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Hey all, going to head for another sika hunt, hopfully this time to be more successful.
Heading up river for a few days, What type of hunting would you recommend at this time of year? Stay down by the river beds morning and night? Head into the bush and look for slips and open eating areas... will they be out in the sun all day at this time of year ?
3 un successful sika hunts to far... I would like to change that this time so any tips or pointers would be appreciated.
So will you be starting at the road end and heading up river?.
It's been a few years since I've been up there.
Not many clearings or slips so mainly bush hunting, but big river flats we used to hunt the small Creek heads, evening is best there is heaps of area up there. Head up river about 2 to 3 hours and go for it.
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that was the plan, we headed up about 9km last time , setup cap and hunted from there up, so have a semi feel for the area.
Some of the tops are great and lush green.
You recommend the smal creek heads that lead into the river? hunt up them? They tended to have some beautiful little river terraces on the way up the creeks.( I know after coming down them last time very loudly! )
ever thought of looking on other side of road?lots more open country and great if youre flycamping,,unfortunately cant give a specific area
been a few yrs since ive looked up the waipak but there was sign in the flats about half hour up
You mean on the mt side ? no never have thought of that, theres alot less green there
Hunt where the sign is most obvious, at this time of year there should be activity on the river flats especially if there is a bit of grass coming through. Where you find plenty of sign on the flats you could try getting the wind right and stalking the bush along terraces or creek heads as the deer must be sitting up there during the day and feeding down in the evening and into the night. Good luck.
Try and pick the places that will have received the head start on spring growth. Although by that time most places should be kicking off. Small creeks and open areas that get the sun. Look for the sign and feed then be there at the right time and be extremely slow and deliberate when stalking. Don't be afraid to just stop and sit in a nice area for 5 or 10 minutes.
A tip when I first started hunting from an old experience DOC hunter.... "The deer will be where you find them.."
I have hunted Waipakhihi a lot, always see deer at anytime in the year. Walk down or up the river for a while until you find a suitable spot to enter the bush. Slowly cruise up until you find sign and then go slower :D
Those little light gaps where a tree has fallen down or something are the deer magnets.
Remember there are always one or two other hunters up there even if you don't see them.
Overall there's a bit more sign lower down than higher up. It's probably a bit early for them to be right out on the tops yet.