ive hunted private land teed up by myself or mates on n off forums also done guided hunts
also some doc land trips which i my sitution are more armed quad putters lol cause anywhere u can quad around normally not flash animal wise well for me so far
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ive hunted private land teed up by myself or mates on n off forums also done guided hunts
also some doc land trips which i my sitution are more armed quad putters lol cause anywhere u can quad around normally not flash animal wise well for me so far
I did guiding on the farm for 3 years,
We attracted a lot of hunters because we are so cheap, we got just under 900 deer in 3 years, I gave up and just do the old trophy hunt now as my hobbie became a job every weekend my passion for hunting was waining.
Our clients basically came in 3 groups
Those that couldn't hunt at all
Those who wanted there kids to get a deer
Those that just wanted cheap meat
Quote:
Originally Posted by mikee
Same as I Canada our outfit won't take Canadians. The old outfitter took a guy from Manitoba about 40 years ago. To this day his family who have moved to BC hunt the river near our base camp. This makes our meat hunts difficult as you are competing. Luckily the outfitter knows more secrets of the territory but unlike here they can't move areas. I agree its is illectual property theft. I'm surprised you take Aussies. I genuinely think its would be appropriate for non residents of NZ to require a guide on public land. I here a few stories of Aussies and Australians doing some serious damage to Outfitters areas flying in the following season unchapperoned and validating killing young animals with cost of flights.Quote:
Originally Posted by R93
In my mid 20's I hired a guide to take me deer hunting. I'd been hunting rabbits and goats for a few years but always wanted to step up to deer. Nobody in my family hunted, I was the exception to the rule. I knew nobody who hunted deer within our extended circle of friends, so after much deliberation I contacted a guide and talked through my objectives. In a nutshell, I wanted to know what to do, where to go and how to do it. The guy wanted $180 per day for free-range hunting on DOC land with no gaurantee of success. To me that was a lot of money and seemed expensive however when I did the sums, I quickly realised that worked out to a shit hourly rate. In the end I paid the man his $360 for the two nights and almost 3 days in the bush. That included food and everything... all I needed was my rifle and a sleeping bag.
While I was confident in my shooting skills if presented with an opportunity to shoot, reading magazines and books was the limit of my knowledge on where to look, what to look for and what to do once an animal was down. As it turns out that $360 was money well spent. What I learned from that guide in two days would have taken me two or three years to work out for myself. I shot myself a good plump red hind and in total saw 9 deer that weekend. I can tell you (without pride) that I never saw that many deer again in the bush for another 15 years. Clearly that guy knew his stuff to put me in front of that many deer in two days in an area that was quite heavily hunted. Clearly I was thick... as I said I never saw that many deer again for many years.
I learned many tricks that I doubt I'd ever had worked out otherwise. I learned how to hunt deer, where to hunt deer, what to do with an animal once it was on the ground and how to carry it out once it was prepared. I was no green-horn at camping or bushwork but I still learned a whole bunch of new skills. Was it all worth the $360? Damn right it was. That $360 set me on a course for the rest of my life and for the hard work that guide had to put into my success that weekend I don't begrudge the guy a cent of it. He earned it.
Since then I've recommended to a number of new comers to consider following my example. Not everyone is lucky enough to have fathers, uncles, cousins or mates to teach them the ropes. Aside from our own stupid pride there is no reason not to give it go because even an experienced hunter is still likely to benefit if for no other reason but to see how somebody else does the same job slightly differently. And hell, you might even enjoy yourself.
Touchy subject this for some people , Here’s my story and take on it , I started deer stalking in the mid eighties and there was a lot less animals around then than there are today , and it was not unusual to do the miles for a whole weekend and not even see one , the spin off to this is you never really got the opportunity to watch animals and learn there habits etc, shit you were more worried about finding camp again most of the time ( no gps’s ).
Never ever thought I would go on a quided hunt because I thought heck I back my self and the hard learnt knowledge, I don’t need someone else to find me animals well 25 years later .....
I have done a few guided hunts here and overseas in the last 10 years now and been a spectator on quite a few hunts with a mate who is a guide .
