New Zealand hunting

[Soab]

Lookin into stag hunting on the s island. Does anyone have experience hunting red stag with NO FENCES ? I’d rather to shoot a 300 class wild stag then a 450 fencer. If anyone has experience I’d like to know. Thank you

[flyguyd]

Originally Posted by Soab

Lookin into stag hunting on the s island. Does anyone have experience hunting red stag with NO FENCES ? I’d rather to shoot a 300 class wild stag then a 450 fencer. If anyone has experience I’d like to know. Thank you

Send Southernman a pm , hes from there and might be able to help.

I would think a 300 unfenced stag would be pretty rare. And you realize that lots of those paddocks are 20-40000 acre and only fenced on 3 sides eh
I never even saw the fence again after i went thru it the first time the pace was too bigMy 2 cents

[raw outdoors]

Spent a month there. do it yourself hunt with a buddy. Your goal is unrealistic. If you want to have the best chance at a 300” bull go down south way south into the fiordland with a boat and do some calling during the rut. It’s thick very thick. It’s wet very wet. But they are in there. Everyone and there dog has a helicopter and in the front country any bull of any size is blasted if it doesn’t live in the thickets of the fiordland. Just so you know you can hunt all year round so the locals shoot most of the big bulls from helicopters as soon as they are done growing and rub there velvet.

I would personally never shoot a stag in a fence. Doesn’t matter how big the fence is and they are always fenced the entire way around. If a outfitter has a gold stag he is never going to let that paycheck just wonder away. Second reason they are fenced all the way around is how do you manage genetics?
A outfitter that tells you they will get you a trophy stag and it’s free range only fenced on three sides is pulling your leg. Weather you drive into the pasture or fly into it your still in the pasture.

[Soab]

Thanks for the info didn’t realize how tough that would be. Ill look into it a bit more

[3blade]

I had a nz trip in mind for a while, have a file on it somewhere. Didn’t end up going. from memory:

-Best you can hope for on public is a 5x5 and those are rare.
-Lots of helo gunning by the govt, areas can be closed without notice
-fallow are almost non existent on public, heavily pressured
-you can’t “get away” from other hunters, helo transport is legal and encouraged, and kiwi hunters are probably the fittest on the planet.
-you cannot bring meat back. At all. You can bring back a finished euro, full taxidermy, clean skull cap etc. including euros you do yourself
-hunting is big business, you probably aren’t just getting permission for free in most places
-there’s a fair bit of competition...not all the way to animosity towards non-residents, but don’t expect gps coordinates from anyone
-tahr and chamois got a serious pop reduction effort recently. Getting them requires real alpine effort, again competing with helo dropped hunters. Backpacking into those spots would be comparable to sheep in BC.
-target rich environment if you aren’t picky. Goats, geese, rabbits, etc probably easy to come close
-the govt maintains a selection of backcountry huts and trails
-no meat recovery laws
-lots of public land, well detailed on the govt site
-don’t know about the gun situation, obviously that changed since I looked into it
-awesome fishing

If you are going with a measuring tape in mind, you would probably be disappointed. Southernman is a great guy, definitely give him a pm and he will give you current info

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by flyguyd

Send Southernman a pm , hes from there and might be able to help.

I would think a 300 unfenced stag would be pretty rare. And you realize that lots of those paddocks are 20-40000 acre and only fenced on 3 sides eh
I never even saw the fence again after i went thru it the first time the pace was too bigMy 2 cents

IIRC he is down there right now!
Cat

[flyguyd]

[QUOTE=raw outdoors;4075106


I would personally never shoot a stag in a fence. Doesn’t matter how big the fence is and they are always fenced the entire way around. If a outfitter has a gold stag he is never going to let that paycheck just wonder away. Second reason they are fenced all the way around is how do you manage genetics?
A outfitter that tells you they will get you a trophy stag and it’s free range only fenced on three sides is pulling your leg. Weather you drive into the pasture or fly into it your still in the pasture.[/QUOTE]

36000 acres is a pretty big pasture And fyi a gold stag is isnt a instant retirement for the outfitter eh, nowadays its a more of a starting starting point 360 ish only around 7000 USD trophy fee. Not much different than NM elk