New Zealand DIY

I've never hunted there, but I did live there for 6 months and have spent another 6 weeks on a return backpacking trip, so I'd like to think I "get" the country. Your three most important items: hiking boots built with a Gore-Tex liner, good Gore-Tex gaiters, and a really good Gore-Tex coat.

It rains a lot in New Zealand. I have spent a fair amount of time hiking there, having completed almost all of the countrys' "Great Walks" which take you through the typical beech forest, up to the alpine grasses and above the treeline, back down to the river bottom, and I've never been on a hike there that didn't involve a downpour or two. When I hiked the Milford Track, the last day of the walk, the track flooded, coming up 6 inches from morning to afternoon, and we were told that we were lucky. The last group had to pack out in chest deep water with their packs on their heads. Another time I was on a kayak trip in the North Island, and overnight, the river rose 10 feet. I kept bumping into drowned feral goats that got washed into the river. The number one killer in the backcountry there is water. Just sayin, the way the water levels can rise there, especially in the South Islands mountainous Fjordland region, is like nothing most of us will ever see, so respect the water.

Also, a heavy plastic, waterproof pack liner is invaluable. You can pick these up in any of the Kathmandu stores there ( the NZ REI). And a waterproof pack cover to go over the whole pack is needed as well.

If you are going to be living in a tent, make sure that it has a "tub" bottom and all the seams are welded. Otherwise you will come back to camp and find things floating in your tent. Its not fun. As a matter of fact, you might just consider picking up a tent to use while you are there. Most of the major adventure travel hubs, Queenstown, Wanaka, Te Anau, will have good gear rental shops. You mention rope several times above. If it were me, rope would be one of those things I would pick up there.

One other thing that is really nice to have is a gallon ziplock bag with a dessicant packet in it, for all your electronics. Great way to deal with the humidity. You can buy the packets in most camera supply stores.

Just realized how almost the entire post is devoted to dealing with water. I guess I really got soaked most of the time. Oh well.

Hi guys,

I have been checking in to here having a look to see how the progress is going with the
NZ self guided hunt plans for 2013.

Certainly very achievable and a lot of options for the keen hunter. I have done a lot of self guided hunts to both islands and its great to see Americans keen for a real hunting experience in the SP rather then heading in, ticking animals off their list and heading home.

Have any areas been narrowed down? A good keen hunter in many places can hire a car at the airport, choose locations and walk in off roads and get into good chamois/tahr hunting. And in a few places, you can glass tahr in legal locations to hunt straight off tracks and trails.

If the hunt is still going ahead and there are any questions, post em up, i might be able to help.
cheers

Bambistew, taking firearms into NZ isn't that difficult really, just paperwork and obviously a hunter needs to be licensed in their country origin. When I get a chance will send you a PM. You are right, can do whatever u want with the meat. There are no game seasons and no tags required for animals. Awesome country for adventures and there is no need foe an experienced hunter to have a guide.

Hi Guys
I too am planning to go to NZ in 2013 have about 4 mo's to kill.What is required for liscense? NH has no firearm requirements. maybe my concealled carry permit? Hunting liscence??I plan on hunting south island, wondering about north island. Any recomendations there? Mostly interested in Tahr.chamois, red deer but anything fun works. How would the fishing be in june to august? Could be hard not to try some of there fabulous trout streams if time allows.

Mate, you will need to contact NZ Police with that one, could be an issue, make sure u have their reply in writing. If your targetting Red stags best to look at heading there in late March/early April for the rut, can be a very difficult animal to locate when not roaring. Hunting for Thar and Chamois in the dead of winter is extremely challenging, it can be difficult enough at other times, the country they inhabit is nothing short of unforgiving.

Live free or die:
When you land in NZ, declare you have a firearm, go through the customs section, you will be greeted by the police, you will present your valid hunting licence in the state or country you live in and then you fill out a very easy form that gives you a single entry 12 month hunting / shooting licence. If you leave the country and come back with in 12 months you will have to get another, i think it is about $60 NZ dollars.

From there i would go to the hire car company that you have previously arranged, a quick look online will see you right for a cheap car for $50 NZ a day, sometimes less, depending on season, and then get the heck of the city and go hunt.

Once you have your locations sorted you can visit any of the DOC (Department of Conservation Offices) and obtain a hunting permit for public land.

Winter is cold, low daylight hours, variant weather but good skins/capes on the bulls and prime rutting time. Can be lots of snow in many tahr valleys. Chamois have good capes, are rutting in may and sometimes occupy more sheltered lower elevation regions.

I would target one species, then the other, very hard, not impossible, but a challenge to get mature tahr and chamois bucks out of the same vaelly. On the West Coast certainly achievable, but it would require some good distances covered on foot.

