Hey guys new to hunting. And new to this forum. I have been hunting in the kawekas around mangatutu and had no luck yet . do you think i am in the right place?
Next i am going to try hunting in the beech forest near makino bivvy? Thanks fo your help
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Hey guys new to hunting. And new to this forum. I have been hunting in the kawekas around mangatutu and had no luck yet . do you think i am in the right place?
Next i am going to try hunting in the beech forest near makino bivvy? Thanks fo your help
Welcome jhunt. Its a journey so dont expect too much right away. Go slow, look, listen and learn. It will come to you
ok Thanks mate. Awesome to get a reply so fast. Do you know much about kaweka hunting etc
NothingQuote:
Originally Posted by jhunt
Just keep at it mate.
You have a lot to learn.
Goodluck and enjoy it
Welcome along.
Sent from my GT-S5360T using Tapatalk 2
G'day jhunt, Welcome to the forum.
Sika are sneaky little buggers and can certainly be a challenge to bush hunt. You dont have to go too far from any of the roadend access points in the kawekas to find them. They love to live in the tight manuka, but near impossible to hunt in that stuff. Find more open areas with fresh sign, where you can sit quietly and still and wait listening and watching.
Sika have good hearing and pick up movement very well, its hard for them to see/hear you if you are sitting still. This is obviously only worth doing if you are in an area where they are moving about, moving through. Many of the old experienced Sika hunters, use to take a book and sit in the one hot spot all day.
Quite boring, but possibly more productive that crashing around in the bush making a racket ;-)
Welcome to the forum, jhunt.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GWH
wow thanks for all the feedback . That is the hardbit though. i went into the kawekas for the first time and me and a friend walked for hours in tight thick bush and it is noisy the whole time! so i just want to know where to find these openings etc. and then others say sika dont move around much at this time of year .. and i assumed you cant just stick to the tracks
Get off the tracks, and find their tracks if you can. You've set the bar high for yourself starting on Sika as they are notoriously tricky. I'm not saying you won't get one with time and practice, but the key for most Sika is to go slow from what I've been told. Only seen them in the flesh a few times on one days hunting in Kaimanawas, and they seem to be super light on their feet, ghost like even! :O_O:
Pay attention to the wind, one of the most overlooked variables that can make the difference between seeing and not seeing animals!
A deers sense of smell is much better than a dogs!
If they hear or even see you, they still might not be sure exactly what you are and may still hang about as Sika are very inquisitive...if they catch your scent, it's more often than not Game over and they will move out of your way long before you even get a chance to see them.
thanks every one! does anyone have any better hunting places they can give me?
We would all like to know that ;)
Welcome mate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jhunt
Yes, send me a pm and I can take you to a few possies that have very good numbers of resident Sika.
You can then treat those possies as your own as there are more than enough for the both of us.
I am still only learning myself, and started out spending most my time chasing sika in the tighter bush which i found bloody hard. I started seeing more sika once i started getting up out of the bush into areas where its more open, where you can look into areas with slips, clearings, tussock or short patchy scrubby stuff where you can see the deer moving about feeding.Quote:
Originally Posted by jhunt
Il be flying in to tussock hut labour weekend for a week,got asked tonight if i wanted to go...hmm let me think,,,,fuckn ay i do!:yuush:
Welcome aboard the forum
Welcome Jhunt, good luck with the sika, there a hard bastard to start hunting for, all the advice up to now is sound....keep at it mate, dont give in......
thanks for all the welcome! and how do i private message people etc?
If you go into "Settings" at the top of the page you will seeQuote:
Originally Posted by jhunt
Welcome Jhunt.... Good luck with them sika. The best info I can give you on where is, just on the outskirts of the thick shit that you have been trampsing tru. The may live in there but have to come out to feed at some time.. also don't be scared of getting out of bed early and walking in torchlight!
Good luck...... and post some pics when you get one..
ok thanks . that was my next plan to get in the bush on torchlight so we are in there for the sunrise!
Hunting is an awesome thing but make sure you're in it for the right reasons, it's not about killing deer, it's about being out in the bush and enjoying every aspect of it. Once you enjoy just being there, the rest will fall into place
I agree with Matt2308 ... watch the wind & take a small Bic lighter with you ... and buy a set of Leica's ... keep safe in the hills.
keep out there mate and go for it, i am a beginner and went on 20 trips before i shot my first deer, was worth the wait (11 point red stag) and its just kool exploring the lay of the land, learning the ins and outs, enjoy the journey!
Try getting down lower into the Red Beech forest where it can be a bit more open. Try and cover a fair bit of ground at first to suss out where they are. Quite a few will whistle at you. Once you are in a good area then start stalking. Move one step at a time and look around and through each tree supplejack thicket and mingimingi bush to make sure there isn't a deer there. If one whistles, there about a 1/3 chance of seeing it. Try and circle to downwind and preferably above it. Easier said than done but you don't have to be super quiet in this situation as they already know you are there. Just one mistake by the deer and it's waltzing matilda with you.
Another strategy in that area is to get up a bit onto the spurs off the main range or down towards Lotkow and Macintosh and spy out over some clay pans from a distance. Lookout for contorta forest - very prickly and horrible.
All the best.
I have a fly in trip the weekend before :)Quote:
Originally Posted by rookiesniper