Thread: Second solo hunt - Kaimai attempt

you got close to success there mate.next time that happens in thick stuff do not move forward to close the distance and Get eyes on you'll 99/100 times be to noisy if its not nice bush.that deer would have heard you and known you were there but not what you were, deer a inquisitive and like to see what noise is if they haven't smelt danger.you should have given hind or fawn call and stayed still,8/10 times it will move to try and get eyes on you.

Originally Posted by CalibreWalker

Thanks folks, appreciate all the kind words and advice. Certainly a few things to try and bear in mind for the next trip. Makes me want to get on a walk with one of you experienced lot and just sponge up some knowledge. See what you look at, what interests you and how you walk an area.

I don't walk far now,lazey old fart.I sit in a spot and let the deer walk to me.Especilly around sunset and sun rise.If you walked more than a k,youv walked to far.Years ago I'd do 15-25k walks.Most of the deer I'd see within a k of the truck.Think smart,glass alot,walk less.

Originally Posted by Yesmate

you got close to success there mate.next time that happens in thick stuff do not move forward to close the distance and Get eyes on you'll 99/100 times be to noisy if its not nice bush.that deer would have heard you and known you were there but not what you were, deer a inquisitive and like to see what noise is if they haven't smelt danger.you should have given hind or fawn call and stayed still,8/10 times it will move to try and get eyes on you.

That's good to know. I was actually thinking to myself after the fact on the trek home that I should have stayed still and made a fawn call. Hopefully that comes to mind next time.

Originally Posted by Trout

I don't walk far now,lazey old fart.I sit in a spot and let the deer walk to me.Especilly around sunset and sun rise.If you walked more than a k,youv walked to far.Years ago I'd do 15-25k walks.Most of the deer I'd see within a k of the truck.Think smart,glass alot,walk less.

Hahaha, I won't say how far I walked then! Although, in my defence the secondary objective was actually to scout the area so I did want to cover some ground.

My instinct is the deer was grazing, or else it would have bolted (if it had seen you) or barked ("not sure what's going on here") at first contact. Next time you find yourself in that situation trying standing dead still for 10 minutes. Just listen, listen, listen. Particularly if it's tight, the only thing in your favour is picking up their movement or noise. I've learnt this with a dog on point. It works. They ninja through the tight supplejack like a tiger might - crouched low to the ground. I've caught out young animals and stags literally at 2/3 height snaking through the tight. And no, they are not always silent. Be still. Particularly at this time of year when every foot placement is noisy. Conversely, in the scenario where I've had a big hind "stone cold dead" feeding 5m away, placing one step to get a better shot angle set her off - gone - no one home. Just stay dead still. Wait. You'll see. And if they have fed off a little way, and are unaware, the next 10 foot placements are worth investing in quietly.

Originally Posted by RUMPY

Now you know where they are it should be easier. Slow down and make sure the wind is in your face. The reason this one did the short runs was because it didn't know what you were.
But like Micky Duck said, you didn't know it was a deer either until it barked.
I stopped and stood dead still for over 10 minutes on one of my last hunts because I could hear rustling in the bush below, turned out to be a blackbird feeding in the leaves.

Ive done similar but there was definatley nothing where the noise was coming from. It was a wood pidgeon dropping stuff from up in the trees...

Having spent a reasonable amount of time in the Kaimais, a somewhat counter-intuitive method when you are getting barked at is to "bark" back (your best impression anyway). In many cases deer will hold position and keep barking, allowing you to stalk in, or on other occassions you'll confuse another animal that you didn't know was there and it'll inadvertently wander in your direction. Like every hot-tip, it doesn't work everytime, and you've got to weigh up if you want to risk disturbing the area further - but in many cases I found, it doesn't hurt to try.

https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....aimais-102634/

I'd start by covering as much ground as you can to discover the best spots heavy in sign, and return with the slow and steady approach once you've got some trails to stalk.
Light rain is always great for bush stalking in there so see if you can line that up safely.

as a lot have said you are hunting the most difficult piece of bush in North Island next to Pureoras and then Kaimanawas - Te Urewera is great bush hunting - when you have a deer barking at you climb and try to cut them off they will generally climb - you can cut them off - neat when you can very satisfying fooled the old bitch you are for the BBQ

What elevation was it at?
You might enjoy doing the HUNTs course at your local deer stalkers club. They'll teach you some more skills.
Once you can find the deer, the next problem is shooting them before they bugger off.
Good work!

Above 500m, assuming my GPS was accurate. Yep, hunts course is on the list of things to do. Hopefully I can tee up a few things in the new year when people are all back from the break.