hunting in the Hapuakohe and kaimai ranges?

hi all, daniel here im a new memeber.

Im in orini waikato, looking at doing some hunting on DOC land. Dont know the area very well, iv been hunting since i could hold a gun, but all of this has been done in the pines in the EBOP. since iv been in the waikato farming (7 years now). i havent found anywhere suitable to hunt. iv got a permit from doc to hunt kaimai's and Hapuakohe Range, as the Hapuakohe is just of tahuna road, about 15mins from home. Dont know the area so was wanting to know if anyone has hunted there and where you can get good access into it? Also i have heard about thompsons track, appparently can be successful. how far do you need to travel in to get to good hunting. as i know there a alot of 4wd'ing dickheads around there that munt up the tracks.

Any help would be great thanks
dan

Velcome M S youll get all the best advice on here mate welcome to the forum

There have been plenty of deer taken from the Thompsons Track area over the years...many are taken by 'fringe' hunters and if you are prepared to go deeper then there are many more deer...Thompsons Track is a recreational road and you will find many groups use it, as in 4wd, trampers, push bikers, motor bikes, horses...you name it, we all do it...singling out 4wd's as dickheads wont win you many friends...and remember it may be one of them that drag your sorry-arsed vehicle out of the bog one day. I live on Thompsons Track and am more than happy to pass knowledge of the area on to you.

sorry about the dickhead part, but there are proper 4wd enthusiast's such as myself and then the guys who dont have a clue and just make a mess! i have been up thompsons track but from the otherside (katikati) many times and seen alot of the types of guys im referring to, no doubt there are alot on the waikato side too!

anyway im not here to start an argument about that, im here to find spots for bang a deer or 2 to feed the family!
is there mainly reds? any fallow i have heard rumours of fallow deer up there? also there is a pine plantation at the bottom isnt there? do you know who owns/lease's it and if you can hunt in there? a mate has been in there a few times (poaching) and come out with a deer each time, me on the other hand im not to keen on accesing and area without a permit or permission!!!

is it ok to go in Thompsons track on a dirt bike Spook ? if so how much do you charge for parking ? haha might bring my kx125 next time and get deeper into the ranges

Welcome to the forum MS. Like Neckshot says, you will find your answers here.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Shaneo

is it ok to go in Thompsons track on a dirt bike Spook ? if so how much do you charge for parking ? haha might bring my kx125 next time and get deeper into the ranges

---

Summit is 7 km from track start...easy as...you can go about 4 km down the other side before it turns to crap. No charge for parking your vehicle so long as you bring a couple of beers to drink after while we swap bull shit. I can organize accommodation if needed.

good one cheers

I went for a quick walk up there last night. I hadn't been up Thompson's for 15 years or more, which is disgraceful considering I look at it out the window of my house each day. The last time I was up there the track was in such bad condition it was like entering the gates of hell! Put off by my last experience I decided to park at the entrance and walk up...about 200m into it I was thinking to myself that you'd get a family sedan up this road...about 3km into my walk I was thinking to myself ''you dumb f#$%'' why are you walking up this track when there is a Hilux parked at the bottom, the track is mint and I wouldn't have even needed to put it in 4WD to get up...bugger, needed the walk anyway I guess and it only to 50minutes to get to the top, so no big deal.

I broke out onto the clearings with an hour or two of light left. I found my old vantage point where I used to sit and wait, which is what I did until it got too dark to see anymore. No deer seen; but then again I didn't put a lot of effort into this hunt, so no harm in trying for an easy one.

I walked out in the dark and didn't even need to turn on my head lamp as the track was so good and there was enough light to make out the track. I did turn on my head lamp each time I heard a possum, of which I counted 27 on my way down...shame they weren't the target species I was after haha.

Anyway, it was good to head back to my old stomping grounds for a hunt even if not successful.

kj

Good stuff, kj.

I might be doing some work for a farmer in waihi beach in the coming weeks, if I do, I think I'll do a rekkie myself. Will let everyone know how it goes.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by phillipgr

Good stuff, kj.

I might be doing some work for a farmer in waihi beach in the coming weeks, if I do, I think I'll do a rekkie myself. Will let everyone know how it goes.

---

Cool, if the farmer has a quad you can use you'd get to the top in 20minutes. Two men past me on my walk up chugging along on a quad with rifles and spotlighting equipment, but I didn't see them on the top. Maybe they went for a rece' in the pines?

kj

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kimjon

I went for a quick walk up there last night. I hadn't been up Thompson's for 15 years or more, which is disgraceful considering I look at it out the window of my house each day. The last time I was up there the track was in such bad condition it was like entering the gates of hell! Put off by my last experience I decided to park at the entrance and walk up...about 200m into it I was thinking to myself that you'd get a family sedan up this road...about 3km into my walk I was thinking to myself ''you dumb f#$%'' why are you walking up this track when there is a Hilux parked at the bottom, the track is mint and I wouldn't have even needed to put it in 4WD to get up...bugger, needed the walk anyway I guess and it only to 50minutes to get to the top, so no big deal.

I broke out onto the clearings with an hour or two of light left. I found my old vantage point where I used to sit and wait, which is what I did until it got too dark to see anymore. No deer seen; but then again I didn't put a lot of effort into this hunt, so no harm in trying for an easy one.

I walked out in the dark and didn't even need to turn on my head lamp as the track was so good and there was enough light to make out the track. I did turn on my head lamp each time I heard a possum, of which I counted 27 on my way down...shame they weren't the target species I was after haha.

Anyway, it was good to head back to my old stomping grounds for a hunt even if not successful.

kj

---

The Matamata-Piako District Council have a budget of $3000 per year for the up-keep of Thompsons Track...which amounts to a quick run up the track with a bully or excavator once or twice a year...they do no work on the other side as it is out of their area...BoP council do nothing on their side...in fact they dug two bloody great holes several years ago to discourage any one wanting to drive it, which only added to the challenge. Most spotlighting is carried out on the cut over pines or the 'one hundred acres'.

