Thread: Should I have shot this Deer?

I know a lot of guys will tell you that particularly when your starting out don’t be afraid to shoot what you can. But as a young hunter myself it’s amazing how quickly once you see one animal there’s normally others not far away. And while I know it’s not always possible you’ll learn a lot more about their behaviour by just observing them instead of shooting the first thing that comes into view. My advice is change your hunting objective away from just trying to shoot something and more to seeing how many deer you can find in a trip. Even though it might not always feel that way there are no shortage of deer around and the more time you spend learning their behaviour the more you’ll see instead of just bowling the first one you see.

yeah man , would be mint eating .

Just shoot whatever you see. If we don't, DOC will.

In the age of a burgeoning population of YouTube hunters, the deer population is still rapidly increasing. I saw something about a game management plan for the Ruahines being underway. A lot of people will be up in arms at their precious resource being attacked, but can't say I'm surprised. Everything below head height is generally stripped bare, and the resulting slips/scree are smashing down existing vegetation, with no new growth coming through to stabilise.

Keen to hear what @Tahr, @woods223, @Barry the hunter and folk of their skill, experience, and wisdom have to say on the matter, but my view is, by all means observe and learn behaviour, but ultimately shoot whatever you see while you can.

I get the ethical hunting approach from TV hunting "celebs", but until someone persuades me otherwise, I think that if the recreational hunting community don't put a noticeable dent in the growing ungulate population, a far less discriminate entity will.

I think all hunters no matter you're experience level van benefit from "sharpening the stone" shooting deer, specifically hinds. In my opinion it's fine to be holding out for that dream stag but there is so much to be gained from stalking and shooting hinds in the same areas you hope to find that great big stag. You'll learn/refresh the important skills of quickly finding suitable shooting positions on the hill, shooting at different angles and actually planning stalks to get to a shooting position rather than the animal. We can all gain something from getting into "kill mode" more frequently because when that rare opportunity at a big one rolls around you don't want it to be the first time in however many years you've had to flick the switch and seal the deal, you want it to be familiar and smooth.

Venison ain't hard to give away and even if you're way back the back steaks and a boned out leg are a better option than the search and destroy missions that @yeah_na_missed is alluding to.

In reply to yeah_na_missed this is my 2c. In many parts of the country you're dead right. However, some parts carry minimal numbers and locals might not be too happy with this approach. Horses for courses and all that. Over the top of the south island region it's pretty much shoot any feral Ungulate you come across.For context I'll give some scenarios.
1: Area of Queen Charlotte, approx. 290Ha. A few deer around but main problem is goats and pigs. Don't worry about deer too much but since 2016 have shot over 3000 animals, mostly goats. Getting on top of problem but there is always in-fill from surrounding areas, bush is recovering though.
2: Another area of QC sound, several hundred Ha holding deer, goats & pigs. Trap and Trigger have shot this area via chopper/thermal gear and follow-up ground shooting. Animals are still there and a problem.Where accessible you can still easily shoot animals so again it's shoot what you see.
3: Private station in Awatere valley about 19000 Ha, some of which I have shot over. A few years ago 1300 deer were shot via chopper, there is ongoing WARO on a small scale and numbers are still escalating. Another area where the policy is thin to waste on parts of station.As a side note, go back a few days later and find pig numbers that are surprising, again shoot on sight.
4: Private station down Kekerengu way. Nearly 1000 Ha. Deer goats and pigs present. Goats and pigs the policy is shoot on sight. Deer are a different story.Property is a popular roar blk. and owner derives a small income from this so deer are mostly a no-go. However when numbers are too high it's a selective culling situation. Deer numbers are manageable. Its good to see groups of velvet stags, assess head quality and cull as necessary.
5; DOC estate it's pretty much shoot what you see for me.
Before anyone gets all wound up and precious, where easily accessible I recover a fair bit of meat which gets supplied to local Food Bank, Community Kitchen, RSE workers or general public in that order for free. Basically it's up to individual choice as to whether to shoot animal or not. Post got a bit long winded sorry.

That's an awesome response thanks @woods223! Very interesting to read some of those numbers. And agree not all areas and situations are the same.
@Hookgrass, agree, and wasn't specifically talking about shooting to waste - I'll always take as much meat as I can carry, even if just back steaks (my friends and neighbours are pretty well looked after). I get that it's different for everyone - some people might spend a lot of time and money getting somewhere for a shot on a cracker stag/buck/bull which is fair enough, was more suggesting that currently, people like the OP shouldn't get too hung up or question themselves about knocking over a couple of extra animals on the way out (or in). That's a good point about staying sharp too!

Originally Posted by craigc

Second year hunting; shoot anything you can carry. Worry about being a grumpy old man once you’ve shoot 100!
Honestly you did the right thing. There’s miles to many deer around, they’re better in your freezer than rotting after being shot by a helicopter.
Enjoy your hunting journey and develop your hunting ethics from close strong relationships with people you know and trust, and more importantly hunt with.
That’s what I’d do if I was you.

100% on all of this, me and hunting mates generally take 10 rounds each- and sometimes shoot as many as we can in areas with high numbers.

It’s awesome that you are thinking about that stuff already - it will help you grow to be better hunter whilst other single minded ones will stay stuck in the mud.

If you want to manage numbers then always choose females over males if presented the choice. If you want to grow mature old stags and trophies then let the young ones grow. That aside just go with your own journey, as a new hunter just get amongst it and enjoy shooting what makes you happy. The fact that you are thinking about this stuff already means you will grow into it and develop your own values by yourself with experience.

Some times and places I am happy to shoot as many as I can to manage numbers whilst other places and times I will be picky based on herd management principles that a want to apply for that area or time. It can depend.

Carefully selecting a mature Wapiti Bull is a very different kettle of fish to the need to shoot every damn deer you see in the Ruahine Ranges as an extreme example.

Enjoy

If We dont shoot enough, then sooner or later an area gets 1080 bombed and we lost them anyway and the hunting for about 6 months to a year. If i see 3 deer in high deer number areas thats 3 i will bowl them all if i can. Thousands and thousands of them around in some areas. I just take as much meat as possible even if i have to fill the pack and then hang a heap more up in a cooler spot in my portable meat safe and make 2-3 trips back. Meat price is worth it .

1080 isn't used to target deer. Deer numbers are not a 1080 use criteria.

Good on you for doing multiple pack in out trips to recover the meat.

One theme I see in this thread is choice of sex importance in herd management.

Look we are quite happy as a group to criticise DOC for culling bull tahr in their culls. On the grounds that killing bulls does nothing for herd management. Well it's the same for deer. We need to kill females!

Im at the stage now where my attitude has changed so much, and Ive seen so big an increase in numbers in some areas. Like the ruahines, like sumner, that I will now shoot hinds and their fawns at this time of year. It's unpleasant for sure. But we really need to start getting serious.

"1080 isn't used to target deer. Deer numbers are not a 1080 use criteria."
While 1080 isn't currently used to target deer that could always change. There has been enough trial work done in previous years to have quantified sowing rates, application methods and dose rates to enable it's use if there was a policy change and approved label use change.By-kill is expected/accepted in most notified operations. Sometimes the by-kill is reasonably high, just look back to what happened on Molesworth in the not so distant past, numbers rebounded fairly quickly though. Used to be licenced under the old Vertebrate Pest Control system, had a bit to do with 1080,cyanide,phosphorus use over the years. Things have moved on over the years but never say never with 1080 I have a hunch.