Thread: Hunting local + perseverance = a Te Puke fallow

Thought id share a bit of a yarn regarding hunting local/ perseverance / Te Puke fallow.

Like many (I suspect!) my hunting trips normally start with a long drive or jumping on a plane…and then a long drive, both resulting in getting to a “spot x” in the middle of nowhere. Earlier this year I was off work for a few weeks and with the spare time on my hands decided to investigate hunting a bit closer to home.

For the first few weeks I wasn’t up to going hunting, so let me “fingers do the walking” investigating local huntable locations and settled on having a crack at the Fallow herd in Te Puke after watching this video from a young guy who runs the NZ Chronicles you tube channel. I scoured this site for info (cheers @Gibo and others) and used it (and DoC Maps) to “scout” out a few potential locations to hunt.

Here’s how it went:
- Trip 1 – Scouting trip (no gun) – bush bashed for a couple of hours but managed to get where I wanted to go, arrived at midday, waited and watched - finally saw a hind and yearling feeding away on some grass, was stoked to see one… no luck (obviously given no gun)
- Trip 2 – Took a gun, found a quicker / easier track in which cut the walk to just over an hour, bumped a fallow in the bush and it stopped in range but bolted when I lifted the rifle to take a shot - no luck
- Trip 3 – Decided to try in the evening, bumped two in the bush, not seen. Got a tangled up in supple jack and lost my bearings walking out in the dark - no luck
- Trip 4 – Decided to make a day of it and take a very long way in, walked for 2 hours on the track and saw no sign at all, headed off track for a couple of hours and bumped 3 that were bedded down but didn’t get a shot off - no luck
- Trip 5 - Walked in in the dark (5 am), got to my hunting area at sunrise, stalked around and saw a hind in the same area that id seen deer in Trip 1. Lined up the hind and finally had one on the ground ! – Success !

What I learnt:
- Hunting is one of the best things you can do for your mental health
- I’ve driven/flown past a lot of deer – investigate what you have locally
- Perseverance is key
- Most of the posts on here regarding Te Puke Fallow are correct:
o Firstly, they certainly exist
o They are very hard to bush stalk, if you go slow you will hear (and potentially) see them but placing a shot on one as its buggering off is hard
o They love grass
- Hunting Te Puke is ok if you are local, but there are certainly better (easier / more animals) places to hunt in Waikato /BoP
- Always take a gun with you on scouting trips!

enjoy the venison...you sure earned this one.

Like you I thought I should hunt local, but after fluking a buck on my second trip, I then had half a dozen frustrating trips walking on crunchy rewarewa leaves. I now drive past to get some easier venison!
I will go back, but not when I need venison.

That last line is a golden rule for me . Hell , if I'm at a hut and go for a slash I take the rifle !
I think we all have experience in Murphy's law regarding when you will see animals....

Originally Posted by Ftx325

That last line is a golden rule for me . Hell , if I'm at a hut and go for a slash I take the rifle !
I think we all have experience in Murphy's law regarding when you will see animals....

A guy I know whos a way more successful hunter than me and is still gutted that the best stag he ever saw was on the other side of the river when he went down at last light to the river to brush his teeth and his rifle was back at the hut.

Murphy in action..

Yep - that Murphy fella just loves to rub it in