Thread: Tips for traveling in thick bush

Hi guys,

Trying to enter a lot of bush lately (haha)

But seriously... I find myself getting exhausted by ducking and weaving, and overexerting myself only to find I've moved 500 metres on my map. Being tall doesn't help either. Any tips for covering distance in the bush?

North island if that helps

Whereabouts? What type of bush?
Avoid the thick shit.
Usually ridges are a bit easier to travel along.

Always try to know where you are. Last thing you want to do is bushcrash through some thick shit and go off a bluff. Take a topo map and compass even if your GPSing it.

Electric chainsaws do the trick.

Graf Bros old hunters trick. Bend a branch over every few feet and leave your trail that way.

Yeah I use a gps and compass and plb etc. Taranaki/Whanganui low altitude bush if that means anything, I'm still pretty fresh

I'm always constantly looking for the most open pathway/game trail for the next few metres heading in the direction I want to go.

500m is a long way in thick bush.

The key to moving through thick bush, specially supplejack, kiekie, windfalls and broompole beech is practice. The more you've done of it the better you get at avoiding it. The GPS and compass are your friends: you don't have to follow straight up the crest of a spur or along any easy to navigate landform, because you can always get yourself back onto the route or location you want to visit. You can follow little runs of more open bush and often there is a much easier way on a scale of 10 or 20m. Very thick patches of supplejack are often only 10m across and around it is relatively easier going.

Be aware that it always appears more open looking up hill because the subcanopy starts about eye level and you are looking under it, while downhill you're looking onto the tops of ferns and bushes and can't see the ground. It's an optical illusion but can draw you into gradually climbing and exerting more energy than you meant to. If you intend to sidle, always take the opportunity to go the low track if there's a choice.

Supplejacks grow more on ridges than in gullies. Apart from waterfalls, gulches and greasy banks which you well have plenty of in the naki, going can often be easier in the gullies because the trees are just taller. This specially applies in second growth bush. Sunny spots in light gaps and river flats are good for deer and goats but much thicker vegetation-wise than under tall canopy.

Next is to have a low pack, like a pikau that is streamlined and doesn't catch on vines and branches behind your head. Ones that sit up and carry the load high are ergonomic for open country but not in the bush.

Carry your rifle in your hand, not strapped to your pack or slung over shoulder.

Fitness helps too, specially static and core strength rather than aerobic running/cycling. Chinups, pressups and lunges. Perhaps some flexibility but you don't use as lot really.

Balance and moving slowly and in control is whats needed in thick bush, rather than rhythm and bounce.

Then, practice and more practice and you will start to wonder where the thick bush was.

Originally Posted by Bagheera

500m is a long way in thick bush.

The key to moving through thick bush, specially supplejack, kiekie, windfalls and broompole beech is practice. The more you've done of it the better you get at avoiding it. The GPS and compass are your friends: you don't have to follow straight up the crest of a spur or along any easy to navigate landform, because you can always get yourself back onto the route or location you want to visit. You can follow little runs of more open bush and often there is a much easier way on a scale of 10 or 20m. Very thick patches of supplejack are often only 10m across and around it is relatively easier going.

This is good advice; direct is not always best.

Another trick: keep an eye out for big native trees as generally it won't be as thick under them. I look ahead for them wherever possible (highpoint, window in the bush) if I'm in thick stuff.

You can also use satellite images to find the bush with big natives (its a different color and texture to manuka, scrub, etc) or less thick stuff. If I'm doing a recce or know I'll be in thick stuff, I scroll over the area I'm going to hunt on google maps at the closest zoom before I go. It downloads the maps and they'll be there even on airplane mode. If it gets bad I use the maps to try and find easier bits like big natives or clearings, less thick shit.

Good luck

Originally Posted by Bagheera

500m is a long way in thick bush.

The key to moving through thick bush, specially supplejack, kiekie, windfalls and broompole beech is practice.

Here I was thinking it was secateurs and a silky saw... Silly me.

Supplejack in my experience clusters around an elevation so there is a "belt" to go through

Also one thing, when you are about to pop into a new area especially up a bank and look over the edge of a new terrace, be ready as that is often the moment I have spooked a deer
Likewise going along a river terrace after crossing a creek, coming up out of that the sound of the water must muffle my approach as I have had success that way

Also, sniff
I often smell a deer before I see anything

Having experienced this just today (2 hours for the last 300m) my main tip is hug the top of the spur/ridge and don't let yourself be moved down the spur/ridge (like me) unless you're stalking or else you'll enter supplejack hell and fall on your rifle.
I used Nz topo maps and bought the pro version today and found it great to check how badly I was off piste and marking sign, locations of spooked deer etc.

Identify your target beyond all doubt because you never miss (right?) and I'll be missed.

Pre plan a route based on satellite and maps.. move faster when there’s no sign around. Look ahead as much as you can to see what’s coming and slink around thicker stuff through holes or openings that you see ahead of you. A silky saw or some loppers come in handy, trimming a track as you go for next. Bit by bit and then al you need to do is maintain it with a pair of secateurs. I’m an ex pig hunter so I just bull doze shit, but then again I hunt the tops so the bush is only a means to get up into the open haha

One bit of advice I give everyone new navigating the bush is that the thick shit (Northern side of ridge) is where you should avoid if you intend to travel quickly and quietly. The southern sides will be in the darker areas and way more open for fast traveling and have less vegetation. Good for making plans to hit tracks or get to your next hunting area fast.

But, where are the deer you ask? 9/10 they are in the thick shit where the best food and cover is.

Oh, and if you can, hunt in some old socks. Way more stealthy.

My only bush experience is central NI hunting and this is what I find.

Even in thick bush the spurs / ridges are usually open enough to get through without too much trouble. The thickest stuff tends to be down the bottom of gullies so watch you're not heading down into impassable thick stuff as it can be easy to do if you're not paying attention.

Some game trails do go into the thick stuff but more often than not they actually don't and you can follow them.