Thread: Useless at bush hunting

I have a place near Dunedin that I have been trying to hunt. I have been told by reliable sources that it has got plenty of deer in there, and I see stacks of sign (shit and prints) in there.
I discovered a really nice 8 pointer stag skeleton in there the other day, probably shot and wounded in the roar last season im guessing.

Anyway, I can't find these deer. I have tried dawn, dusk, northerly, southerly, no wind at all. I have tried sitting and waiting, and moving extremely slowly along game trails. I showed my neighbour (he successfully bow hunts deer in the same place) where I have been going and he said I should be tripping over deer in there.

What in the frank could I be doing so wrong? Can anyone help?

Sometimes it is extremely tricky to get the monkey off your back and put the first animal on the deck!
Just make sure you are hunting with the wind in your face and not up your ass and it will only be a matter of time before it happens for you.
Find the fresh sign and sidle around at that height

Slow down, be careful where you place your feet. Stop more often and listen. If you are in deer country, it's just a matter of time.

I was like you, started out bush hunting around waipori forest. Found plenty of sign each time i hunted, but only ever saw the hind leg of a hind for my troubles.

I hunt realtivle accesible fiordland national park bush these days , and starting to realise that taking my time, stopping more frequently for longer and hunting the more challenging areas (bush guts, thickets, creek beds) rather than easily walkable ridges is the answer. Deer obviously walk the ridges as the sign and antler rubbings will show, but deer aren't stupid. During the day they will be happily feeding in safe spaces where they can hide easily and hear your approach. Last couple of deer I shot, were where I thought I'd find them (on the edge of a thicket close to a bush opening and in a upper part of a creek system thick with vegetation. Both deer made themselves known to me while I was stationary listening for something out of the ordinary (a twig snap gave both away).

Get the wind right. Sit and look more than you move and be prepared to have a lot of patience. It will fall into place with persistence .

Originally Posted by Nathan F

Get the wind right. Sit and look more than you move and be prepared to have a lot of patience. It will fall into place with persistence .

As above plus put a stone in your boot.

Less walking,more watching over feed areas.Mornings n evenings best.

Wind in your face #1!
Think like a deer aka heat of summer will more than likely be hanging out in the cooler gullies and faces during the main part of the day. Winter warm and dry close to feed!
Suss out where they're feeding or travelling to and hunt those areas morning and evening.
I often when going to a new area bush hunting will walk through the area not fast but not full stalking mode and find the sign and get a grasp of whats happening in the area for next time. This also helps to find the bush that is more huntable. I often walk past or through areas which i know hold good numbers because it is too thick etc and hunt the fringes or areas with slightly less animals if it is better stalking, i'd rather see one and get a reasonable chance at it than spook 5 in the thick shit and only hear them crash off or catch a slight glimpse. As with most things persistence beats resistance!!!
Good luck

your probably just hunting the game trails?often those areas will just be move thru areas on the way to and from feeding resting areas.heaps of sign but never an animal to be seen.try moving off one of those game trails up into a gully head/flatish shelf area if poss to try and find the deer resting area during the day.also try and stalk it from above deer generally park up high and are alert to threats approaching from below.

Keep at it, will all fall into place soon enough!

The first one is always the hardest.

Keep wandering around until you find a huge amount of sign. Deer shit a lot and their hooves do a lot of damage so maybe you're seeing a little sign and being satisfied with that but wander around more until you find a huge amount. I'm only saying that because that was my problem, hunting isn't like being an Indian tracker noticing subtle signs of game, it's having to watch where you walk because there is deer shit everywhere.

Also this time of year, if there are grass patches there and the grass has gone to seed you know there aren't high numbers, you want to find patches of mowed lawn at least.

Keep persisting as mentioned...I'm in the same boat and only have 1 deer on the board and that was over a year ago.
I have had numerous 'encounters' though, I watch small clearings on the Coast and have a patch of bush that I creep through.

I'm still teaching myself to be alert and as sneaky as they are...how's this for an example.

About 6 weeks ago I go into said bush patch to retrieve a game camera I set up 5 months ago, I had a photo of it on the tree, way point on NZtopo50 and GPS.
It took a bit to find it as the bush had changed & grown a bit, I was standing still between some trees studying my phone screen to work out my bearings as I knew I was close, as I put the phone back in my pocket I looked up to see a yearling standing watching me 3m away....it had snuck in without making a single sound and I detected NO peripheral movement whatsoever. It was gone in a flash!.



Photo is actual camera and taken in June last year.
I've found they can stand dead still and watch you, the same trip I grabbed the camera I decided to walk the bush edge around 9am, was quietly nosing along and came to an area with a small terrace or shelf slightly elevated, so I stood there for a few minutes watching.....nek minute this deer put it's head down to resume feeding, it was at ground level about 12m away, it had it's summer coat on so wasn't very red and it blended in with the surroundings perfectly.

Lessons learnt those 2 days were to be alert myself, use my eyes & ears, and to study my surroundings carefully.

Wind direction.speed.look for "things" that look different not a whole animal and keep going back.i had spell like that two or three times over the years and just keep at it till I'm past it.

Originally Posted by Nathan F

Get the wind right. Sit and look more than you move and be prepared to have a lot of patience. It will fall into place with persistence .

That's what I do. I only ever see arses in thick sh1t.

Originally Posted by Trout

Less walking,more watching over feed areas.(busy areas water wallows, well used tracks etc) Mornings n evenings best.

This.

Just to add. You always hear about the success stories. Shot one yesterday blah, blah blah. They don't mention the other 10 - 15 days of hunting and shot zip.

If hunters shot one every trip they would be extinct.