Thread: Bush Hunting - tips on identifying stalkable areas

I have shot a few deer now bush stalking and the success i have comes down to two major things .
1 Find country thats in your favour and not the animals . I always look for mature native , bit more open and easy to travel thur , less noise and better vision ahead.

2. Find sign in those places, no sign give it a miss. If theres sign the animals are there, go back and go back!
Hard yards are now required, hunt that whole area and after a number of trips you soon work out where the deer are and will bump into them.

You cant beat experience and that only comes with hours on the hill ....its just a fact so dont expect quick success, if you do its just luck, not skill.

Hunting the easy country, the more open contours is a good start when starting out but in the end you wasting your time in many cases.
Deer love the steep crap, and many cases in areas that are popular that easy country is where every man and his dog hunts.

Secret is to start early, first light, when in most cases the winds coming down the hill, its in your favour.
Then gain height, and be prepared to get high up in that steep crap. heads of creeks are great, leading ridges that go onto high terraces are good too.

When the ground heats up and the sun gets up the winds tend to go up. So if you already up high you can slidle and when you hunting back down the winds in your favour.

Stags will be based up high, 3 quarters up the hill at least or higher, often in rugged shit spots .
Ive shot heaps of stags outside the roar bush stalking and many have been up very high , and sweat and tears are required if you want success.

Could go on and on from what ive learnt but one thing is for sure, hunting easy flat country you going to get crap results generally.

My first 2 points will help you lots, and follow the sign.
Good game tracks that are well used heading up into the bluffs thats where you head. you find the deer in bands of good feed 3 quarters on the way up etc and hunt that height.
Steep stuff follow the game tracks, its the easy way to travel and thats where the animals travel, shot untold deer just by doing just that.

Some really awesome information in the replies here - much appreciated all!

I've gotten into hunting later than most and am certainly guilty of just wanting to see a new place every time (so much cool country out there!) instead of learning a spot.

Originally Posted by deer243

I have shot a few deer now bush stalking and the success i have comes down to two major things .
1 Find country thats in your favour and not the animals . I always look for mature native , bit more open and easy to travel thur , less noise and better vision ahead.

2. Find sign in those places, no sign give it a miss. If theres sign the animals are there, go back and go back!
Hard yards are now required, hunt that whole area and after a number of trips you soon work out where the deer are and will bump into them.

You cant beat experience and that only comes with hours on the hill ....its just a fact so dont expect quick success, if you do its just luck, not skill.

Hunting the easy country, the more open contours is a good start when starting out but in the end you wasting your time in many cases.
Deer love the steep crap, and many cases in areas that are popular that easy country is where every man and his dog hunts.

Secret is to start early, first light, when in most cases the winds coming down the hill, its in your favour.
Then gain height, and be prepared to get high up in that steep crap. heads of creeks are great, leading ridges that go onto high terraces are good too.

When the ground heats up and the sun gets up the winds tend to go up. So if you already up high you can slidle and when you hunting back down the winds in your favour.

Stags will be based up high, 3 quarters up the hill at least or higher, often in rugged shit spots .
Ive shot heaps of stags outside the roar bush stalking and many have been up very high , and sweat and tears are required if you want success.

Could go on and on from what ive learnt but one thing is for sure, hunting easy flat country you going to get crap results generally.

My first 2 points will help you lots, and follow the sign.
Good game tracks that are well used heading up into the bluffs thats where you head. you find the deer in bands of good feed 3 quarters on the way up etc and hunt that height.
Steep stuff follow the game tracks, its the easy way to travel and thats where the animals travel, shot untold deer just by doing just that.

Maaaan I've been looking at it all wrong haha. I assumed the deer would want to be lazy (like us) and find easier less steep spots to live/travel in. makes sense that those areas would then get more pressure.

@Barry the hunter - I really do need to learn the feed off by heart too aye, good shout man.

I've had some success over the last year but I couldn't honestly say it was down to more than getting a bit lucky and just spending time in there (vs having a solid plan / tons of experience).

Will switch up my approach & hopefully start picking better areas.

Thanks again!

Takes a awhile - I tried to see if there was a map of Ruahines showing vegetation types but could not find one - one easy way to see quickly a good feed area is nearly all of those species I mentioned are short i.e none grow higher than 3-4 meters whereas a stand of beech trees is 20meters plus - many such as Mahoe fushia will be in groves likely showing signs of heavy browsing underneath given no of deer in Ruahines - but I have shot deer and goats standing on hind legs to get at it - you will get ya eye in - get a good book of NZ natives or look up online - just a last tip if you find spring grass and there's fresh sign dont go tramping all over it - get of as soon as you see sign and go back towards evening - mind you with the no of deer around buggers will be hungry and could break all the rules simply to get a feed - not surprised now to see deer out mid day for quick scoff up (fallow normally do )