Thread: Kaimai Deer and Wallows – Year-Round Use?

Creek heads with a breeze mid afternoon are gold as long as you hunt into the wind and can be quiet,hunting in Sox is a good idea this time of year.

I think it's good advice to focus more on proximity to water (during summer), and keep an eye on wind. Certain sections of Kaimai's have very little terrain (i.e. a plateau), so it can help to focus on the type of bush that tends to hold animals. The thick supplejack areas are near impossible to get through quietly, and the more open sections rarely hold animals outside of change of light or occassionally in strong winds when I think they end up confused by the direction of your scent. Sometimes it's about chosing where to invest your time, and making notes of areas to avoid on the next trip.

IME it's areas of moderate density ponga/treefern, covering 'grass', flanked by pockets of thick stuff, usually with visibility in the 20m range. If you see an open section, try to avoid walking through the middle of it as deer are often tucked up on the perimeter. After a enough time spooking deer you'll get a feel for it and can almost predict where a deer will likely be. As per usual, there's usually more deer movement early and late in the day, which tends to put the odds in your favour. Ideally you want to pick up movement before an animal spots you. A good Kaimai routine is to practice picking an aiming spot (e.g. part of a tree), and then shouldering your rifle so that your crosshair lands as close to your aim point as possible. Not sure on your experience level, but I've found several newer hunters take a long time to find an animal in the scope which isn't usually a luxury you have at Kaimai ranges.

Originally Posted by earplay

I think it's good advice to focus more on proximity to water (during summer), and keep an eye on wind. Certain sections of Kaimai's have very little terrain (i.e. a plateau), so it can help to focus on the type of bush that tends to hold animals. The thick supplejack areas are near impossible to get through quietly, and the more open sections rarely hold animals outside of change of light or occassionally in strong winds when I think they end up confused by the direction of your scent. Sometimes it's about chosing where to invest your time, and making notes of areas to avoid on the next trip.

IME it's areas of moderate density ponga/treefern, covering 'grass', flanked by pockets of thick stuff, usually with visibility in the 20m range. If you see an open section, try to avoid walking through the middle of it as deer are often tucked up on the perimeter. After a enough time spooking deer you'll get a feel for it and can almost predict where a deer will likely be. As per usual, there's usually more deer movement early and late in the day, which tends to put the odds in your favour. Ideally you want to pick up movement before an animal spots you. A good Kaimai routine is to practice picking an aiming spot (e.g. part of a tree), and then shouldering your rifle so that your crosshair lands as close to your aim point as possible. Not sure on your experience level, but I've found several newer hunters take a long time to find an animal in the scope which isn't usually a luxury you have at Kaimai ranges.

Have you spent much time in the kaimai's??? 20m visual range - that's basically the carparks at the road ends and that's about it!

One of the things with the Kaimais is most of it has been logged and is actually regen bush - this is why the supplejack has taken over in so many areas. As part of that, at frequent intervals running pretty much directly across the range there are tramlines and drag lines cut through the bush for getting the logs out - once you work out what you are looking it it's virtually impossible to get lost in there as you just need to follow the workings until you rejoin a main trail. The people that get lost in there are usually new to the area and are unaware of the big flashing neon signage saying "this way out".

The drag lines and forestry roads are often times covered with flax - these regularly hold deer in large numbers but they will be onto you on the other side of the flax bush quietly skulking around on the opposite side to you and out of your vision. Cunning bastards... I've been crawling through supplejack, unable to stand and can hardly move only to come out onto a wallow and stag preaching point with fresh rubs with green bark still leaking sap on the ground and the marks are higher than I can reach up the trees. And there's no gap in the supplejack the entire way around - like how the actual f were they getting in and out from there? Just a continuous knot of vines up to your waist and the bloody deer are moving through no worries easy as you please...

The scope comment is fair, but some parts the ranges are so close you often can't actually make out the deer in the scope. I had a little 2.5x scope on one rifle, I could see the deer by eyeball (or I could see the deer's eyeball so no worries with target ID haha) but through the scope I was trying to ID which hair I was looking at not was it part of the animal... Should have just looked down the barrel but you live and learn!

Originally Posted by No.3

Have you spent much time in the kaimai's??? 20m visual range - that's basically the carparks at the road ends and that's about it!

I hunted it on and off for about 20 years so a few hours in there , but yes 20m might be being generous. I think it depends a lot on where you go. The regen stuff is pretty nasty, but there are some much nicer pockets that I assume are more virgin, predominantly on the western side. I think people have varied experiences up there - I've been amused at times running into people who say it's either too thick to hunt, or even go as far as telling me that there aren't any deer in there.

Originally Posted by The bomb

hunting in Sox is a good idea this time of year.

This time of year if it rains i go for a hunt, less snap crackle and pop when everythings wet. For me rain in summer is a reason to go hunting, not a reason to head home.

For close bush hunting a normal 3 times scope is too much magnification for me. I either use open sights with lumo paint on the sights or a wide angle four power.

The deer get through the supplejack by putting their heads down and crawling under it. Seen them do it,sneaky bastards.