Thread: Where Deer show up.

This is not a thread about how to find deer.

This is one about where they show up when you don't expect them to.

Deer to me, are a paradox. On the one hand they can be very hard to find, on the other they can be standing in your garden, scarfing down your fruit and veges, when you look out your window in the morning.

I worked on a small dysfunctional deer and sheep farm for about 18 months, long ago.

One day I got the quad stuck in the middle of a paddock with a herd of deer. After trying to get out, I conceded defeat and walked off to get the Hilux to tow the damn thing out.

I came back and to my surprise and mighty pissedoffness (there, I made up a new word), The bastard deer had been at my bike and yanked every possible thing off it into the mud. Gloves, fence tester, pliers, bits and bobs scattered in a kind of messed up halo around it.

They were all backed off, standing down the other end of the paddock with a smug "It wasn't me your honour " look about them.

They are curious, and sometimes, smart.

I've seen videos on you tube of deer tangled in christmas lights (thinking they were auditioning for santa's sleigh maybe?), heard stories of deer jumping out in the middle of the road and munting cars and themselves in Fiordland.

Been told of deer eating shrubbery between houses in the Catlins (No doubt being aware of the physics of over penetration: "You cant shoot me mofo, you'll have to pay for your neighbours window" )

So if you've come home one evening to find they've drunk all your beer, and passed out in your favourite chair while watching re-runs of Bambi, (Or something more plausible), add a comment below

Had one on the lawn of the school, had found a hole in the fence (full height deer fence) and the playground made a good spot for a feed. Couldnt find its way back out and had to be herded out.

Had the whitetail in the backyard regularly, wondered why the 5 finger kept shrinking.

My record is 17 deer driving round the roads for an hour over 2 nights, no spotlight just the headlights with them on the roadside

Just had one come up to the back step calling out. Made up its bottle gave it a feed and it wondered off back in to the paddock

Originally Posted by bigbear

Just had one come up to the back step calling out. Made up its bottle gave it a feed and it wondered off back in to the paddock

The cheeky thing came back tonight on dark wanting another bottle

Originally Posted by bigbear

The cheeky thing came back tonight on dark wanting another bottle

Sounds like a alcoholic.

Living in London for a while next to Richmond Park I used to go running in there. One night in there in almost pitch black (but the gravel tracks were light enough colour gravel you could run them easy) just about got cleaned out by a hind jumping from one side to the other. Felt the rush of air on my face as she just cleared me.

Early Sept this year I think driving back from Turangi to home along SH41 and just after Kuratau and turn off to Western Lake road, about 12.30pm, what's that up ahead? It looks like, yep, arse end of a deer between some road side scrub. Took my foot off the gas and this stag reverses out just onto the edge of the road and looks at us. No ear tags (I know there's deer farms around there), scrubby short antlers, eyes widen then he clears the low fence just up the bank and bolts. Pretty steady traffic along the road so no idea how he'd managed to get onto the road there. It was a small bodied animal too. I'd swear it was a Sika.

Originally Posted by Ned

Early Sept this year I think driving back from Turangi to home along SH41 and just after Kuratau and turn off to Western Lake road, about 12.30pm, what's that up ahead? It looks like, yep, arse end of a deer between some road side scrub. Took my foot off the gas and this stag reverses out just onto the edge of the road and looks at us. No ear tags (I know there's deer farms around there), scrubby short antlers, eyes widen then he clears the low fence just up the bank and bolts. Pretty steady traffic along the road so no idea how he'd managed to get onto the road there. It was a small bodied animal too. I'd swear it was a Sika.

It may well have been. I've seen Sika on Pihanga, not that far as the crow flies really?

Neighbour came back from a week balloted at Molesworth Station, got no deer.
Up our shared drive and there was one standing in the middle of the drive at 10am

Down on the East Coast culling goats..........came across a Rusa Hind just on dark and scored some venison. While my mate was dressing it out I headed off in the dark with my lenser to fetch the quad. As I walked through a narrow steep cutting about 10m from the quad I heard a noise so I stopped, luckily for me I did cos if i had kept walking the Rusa Stag that fell 30 feet down the sheer bank on my right would have landed on top of me and probably killed me. As he lay on the ground less than 2m in front of me we eyeballed each other for about 20 seconds..........then all hell broke loose..........me frantically unslinging my rifle, at the same time fumbling for the loaded mag in my pocket and him digging holes in the ground with his feet trying to stand up. He beat me by about 4 seconds, turned and ran, jumped the quad and disappeared into the night. Took 20 minutes for my heart rate to drop from 4000bpm to something like normal............


