Thread: My Sambar for 2022

A lot of the good Sambar hunting is on private land or closed forestry land. We have hunted them for about the last six years and have had reasonable success. The trail cameras have captured many nice stags and animal groups which are trophies in their own right.
I have shot several good stags one at 197 and the other at 212 DS along with several around the 170-180 class. An interesting animal , sometimes very hard to get close to and other times they have done dumb things. My two best were classic examples of not so bright, the 197 one we drove past at about 30 yards trying to hide next to a pine tree at about 3 in the afternoon. The biggest was in the evening and walked out about 40 yards from me and walked slowly away watching me.
Meats ok in small goods but a nice steak off a red beats it hands down.
The shores of Lake Rerewhakiutu ( spelling wrong)and around Waimangu have good numbers and as far as I know is DOC land. You could go talk to DOC in Rotorua they would have a better handle on what's the go out that way. There is farmland bordering this DOC land so a bit of door knocking may gain you access.