car last week from henderson took us 3 hours to get from henderson to takanini and then only an hour and a half to get home just out of ngatea...... i can get to pureora or clements from here on the hauraki plains quicker

If you know there are deer in an area, just keep going back Johnny boy. Sooner or later you'll get one. But having said that, you might be travelling too fast, not sidleling enough basins, not planning your approach properly, not concealing yourself enough, not being quiet enough (I never have luck with hunting buddies).
But one thing is certain, a deer on DOC land in my books is worth 10 on private land.

Wow that a great outpouring of encouragement and advice !
I don't think anyone has recommended to stay at home yet have they ? This is a very hard time of year to get deer. They are virtually hibernating in sheltered sunny gully heads and faces. Not many will come out in the open. They won't move much and leave sign.

So don't do too many trips over the winter. Plan some for November onwards. Meanwhile build up your marksmanship and fitness. If you go to Clements rd set aside a couple of hours to stop at the taupo range and check and recheck zero, practice specially standing and snap shots.


Get some work done around the house,fix your hunting gear,spend time with friends or family for the next 3 or 4 months.

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

Wow that a great outpouring of encouragement and advice !
I don't think anyone has recommended to stay at home yet have they ? This is a very hard time of year to get deer. They are virtually hibernating in sheltered sunny gully heads and faces. Not many will come out in the open. They won't move much and leave sign.

So don't do too many trips over the winter. Plan some for November onwards. Meanwhile build up your marksmanship and fitness. If you go to Clements rd set aside a couple of hours to stop at the taupo range and check and recheck zero, practice specially standing and snap shots.


Get some work done around the house,fix your hunting gear,spend time with friends or family for the next 3 or 4 months.

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Winter hunting can be frustrating at times but is pretty awesome when you do happen on some fresh sign, shes usually all on with the deer mobbed up like that.

Plus it's less crowded and no blowflies. Haha

or wasps:omg:

@Bagheera my marksmanship is pretty good esp since I started reloading as am shooting alot of lead at paper. Rushed re sighting in the other night and still managed a 0.75MOA which is mint as I know what I shoot at I should be getting haha. Fitness is what I am working on which will have me sussed. Yeah Adam that is the plan hunting with exp guys that I can learn off. Probably exposing myself too much and not checking the right places

I didn't mean to say DONT go hunting - getting out in the Bush is the whole point of it ! But dont be disappointed if you dont see much. @Nick-D is right deer will be concentrated and a lot of perfectly good spots will have none in residence so you need to be alert to the first fresh sign on the edge of a yarding up area.

0.75 moa is very good but you also need to have that centered exactly where you want and practice at longer and specially shorter ranges like 10 and 20m. Also for hunting, marksmanship is 6moa while standing on a wobbly concrete block or sitting on a wet hillside using a flexi turpentine bush for a some support. A couple of years ago I decided I was losing too many hard to find deer due to missed shots and went to work on it.

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Originally Posted by superdiver

@Bagheera Yeah Adam that is the plan hunting with exp guys that I can learn off. Probably exposing myself too much and not checking the right places

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No point in going with me then. Deer just pop out infront of me for no apparent reason. I'm sure deer are getting a lower IQ as I'm getting older :p

Hey @superdriver, I've had similar experiences Bush hunting. Hunted Kaimanawas exclusively for my first year, and although I saw quite a few and put in a lot of hours, I didn't get that elusive sika! F$&kers.......these days I look for deer where I'd like to be.... Sunny, warm and food. Then when you come across that sign and the "spidey" senses start tingling, go slower than slow. If they get the jump on you, a decent whistle can stop them in their tracks and I've pegged a number of deer in the Bush this way. But man it sounds like you're soooooo close! Good luck and take care.