Thread: Deer in Strange Places

Greetings All,
Driving up to Taupo this morning I was surprised to see 3 Sika standing in the wide grassy area between the pines and the road on SH5. No this was not at some ungodly hour in the morning but 9:00AM in bright sunlight. And yes there was light traffic not just me. And no it was not some road edge gully but in the middle of the plains. I have read of increasing Sika deer numbers and have been seeing more sign recently but this was a surprise. Just have to see them in the right place.
Regards Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
Driving up to Taupo this morning I was surprised to see 3 Sika standing in the wide grassy area between the pines and the road on SH5. No this was not at some ungodly hour in the morning but 9:00AM in bright sunlight. And yes there was light traffic not just me.

have heard of someone tipped one over there on his way to work in the forestry.... so maybe not that uncommon

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
I have read of increasing Sika deer numbers and have been seeing more sign recently but this was a surprise. Just have to see them in the right place.
Regards Grandpamac.

Yes - been hearing this often
Back in 90's to 2000
It was baron of Deer

Last night i was driving towards Fairlie from the Timaru side,3ks out just on dark 9pm.Four littler black fallow deer ran across the road in front of me.I was towing a loaded horse float,only just missed them.Hardly worth shooting either,so small.Nice to see them tho.

There are deer spreading all over HB. Spoke to one guy from HBRC biosecurity team who said the only places in HB you will not find deer are the centre of Hastings and Napier, everywhere else, you can find them. I found fallow deer crap on my lawn a few months back.

A red hind on the south side of the Puketapu bridge a week ago. Puketapu is not far from Napier.

1 month ago: SH1 heading south for Waiouru. Halfway up the big overtaking lane when leaving the flat land south of Turangi. 11 am. 2 hinds standing on a forestry road, 10m off the highway.

Watched 7 sika on Ferny ridge in the kawekas Yesterday.

Then saw one on Northern birch

As long as the “ look at me” crowd keep filming themselves driving, eating, promoting brands, and talking into the camera the Sika have outsmarted them

There’s more Sika now in the Northern birch/ferny ridge area than there ever has been.

Originally Posted by 7mmsaum

Watched 7 sika on Ferny ridge in the kawekas Yesterday.

Then saw one on Northern birch

As long as the “ look at me” crowd keep filming themselves driving, eating, promoting brands, and talking into the camera the Sika have outsmarted them

There’s more Sika now in the Northern birch/ferny ridge area than there ever has been.

Was it the same guy you told me about talking into his cell phone while your sika escaped?

Originally Posted by Phil_H

I had a like experience....sorta....again at approximately 3 km on the Timaru side of Fairlie last year.....Though in this instance it was 11 am in the morning. Three well antlered fallow stags, one sitting and the other two grazing in the middle of a paddock of fodder-beat right next to the highway. It was ordinary fencing around the paddock and even though only 60 meters from the road they looked unperturbed and as if they owned the place. I wondered if they had escaped a deer enclosure somewhere else on the farm but had a farm worker further in tell me that they quite often see wild deer wandering across their paddocks at all times during the day.

Makes one think that there is more deer closer to hand in the Albury Range than the natives of Fairlie let on.

Cheers
Phil

Lot of deer (reds and fallow)feed on those paddocks(foda bet and spring grass),even in the day time around Fairlie, all the way to Dog Kennel corner.Just dont be seen with a rifle out the window,yr number (fal)will be ended.

I’ve seen a red hind trotting through the shallows on edge of Lake Rotoma near Rotorua.

Mate who lives in Haast had a fallow buck croaking right in the township last year in COVID lockdown ,I could hear it on the phone when he rung .

Sent from my Nokia 7 plus using Tapatalk

Seen a few photos of a decent stag terrorizing people's gardens in Silverstream, Upper Hutt and another younger deer walking up a street about a km from the bush.

Perhaps I should take a thunder stick when I go to shift an electric fence tomorrow morning. There was talk of deer in the pines behind us before they were milled a couple of years back. The only deer I saw here was an escapee from up the road. That was 25 years ago. Pines have been replanted though.
Grandpamac.

Originally Posted by grandpamac

Perhaps I should take a thunder stick when I go to shift an electric fence tomorrow morning. There was talk of deer in the pines behind us before they were milled a couple of years back. The only deer I saw here was an escapee from up the road. That was 25 years ago. Pines have been replanted though.
Grandpamac.

They will be there soon, spreading everywhere in HB. We didn't have any 5-10 years ago either.