Thread: Best realistic walk ins for Auckland hunters?

Originally Posted by MB

Reading with interest. I have a 2.5 hour drive to get to Auckland before I even think about hunting spots. Having thought about it a bit, fly in makes so much sense for me given time limitations.

"Time limitations" go out the window if the fly boys cant come and get you due to weather, I have spent the odd day or two waiting for the plane or chopper.

Originally Posted by DavidGunn

"Time limitations" go out the window if the fly boys cant come and get you due to weather, I have spent the odd day or two waiting for the plane or chopper.

Well, if I'm stuck up a mountain somewhere, there's not much I can do about it. Work will have to suck it up

Originally Posted by MB

Well, if I'm stuck up a mountain somewhere, there's not much I can do about it. Work will have to suck it up

"Work" can be very non understanding when one does not show up, and don't always think you can just phone in...the best hunting is outside of cell phone coverage.

Hi Land2sea, welcome to the forum and thanks for your good introduction.

Of course people won't be tumbling over each other to post their best spots on the internet !
Some standard, well known, places like Clements Road and Waihaha in the Pureoras will come out but they won't be the best places.

I'd suggest getting in touch with Rushy and taking up his offer of a cup of tea. Then he can suss you out and point you to a suitable area (ie not advise a qick overnight weekend trip to Tarn Ridge in the Tararuas or some place up the top of the Whakatane river).

Flying in typically cost $1000 to $2000 depending how far it is and the size of the helicopter. A good place to start would be to look into joining the sika foundation which is a voluntary group dedicated to maintaining a healthy sika population and forests with some pest control. They run fly in sessions from time to time and those are probably the best value for fly ins at present. My rule of thumb is to only fly in to somewhere I have walked to before.

Guess I'm another Jaffa with country roots. I do most of my goat hunting for meat around Taranaki a couple of times a year. I'm free of full time work commitments now but of course that means I'm old enough to not be fast or durable enough for the hard yakka, young-fella bush bashing. Nevertheless I pretty much get there taking my time and usually accompanied only by my PLB. I've registered recently for DOC permits for upper half of Nth Island. Also joining Deerstalkers so going forward I wouldn't mind a like situated hunting buddy. I'm cool on riugh camping or using a spare barn, happy to cull where thats desired, e.g. private forestry block overrun with goats, in return for taking some meat. Not so fussed about trophy racks these days so can leave those for a block owner if required. An also a reasonably competent cook, house trained, responsible etc etc. Boring eh? Anyway I would not mind establishing a contact or two with chaps in similar frame of mind. I can travel under my own steam but am a bit allergic to the high dollar hi-life hunting gig - but each to their own. PM me if interested in a chat.