Thread: Hunting spots done a complete 360 on us

Iv heard both, some people say plenty of deer and some people say very little. I didn’t realise the Kaimais were so rough. I lived near the tararuas for years and assumed they would have been much more difficult being so much bigger. Oh well I suppose if I throw myself in the deep end it might pay off in the long term. Fingers crossed I can get out this week while the weathers mint and before foal watch starts.

Rusky is on to it, the deer numbers in there are moderate at worst. I usually see huge amounts of sign in there. The reason it’s so hard to get on to them is that the view range is so limited in any direction that by the time you locate one it is already on its way. I reckon for every deer I spook in there that I physically lay eyes on, there’d be half a dozen I hear/smell but never see. The closest I’ve seen one is about 4m, and the furthest would be 15-20 max.

In my experience the deer in there “migrate” seasonally too, some spots of mine I’ll get on to a deer every time in winter/early spring, but are dead in summer with only small patches of sign from resident animals. Other spots vice versa.

A lot of people pass it by on their way to the Pureoras and Kaimanawas, a lot of people hunt it without luck, and a lot of people hunt it once or twice and say “never again”. Persist in there, pick an access point and learn the area well, and keep a diary so that’s you can pick up patterns in seasonal movements etc.

Add to the above. Get a decent indicating dog

Originally Posted by Pengy

Add to the above. Get a decent indicating dog

Several years ago I lost my hunting buddy to an unpleasant narcissistic girl who pretended she was from Wellington when actually she was from Paeroa... anyway he took his deer dog with him when she decided they were moving to the concrete and glass... How I missed that dog, more than my mate! It was wise and just so competant, he had deer radar and made ‘a quick hunt in the Kaimais’ a genuine summer afternoon proposition.

One last tip @Chelsea, the deer most definitely do come out on farmland, we have them here regularly. Very very shy and usually only nighttime but sometimes if you’re up at first light you’ll see them. So in spring and early summer - like now - when the grass is coming away nicely - the deer will bed down quite a lot lower during the day before coming out at night. So we used to walk in on a regular access track but take off on the contour at a low elevation, just a couple of hundred metres above the boundary, heading towards spurs and gullies than ran down towards good grass with good game trails. Came up with the goods a few times like that, saves on a long hike in and out.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

Would be interested to know where you learnt that from @Rusky. I’ve heard good hunters say “some deer” to “a lot of deer” but never “high density”. Not arguing, just curious.

I’ve heard many many times inexperienced hunters or hunters new to the area say “no deer”!

There are certainly good numbers of deer in there, I think a lot of the issue finding them comes from both the state of the bush, and the topography. With the deer living up on the flat (at least where I hunt) its very hard to pattern their movements compared to hunting standard NI alpine stuff. The wind is much harder to predict in this flat terrain and the bush is very hard to navigate. Most will be bumping multiple deer without knowing it, although this is likely the case in most bush hunting.

Fly blown. I'm going by my observations and from what other hunters have experienced. My best day counting deer in there has been 14 deer. That is tight bush stalking and that's just the areas I can access. There is some snotty steep country on either side of the ranges where hunters wont venture to. I believe from now on the deer migrate to these fringes to access the farm fringes as I have difficulty finding deer in the summer.

Originally Posted by Rusky

Fly blown. I'm going by my observations and from what other hunters have experienced. My best day counting deer in there has been 14 deer. That is tight bush stalking and that's just the areas I can access. There is some snotty steep country on either side of the ranges where hunters wont venture to. I believe from now on the deer migrate to these fringes to access the farm fringes as I have difficulty finding deer in the summer.

I used to have the same issue in summer Rusky, but have slowly found better summer spots in there over the years. They certainly go from being everywhere to nowhere quickly in some spots. PM me if you want.

hi density of deer in certain areas that's forsure trouble is it tends to be where it extremly high density Bush 🤣🤣 . when I do find some really good zones (wallows and or communal areas) I usually find they have some sort of natural barrier ie walls off kie kie and supple jack around them they get pressured and ain't stupid ..... most of the time . in saying this i hit two not far from track yesterday moving to fast hadn't slowed to full stalk yet