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New Zealand?!?!? #7231774 07/21/18 09:02 PM
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Craw3773 Offline OP
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Ok Guys,

Here's the scoop: my sister in law lives in New Zealand. In 2015, we went to visit, and I behaved without a single discussion about hunting. (It's as tough as it sounds)

We're headed back in January of this year, and I have been given the green light to book a hunt. Im not sure if I should do a DIY, or a guided hunt. I have about $3,500 to work with. Airfare is already paid for, and we're flying into Christchurch.

What are yalls thoughts?

Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7231840 07/21/18 10:06 PM
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I hunted NZ in 2008 about 2.5 south and west of Christchurch on the South Island. I hunted with Kiwi Safaris when it was part of Westervelt Hunting. Kiwi is now on it own again. I think they do a daily guide fee and then charge a fee per class of animal with lodging included. The quality of Stag you can get for your money today is much better than back then. They had Red Stag, Tahr, Elk, Fallow and Chamios on the station we hunted. You can do a hunt on your own on public land but the Red Stags will not be as large as on a reserve type hunt. The Tahr and Chamios can get just as big but live in some really tough country to hunt(depending on the location). With anything you hunt you can hunt them year round since there is no season. I hunted the first week of April and that was the start of their fall season. Elevations ranged from 2100' at the lodge to 5200' on the mountain on the property we hunted.
These two Red Stags were High Silver back then 320-339 SCI score. Stags this size are now the smallest class since SCI changed their scoring ranges or lowest price they shoot there. I shot the first one since it had a droptine. I seen 14 droptine stags in 6 days of hunting. The first one score 336 SCI and the bottom one 324 SCI.



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Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: stxranchman] #7231887 07/21/18 10:54 PM
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Wife and I went a few years ago and went to the south island - we liked Queenstown the best. Stayed three weeks - hunted one week and were tourist the other two. Killed an awesome tahr and a 551 inch Red Stag - trip of a lifetime





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Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232003 07/22/18 01:44 AM
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I think its gonna be hard to find a guided Stag hunt for any where close to $3500. You might be able to find a Tahr or Chamois hunt for close to that though, depending on add ons (i.e. chopper, etc). In my opinion, if I had $3500 to play with, I would do a guided Trout fishing trip on the south island. Some great fishing down there. Hope it works out for you. New Zealand has been our best vacation to date, and the hunting didn't disappoint either. Good luck.

Last edited by Theringworm; 07/22/18 01:49 AM.
Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232011 07/22/18 01:53 AM
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Hunting in NZ is not cheap. However you can hunt on your own on public land. I would have no idea where to start looking for information on where or how to do it on your own.

Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Theringworm] #7232016 07/22/18 01:58 AM
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Originally Posted By: Theringworm
I think its gonna be hard to find a guided Stag hunt for any where close to $3500. You might be able to find a Tahr or Chamois hunt for close to that though, depending on add ons (i.e. chopper, etc). In my opinion, if I had $3500 to play with, I would do a guided Trout fishing trip on the south island. Some great fishing down there. Hope it works out for you. New Zealand has been our best vacation to date, and the hunting didn't disappoint either. Good luck.


You are correct - free range can be done but the stags are small - a stag hunt will cost you well over the $3500


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Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232036 07/22/18 02:36 AM
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I would call/email these guys and explain your situation. Stags like those I posted are $3500 each on their pricelist. That does not include the daily guide fee and lodging. If you call/email them you might be able to work out a better deal on the day rate and have it included in the trophy fee. When I hunted there it was a total package price instead of daily fee + trophy fee. Search the internet and make some calls. You might be able to make a good deal. Tahr and Chamios are priced higher than the base price Stags on a lot of places.
http://www.kiwisafaris.co.nz/
http://www.kiwisafaris.co.nz/images/pdf/pricelist.pdf


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Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232044 07/22/18 02:48 AM
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Kiwi Pack is $5950 for 4 nights lodging according to that website. I talked with Kiwi Safaris at SCI. Seems to be a great group of guys. Your bigger issue, in my opinion, is in January Stag are still early in thier velvet growth. They aren’t hard horned until typically late February. Just know all the details pros/cons before booking. Hope it works out for you. Never hurts to call and ask.

Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232056 07/22/18 02:59 AM
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Missed the January part of his post. You would not want to kill a Tahr then either if you want a pretty hair coat. They were marginal in early April. Leaves you with a Chamios hunt. Kiwi Safaris had access to some good Chamios hunting to the west Stew Point. Stew Point was 1.5-2 hrs south of Christchurch to Geraldine then NW to Stew Point about 20-30 minutes. You can see Peel Forest(10 miles or so) from their Lodge there. If you can find a day hunt type deal with a kill fee it might fit your budget. That time of the year they may work with you. The fishing was bad the year we went, so they said not waste our time. When others went a few years before they had more fun fishing than hunting for some of the group. They spent a couple of days fishing. We had fun riding around at night with a spotlight shooting possums.


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Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232144 07/22/18 12:20 PM
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From what I gather. The trophy stags are on private. Most fenced in.

I'm a diy guy I'd just assume shoot a raghorn on my own than a record book on some dudes belt loop. Like mentioned above 3500 won't get you there anyway. Start researching where to shoot a tahr they are compared to ferrel pigs here.

Good luck

Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232152 07/22/18 12:44 PM
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Thanks for the input guys. I'm going to call kiwi safari and see if I can at least get some info.

Re: New Zealand?!?!? [Re: Craw3773] #7232230 07/22/18 02:49 PM
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I hunted with Glenroy Lodge 20 years ago, so I don't have anything current to offer. I went in June, when the snow was starting to happen, and the capes where really nice. At that time, a red stag was at the top of my list, but if I was going today, I think you can get a better deal on a red stag here in TX then in NZ. Same with Fallow deer and elk. What makes NZ unique is Thar and Chamois. Both can be hunting in Europe for a lot more money, but in NZ you will probably get a better trophy for a lot less cash. Thar is all about the cape. Just about any mature Thar or Chamois will make the record books, and every 1/8 of an inch will tie you with another large group of people with the same score. I don't know about that time of the year, but they also have Sambar in NZ. I don't know where, and I don't know who to go with, but if they are in hard horn, that would be the top animal for me if I was going there. Then Chamois and then lastly, Thar.

Decide on what you want, and then figure out who has the best value. I wouldn't try hunting there on my own. I met a guy there who had just shot a Thar on his own after five or six hunts. I can't remember if he got it on his sixth try or not. Anyway, he said he kind of knew where they where, and spent a lot of time climbing up the mountain looking for them, but never saw them. They see you coming and disappear, which is why helicopters that drop you off on top of the mountain works so well. They watch down hill, not up hill. So he would get to the top of the mountain and look down for them, which eventually worked out for him, but it was a massive effort and not something that I would expect to have good results with on a vacation with limited time.

I didn't bring my own rifle. Everyone has really nice rifles there to borrow, and with so much time being spent doing the family thing, you really don't want to mess with a rifle. After my hunt, we rented a car and drove all over the South Island. Saw penguins come out of the surf, went on a boat ride in the most amazing bay ever with cliffs that went straight up for thousands of feet that nobody has every been able to climb. Ate ate small restaurants all over the country, in small towns that where just amazing!!!

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