Cool, thanks for the info.

kj

if anyones keen for a mission next week from wed's till sunday ill be keen for a look, iv got a quad bike and 4wd so can easily sort out goin up track? got 9 days off work so might as well make most of it! i also have a permit to hunt the Hapuakohe ranges just out from huntly and working on getting a permit for the pines around thompsons track as well if anyone is interested?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by marlin_shoota

if anyones keen for a mission next week from wed's till sunday ill be keen for a look, iv got a quad bike and 4wd so can easily sort out goin up track? got 9 days off work so might as well make most of it! i also have a permit to hunt the Hapuakohe ranges just out from huntly and working on getting a permit for the pines around thompsons track as well if anyone is interested?

---

Couldn't have made it, but how did you get on?

Just thought id tag on the bottom so it doesn't make a new thread.

Went up the Kaimais on Monday morning, just trying to find out areas where the deer are, as i know little about where they are up there. Walked in at 5am and heard 1 run off just as we entered the bush. As it was pitch black, no sign off it but all good. After a few hours found an area with lots of relatively fresh poo, maybe a few days old ish. Wondered around a bit more, and as we were going up out of a creek, we came across a very fresh one. Picked it up, squashed it and smelt it. We think it was about 10-20mins old, as it was very soft, wet and smelt very strong. We sat and listened but no noise, then after about 10 mins carried on. About 1 hour later we then heard one down below us about 30-40 meters. Tried to get closer and see it, but bush was very thick and it wasn't hanging around. Tried to stalk it but to no avail.

So no deer, but had a great 9 hours in the bush. We got lost for a while (about 4 hours), but the old compass and map got us home. Had a swim in a water hole.
Def go back in soon for another look. Might go up in the roar too.

Sniper.

PS. How old roughly is poo if it is blackish, a little hard on the outside, but still fairly easy to squash in your fingers?

depends on what you ate an drank
, as for squashing it between my fingers, normaly I just usually use toilet paper

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sniper

Just thought id tag on the bottom so it doesn't make a new thread.

Went up the Kaimais on Monday morning, just trying to find out areas where the deer are, as i know little about where they are up there. Walked in at 5am and heard 1 run off just as we entered the bush. As it was pitch black, no sign off it but all good. After a few hours found an area with lots of relatively fresh poo, maybe a few days old ish. Wondered around a bit more, and as we were going up out of a creek, we came across a very fresh one. Picked it up, squashed it and smelt it. We think it was about 10-20mins old, as it was very soft, wet and smelt very strong. We sat and listened but no noise, then after about 10 mins carried on. About 1 hour later we then heard one down below us about 30-40 meters. Tried to get closer and see it, but bush was very thick and it wasn't hanging around. Tried to stalk it but to no avail.

So no deer, but had a great 9 hours in the bush. We got lost for a while (about 4 hours), but the old compass and map got us home. Had a swim in a water hole.
Def go back in soon for another look. Might go up in the roar too.

Sniper.

PS. How old roughly is poo if it is blackish, a little hard on the outside, but still fairly easy to squash in your fingers?

---

Nice work Sniper. It looks as though you've found yourself a spot to return to and get to know better. That's essentially what I've been trying to do a bit in the Kaimais, so I can have success later on. Flick me a PM sometime if you're stuck for someone to head out with.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

depends on what you ate an drank
, as for squashing it between my fingers, normaly I just usually use toilet paper

---

Yeah, i usually use paper but we were in the bush :D

if you find a stray soc or to up there,
its not a good area no deer :D

Brother and I took his boy up there a few years ago for an overnight hunt on a quad from the Waikato side. Partway up on the left is an area off the track where you can have a bit of fun in a 4WD. We went up a side creek which brought us out onto the open tops. We got stuck in 2 places. One required both of us with a rope around a tree and his boy on the throttle to get us up so don't try it on your own. Once on the tops watch for "potholes" in the long grass.
At dusk we were sitting on a vantage point a way off from where the tent was and saw a couple of guys walking along. Blaze orange sticks out a mile at this time of day. They came up on a couple of bikes. Their theory is the deer come out 15min after the last bird stops chirping. Not so this weekend. We did find a salt lick up there.
If you are farming there, approach some of the other farmers whose land borders Hapuakohe for access. All the best.

Spook - I might take you up on the offer later in the year

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by sako75

Brother and I took his boy up there a few years ago for an overnight hunt on a quad from the Waikato side. Partway up on the left is an area off the track where you can have a bit of fun in a 4WD. We went up a side creek which brought us out onto the open tops. We got stuck in 2 places. One required both of us with a rope around a tree and his boy on the throttle to get us up so don't try it on your own. Once on the tops watch for "potholes" in the long grass.
At dusk we were sitting on a vantage point a way off from where the tent was and saw a couple of guys walking along. Blaze orange sticks out a mile at this time of day. They came up on a couple of bikes. Their theory is the deer come out 15min after the last bird stops chirping. Not so this weekend. We did find a salt lick up there.
If you are farming there, approach some of the other farmers whose land borders Hapuakohe for access. All the best.

Spook - I might take you up on the offer later in the year

---

The area you went to is usually referred to as the "hundred acres". You can still get quads up there but it is a mission. Much easier and quicker to walk. If camping up there be sure to remove your head lamp if the spot lighters are out and about...even turned off they give a reflection...and be ready to return fire if they keep searching with the light in your direction.
There is a poled track, 'the north/south track', running the full length of the hundred acres and is used frequently by trampers and hunters and DoC rules apply to the use of firearms in it's vacinity.