Thread: Late Starter

Hi all.

New to the forum and hunting. A friend was looking for a hunting partner and twisted my arm. I'm off work after surgery, so diving into learning what I can.
Joined the local NZDA in Dunedin and have applied for my license.
Thought this looked like a great place for advice.
Was wondering what gear (apart from a firearm) you need, is nice to have and can do without?
Cheers

Welcome, any general tramping gear will do for a good while and then look for stuff on special and make sure to join in the discussions here and eventually the buy sell section will open up for you. A lot of good gear can be bought that way second hand.

Welcome to the forum.
Binoculars and a knife would be a good start, but the gear list can be as long as you want to make it

Welcome, @asrobbie. I too am a late-onset hunter and this forum has been a wealth of info and I’ve met a number of genuine good buggers through it.

Re. gear, there have been many threads over the years on this topic. For me it depends what type of trips you are doing.

Like @Happy Jack says, tramping gear is fine and a lot of ‘hunting-specific’ stuff just over-priced and over hyped.

After your rifle, binos are top of your list. Top quality ones will definitely make a difference but there are a lot of good mid-range ones out there to get you started and you can upgrade later.

I’d put a rangefinder next if you’re hunting open country, because you’re unlikely to have a lot of practice estimating. The Sndway ones on AliExpress are a great cheap option.

Knife = Bahco

The only other things I take every time are a first aid kit and PLB, and the rest depends on time of year, location and duration. You will refine your gear list almost every trip so start cheap and upgrade / ditch as you figure out what is valuable or superfluous.

Nice to haves for me are hiking poles x2 because they double as shooting sticks and a decent length of 6mm paracord.

Welcome aboard

Re range estimation. Pacing out things you see from home is great. Power poles work for shotgun range( it helps) not hard to learn Fred's letterbox is 300paces from mine,the pie shop( awesome beef bacon n cheese) is 500 from bottom of hill and 250 from service station. Yip knife binos,bit of string,roll of insulation tape.power aid bottle of water....daybag can be as simple as warehouse school bag or a pikau made from spud sack.

Oh and boots that fit...the flavour doesn't matter,the price sure as shit does,cheap good fitting boots that don't slide out from under beat I'll fitting expensive noisy jobbies.

Welcome, toilet paper is #1 then the wanted items after that like knives, bino's, rangefinder, pack, headlamp, a couple of bandages, safety device, boots, warm clothing, water, food. That should get you around for a start, all the fancy gear can come later.

Thank you all. Can be quite a mine field searching online, and the budget is definitely finite

hi definetly boots first could be $ 200-500 get used to them by some walking in your area - socks most important the best I have found is from farmlands the farm supply shop get thick ones - then work on clothing a decent quiet water proof wind proof jacket first go from there - once you have got boots and clothing sorted then the nice stuff - a decent knife - binoculars - torches- overnight trips a whole new lot of gear pack sleeping bag tent etc - look honestly boots clothing knife binos torches- a day pack thats to buy first up theres $1200 cheap end up to $3000 - the only good point is most of hunting gear if looked after lasts - out on your own a PLB is good idea - I have left out rifle scope ammo as thats a whole field on its own - most posts one here where the subject is what to take out most take way way to much junk thinking its needed for just a day hunt no its not knife ammo first aid kit ( simple one ) and a cigarette lighter - torch well torches I always have two a headlamp and a good hand torch but then we are always coming back late - remote area GPS very handy - water bottle a must

$3000 daybag!!!!! Fook me sideways Barry. You tractor drivers getting well paid this year.