Tips on Tongariro deer hunting

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 9, Issue 410, 29 October 1991, Page 5

Tips on Tongariro deer hunting

Spring is perhaps the most productive hunting period of the year and because deer behaviour is a little more pre-

dictable it is a good time to fill the freezer with venison, to pass on knowledge to the up and coming hunters of to-

morrow or to just enjoy deer in the New Zealand landscape. The following notes are designed to help you

get more from your hunting in the Tongariro/Taupo Conservancy this spring. Tongariro National Park The north-eastern part of the park off the Desert Road is well worth a look from mid October onward. The heavy scrub, patches of beech and extensive tussock grasslands provide ideal habitat for red and jap deer. The locals who have persevered and learnt the secrets of this area do very well. The Waihohonu and Oturere catchments hold productive new adventures for fit active hunters in spring. To the west of the volcanoes, the Whakapapa headwaters offer very handy red deer hunting. Extensive tussock clearings among the beech forest off the Chateau Road or State Highway 47 provide some of the most driven-past hunting opportunities in the country. The tussock grassland above bushline on Mount Hauhangatahi (Baldy) is another worthwhile location for a mid November mission. There are two routes up; from the Mahuia campsite on State Highway 47 and from behind Erua Ski Lodge on State Highway Four.

Kaimanawa Forest Park The higher altitudes of much of the southern and western Kaimanawa mean a later spring for the remainder of the park. November will start to see deer active in the upper Waipakihi Valley in good numbers. Give the lower valley a miss this year ... the venison recovery operations on the Maori land, true lower left of the valley, have had a major impact on numbers over the past three years and although a few japs will be shot through the spring, generally, encounter rates will be low. By late November, the tops hunting will be hotting up with the onset of the alpine growing season. The northern Umukarikari and central ranges will produce a couple of reds per trip for most hunters. Remember to use your binoculars well and keep off the skyline!

If you can get into the upper Rangitikei in late November/early December you will have a ball, that's if the walk in does not kill you. Hunt the small river flat clearing for both reds and japs. Numbers are high. Tongariro Forest The extensively logged podocarp forest in this area hosts some of the finest red deer in the conservancy. The whole forest is littered with old skid sites, logging tracks, slips and clearings with exotic grasses established on most of these. Access is

via Kapoors or John MacDonald Road from State Highway 47. Spring hunting has already started and a trip into the Wanganui headwaters is worth the effort right now. Getting them is another story but that is the challenge of hunting! Guidelines update 'Guidelines' is published free of charge by the Bulletin each week as a community service. To help us keep Guidelines up-to-date please let us know of any changes in details for any listing.