Thread: Understanding how to approach deer turf- recommendations for media?

Hello everyone, rookie here,
I am looking to go out into the bush more often for bush stalking, havent done much of it in the last few years and I am beginning to question the way I approach hunting areas. I used to look at a topo map and choose to walk into the flattest areas because it may be 'easier', but the wind just swirls around and it is difficult to find clear game trails because the travel is not funneled. Then i learn that deer like to travel certain topographical features like through saddles or the sides of ridges/spurs, and so I think I should check these features out when looking into new areas but the wind seems really random here as well.

Basically I am looking for books or other media like DVDs/videos (or even good threads here that I haven't found) to teach me about reading topo maps to find good areas to start a and maybe learning how to approach these areas without the wind messing everything up. I just know basic things like 'wind rises in morning and sinks in everning', so hunt high in morning and low in evening? Are there more advanced things I can learn related to mapping out deer and how wind behaves in hills? There are a few guides like this from the USA such as 'mapping trophy bucks' by brad herndon though would be nice if I could find a more local source of NZ information. Of course the best way to learn is to just keep going out there and learn things from experience, just looking for others to learn wisdom from others too.

Cheers

I’ve heard hunts courses are worth while - if you have a deer stalkers branch then look it up - I’ve never personally been on one as I know a few hunters who just took me out and I “learnt” from them. Personally it sounds like your over thinking it. A wise man once told me, just because I’ve walked in mud ( foot prints ) and taken a shit in the grass ( animal sign ) doesn’t mean I’m still around in the area. Swirling wind is a bastard, avoid that area haha.

Yeah I did do the hunts course about five years ago, it was great and I learned a lot. It covered things like clothing, river crossing, gear, knife sharpening, how to read maps etc. We got taken out to the blue mountains for a weekend but none of us got anything haha. But someone did find two rotting stag heads caught together by supplejack. I feel like doing it again just as a refresher and because it was fun, though i don't remember them covering specifically how to deal with terrain vs wind. When I went into the blueys with a teacher we kind of just tramped in a well-known track, stopped here and there, he showed me what sign and game trails looks like and such. The closest we got to a deer was while we were eating lunch and a nearby fallow crashed past.

Just applied for another blue mountains visit for April and will visit the catlins next month. Practice makes perfect. In the meantime I am trying to study up. Just found this guide here which is again based in the united states (tree stands seem to be a big thing there) but could apply a lot of those concepts to NZ. https://www.fieldandstream.com/story...ying-the-wind/

Jessica one of the main drivers of all criitters is food availability. Understanding the preferred feed and thus feeding areas of deer is key. They will travel a very long way to a swede paddock. The more hunting pressure, the further back they will go to hide and rest up before the next fiood foray. Generally the Nth to West facing aspects provide better food resouces than sth or east aspects. Same with soil water content. Hard dry soils usually produce less quality tucker than others. Sometimes semi swampy areas and stream margins hold preferred herbs and grasses. Just like us when it comes to food weaknesses, threats and companionship for the most part.

Roger Lentil's books are well worth a read. Very detailed and well researched.

Deer are generally 2/3rds the way up the hill.
Best thing come onto a likely face from the down wind end and climb up to the 2/3's height or better still, sneak over the top and drop down until you hit fresh sign and the 'Deer Zone' then start hunting at that level. I like to drop down into the scrub zone just above the bush and move on the deer trails.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I will be taking note.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Of course, wind can turn on you at any time. So best to smell like the bush. Smoked-by-campfire is a pretty good scent.
Ditch the strawberry (or any) shampoo, the deoderant, the "fresh and clean" pine scent laundry powder, etc, etc. I can smell most townies before I can see 'em. And if I can, then prey animals with heightened senses will be gone by a mile.

I have 'sport-wash' and baking soda for my hunting gear and sometimes rub the bush dirt onto my pack and clothes on site, not sure how much it helps but I sure hope it does. Ive seen people recommend collecting deer droppings from different areas and smearing that on, but Im not that desperate yet. YET. And i know what you mean about the cornflakes. Every step in some areas feels like ive scared everything away for miles, but then again deer themselves can also be very noisy moving through the bush.

Originally Posted by XR500

Roger Lentil's books are well worth a read.

Will do, thank you.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Deer are generally 2/3rds the way up the hill.
Best thing come onto a likely face from the down wind end and climb up to the 2/3's height or better still, sneak over the top and drop down until you hit fresh sign and the 'Deer Zone' then start hunting at that level. I like to drop down into the scrub zone just above the bush and move on the deer trails.

Thanks, I will be trying this approach tomorrow in a feral goat area.