As for the red stags, unless you specifically target them during the roar, late march/early april, then you will have a very hard time locating them in tahr/chamois habitat.

Winter fishing can be a challenge.

If i was planning a trip i would go in April/May, nice weather, good capes, have a chance at a roaring red stag on the West Coast and you will have the ability to move around a lot with reduced effect from heavy snows, or i would go in Spring, hunt the bulls as they are grouped up, lower down on the spring grass in the creek systems and same with chamois. The fishing is superb. But stags have cast.

Best of luck.

thanks for the great advise Huntfit and Havegun. Unfortunately June thru August is my only time. Certainly not gonna underestimate the weather but am used to very cold and snowy here in northern NH. Plus 3 mo;s time I should be able to hunt around storms. Probably going to focus on Tahr first and try chamois later. I've also been looking at New Caledonia maybe to thaw out lol. Cheap (3-400) but reading gun laws could be challenging and sounds like free range getting tighter lately? Has anyone done a DIY there? Would be middle of roar on Rusa Deer. Or possibly hunted with a reasonably priced outfit? Like I said still very much in planning stage and dont have unlimited funds. Air fare alone is gonna be pricey, probably return thru possibly Australia, Caledonia, Fiji, Hawaii then USA bit of a walkabout but what the hell, see some cool places and hopefully return with a trophy or two.

Yes, you will hit the Rusa roar in New Cal, there are a couple of very good guides out of Australia that could possibly help you out, I can pm their emails if you like. Don't discount knocking a Red stag in thar period, you just have to hunt a lot harder.

livefreeordie i was DIY in New Cal two weeks ago, through a mate, had a great time, stags were roaring hard and we shot quite a few nice stags between myself and the two lads i took over.
There are some local landowners there who charge a day rate, then a trophy fee for each animal depending on size. But i would do my research and unless you speak or can communicate in french it might be hard getting it organised. Use their gun etc to make it easier at airports.

If the cost of a guided hunt is within your reach, it might pay to go guided in new cal and then self guided the thar and chamois in nz as that logistically is very easy to arrange.

Getting harder in New Cal with animal numbers on many places due to a lot of culling, but certainly plenty of good outfits offering quality hunts.

What's the nightlife like in New Cal havgunwilltravel?

Huntfit, New Cal has some interesting culture for sure and quite easy to incorporate into a South Pacific hunt. Never got a chance to visit Noumea, 8 days in the bush filled our spare time up, although it is meant to be well worth a visit.

The on hiccup I have encountered while planning this is how to get the capes/horns back home with you. Went I went guided a few years back, the outfitter took care of the paperwork and had the approval in hand for USFW. They were also thoroughly salted and dried before shipment, which could be problematic. Any thoughts on how one would handle this on their own? Possibly leave at a taxi in New Zealand and have them shipped to a broker in the US?

On my last trip I brought all of the hides and horns back home with me on the plane. USFW was supposed to meet me at customs, but our plane was delayed and they left. Still wasn't an issue as I had all of my contacts and phone numbers in order, but a bit of a delay. The significantly spanish speaking customs agents were not too friendly and didn't know the laws whatsoever. Gotta love it.

M11:
All you need to do is visit a MAF (Ministry of Agriculture and Farming)
Office, there is plenty of these, present the salted, dried capes and
boiled horns to them, they will then give you documentation stating
specie and country of origin and when you land back home you present
this documentation along with your import permits to the USA and it is
smooth sailing.
There are no CITES listed game species over in NZ, meaning the import
permits for you guys should be relatively easily obtained from your
quarantine people. In Australia we use AQIS, but yours will be something
of course.
The MAF permits are cheap and you get them on the spot during
office hours.

Any other questions just ask, huntfit and myself will try to answer
them between us.

HGWT, thanks for the info. That is the piece that I have been missing.

M11:
If you need some more specifics on locations to hunt animals over there in NZ, shoot us a PM and i will help out with ideas. And if your likely to head over to OZ, i am sure we can also help with any ideas on having a deer hunt. It is pretty straight forward with acquiring a Game Permit to hunt deer and there are no bag limits and you can hunt deer 11 months of the year on public ground in Victoria.

cheers

Good post on the topic.
Did it DIY for the last 2 years and hope to make it an annual hunt.
Here are some pics from the last 2 trips.

Yes, I'd say you have done it! Great photos....thanks for sharing.

Man this guy just shows up with all these great pics. Pretty cool

Holy smokes, this is a fantastic thread! Gorgeous photos. The land of OZ!

putm2sleep said:

The land of OZ!

Click to expand...

Don't let a kiwi hear you say that !