Thread: Bush Hunting - tips on identifying stalkable areas

im a fan of hammering away at the same area...... if you see sign the deer have been there and will be back , if its relatively fresh but not steaming fresh then your just there at the wrong time if its months old then your there at the wrong time of the year..... deer are cretures of habit they eat shit drink and sleep .....and for a short time root , but they are random creatures of habit so you need to be flexible put the gps in the pocket (its there to take you out later or to mark spots) and focus on the surroundings... ....follow game trails and fly camp where the deer are (or have been recently).its all about being in the right place at the right time. i took another forum member for a hunt in pureora a few years back , we were supposed to be there at day break but he bought an inreach and wanted to swing by matamata to pick it up which meant a later start and we got to the carpark and had our packs on about 11am by the time we got to our campsite and set up it would have been about 1ish went for an afternoon nosey were supposed to check a clearing i know the deer like but the mate said he wanted to look at another spot (another i had identified as a regular feeding spot) so we changed tack. he got his first pureora red on that clearing at 3pm ..... what im saying is if we had stuck to the plan we may have not seen any deer ......or we may have. just keep smashing the same area at different times and widen the net
i always used to study aerial photos mark likely spots then change the overlay to topo looking for sheltered saddles creek heads (and grassy bits in the middle of dense bush for spring) i notice now some of the clearings shown on aerials are all but gone but contours dont change

I have maps which I mark with date and time every time I see or shoot a deer or goat. I just keep it on paper but as the data has built up I manually filter it (i.e all records during winter) and transpose to an online map.
I could put the whole thing in Arc GIS but the original copies have sentimental value now.
Anyway I recommend keeping and maintaining your own data so that as it builds it will show you trends that can inform your approach at the start of your hunt.

I would have got up to that 900 line, either just below or above that shelf depending on bush and sidled along there following my nose with the signs and not the topo,a mistake made to much I believe is bush hunters follow topo to much as opposed to the sign in front of them.ill use topo t get to a spot I want to check out then away I go,and only really look at it again if I want to head to another area.

Originally Posted by Yesmate

I would have got up to that 900 line, either just below or above that shelf depending on bush and sidled along there following my nose with the signs and not the topo,a mistake made to much I believe is bush hunters follow topo to much as opposed to the sign in front of them.ill use topo t get to a spot I want to check out then away I go,and only really look at it again if I want to head to another area.

Same, would of started at that First creek heading up to the 900 mark then along to the next creek and follow what sign is about

Originally Posted by deer243

Same, would of started at that First creek heading up to the 900 mark then along to the next creek and follow what sign is about

Yeah same, absent of being on the ground and seeing what the sign and feed was doing I'd be sidling somewhere around the 900m mark. Be some nice scrubby sheltered guts through there I'm picking.

A low line like that at first light in the spring/early summer could produce a deer, but better odds up higher.

Watch little creek river mouths flowing out of thick bush,creeks say 2 to 6 mtr wide with spring grass around amongst tussock grass.Like a super market for deer every year.Walk up these creeks a 100mtrs or so.You should start seeing sign at this time of the year,look around the sand pit areas,easy to see fresh sign.Same time as you start mowing your lawns in spring.Maybe in a few weeks or so.
Creeks are like a corridoor for deer,easeir to walk out inbetween thick bush.They think like us,easyist way is best for access to food.