A few trips to Rakiura, Stewart Island and still no white tail deer to show for it.
That hasn’t stopped me from thinking about my next trip.
That part of our unique country is really something special and worth adding to your ‘Must Do’ list. The deer are what draw me down there, but it’s everything else that makes it a real adventure. Kiwi calling on the grass beside the hut at night and fossicking for food all hours of the day. So many other birds everywhere. Blue cod are usually easy to catch and dine on. Sealions to keep an eye out for.
While standing on a small rocky point close to our hut, in knee deep water so I could dangle my line down to where I had seen some cod. This huge dark shape shot up from the bottom and breached the surface about half a metre from my legs, cleared his nostril and gave full eye contact as he passed by. The huge male sealion had almost caused me to pollute the water around my feet. They are fast and very large when you see them that close.
I might just step up the rocks a bit, was the first thought I had. He did a lap around the bay and disappeared for the rest of the day. And I managed to catch a good sized cod a few minutes later.
A couple of days later I almost walked into a large sealion pup at the steps of the hut. It wasn’t letting me pass, so I backed up and circled around to the other end of the hut. It was gone and I never saw where it went, just vanished.
We always spend a few nights in Oban when we head down for a hunt. Just so we can enjoy the relaxed and friendly people while putting a few dollars into their economy.
I think I’ve seen more deer in Oban than I have on the block we visit, so cool.
Such a beautiful and cunning deer. They have outsmarted me on many occasion.
It’s not hard to find old tree stands or trees to sit and hunt from. Each trip I set up trail cameras to find where they are hanging out or passing through.
Somehow my camera’s always found fresh broadleaf and bunches supple jack berries on the ground in front of them.
Most movement I found was between 11,00pm and 3.00am under the cover of darkness. Not ideal, but there’s always a chance if you’re in the bush.
Someone had built a small hide with ponga logs. I added to this with crown fern and dead branches to fill the gaps in the walls. This was built for rifle hunting where distance isn’t an issue. On the other hand, I needed to be well hidden as the deer would be between 15-30 metres away in this area for an arrow to strike them. Again I found a broadleaf branch and some berries 20 metres in front of the hide on a mound of moss, that’s perfect. I set my trail cam on a ponga and left it for the night. Before daylight my wife and I snuck into the hide. We had a plan, maybe these deer can be fooled. If two of us walk out and one walks back after a couple of hours, will the deer think no one is around and come out? It’s worth a crack.
We snuck out early to the hide. y wife sat reading a book and glancing up every once in a while, I was scanning the area for any movement or noise. At 10.30am she left to head back to the hut.
Now the wait, and wait, and wait…….
At 3.00pm I heard the purr of the outboard motor. Our friends had been out in the dingy to catch some cod for tea and breakfast. I headed back to the hut to help fillet the fish and have a coffee.
I was gone for maybe 45 minutes. Most of the broadleaf and berries had been eaten! My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets!
According to the trail cam time stamp, ten minutes after I walked off, a doe and her fawn entered the area and had a good feed of the leaves and berries. Only to be moved on by a spiker who came out 25 minutes after I left to feed.
Oh well, at least I knew there were three deer near by.
Another spot had a large tree with a big fork to sit in about 6 metre’s above the ground. It had a reasonable game trail near by. I managed to get myself and my bow up into the fork. Shortly after getting comfortable, there was a rustle in the crown fern. Game on. Out walks a kiwi, wicked! Not a deer, but where else in NZ can you see a kiwi in daylight? The kiwi fed in view for about 20 minutes then disappeared under a log and down a slope.
Another hour later it appeared again and fed it’s way back in the direction it first appeared. Half an hour later another rustle in the crown fern, this time behind me. It had better be a flippen Kiwi!! I couldn’t turn to shoot behind me in the tree I was sitting in, I had to stand to manoeuvre my bow and myself around. I strained my neck slowly around to see a very large bodied buck standing broadside at about 15 meters looking over his rump as if he was being followed. I was SO excited to see him, but SO frustrated I couldn’t get an arrow away.
He stood there for an eternity, maybe 45 seconds then bounced off over a fallen tree. A few minutes later I heard another rustle in the crown fern of the same gully, and saw the orange cap of My mate pushing up through the fern. This crown fern is shoulder high, not knee high like it is in the North Island. There’s deer tunnels everywhere beneath the tops of the leaves.
I did manage to shoot a few possum with the bow near the hut at night.
Plenty of fish were caught. As the water taxi skipper said, if you aren’t fishing over rocks, the only thing you will catch is a cold.
