Thread: Advice for someone from Across the ditch coming to Nz to hunt som Red deer

Hi Guys,

This will be my first post on this forum; it's been suggested to me to seek advice for the following.

Im from Aus, Tasmania, to be exact, and it's been my father's dream to hunt red deer alongside me before he gets too old, which is rapidly approaching.

So far, our planning involves flying to the south island, probably Queenstown or Christchurch, either bringing our camping gear or buying/renting some when we arrive and then getting a chopper ride up to a hut somewhere that we can use as a base camp, and then hunting the surrounding area. Hopefully coming across a few opportunities on Red Deer, and fingers crossed at least see some stags.

Most of the people i have spoken to in Tas have suggested going to a ranch or some high fence area; this is exactly not what I want. I place more value in a hard-won 6 pt stag (which I would possibly live to see another day depending on what the NZ sentiment is (whether the deer are killed on sight or more tolerated)) than a 16pt world record that has been bred for hunting in a high fence situation (i would rather go home empty handed).

While I have hunted fallow deer extensively in Tas, I have never hunted any other deer species nor visited NZ before, so I'm uncertain of the conditions. I do know that i don't want to be camping in the snow because i have no experience and feel like its a recipe for disaster.

So initially, I'm chasing broad-stroke information to learn what I need to research specifically. I've looked at the DOC site extensively and have a rough idea of what I'm looking for and the terrain I'm interested in hunting.

If someone is keen to tag along and show us the ropes, that would be fantastic; more than happy to help supply the food for the trip, some beers for afterwards and some cash if necessary.

Fingers crossed we can shoot a Red stag of some description hopefully something nice, and if the opportunity arises, I would love to chase a chamois and maybe even a Tahr, too if we can find them nearby.

Cheers Tim