Thread: Round up of the last few weeks hunting very local in the nelson area

Well,ive had a busy last few weeks hunting local around here for the roar period and put in some hours and some hard yakka.
Last years roar was disappointing locally for me, only heard one stag roar which i saw(a very big 8 pointer) and managed a very fat 8 pointer with a poor head at the start which made fine eating otherwise with hours and days on the hill didnt really see any animals other than that.
A real change from 2014 where i picked up two stags over 200 DS(210,243ds) and got 4 (8,8,9,10 Pointers) all hunting bush.
This year hunted mostly the same spots but a couple of new handy ones ive found in the year and was much better than last year. Four different days heard stags roaring away, and managed to roar in 3 of those for some exciting action.
Turned down shooting some deer that werent stags i saw as decided it was stags only for me during late March and april so was good to see some animals around.
Had one good day roaring in a stag from a distance, he didnt want to come in to close so stalked to within 100-150m before i recken he winded me and was gone. Did a couple of hunts with a younger mate whose never shot a stag in two different areas i knew where a stag was.
Both hunts went perfect, the stags were right where i knew they be, roared both them in and the first as it made its way across the next gully toward me i shot a nice 9 pointer bush stag with the 243 and had my first stag for 2016.









The very next hunt heard a stag roaring i lost the week before, roared him in as well and being the thoughtful guy i am i wanted my mate to shoot his first stag. Didnt know how big it was but i hung back, got my mate in postion and roared the stag in to 5m from him hiding in crown fern.
He managed not to have a heart attack from the buzz and excitement and shot another nice stag, a good 8 pointer for his first and those two hunts made my roar .







In late April went slightly further afield with PENGY here on the forum and went to have a look for a Fallow stag for a couple of days in a well known hunting area that holds Fallow and Reds.
I decided on a area that other forum members told me was a good place to have a look for a fallow on the first day while PENGY hunted handy to where we were staying.
It was a nice area, and after heading into the bush soon saw a couple of marks but not much sign really.











Wasnt long thou and i saws some Fallow stag sign, rubbing on a small tree and a small rut pad





Had a good look for him but no joy and headed into a far of creek. Not knowing the area i soon got gorged, and it took me over a hour of straight up climbing to get out .
I decided to head back out where the sign of the Fallow stag was, and i hunted a little higher. Soon came across marks that werent too bad and soon came to a fresh big rut pad.





Bout 70m past that i was standing there, having a think what to do and suddenly out to my left was a crash and the sound of thump thump as a animal was departing.
It was a huge Fallow stag, the rifle was up in a flash but only managed to get it in the crosshairs for a second and it was gone. I was surprised how round it was, it was like a small bull, soild as and was big.
Couldnt really get a good look at the antlers but it was good i tracked down a good stag on my first hunt in the area. The next couple of pictures were taken where i was standing and the direction the stag ran.











On return to base Pengy saw a stag as well, a big spiker but i think he was taken by surprised and it was a fair distance for a old guy so that got away too.

The next day i hunted up the valley, near the tops in rugged country.

















Saw quite abit of red deer sign but i was a week too late. The local DOC guy told us the stags were roaring a week agao but had shut up now. One thing was clear thou, this area has had its first 1080 drop not that long agao and its hit the fallow deer over. In two days of soild hunting i only saw that Fallow stag and sign of one more fallow, there was next to none fallow sign in areas i was told were good. i saw more Red stag sign than fallow thats for sure.
Pengy didnt have much luck on day two but there were people everyway, trampers all over the place and im sure there been a few hunters in the area during the roar but we had a good time and a few beers on the last night, was a great couple of days.






Overall, during the period all hunting local and all DOC land, i saw 12 different deer(hinds /yearlings)one stag and a Fallow stag plus the two stags we got. Could of shot a couple of the other deer if i wanted and shot a couple of goats.
Yesterday i we for a hunt and took the 308 instead of the 243. the area i hunted was crawling with hunters, (prob from the North island, seems to be a few here now )
Saw plenty of dead fresh deer sign thou but maybe the gun shots i heard now and again scare them off lol.
On the way out folowed some fresh marks, caught up with it and it was a young billy. Shot the thur the chest with the 150sst and had fresh goat thats for dinner tonight.

After butchering the goat i heard a noise of another animal, went had a look, nothing, so back i went and stated to pack up. Above me caught some movement and another young billy Came into view.
Boom, and i hit it low in the chest. because of the angle it exited outs its guts and lets say theres going to be no pictures of that one. what a mess, no need for gutting the animal, but i forgot about taking the extra meat as it was covered in all sorts of matter that doesnt need details .







Thats it folks

Great write up, thanks for sharing. So what are the wasp numbers like in those areas??

Originally Posted by matagouri

Great write up, thanks for sharing. So what are the wasp numbers like in those areas??

Nelsons got plenty of wasps, this year theres been a few but normally by april the numbers are low. This year its been hot, and its still fine days and 20-22 degrees in May so the wasp numbers were abit higher during april but was huntable. Saw a couple of nests yesterday, not much around low but still was plenty buzzing around the tree tops which is uncommon in May. Only got strung twice all summer so that was pretty good as put some time in on the hill.

Great write up thanks for that, it is always good to here how people got on, it looked like good hunting bush except for the bluffs.
Here in Buller there was a reasonable herd of fallow but as you have pointed out they are very very susceptible to the "mega mast" cure all. It has taken about five years for some animals to be seen again. Of course that may have been a couple of escapees.
Anyway cheers again.