Some of the hunts overseas you cannot do without a guide anyway and my experience was I met great people and saw game and landscape I always dreamed of seeing (Dall sheep hunt in Alaska) , for me it was a once in a lifetime hunt and would do it again tomorrow if it wasn’t so Dam expensive.
A guided hunt in a fenced safari park here is not for me for sure but they don’t lack customers and for some people they are time poor or bad health and that’s what floats there boat still , I don’t get it but that’s there thing and they are proud of the trophy’s they collect .
A guided free range hunt on either private land or public land is a different kettle of fish , if you are starting out or even if you have been doing it for 30 years you will most probably enjoy some great company , see more animals , learn more about all things hunting and make some friends , what’s not to like about that ?
So for me personally yes my view has changed , has it effected my hunting passion and hunting on my own , No ! I think it’s a good thing to have in the mix , you might shoot a amazing trophy that you can look at everyday on your wall at home ,you might have lesser trophies that you have secured over the years that you appreciate even more but they all tell a story and hold a great memory.
That’s my 2 cents worth anyway.
The last outfit I was guiding for in Canada has the exact same problems. Even past guides screwing them over.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stocky
But any resident Canadian with a tag can hunt their territory. A lot of it requires not only a tag but permission from the resident first nations people. The first nations even have their own proactive rangers. I always get stopped by them and they give me a bit of good humoured ribbing about my accent and go about their day. They are also a good source of info as they like to talk[emoji1787]
It is always a risk using public land but you get a feeling about some clients and can adjust where you go and still get them a good animal. I have spots that have been learned and passed on that I will only take people from further abroad. If they ever show up in them again, so be it.
I will likely put my business to sleep until travel opens up again whenever that may be. I know plenty of others not so fortunate and will likely go bust.
Have a new job in Canada that I am looking forward to but the outfitter there doesn't know where he will stand, facing the same issues as us.
The whole industry as we knew it will change. Just not sure how at this stage.
I also dont think experience matters. Most people I have guided have hunted just as long or longer than I have. I learn stuff off them as much as they may me.
I got humbled by a client last year that I insisted to allow me to recover the animal alone because of how dangerous it was. He ended up tagging along and must have thought I was a complete idiot because I fell over 50 times in the steep deep snow. He didnt slip once.
Get back to camp and he proceeded to show me photos of all the technical mountain climbing he has done and still does.
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@257weatherby Same with private land. That's why I gave up pighunting. Too hard to find people to hunt with who wouldn't ring the farmer the following week to say that I told them to call; or just sneak out and poach it......Quote:
Originally Posted by 257weatherby
That behaviour is disgusting IMO As someone that has been taken on private land and public land by people I find it appalling, I would never even think off going back to somewhere I’ve been shown by myself. Then again most of these people end up being long time hunting mates. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
If I was ever to use a guide it would be for 2 reasons.
Safety.
Local Knowledge.
And if anyone going into an environment they are not familiar with, and have limited or no experience of, cant see the importance of those, they probably should stay at home watching YouTube.
My opinion only.
@Mr300WSM Especially when you plan to go hunting but have to call it off. But the person you've taken there a few times goes there hunting anyway. They go out and get their Landrover stuck on the track, go back to the farm and borrow the tractor without asking, try to pull the Landy out and roll the tractor down the hill and into the river..... And I get an irate farmer ringing me that night asking why I said they were allowed to go out......Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr300WSM
Or; another doozy..... You bring an acquaintance out for a hunt. He asks if his mate can come too. "Sure" I say. Coming back we stop the wagon and talk to the farmer who is helluva frosty with me compared to usual. I just think that he must've had a barney with the missus or a bad case of man-opause and think nothing of it. I get home and about an hour later get a ring from the farmer absolutely losing his nut with me..... Turn's out the "mate" and a few of his mates had been out there the week earlier rounding up all the cockies wild goats..... That was in the days when a white feral nanny was fetching $600-ish dollars.
I pleaded not guilty to him; because I didn't know anything about it. I apologised profusely and thankfully he calmed down and realised that I was as f***ed off as him. And also thankfully; didn't ban me from the property. I rang my mate up and blew my stack. Turns out he didn't know anything about it either! His "friend" had f***ed us both over.....
