Thread: woodhill ballot results

Originally Posted by 7mm tragic

Well there are 256 ballot winners and if they all managed to take 3 does that would be 768 deer removed from the herd.

In theory yes, but in reality they don’t. Many stick with buck permits, plenty don’t shoot does even with a doe permit.
I would guess less than 1/3 of all hunters are successful.
I’ll put my hand up as one who’s missed out on does with a doe permit.
One hunt I could have taken 3 or 4 in the morning, but i decided to leave them and take one in the evening closer to the car.
It was just too easy, probably saw close to 20 in the morning. Guess what, Murphy joined the evening hunt…


Another ballot I had an absolute sitter of a shot on a doe in the evening. (Again left a couple I could have taken in the morning)
So easy, I decided to prop my phone up and video it. By the time I got it in the video frame and recording and got back behind my rifle it feed down into a shallow depression in the ground.
It was fairly open country, very small pines growing, somehow it completely disappeared, never to be seen again!
Home again empty handed, somehow the other lads didn’t take anything either.

The forest is absolutely overrun with them in places. I’ve seen in excess of 100 in a day. Iwi don’t make it easy, which I guess is understandable.
If they wanted the numbers reduced they could expand the area, season and numbers taken per party.
But between Iwi and WFMC they seem to want to keep the numbers high. I guess it’s good for the hunters, no one would pay to hunt if you had a slim to zero chance of seeing or getting one.

Originally Posted by MP270

Any one care to PM me some info on block 1?

Cheers

I have posted everything I know previously. Do a search and you'll find it. Get there early, stay late. Deer on the dunes at change of light. Hunt throughout the day though. Don't waste time staying in one spot for too long. As with all hunting, be mindful of wind direction, check the forecasts in advance and plan your route accordingly.

Originally Posted by MB

Re: rules

https://www.fallowdeer.co.nz/conditions.php

DOE permits are the default option this year - if you want a BUCK permit you need to apply for it. Write BUCK on the left of their name on ballot return form. BUCK permits are optional - do nothing if you don’t want a permit for a BUCK.
BUCK permit is not transferable.
Accepting a BUCK permit excludes that person from taking a DOE.

It says 2024, but I hunted there last year and pretty sure it was a doe or a buck for the ballot holder. I wonder if they have the date wrong on the website?

Got the 2025 paperwork this evening.

Just to clarify:

2. Primary Permit Holder is issued a permit for a Buck or Doe automatically and can take either a Buck or Doe, but is limited to one Deer.

3. The other hunters in the party are issued a doe permit but can apply for a buck only permit, tick the box next to your name.

4. Accepting a buck permit excludes that person from taking a doe.

Good news, it read different from that on the website.

I managed block 7 in early September. Hope there are some left in there by that time.
Looks like a long coastal block.
Any tips appreciated.

Originally Posted by D@n

I managed block 7 in early September. Hope there are some left in there by that time.
Looks like a long coastal block.
Any tips appreciated.

There will be deer there, search up for "block 7 woodhill" and try and figure out:
- any cutover areas (which are worth getting to at dawn and dusk)
- any areas of native (which are normally the best areas for holding animals in the day, although they do hang out in the pines as well)
- game trails and areas with feed, especially by the edges of thick young pines (which are pretty much impossible to stalk in - but the animals will feed out even in the middle of the daytime)
- If you find buck sign (scrapes, rubbings etc) then treat that like gold, theres normally only a few bucks in a block from my experience.

Don't spend all day walking around, find the likely areas with sign and spend time there.

Wind is normally from the west.

Good luck!

Originally Posted by Low box

There will be deer there, search up for "block 7 woodhill" and try and figure out:
- any cutover areas (which are worth getting to at dawn and dusk)
- any areas of native (which are normally the best areas for holding animals in the day, although they do hang out in the pines as well)
- game trails and areas with feed, especially by the edges of thick young pines (which are pretty much impossible to stalk in - but the animals will feed out even in the middle of the daytime)
- If you find buck sign (scrapes, rubbings etc) then treat that like gold, theres normally only a few bucks in a block from my experience.

Don't spend all day walking around, find the likely areas with sign and spend time there.

Wind is normally from the west.

Good luck!

Thanks, I'll do a search of the forum and find some spots on the aerial images.

Originally Posted by 300Shortmag

Congratulations to all those that received a ballot. I hunted a property at top end of south head for the first time this year and couldn’t believe the number of fallow we saw. This property gets planted in grain maize and the fallow absolutely smash it. A colleague that looks after the grain had already been in a couple of times but they would only get 1 or 2 per trip. It was early December by the time we went in and the maize was almost 2 metres tall. We shot and recovered 9 and I’m pretty sure at least another 3 or 4 that I couldn’t find. The fallow kept appearing from the forested areas all day. This makes the rules around 1 animal per party seem pretty miserable?

Hi @300Shortmag it's one deer each for each shooter, rather than just one per party. Every now and then you see some groups that may not turn up until 7am, and lots will leave before dusk.. Certainly not all hunters are successful...

@MP270 if you have drawn a block, you won't be able to also hunt as a companion to another successful ballot winner. Just one hunt a year.

https://www.fallowdeer.co.nz/conditions.php

I forfeited my ballot so i can go earlier in the season and give someone else an opportunity.