Thread: Hunting in the snow - North Island

Is hunting in the snow worth a go? Just watching a tv show where they are hunting in the snow in the US and git me thinking id like to give it a crack.

Was thinking maybe next winter somewhere like desert road area, since it be a lot cheaper and closer than going to the SI which i know is the obvious place to go.

Anyone have any experiences doing this that they are willing to share?

Cheers

Easy to see where they have been. Fucken cold though.

I'm planning on giving it a go fairly soon. Hoping to do my first Alpine SI trip next year and need to get used to crampons and ice axe again as it's been over 20 yrs.

Keen to hear others experiences also.

REALY easy to follow a blood trail too.
the animals are still there,they cant jump on plane to rarotonga for 3 months..... you just have to find where they are hanging out..fresh snow dump arguably makes it easier as any sign visible will be VERY fresh.
Im finding the huas in the bush,just cant quite seal the deal lol

Do you guys reckon using the hills as vantage points where i can would be worth while as they be moving around? Or best seash the gulleys and sheltered bits for fresh sign? Sounds like it might be worth a crack

both....

Spoke to Wayne Pratt a few years ago when he was flying us into the Upper Karamea. He operates Air Charter Karamea. Wayne ran a 500 in the venison era at Taihape. He features in Forresters book. He had hunting rights on Ngamatea. Kept on missing a huge mob of deer out the back. Big snow dump. Cranked up the 500 flew out the back and just followed the tracks in the snow. Herded a big mob of stags into a gully deep in snow and got the lot without much effort. Lin Wilson another venison pilot in Hawkes Bay got many many deer just following the tracks particularly in the Ruahine tops.

Had a go once in Pureora. Just got cold n wet. Nah fuck that.

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Originally Posted by tiroahunta

Had a go once in Pureora. Just got cold n wet. Nah fuck that.

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Did only once in Pureora and got a stag laying down in the coldest gut you could imagine.

The carry out cured my coldness.

Sometimes you can follow tracks in the snow a very long way.

Snow in NZ is nothing like the snow in USA
Ours is wet snow and doesn't support weight the same for snow shoeing around.

Mid winter (= snow ) deer shut down and have very different needs. They exist in a much smaller home range and can be quite hard to find despite snow.
Hunting in snow is easy for a day trip, but very tiring and hard overnight and multi day.
Lots of different muscles get used in different ways in the snow, so its hard work if you aren't used to it.

I have good snowshoes and its a nice option when snow conditions are ideal.
But that's not often.
Day hunting on snowshoes for hare and wallaby is a lot of fun and a good way to learn how hard it can be.

You can't move in the bush very easily when there's been heavy snow and good walking tracks can become a nightmare when all the smaller trees and branches are loaded down with snow.

Like I said first up NZ snow and USA snow are very different things

I wouldnt bother some one had raised this on facebook wanted to head up the urchin or umakarikari to "hunt in the snow" skunded like he was going to get himself killed to be honest despite countless replys about how serious it can get up their fast this time of year general consensus was want to play in the snow go to the mountain want to see an animal and perhaps shoot one in the snow go down south

I took two North Island friends hunting a few years ago.
They had flights booked and came despite there being a very heavy snow forecast all across the Alps.
We waited an extra day and went ahead with the original plan.
I was the only one with snowshoes. We could have hired some in CHCH but the other guys thought they would be ok.
My snow hoes are 25" long Mountain Ascent and pretty light and easy to use, but still a challenge with a three day pack weight.

We were all good until the snow on the track had brought down lots of branches and dumped big lumps as it fell off.
Once the snow was deep enough for the snowshoes I took the lead to pack it down for the other two.
But once we hit the top of the tree line they were fucked.
I was able to get to the bivvy quite easily once out of the bush with its snags and uneven spots.
It took them several hours to catch up with me at the biv because once they cleared the bush the snot was over half a meter deep.
We had a very very cold night because there was very limited firewood at the biv and even though the bush edge was close all the potential firewood was buried with snow.
I spent most of the next day roaming around at speed checking out animal tracks for miles around.
So yes if you get the timing right you can see a lot of animal movement. Especially if you go in straight after a heavy dump of snow and there is good high pressure in the few days afterwards.
But fuel and warmth are not an option.

Now that I have a proper 6 man tepee and tent stove I would be tempted to walk in before a big snow storm and set up a decent camp. Spend a day filling half the tepee with dry firewood and hunker up while it snows and be on the spot when it clears.
Not to shoot anything ( unless it was exceptional ) but just to see what happens that first day after a huge snow dump.
The only thing really stopping me from doing this is the weight of the gear you would need to undertake this safely.
Hot tent and stove.
Snow shoes, poles and special gloves ( your hands get exceptionally cold holding poles while snowshoeing because they are always in the same place )
Light axe and folding saw.

So what I am trying to portray is yes it's very cool to hunt in heavy snow, but it's very difficult and dangerous if the slightest thing goes wrong.
It's a winter only activity, the days are short and the nights are long.
So time management is a huge issue.
It ain't like the movies

Sounds like a cool idea for a winter hunt. Need a few people to help carry gear.

Was hunting in the snow in the Ruahines during the roar. Wasn't completely covered in snow but was a fairly decent amount. Saw 13 on the tops in the day.