Thread: Spring tops

How do people find the bush fringe, and open gully heads and slips hunt during spring?

I have a bit of time off mid November and wondering its too early up higher in eastern Ruahine

I usually use my nose to find the bush fringe. Smells a bit like the fish market

Should be good now warmer temp for grass growth, stags growing velvet so they won't be in the tight stuff.

Good as gold. Follow the growth - it starts low and on the northerly faces and creeps up.

Ive seen plenty on the lower Ruahine tops in October - especially in sheltered hollows, benches and little saddles. Not too far from the scrub and shit margin though.

Gully heads and warm faces will be great.

30 degree in the bay yesterday
... will get things growing pretty quick

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Thanks a lot for the info guys, much appreciated.

Not much growing up there now, these snow falls have kept a lid on things but a month can make all the difference.
It all depends on where you head on the tops, as Tahr said, the growth starts low and heads up. Chris Crosse from East Kaweka helicopters usually says spring hits a lot of the Kaweka tops from Christmas onwards.
Ruahines are a bit different though. The reds stay on some of that lower tops country all winter, just pay attention to altitude and you'll be fine.

Cool, thanks. I was thinking of lower guts and microclimate of slips. Ill be walking in up a stream though and if I shoot one there ill sit down and feel very clever for a few days

When you gota mower yr lawns for the 1st spring cut.Time to go hunting.I mowed mine last Monday.

Hi
Spring starting with water ferns at lower levels in the Ruahines getting up to about 6-8" high now, so the growth will start to move up the altitudinal gradient now as Tahr noted. The warm faces and more open scrubby areas generally hold the animals, most of the mature stags should of dropped their antlers and be into velvet growth. Good luck and hot barrels!

I had dinner up on the tops last night, if was freakin cold at 1500m! No deer seen above the leatherwood, but got eyes on a stag in velvet a long way away. Was feeding on a slip down in the head of a stream, in the thick stuff.
Reckon it’ll be another month until the growth properly takes off up high

Labour weekend hunts have always been a " I hope Spring comes early this year" sort of hunt, but the early December hunt has always proved that theory wrong. Above 1200m Spring is ALWAYS a couple of months later than at sea level

Originally Posted by XR500

Labour weekend hunts have always been a " I hope Spring comes early this year" sort of hunt, but the early December hunt has always proved that theory wrong. Above 1200m Spring is ALWAYS a couple of months later than at sea level

Thanks for the tip, I was thinking that a mid-November Ruahine mission was in order, but since I'm a crap bush hunter I might delay.

Originally Posted by hispeedlodrag

Thanks for the tip, I was thinking that a mid-November Ruahine mission was in order, but since I'm a crap bush hunter I might delay.

Just get out at walk the bush, lots of practice makes for a good hunter and shooter, sus out where the animals are and learn off you mistakes.

Here’s a old barren hind shot the other day at 1000m ASL on a clearing. The grass has been growing a while in this area. There was 5 of them bedded down together but she was the skinniest. There was no way way of stalking onto them because of the wind and terrain so shot across the gully from them at 260m with the 300 blackout.

There is fairly good growth on the flats and lower parts of the slips.
Deer numbers were low but they were coming out on dusk.
This is the eastern Ruahines last weekend.


I'd say its still a bit cold for much new growth on the tops, even in sunny places, so they will have winter behaviour higher up. We saw a stag still in hard antler.
Go now. Go low.