Thread: hunting in the kaimais

Originally Posted by Htown

Hey guys, just confused about the kaimais a bit, people seem to love hunting in the kaimais and get heaps of deer and highly rate it or they never see anything and think its shit.
because i live in the waikato, pureora and kaimais are my first options so i am wondering, is the kaimais good?
which areas are good ( not asking for personal spots ) but average areas where it woukd be good for newbie to start off at.
should i be basing my hunts off the tracks at kaimais?
i know kaimai heads are crappy but other than that are the deer in good nic etc
any infomation is great


cheers!!!!

@Htown this is my take on the Kaimais. Half the hunters you talk to say "No deer in the Kaimais" because they've tried a few times and haven't had any luck, but know that they're in there because plenty of hunters do shoot them, and it's a bit of tongue-in-cheek humour. The other half say "No deer in the Kaimais" because it's a tongue-in-cheek sort of way to say "You stay away from my kaimai deer". It's all just a laugh.

There are deer in the kaimais but they are a struggle to hunt. In my opinion, numbers are pretty low in most places. I started hunting it properly in March this year and have shot two deer in there since, but to put it in perspective, I hunted 3 full days in the Kaimanawas a couple months back and saw more deer than I have in the Kaimais since March, the numbers just seem to be that much higher there. Reason I hunt the Kaimais is it's close, not because it's the most epic hunting. That said, some of the more seasoned Kaimai hunters might disagree with me there, but there's a lesson in that - it takes time to find the good spots!

Yup the heads and are crap but the bodies are large! Some of those hinds in there will put your back out.

I don't hunt pureora, so I can't really say, but from talking to folk who do, it would be a better place to start out as a newbie. The only thing to be wary about with the Pureoras is it gets a lot of 1080, so call the DOC office and they'll put you onto an area that is in the clear.

Don't hunt on the track, get your compass and map work up to scratch and start adventuring off track. It's a hell of a lot of fun when you start out. That was the first thing I enjoyed about hunting well before I shot anything, getting off the track and into the real stuff! Typically speaking, you need to get off the track to see deer because the lingering human scent puts them off.

All the best with your hunting, buddy. You can give me a PM if you have anymore questions. I've only be at it about a year and a half so I'm not expert but I do remember what it was like starting out.