Back a few years another mate and I were duckshooting on the Kaipara in my fully camo'd 13' boat. We were drifting silently up a narrow winding creek near Tauhoa with the incoming tide, hugging the bank which was about 8 feet above us. Heard some ducks quacking around the next corner so we got set to 'spring' them. Saw a dead mangrove tree out of the corner of my eye slowly move and turn to look at me..... turned my head to see a 16+pt red stag at the top of the bank looking down into the boat. Had time to notice the ear tag as I shouldered the 1187.
We stared at each other over the barrel for about 30 seconds as we drifted past each other and my mind was going through the 'shall I or shant I'......In the end he bolted........Later found out he had escaped from a local deer farm and they had been trying to get him back for 6 months, then gave up and he was fair game...... Glad I didnt take the shot as thinking back on it, if he had dropped off the bank into the boat he would have probably sunk us............

Back in the days of WINZ tossing money around willy-nilly a mate of mine worked for a city church group and was in charge of teaching teenagers life skills. He thought up the great idea of taking a group to the bush in search of these life skills, so off to Pureora Forest a van load of urban know-nothings went...while driving through the forest a deer jumped out in front of them and my mate slammed the hired van into it, he jumped out and got the damn thing in a headlock, all the group piled out and watched, my mate was yelling for someone to get a knife from his pack, eventually someone got it for him and he killed the animal...those kids were in awe at what he had done and so somewhere in the city are people who have an entirely different idea as to how deer are harvested in NZ and have probably gone on to tell their children of Ken, The Bible Bashing Bushman of Pureora.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

Back in the days of WINZ tossing money around willy-nilly a mate of mine worked for a city church group and was in charge of teaching teenagers life skills. He thought up the great idea of taking a group to the bush in search of these life skills, so off to Pureora Forest a van load of urban know-nothings went...while driving through the forest a deer jumped out in front of them and my mate slammed the hired van into it, he jumped out and got the damn thing in a headlock, all the group piled out and watched, my mate was yelling for someone to get a knife from his pack, eventually someone got it for him and he killed the animal...those kids were in awe at what he had done and so somewhere in the city are people who have an entirely different idea as to how deer are harvested in NZ and have probably gone on to tell their children of Ken, The Bible Bashing Bushman of Pureora.

I have a friend who malletted a yearling with an Estwing hammer (Caught it between a fenceline and his UTV)

Then took it back down the hill, Found one of those shiny helium balloons that you use for special occasions, tied it to a hoof,........... and presented it to a co worker for her birthday.

He's still alive, so it can't have gone too badly.

Originally Posted by Max Headroom

I have a friend who malletted a yearling with an Estwing hammer (Caught it between a fenceline and his UTV)

Then took it back down the hill, Found one of those shiny helium balloons that you use for special occasions, tied it to a hoof,........... and presented it to a co worker for her birthday.

He's still alive, so it can't have gone too badly.

On reflection, I think I have two stories mixed up.

My friend found a live fawn and presented it plus balloon to the co worker .

The Estwing malletted yearling was delivered to work HQ in front of a bus load of startled tourists.

Less than a km up the Hacket just past Te Rata road,someone got an easy Red this morning, big animal, shot on the track/road,paunch and ribs over the edge.Loopies are gunna grizzle about the smell.
I have been running the dog up there for a while but have not seen any sign.

a good thread to share the story of my first ever deer... was a dusty new years day many years ago, we were staying in a small holiday town quite close to the start of a great walk in the south island. me and a mate decided to go for a walk, just to get out of the house (a walk, not a hunt). another mate offered for us to take his .270, and we agreed, not really sure why. it was maybe 3pm and baking hot. so we drove to the packed carpark and started walking down toward the start of the track on the tarseal roadway. people everywhere. my mate went back to the car for something so i was just milling around, happened to glance across the river and saw 2 velvet stags! set up for a shot, but realised my mate had the ammo, so sprinted back to get him, then back to the spot. the deer were gone. so we started walking around to cross and walk towards them (id never hunted deer at that point so our plan was just to go over to where they had been and hope for the best), but then they came back out! first shot, a clean miss. second shot nailed him. a very unexpected outcome. got some disappointed comments from tourists who had been watching them at the time as we walked around to find him. i then retrospectively paid for the ease of that first deer with about 10 more hunts before getting my second.

One of my dairy farmers told me the other day that he had a stag running down the road, jumping the fence into the front paddock with 4 bulls in. They came looking wtf is happening and scared him off over the fence into the horse paddock. The stupid thing went absolutely nuts so over the fence the stag goes again and into the garden this time. The sleepy dogs wakes up on the porch and starts barking so the stags carries on over the fence down the road again. Not many deer around that area so god knows where he came from...