Thread: DOC land - The real Hunters bragging rights?

You are going to have to walk and climb hills to be successful. Get away from anywhere that can be thermalled at night by lazy poachers from a quad/ute.

Personally I get more satisfaction from hunting DoC land. I see deer on my own farm almost every day but have no desire to shoot them, like on many farms it would be like shooting fish in a barrel, so not really hunting in my view.

Others see it differently and post stories of farm shot deer where there are obviously plenty to choose from, each to their own.

• I hunt both public and private land when I can — both have their challenges and rewards.
• Some of my hardest hunts have been on private blocks — ensuring absolutely clear firing zone while managing tricky terrain and difficult wind.
• And a few of my easiest meat hunts have surprisingly been on public.
• Public land can be tough — you never know who else has been in there or if there’s been heli activity.
• Keep at it — the animals are out there, just not always where you expect!

Just cause the are a lot of deer about just now doesn't make them any easier to hunt. Through cobbers I currently have a bit of private access, though I'm normally a Conservation land hunter, been at it since my first hard won deer in 1980. I'm pretty good at spotting game on the hill, but far from the sorta skills some guys I've hunted with have.

On the big station where we occasionally hunt usually its "goats only". Some time ago the Farmer asked us to shoot a deer for his BBQ, from a few he was seeing at the end of the airstrip. The boys went out with a thermal and there were 27 deer there. They missed haha!

Anyhoo we hunted goats on specific blocks the next few days, shot quite a few and I saw two fallow on another block. Coming down the faces right on dark I glassed from a good vantage point for the Reds on the end of the airstrip till after last light - didn't see a bloody thing.

Recently we were back there to cull deer, it was during the "croak" and roar so the animals were bunched up. We saw at least a 100 fallow and quite a few Reds, in places where on previous goat trips we hadn't seen any.

The point being the deer were always there, but even experienced hunters weren't necessarily spotting them, it takes persistence to gain the knowledge to " hunt" an area. Most of my hunting has been "armed tramping" and that's NOT really much good, I've seen half the South Is but would have shot a hell of a lot more deer if I'd concentrated on just one or two areas.

Originally Posted by Tahr

There are not 2 types of hunters. There are many types of hunters, and many types of opportunities. Save your judgements for when you know the hunter. Where he hunts is of no consequence.

100% agreed. Now more than ever we need to be united as hunters not divided by the means of which we hunt or where.

Originally Posted by Mrfants

We were right there last weekend for 3 days didn’t see a thing. I was with an experienced hunter - possibly the roar had sent them away?


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15yrs ago I walked 12k up the river from the bottom of the pass.Early morning,seen nothing.Sleeped in truck that night at bottom of pass.Next morning it was drizzly rain,as I drove my way up mailings.Seen 4 deer sheltering under trees from rain,near the top of pass.There was 2 big stags sheltering on bush edge 400yds away,I was very tempted to blast away,but I no spare dry cloths.So just watched them trot up the hill and ly down in the rain.They looked magnificent stag,I was just pleased to see them.
So I walked about 24k the day befor,seen nothing.Next day from truck seen 6 deer.Iv was camp down mailings when the Kaikora quake hit,well that shook the old truck and me.The valley just rumbled.I was a bit concerned for my safety for a bit.Grrrr

The thing i like about shooting public land is that its available to everyone anytime, all it costs is a bit of effort and a lot of sweat.

And if you happen to shoot something you're proud of it's compounded by the thought that this animal has managed to survive freezing winters, drought, waro, 1080 drops, and of course other hunters!

Well I must say that as one of many on here who learned to hunt as a teenager in the 1980s you young guys have nothing to complain about.
Every deer that made the slightest mistake was cleaned up and flown out right under our noses.

The tahr were nearly exterminated.

We made lots of trips and lots of mistakes to see only a handful of animals and maybe shoot the odd one.

Numbers now in the South Island on private and DoC land are ridiculously high.
If you do a multi day hunt and don't see anything you are probably doing something very wrong.

Those of us who learned the craft of Hunting in the 80s and stuck with it got pretty good at it because we had to.
There are some very technically proficient Shooters out there now.
But that doesn't mean they will be a successful hunter.

I shoot way more than my fair share of deer every year.
DoC and Private land.
But it's all hunting and not shooting to me.

