New Zealand Hunts

NEW ZEALAND HUNTS

New Zealand is in the southern hemisphere of the world, and thus, timing of your visit and hunt would be from February to August of each year.
February and March offer typical autumn conditions, with June being mid-winter, and end July/August early spring. Temperatures are not extreme, due to it being an island climate, however we ask our clients to prepare for cold and wet weather conditions at any time. The Red Stags and Wapiti roar / rut in late March and April while the Bull Tahr and Buck Chamois rut in late May and June. Hunting and trophy quality is excellent throughout the season and our client success on all species is virtually 100%. Your success and enjoyment of your hunt is our principle goal.

We hunt private lands for Red Stag, Wapiti, Fallow, and Boar, while also utilizing wilderness areas for our Alpine hunting for Tahr and Chamois. There are three private ranches, owned or exclusive to us, each of 4,000 acres in size. There is also a ‘free range’ area, offering challenging hunting which is 25,000 acres. We access the hunting areas by any means available and desired, which is by foot, off road ATV, vehicle, and if needed, helicopter for the Alpine hunting. Our hunts are based out of our world class hunting lodge, owned by me, and located in the heart of our hunting territories.

As for the hunting, our hunt package is basically either a 5 day (2 species) or 7 day (if three (3) or more trophies are booked) hunt – each being all-inclusive, providing -

1 x 1 guiding,

daily rates,

trophy fees (for the booked trophy(s))

all meals, beverages, and accommodation,

airport/hotel transfers,

licenses and tags, and taxes (GST)

Typical hunt packages are listed below; however, each hunter can fully customize his trip with the trophies he/she is interested in hunting. For example, you can add a Fallow Deer to your Red Stag hunt, or even hunt two Red Stag if you so desired. You would simply add the respective trophy fee to the base hunt price listed below. We will be happy to provide you with a specific quote on your hunting interest. You simply need to call or email me with their wish list. Also, on ALL of my hunts, you hunt the best trophy you can find. There are NO additional fees based on the size or trophy class of the animal taken. Our stag hunting is without the ‘per inch’ additional charges, common with all other New Zealand companies. That said, a review of our trophy photos will clearly show the excellent quality trophies our clients harvest.

Base Hunts - 2008 / 2009 Hunting Rates are quoted in USD:

Trophy Red Stag                     5 days              6,000 (SCI 300-340 w/15% to 340+)

Tahr / Chamois                        5 days              8,000

Stag and Fallow                      5 days              8,950

Stag and Wapiti                      5 days              11,750

Stag, Tahr, and Chamois         7 days              12,500

Stag, Fallow, and Tahr            7 days              12,450

Additional trophies can then be added to any of the above base hunts: in USD

Gold Medal Stag Upgrade                             3,500   (SCI 340-360, possible 370-380)

Wapiti                                                         5,750   (SCI 330-360, possible 370+)

Tahr                                                            3,750   (11-12 inches+, 5yrs+)

Chamois                                                      3,000   (8 ½ -10 inches, some 10+)

Fallow                                                          2,950   (High Silver and Gold – 50/50)

Boar                                                             1,250

Arapawa Ram                                                950

Feral Goat                                                     950

Excellent waterfowl shooting for Paradise Ducks and Black Swans as well as other species is also available, typically as ‘add on’ days to the Big Game hunt at 600 USD per day. We also have are clients finish out their hunts with some possum, walibi, and/or rabbit shooting if time permits. Also, lake/stream/sea fishing can be excellent as well.

Also, we specialize and provide a wonderful trip for the non-hunting guest.
New Zealand has so much to offer the hunting and the touring guests, that it truly makes an ideal family destination. The non-hunting rate is 250 USD/day, providing each guest the first class lodging, meals and transfers, as well as there very own tour guide and driver/vehicle for each day of their stay. We have a Touring Brochure outlining just a few of the trips available to our non-hunting guest. And that said, 60-70% of our guests each season are non-hunters – being guests accompanying their hunting partners. The inside of our 2009-2010 Hunting Rate Sheet provides these references.

Firearms:

We have quality firearms, i.e. rifles and shotguns and ammunition available to our guests for hire, at a flat fee of 100 USD for the entire hunt. This fee includes ammunition. It is very difficult for Canadian residents to travel through the USA on their way to New Zealand with a firearm, so this is likely the best option for you.

However, if you would like to bring a firearm, we will provide and assist you with the required NZ import permit application. There is a 25 NZD processing fee charged by the Auckland Police upon arrival in the Auckland Airport.

Trophy Handling and Shipping:

Our outfitter is the only company which has ‘in-house’ full time staff responsible for the proper care of your hunting trophies. This includes field and shipment preparation, which is charged at 100-150 USD per trophy. We also arrange the required NZ export permit (40 NZD) and build a custom crate (approximately 150-200 USD) for your trophies. The expediting, brokering, and shipping of each client’s trophy crate from New Zealand to a single point designated by the party is additional and will be determined based on the destination and size of the shipment. Typical crates to

N. America cost approximately 500-1,200 USD, regardless of the number of trophies in the crate.

Additional Costs to consider:

Specific costs not included in our hunt package are:

Hotel stays and meals and expenses, if required, before or after the hunt

Airfare from your departure city to Queenstown, New Zealand for each guest (expect to pay 1,250 to 1,500 USD roundtrip)

Tips and Gratuities to staff

If used on the Alpine hunting, we advise budgeting 1,500-1,800 USD per hunter for hunting BOTH species – Tahr and Chamois. 90% of our clients are successful and spend this amount, or less, when using the helicopter to aid their tahr and chamois hunting. We can discuss this cost further, but in general, this improves the quality of the hunt – in regard to time, effort, success, and even trophy quality. That said, hunting success with and without the helicopter is virtually 100%, but is dependant on the hunter’s physical ability, the time of year hunted, and a bit of luck no matter the method. However, as a minimum, accessing the hunting areas by helicopter is recommended, as there is always a limited amount of hunting time available for each species.