Oteake Advice

Just doing a bit of summer planning and locked in spending a good week in Ranfurly/Naseby visiting family over New Years. Just wondering whether it's worth the hassle of taking the rifle and kit down from Wellington with me, bearing in mind that I'd only be able to get away for an overnighter and won't have access to a 4x4.

Just having a quick look on Google Earth and looks like the Deep Stream area and then the area north of Tourist Spur would be easy enough to access, al be it a slog! Not knowing the area at all and not a South Island hunter (yet..) just looking to weigh the likelihood of seeing animals vs the admin and 36hrs away from the family holiday with the wife having to look after the toddler solo! I see on the DOC site that there are chamois in Oteake too, no idea of numbers or range though. I don't suppose having a crack at one on an easy access one nighter is a realistic possibility?

Not after any spots etc but any thoughts, musings, general advice or pointers would be appreciated!

It's been a while since I was in there but if you walk a bit and stay low ish in the cooler gullies you'll see deer. Many more than the 4wd guys who hammer the mostly high tracks, and are too darned lazy to walk a long way down hill from their trucks.

Usually stinking hot down there in the summer.Tentman got it right.Shady gulleys with green tucker best to watch at 5am.

Legend cheers guys, really appreciate your thoughts. Seems like it’ll be worth the admin to go have a bit of a poke around 👍 I’ll let you know how it goes!

Hey mate where you’re looking at going is landlocked on the naseby side to get to it you would have to come from the other side. If you only have a car then probably going up the danseys pass to timber creek is the only way to access it.


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Originally Posted by horey

Hey mate where you’re looking at going is landlocked on the naseby side to get to it you would have to come from the other side. If you only have a car then probably going up the danseys pass to timber creek is the only way to access it.


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Ah roger that, I was having a look at the paper road that comes via the forest but doesn't look like they're happy to dish out permits in the height of summer (fair play!)

I was hoping to avoid the Danseys side since I figured it'd get a hammering but looks like thats the go.

Cheers

You’d be better going up the falls damn side and walking the water race around the foot of the hill, glassing up each gully and deciding whether to head up from there. Or head to the west branch Manuherikia and hunting the gully west of the airstrip/homestead camp ground. Gets a hammering and as said previously during the hotter months it’s a bit of a lottery as animals like to stay cool but that would be my advice for a foot hunter or someone without a truck.

The blacks hill doc block gets overlooked also as it’s a small block but generally holds animals

It’s a massive block just stay off the roads most of the people in that block drive through not heaps actually beat the feet and hunt it


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Awesome advice, thanks heaps for the pointers 🫡

Well worth a look. Even from the tracks you should still glass animals, but like others have said it will be hot so they will be close to water in the tight wet guts. Good luck.

High mag binos would help.

I hunted some of the area around Falls dam late Feb last year. Seen heaps of hinds and fawns in all in the shady scrubby guts. Stag were all up real high. As Peashooter as said just walk the water race. There are fallow in that lower county too.