Thread: Kaimai hunt this week

Originally Posted by Toby

At one of our spots its 1km via a ridge line to the hunting grounds which is great.

Okay, and that was no problem leaving before sunrise or coming back after sunset?

We are lazy cunts and dont hunt in the morning we go more for getting away from adults but enjoy shooting the ole deer at sunset. its all good in the dark just a climb up the ridge from where we shoot deer is a mission. last time we got lazy there tried skipping to the camp by going on a track through the bush, got lost and gps battery's went dead. but we know the area pretty well and were out fast enough.

Haha sounds like good times

They are great times. Getting in the shit is always more entertaining.

Haha that is true. Makes for the best stories.

Yeah, although the parents dont find out we got lost at night time, except my step dad he just laughed and said you learnt your lesson. yup sure did, take more then one pair of spares.

Originally Posted by Rushy

Let us all know!

Same here mate. I promise I wont go in there if you get something

Originally Posted by phillipgr

I realise you are probably busy mucko but I thought I might as well tell you, you are more than welcome to join me and my mate with us if you are keen

always keen just lack the time of day. could be keen later on, have to see how time off works out. thanks for the offer thou

Hi Phillipgr,
how did you get on?
I was in there on sat on my first hunt, nobody could come so i went solo.
I managed to spook one and saw a fair bit of sign.
I was actually quite suprised how much i enjoyed been out by myself.

So here's how it went. It was good and bad. Bad because I didn't score a deer, much less, I didn't even spook or see one. This I don't really mind because I feel like I learnt stuff, this is why its good.

We found lots of sign, mostly in the form of droppings but some hoof prints in muddy areas (most places weren't muddy). I also saw an antler rubbing which was cool as I've never seen one before. Most of the droppings were very hard and old but some were soft and I think only once or twice I saw moist/wet droppings. Is it normal to see mostly old sign and much less new? And when you see old sign, do you take it was sign that deer frequent the area, or that they were once there but probably got spooked out? It was good to get the feel for locating sign. I also found some of what I think were pig rootings and droppings on one of the clearings but the forum won't let me upload the photos to show you guys (too big).

I hunted the first clearing dawn and dusk and nothing came out. I opted for the first clearing as it was the one which had the most grass that seemed good to eat. Also it offered a good vantage point and was an easy walk to our camp. I had a problem with the wind as it was very slight, I had trouble (especially when stalking) to keep it on my face. When it seems as though there is virtually no wind, can you forget about it and stalk in any direction? or must you try really hard to keep what little wind there is on your face?

Often when I came across sign when I was stalking I would stop and just listen for awhile. A few times I heard some noise, but nothing that made me think there was definitely a deer about, the bush was dammned quiet most of the time.

I'll definitely give the place another crack because there was a some decent sign in there, but I think it probably gets a pretty decent hounding being so accessible and so close to tauranga, so maybe its not the easiest place for a newbie like me.

All in all I had a good time and I'd say I made some progress.
Next time I hope I'm more 'lucky' haha

And cheers for the help again mucko. PM me sometime if you are free and want to head out there - I'll be your pack-horse bitch-boy for all the help you've given me haha

Originally Posted by 1toeknee1

Hi Phillipgr,
how did you get on?
I was in there on sat on my first hunt, nobody could come so i went solo.
I managed to spook one and saw a fair bit of sign.
I was actually quite suprised how much i enjoyed been out by myself.

Hey dude, nice work. What time were you in there? I was out by 9.30ish
Its great being out there by yourself, isn't it?
If you have trouble finding someone to head out with in the future and you want a buddy, flick me a PM and if I'm free we can head out together.
Cheers

Originally Posted by phillipgr

So here's how it went. It was good and bad. Bad because I didn't score a deer, much less, I didn't even spook or see one. This I don't really mind because I feel like I learnt stuff, this is why its good.

We found lots of sign, mostly in the form of droppings but some hoof prints in muddy areas (most places weren't muddy). I also saw an antler rubbing which was cool as I've never seen one before. Most of the droppings were very hard and old but some were soft and I think only once or twice I saw moist/wet droppings. Is it normal to see mostly old sign and much less new? And when you see old sign, do you take it was sign that deer frequent the area, or that they were once there but probably got spooked out? It was good to get the feel for locating sign. I also found some of what I think were pig rootings and droppings on one of the clearings but the forum won't let me upload the photos to show you guys (too big).



I hunted the first clearing dawn and dusk and nothing came out. I opted for the first clearing as it was the one which had the most grass that seemed good to eat. Also it offered a good vantage point and was an easy walk to our camp. I had a problem with the wind as it was very slight, I had trouble (especially when stalking) to keep it on my face. When it seems as though there is virtually no wind, can you forget about it and stalk in any direction? or must you try really hard to keep what little wind there is on your face?

Often when I came across sign when I was stalking I would stop and just listen for awhile. A few times I heard some noise, but nothing that made me think there was definitely a deer about, the bush was dammned quiet most of the time.

I'll definitely give the place another crack because there was a some decent sign in there, but I think it probably gets a pretty decent hounding being so accessible and so close to tauranga, so maybe its not the easiest place for a newbie like me.

All in all I had a good time and I'd say I made some progress.
Next time I hope I'm more 'lucky' haha

And cheers for the help again mucko. PM me sometime if you are free and want to head out there - I'll be your pack-horse bitch-boy for all the help you've given me haha

so you had fun and learnt heaps thats awesome, now put those skills to use and head up old kaimai road and hit the henderson tram line, for you photos download faststone photo resizer with a bit of a play you will have the file size right for uploading. talk soon

Did you take note on the sign at your height with time of the year? I found alot of old sign up high around jan but on the way up there was fresh sign so I guess the deer hang out lower at time of the year idk yet not enough years to tell for sure but its something I want to check out so I know later in life.

Here are the photos. What do you reckon, pig rooting and pig poo? How old?

Cheers for the resizing tip mucko

And Toby, good tip, I should take note of that. It was at about 400m.

Looks like you are right, im not so sure about age haven't really learnt much on that to me it is either fresh or old.