Thread: South Island, Visiting Hunter

G'day,
I'm hoping to visit the South Island of NZ sometime hire a campervan and see a bit and try do a hunt in NZ while I'm there.
Any suggestions or tips appreciated. I have one forum freind to visit but the wife and I have never been to New Zealand. Not fussed what I hunt and happy to share the spoils of the hunt as I'm not a trophy hunter.

Will consider going with an out fitter if there is a management hunt option etc.

West coast best coast.

What do you want to hunt?

How fit are you?

Do you have any experiance in the bush or mountains?

the options are endless....waterfowl in May/June/July
wallabies all year around...LOL photos to your mates at home. same with possums.opossums and rabbits galore. hares everywhere
deer are in higher numbers than ever before,thar are still around,chammy can be found if know where to look....
pigs are there.
when you firm up dates,finding something to hunt will be easier to organise.

@norsk Healthy, not so much fit. I do ok , I can walk ok. Will will excercising a bit a. Fast approaching 50 and now I'm trying to lose weight.
I also want to try do a few things before I get old.

I do ok in the bush, that's where I'm happy.

Shooting something like Chamois or NZ species would be good. Thinking to bring one hunting rifle, happy to shoot rabbits hare etc.



No proper mountains in Western NSW. I'm in for a shock. I have a Mountain Rifle. My lightweight .280ai

I've been in hilly coastal country of Eastern NSW fighting fires.

Happy to pay for access or pay my way but I'm not after a trophy. I've shot Fallow Deer, never shot a Red deer. Might have a chance to pursue Sambar here.

Arapawa sheep would be interesting . We don't see Sheep as a Huntable species in Australia, but there a maybe a couple of places.

I like shooting pigs, would shoot all pests if it's legal. Our Kangaroos and all Natives are protected so harvesting requires a licence.

Not looking to hunt high and hard like a proper hunter. Never seen snow and don't like the cold. Will camp out but hoping to hire a camper for the duration (wife likes the scenery).

@Micky Duck dates are opportunistic. If things relax I hope to travel within 18 months

Looking for advice on what approvals I need to bring and carry a rifle. Do I need to prove I have something lined up? Can I hunt public land as a visitor?

I'm even open to using a helicopter to access an area, just not wanting to pay a full blown trophy hunt because I don't want a trophy head.

Completed a management hunt in South Africa with great success, now for a different country.

Hoping to get some feedback and if I can meet up with some forum members that would be great.

public land as visitor no worries..... online search will tell you what rules n regs are for bringing in rifle to use here....

Hunting any public land is open to anyone with a FREE permit applied for here. https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-re...unting-permit/
Public land can be found on this map by opening DoC features and selecting 'open hunting areas'
https://www.doc.govt.nz/map/index.html

As @Micky Duck said, once you are here I'm sure some of us on here could point you to an area with something to shoot.

If you are an Aussie and you are here, you may as well find someone to go shoot possums with. You are actually doing NZ a favour...It would be a bigger favor if you could take a few of the tree bears back with you........

G'day all. Thanks for replies.
Pending work /life variables I'm considering somewhere in the last 2 weeks of June this year as a possibility.

What's the weather and hunting like in general late June?
How cold is it?
Just considering the timing at present, it could work. Can you survive in a campervan in that weather?

Late June can be pretty cold. Can be fine settled weather. Might not be much snow about, but then it could be shit. Good for tahr rut and chamois winter coats.

June is a dry cold and really the end of autumn so the miserable wet cold of later in the year is a few months away.
You wont be getting round in shorts and thongs but it is easily coped with in decent clothing. Some heavy frosts but days usually bright and often warm-ish.
Campervans have heaters so not a concern about cold

@CBH Australia It is a bit like asking what the weather will be like in that Slumburbian shit hole of Melbourne with its 4 seasons in a day , that far out ,seeing you have your missus along in a Camper Van & from Broken Hill that would be as late as l would plan it & the camper will be doing a bit of its own rocking in the winds even then .

From memory June last year on the Farm we were in near drought conditions, with shit house constant winds drying everything out & then first weeks of July we had bad wide spread floods & gale force winds , causing major road blockages/slips/trees down & even bridge/crossing wash outs & the down here in the South it rained for months afterwards ,where after the winds of the flood event old established trees simply started falling due to ground saturation & the root ball hole would be pumping out water .

IMO seeing it is summer there look around for PROPER winter clothing sales & stock up before you get here ,you will need it after Broken Hill & use it again on the next trip as if you like hunting you will be back.

Enjoy your trip

Sorry mate but it has to be asked CBH?

In my yoof it normally meant a sheila has Child Bearing Hips! Often linked to a curvy waist.

OK, back to my beer (it’s 35C here!)

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

Sorry mate but it has to be asked CBH?

In my yoof it normally meant a sheila has Child Bearing Hips! Often linked to a curvy waist.

OK, back to my beer (it’s 35C here!)

@CBH Australia Just to reinforce my point about getting some decent winter clothing while they on sale in summer over there ,we just pulled the pin on our plans for the weekend Jet Boat hunt here in the height of summer as we are looking at the Westcoast has a king tide tonight and a forecast of up to 550-700mm to fall along the coast in the next 3 days with high winds .

It has shut Arthur’s pass and isolated towns along the westcoast as well & mate from down there said they had a huge Knock' em Down storm go through & cut a swathe through the trees at the back of his joint like a flying D9 . They have us on what they call a Red Alert Weather event , so like l say it makes predicting Melbourne weather look easy & if you can bring it forward l would look at doing it ,for non trophy hunting it will make no difference but will most likely for life in the camper.