Seeking Tips for Tracking Red Deer in the Kaimai's

Hey everyone,

I just got back from a hunt in the Kaimai's and wanted to share my experience and seek some advice. During my trip, I managed to close in on a stag, but it was only because it started roaring. I did hear it initially walking, but it was very quiet and difficult to track.

I'm familiar with looking for fresh droppings, but I'm looking for more tips on what signs to look out for when trying to find red deer. What are the subtle clues and indicators that can help me locate them more effectively?

Also, I've noticed that fantail birds and other small birds sometimes come to me and hang around. Do these birds also hang around deer? Could their behavior be an indicator of nearby deer?

Thanks in advance for your help!

the fantails hanging around are after the many small insects you are disturbing as you move thru the the bush - will try and give you some pointers re your general question tomorrow

I would be surprised to hear a roaring stag this time of year. More likely it was barking at you. Hinds will also bark so might not have even been a stag.

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Originally Posted by TakaRat

Hey everyone,

I just got back from a hunt in the Kaimai's and wanted to share my experience and seek some advice. During my trip, I managed to close in on a stag, but it was only because it started roaring. I did hear it initially walking, but it was very quiet and difficult to track.

I'm familiar with looking for fresh droppings, but I'm looking for more tips on what signs to look out for when trying to find red deer. What are the subtle clues and indicators that can help me locate them more effectively?

Also, I've noticed that fantail birds and other small birds sometimes come to me and hang around. Do these birds also hang around deer? Could their behavior be an indicator of nearby deer?

Thanks in advance for your help!

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Thats good thinking with the fantail, the reason the hang around is because they like to eat the bugs that you disturb, but as far as using them to track deer goes, unless the scrub is the correct height, you will be able to see deer and fantail or neither.

Knowing the deer diet and putting yourself amoung food trees and looking for browse is productive.

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Originally Posted by Chur Bay

I would be surprised to hear a roaring stag this time of year. More likely it was barking at you. Hinds will also bark so might not have even been a stag.

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Attachment 253489

Yeah, my thoughts are the same. I've attached an audio file my mate recorded when we heard it initially. You can faintly hear it in the background

Sometimes you just get a feeling the scrub has been trodden on and disturbed . This is more in open areas and by river banks. If there are few deer around small plants just look fresher and more exuberant. Goats do the same but even more so. You see trails where animals have pushed through the scrub even if they dont leave much definite sign in the ground.

This is on top of seeing plants actually eaten or fresh droppings or hoof marks.

A clue that a deer is REAL close is finding new droppings balanced on top of grass or bushes. Once I even saw them suspended on a knot of supplejack vines in the Kaimais. A few steps further down and “Wooof !” They appeared and disappeared into the jungle.

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

the fantails hanging around are after the many small insects you are disturbing as you move thru the the bush - will try and give you some pointers re your general question tomorrow

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Awesome, cheers!

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Deer trails in the bush can sometimes look like sheep yards.lots of Pooh's and a path down to dirt.foot prints show up well in dirt,not so good on rock or leaf litter...but they are there.leap frogging is moving forward in what you think is right direction and finding footprints/ sign again. PERSONALLY the tracking of individual animal only gets done after a shots been fired if it doesn't drop...hunting into the wind through likely areas and areas with visible sign is more productive for me. And go slowly.three or four steps and stop and scan around,up down sideways and back behind you.

In my experience an indication a deer is reasonably close is a barking noise lol. Although catching up with it is another story.

Attachment 253608

Heres an example of a windfall light gap in the kaimanawas thats just not as well vegetated s it ought to be. Sort of trampled and denuded but not much obvious prints or definite browse. screamed deer to me but nothing seen on the day.

The kaimais is a bitch of a place to close-hunt red's.

The reason for that is nothing short of the fact that several thousand people go through there every week including school trips, mum's walking groups having a day "communing with nature" while chattering and making more noise than a 747 at take off thrust, old people tramping groups, Kauri tree lovers, F&B nature types, various other groups plus all the hunters.

The deer are onto this human lark. They will hear you coming, bolt hole, and reappear like ghosts once the coast is clear. I've been having a rest and a drink on the main track when a group of ladies wandered through, heard them coming about 10mins before they went past yabbering on about how great nature is, not one of them saw me standing two meters off the track in bloody hi-vis cams (new, bright orange stuff) and they departed as loudly as they arrived. Not 1min after they had gone, three reds crossed the track about 10m from me. Can't shoot on the track with DOC permit rules obviously but bloody hell...

Your best option for the kaimais is learn the behaviour of the deer for the seasons and the prevailing weather of the time and go where they will be. This is a factor of feed, access to water, security and pressure (i.e. distance from things that want to kill them) and comfortable conditions. It's easier to intercept them on the move so they hit you heading into the wind basically, as they hold all the aces on you once they've got you pegged.