Thread: Help a young hunter out - Taupo

Originally Posted by Yeti

Hi, Me and my mate are planning a trip down to Taupo this weekend from Auckland and wondering if anyone would be kind enough to point us in the right direction. We have never been down there to hunt but have heard many good storys about the area. We are both hoping to get our first deer. I brought a quad bike last weekend for farm use but if anyone knows of any track I could take it up that would be use full also. Look foward to your replys

Yeti

Please be very careful.

New and inexperienced Hunters like yourself and your Mate, hunting in an area you have never hunted before can be a recipe for disaster.

Things can go bad very quickly if your not on to it.

Ask yourselves these questions

"How good are my Bushmanship skills"?

How good are my firearm handling skills?

How well do I trust my mate with his firearms handling skills?

How well can I navigate in unfamiliar areas in difficult conditions? ie poor visability, darkness, cold etc.

How well am I able to positively Identify My Target in a bush setting?

What's our backup plan should things not go according to our original plan?

How well am I prepared to spend a night or two out in the bush should I not be able to make it back to camp?

How would we get help in an emergency if it's needed.

These are all things I had to learn when I was first starting out.

Also study the area well, eg. Google earth, maps etc.

And get a reliable short and medium term weather report for the area you intend to Hunt.

When you arrive at your destination, pick out some landmarks like a prominent rock out crop or ridge line and remember how to get back to camp from there.

Clements Road is a good choice for a weekend Hunt but remember there will be other hunters there too as it is a popular area.

Don't forget to do the hard yards, have fun, hone your skills and learn from your trip.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers
Pete

Yeti,

There are some real good bastards on this forum, who will be more than happy to help a keen young fella out, but as you have probably guessed by some of the replies, its not seen as good form to come onto the forum as a new poster and straight away ask for hunting spots etc.

If you havnt already got one, get yourself a 'Spot X' hunting book, which has most of the public access spots in it, with what road end to head down etc, and info about each spot - Pretty good value for a new hunter.

As far as i am aware your quad want be much use to you on 99% of the public land spots i have hunted, but thats mainly Hawkes Bay Kaweka/Ruahines and one trip to Clements.

Get out into Clements, and explore, keep the wind into your face and go very slow when in an area with fresh sign, ie take 1 or 2 steps and stop and scan everything you can see, another couple of steps and repeat, most new hunters (sika especially) go way to quick, even when you think you're going slow, slow down some more.

When i first started, i spooked plenty thru going to quick. If theres no sign, speed up a bit until you find sign, then slow right down again.

The other tip i can give you is GET OFF THE TRACK, i have seen other new guys say theres piss all sign about, then i find out they never got off the track - You only have to go a couple of meters off the track in many places and you will find sign, where on the track there was no evidence of animals at all.

Good luck - Report a few stories on here of how you got on, where you went, what you found etc, and people will be more willing to help you out once they have seen a bit of a track record.

GWH