There should be none of this bitterness towards guys who shoot / hunt on private land.
It has to be done.
Period

Originally Posted by XR500

Jim was one of a kind. So quietly spoken yet full of enthusiasm and knowledge that he was happy to share.

@XR500 I worked at Tisdalls after school and during the holidays for 2 years. Jim took me under his wing. Took me hunting in the Ruahines (Pari and Rangi). Took me to the tramping club and on club trips. Huge influence

Private generally requires shooting to be successful,doc requires hunting.any deer taken in the bush by a hunter without a dog is real a “hunting”trophy than any trophy stag shot on private.I enjoy both but a bush stalked deer will make you fizz!

Originally Posted by gimp

You are going to have to walk and climb hills to be successful. Get away from anywhere that can be thermalled at night by lazy poachers from a quad/ute.

... or jetboat, even (especially the inflatables).

The permitted use of thermals on public land could well be a bit of a game-changer, it's not just the areas accessible to motorised transport that can get picked over now.

Anyway, private land hunting is great, but all the above adds another challenge to the hunt on public land and I like it best for that reason. But I haven't turned my nose up at a private land hunt yet and doubt I ever will.

It's a pretty spot on observation as a general rule.

I find public land hunting is a lot harder and if you are trying to find your own spots there are a lot of trips that don't yield anything other than good mental time in the bush and some fitness (which are worth a lot).

After a few unsuccessful trips on public land I sometimes opt for the odd paid farm deer to help boost morale and the freezer (can still work out cheaper than buying meat if you find someone with reasonable prices). The doc venison does taste a lot sweeter, but that might just be the 1080 talking ;-)

If you are worried about it go door knocking, they can only say no.
Sometimes deer are on properties you would never guess and not too far from home, knock, ask and you just never know.

Golden rule, if you do get on private land respect it, leave gates as you find them, let farmer know if you see anything wrong like a dead animal etc.

And a box of beer or a feed or 2 of whitebait if you catch some doesn't hurt either.

The way I look at it wherever you hunt you need the odds on your side not the animals. By that I mean every gully you look into you need the advantage, in that you need to know the animal is there before the animal knows your there. Then you have time, and if you have time you can make some good decisions. Mr Fants I notice you hunt open country mostly. So there’s 2 things you need to do I reckon. One thing is get above the animals you are trying to find. Two reasons, animals look down hill about 90% of the time because that’s where 90% of lazy people are, and secondly animals are way easier to see from above. You are looking down into the scrub, and you can see between the bushes and you will see more of the animal (the body) not just the top of the neck and head peering down at you from above. Secondly you want to be above them looking down into areas where they are feeding (gully heads, little basins, slips anywhere there’s green shiny grass) in the first two hours and last hour of light cause that’s when they are standing up feeding and moving around. That makes them so much easier to pick up. Animals sitting down are soooo much harder to pick up. So do the figures, you probably need to be walking in the dark a lot or camping high. I do the latter. It’s about being in the right place at the right time and those places are usually where other people haven’t already done over.

Originally Posted by Mararoa

The way I look at it wherever you hunt you need the odds on your side not the animals. By that I mean every gully you look into you need the advantage, in that you need to know the animal is there before the animal knows your there. Then you have time, and if you have time you can make some good decisions. Mr Fants I notice you hunt open country mostly. So there’s 2 things you need to do I reckon. One thing is get above the animals you are trying to find. Two reasons, animals look down hill about 90% of the time because that’s where 90% of lazy people are, and secondly animals are way easier to see from above. You are looking down into the scrub, and you can see between the bushes and you will see more of the animal (the body) not just the top of the neck and head peering down at you from above. Secondly you want to be above them looking down into areas where they are feeding (gully heads, little basins, slips anywhere there’s green shiny grass) in the first two hours and last hour of light cause that’s when they are standing up feeding and moving around. That makes them so much easier to pick up. Animals sitting down are soooo much harder to pick up. So do the figures, you probably need to be walking in the dark a lot or camping high. I do the latter. It’s about being in the right place at the right time and those places are usually where other people haven’t already done over.

Good advice there. I would say that just because it's "close" and hunted a lot (I'm thinking of the lazy buggers with thermals on quad bikes here) doesn't mean all the deer there are shot. Really popular spots right at road ends or adjoining farmland (especially if there is crop about) often produce deer for a thoughtful hunter.