Thread: bush stalking for dummies

Yep, as MD said keep hammering it in the manner described.

One other tip is to try find the edges of the habitat types, quite often deer trails and areas of heavy movement are between those edges. Plus travelling the edges can be easier than getting right into the thick shit. Edges also hold different feed species a lot of the time, as a defined edge usually results in more light getting in under the canopy = more feed. Thats not always a hard and fast rule but i’ve shot a fair few deer just by hunting in and out of those edges eg a good one for sika can be red beech vs mountain beech, or red beech vs manuka.

Originally Posted by hebe

Yep, as MD said keep hammering it in the manner described.

One other tip is to try find the edges of the habitat types, quite often deer trails and areas of heavy movement are between those edges. Plus travelling the edges can be easier than getting right into the thick shit. Edges also hold different feed species a lot of the time, as a defined edge usually results in more light getting in under the canopy = more feed. Thats not always a hard and fast rule but i’ve shot a fair few deer just by hunting in and out of those edges eg a good one for sika can be red beech vs mountain beech, or red beech vs manuka.

Thats good advice. Otherwise keep going back and hunt the whole area, get a good picture of the country and where the most sign is and if theres better stalking bush in the area.
Most people know i do alot of bush stalking, and get lucky now and again.
What ive learnt is try find and hunt a number of different spots. Yes, ive found plenty of spots that have deer in them, but if the bush is super thick and not easy i just dont waste my time
and hunt better spots more suited for bush stalking.
What time are you heading into the bush? I always head in very first light, nearly always. Start to climb, as the wind is normally coming down then after awhile when you have height and the times ticking
along the wind will shift and start to rise which will be in your favor.
If the signs stags, they be up high, and may require hard yards to get as high as possible. Found many a stag outside the roar up very high while the rest of the deer are lower down.
In the end of theres sign theres animals and they are there, just keep going back and maybe hunting in from a different dirction if no joy