Another plug for the Lentle and Saxon books
Red Deer in Nz and
Hunting the Season Round

(IIRC)

Hmmm - I'd say that bush stalking fallow in the Blue Mts in about as difficult as it gets, and unnecessary.

You're much better off being very patient watching likely clearings/bush edge just on dark (where you've scout previously to ascertain if there is sign). Even after 45 years of hunting I'm not a very good bush stalker at the best of times although I've managed to nail the occasional Red in the bush. I wouldn't bother trying to bush stalk fallow.

Bino's are the key if you do go bush stalking, after reading up on the likely feed species in the area you're gonna visit, have a bloody good scan before you plunge into the bush to see where the feed bush is.

Good luck

PS - Sth Is hunters (99% of the ones I've known) wouldn't give a flying fuck what they smell like, much less do anything out of the ordinary like special scents etc

Originally Posted by mimms2

Also, not sure how the weather down there is, but up here it's basically like walking through cornflakes, pretty impossible to move quietly.

Like that here too. But I was walking (crunch crunch crunch) through my bush today looking for a leak in my water supply and making no effort to be quiet, when I suddenly hear that distinctive thump of deer warning and then the whole bush seemed to explode with movement. Only saw one, but there were certainly more. So walking normal speed through dry very loud leaf litter and I still got about 10m away from deer before they noticed me. Obviously I was not hunting, but shows sometimes you get close easily.

have a listen to the Cam Speedy interview on the Educated Hunter Podcast. I've been hunting on and off since the mid 1980's and I learned a lot from that one.
As others have noted, bush hunting is way hard, to make you feel better I for one have never truly shot a deer bush hunting <15mtrs , seen a few, heard a number, but most of the ones I have put down have been bush margins, clearings, tracks, river flats, dawn to 11am or dusk, or above the tree line.
Nailed plenty of goats at 5mtrs in the tea tree country.
Z

Another vote for the Lentle and Saxton books.
There are alot of great New Zealand hunting books with the Lentle and Saxton series in a league of their own in terms of informative guide style books, however some of the content is a little outdated because they were written in the 90s but the primary concepts and teachings are still relevant. "Red deer in NZ- a complete hunting guide" (which is the only book in the series still available new as a reprint, have a look on trademe. The others are harder to come by and fetch good money) and coupled with "New Zealand hunters companion" should see you right. Then if you want to go further down the rabbit hole there is "stalking the seasons round - a year round guide to hunting deer in New Zealand" which is probably the hardest and most expensive book in the series to come by... currently 2x listed on trademe sitting at $100 each and "alpine hunting in New Zealand" if chasing Chamois and Tahr through the alps floats your boat.
Collecting and smearing deer droppings etc smells of American hunting forums excuse the pun... they're a weird bunch!

F

Good N west wind in arounding clearings iv walk that close to deer.Couldv hit them over the head with the rifle,and im no twinkle toes.

Originally Posted by Trout

Good N west wind in arounding clearings iv walk that close to deer.Couldv hit them over the head with the rifle,and im no twinkle toes.

I experienced that today with goats. Would be nice if deer were as easy to get up close to as goats though haha, or maybe they can be and I just havent tried enough yet.

Originally Posted by Pav

Another vote for the Lentle and Saxton books.
There are alot of great New Zealand hunting books with the Lentle and Saxton series in a league of their own in terms of informative guide style books, however some of the content is a little outdated because they were written in the 90s but the primary concepts and teachings are still relevant. "Red deer in NZ- a complete hunting guide" (which is the only book in the series still available new as a reprint, have a look on trademe. The others are harder to come by and fetch good money) and coupled with "New Zealand hunters companion" should see you right. Then if you want to go further down the rabbit hole there is "stalking the seasons round - a year round guide to hunting deer in New Zealand" which is probably the hardest and most expensive book in the series to come by... currently 2x listed on trademe sitting at $100 each and "alpine hunting in New Zealand" if chasing Chamois and Tahr through the alps floats your boat.

A few of these books are available at the local library, even the more expensive ones, so I may borrow them and maybe later purchase.

Originally Posted by ZQLewis

have a listen to the Cam Speedy interview on the Educated Hunter Podcast. I've been hunting on and off since the mid 1980's and I learned a lot from that one.
As others have noted, bush hunting is way hard, to make you feel better I for one have never truly shot a deer bush hunting <15mtrs , seen a few, heard a number, but most of the ones I have put down have been bush margins, clearings, tracks, river flats, dawn to 11am or dusk, or above the tree line.

I will listen to that at work, thanks. And yeah, im starting to realize that i shouldn't feel too bad about not getting fallow from blind bush stalking in the blueys. Only had two visits, need to learn the country.