Woodhill Ballot Results

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allgood

Block 4 can be hard hunting. It is a mix of 10yr old short pines and some areas of mature pines. There are no 'open' areas like cut overs to hunt.

Block 4 is bounded by Ototoa Rd on its eastern boundary. While you are not allowed to shoot on the road, you are allowed to walk south on the rh verge of Ototoa rd and shoot into your block. For the first 2-3 kilometres as you walk south on Ototoa rd the area to your right is mature pines with good visibility. You will find that deer will move off the farmland to the east and enter block 4 by crossing the road. A slow walk at first light south from the carpark can be productive especially if you see deer crossing into your block. You can then stalk them from just inside the block and should get a shot. 2-3 k south on Ototoa rd there is a clay pan on the left hand side outside your block. Immediately opposite this clay pan is a steep titree/native bush gully that runs west into block 4. Find yourself a vantage point overlooking this gully and sit and be patient. Something will come along if you are patient enough. The rest of the block is able to be stalked with vis being between 10 to 50yds. Stalk it slow into the wind stopping frequently to observe. Go back to where you saw fresh tracks/deer in the afternoon and sit and wait for something to show.

Above all, make sure you positively id the deer. If you have a buck permit make sure you can see at least 3 'points on its head gear before you shoot. If you have a doe permit, you must check to see if it has a pizzel as some of the spikers dont show bumps or spikes and the only way to tell the difference is by its pizzel or lack of. ( A number of hunters on block 4 have been banned in past years cos they didnt ID the deer properly and simply shot at an animal)

Good luck.

Just had our hunt last Sunday. Followed your advice, and it certainly worked for us. Cruised down the road on first light heading for that native gut you mentioned ,
we then spotted a doe, followed by a spiker crossing into the block. Wind was all over the show and unfortunately those two got wind of us. Spent probably half the day in the vicinity of that gut moving slow then sitting. My two companions and I parted ways momentarily to get around some thicker stuff at the very end of the gut when I bumped a reasonably good buck bedded in the shorter pines. I had the doe permit though so he was free to go. Ended up following the wind where we could and sort of following the boundary between the short pines and the bigger pines where we could after that.

We got onto one more doe which I could have shot but she wasn't moving in the right way to get a good ID on her and by the time I fully ID'd her as a doe she had fed her way into another patch of thick stuff. Quite tough to ID the animals at times and it was neat to watch them do their thing.
Finished the day with a walk around the south eastern ish boundary of the block and saw a couple more yearling bucks.

All in all a great day out and some quite nice bush hunting.

Thanks for the tips!