I go hunting on a good deer property with a mate. Have done for many years. I know I could get onto the property for a hunt by myself, and my mate has actually told me to. I haven't because even though both parties are fine; it would still feel like asking your mate's missus out on a date! Maybe I'm too old fashioned!
Cant trust anyone these days
First story is a doozy[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]Quote:
Originally Posted by bumblefoot
I have private land access I wouldnt have if it wasnt for mates. Always asked for their blessing or it has been suggested by them to go.
I have had run ins with land owners family that didnt know or wanna know why or how we were there. That gets uncomfortable until you get a word in[emoji16]
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I think it depends what you want to get out of it. I too started hunting in the early 80's, sometimes we'd only get one deer a year (and that from bloody near every other weekend out) but it sure as hell taught me to value game.
The other thing it taught me was to value our public lands and the access and opportunities we enjoy from them.
Maybe I'm a bit simple but I think most hunters are far too selfish. I wouldn't dream of going back to a spot that someone else had shown me without them (or in consultation with them). An occasional forum poster took me to an absolutely primo spot, and we've been back there a few times since. Plenty of people have asked me for the name of the Runholder and/or how to approach him but the answer is NO.
You can only shoot an animal once and one of my greatest pleasures is sharing our back country and our hunting with anyone keen to tag along and make a contribution (not in $$, good company and conversation is fine with me). It irks me when I see people being dissuaded from public land hunting here - its a public resource, and it doesn't hurt to share it. If someone wants to hang up a shingle and guide, they too are welcome, but if you use a public resource for pecuniary gain then you should rightfully expect to pay for that (concession fees etc). The converse applies and the sneaky pricks who charge for guiding without a concession should be potted - its the same as poaching.
After all that, guiding has been a part of NZ hunting from the very very beginning, the Murrell's at Manapouri being outstanding examples of guides and Lord Belper the same with taking trophies using a guide. If you want to put in the effort and learn the hard way, thats good, if you value your time or have some other factor at play and want to use a guide that's fine with me.
It just depends on what you want from your hunting. I enjoy taking people that have never hunted out and getting them into it, I’ve about half a dozen people I’ve got into hunting and gone on to get their FAL. They all go hunting with other people as well but I can trust them to not go to the places we go..... as for guided hunting I think I would possibly use a guide. I’ve always wanted to shoot A nice bull tahr and a fallow buck if it seems like I’m going to get to long in the tooth before this would happen, I would seriously think about it they are just not animals I’ve had success with. But for now I’ll keep trying
You must be bored bro, opened a can of worms and hit a few nerves aswell :thumbsup:
It's an interesting one, each to there own I guess. Some guys want a guide to make the hunt easy for genuine reasons, while others want instant gratification and reward. Every individual circumstance is different, but personally I wouldn't pay for a guide and learnt to hunt the hard way hunting sika in the Kaimanawas at 16, while all my mates were partying. It took me around 20 days Bush stalking before one stood still long enough for me to pull the trigger. I think this helped shape my perspective towards hunting.
One thing I have learnt over the years taking guys hunting is that most don't have a strong drive for the hunt and backcountry. I've had guys get homesick after walking in for 5 hours, had guys broken and negative towards hunting after 1 unsuccesful day in the hills, had others that think they are deserved of a trophy stag because they have done a weeks hunting so have "put in the time and deserve it" :ORLY:. I normally just bite my tongue and never invite these guys again, hence why I only hunt with 3 or 4 others. These are the guys that want to hunt the same way as me with the same ethics and morals.
I'm not saying it's wrong to pay for a guided hunt but for me the thought of it doesn't give me any satisfaction, the head on the wall that I've put heart and sole into is the one that will always mean the most. I guess everyone has a different amount of passion for the sport and the blood sweat and tears each person can or is willing to invest in the reward differs.
thats a great generalisation of hunting buddies.....very few cut the mustard and stay the distance over the years....some just dont have the heart for it,others too busy and have higher prioraties....I hunt with 4 main people and thats maybe four times each per year...my dog is the only constant in that...and she also helps weed out the others...if she doesnt like them,they dont come again,if they didnt get nipped in first place,she good judge of character LOL.
Go and do it. A trip to Ngamatea during the rut has been a highlight for me. It had nothing to do with the trophy either. Amazing seeing free range sika like that. I’d go again.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tahr