New Zealand

[Ballance1]

Not bashing outfitters, but would rather shoot multiple species of animals and not just one for the price. 

[carpsniperg2]

You can always add animals Good luck to you.

[Ballance1]

Update on New Zealand.  Bought plane tickets for 1100 round trip from spokane.  Looking at Thar and Chamois for free. 

[bearpaw]

What island are you going to? I have been all over both islands and can offer some recommendations on things to do and where to go if you are interested.

All types of hunting, fishing, bungy jumping, helirides, rafting, jet boating, diving, sky diving, a lot of fun things to do.

[addicted]

I expect a well documented write up of your adventure with lots of pictures. 

[Machias]

I expect a well documented write up of your adventure with lots of pictures. 

 

[Ballance1]

Going out of Christchurch, looking at the Arthurs pass area

[carpsniperg2]

Same way we go to my place down there. Some cool places along the pass. I have some pics on here of the pass as well. Hope you don't get car sick My wife hates the drive for that reason. Kiwi's drive a little fast on the pass for me

[Ranger91298]

So when are you going on your hunt?

[Ballance1]

Going the first two weeks of April. 

[boonerboy]

awesome! Good luck and give us a full report. 

[bearpaw]

Going out of Christchurch, looking at the Arthurs pass area

The red stags will be roaring at that time. The right area will have reds, tahr, and chamois.

Rent your car in advance online, it's cheaper if you shop for a deal online. The last time I rented a new 4x4 diesel landcruiser for a month, it seems like it cost me around $1200, 4 of us traveled comfortably, and we took it anywhere we needed to go.

Arthurs pass is close enough to Cristchurch it gets hunted quite a bit. Most animals are back off the road a ways, be prepared to hike a few miles from the pavement. If you continue to the west coast and head south along the coast to Fox Glacier, there are a couple good places where we have hiked up about a mile and got into a lot of Chamois sign. I never killed any there, but a good friend has twice.

Wherever you go in NZ, ask about landowners that might allow possum or rabbit shooting. It is legal to spotlight on private land and is an absolute blast. The right place you might kill 50 critters in a few hours of shooting and you are doing the country a favor.

If you continue south along the coast and then go east toward Waimate, you will be in wallaby country, same rules there, find a landowner that allows night shooting, it's a blast. (from Waimate it's only 3 hours back to Christchurch)

If you like adventure, go to Queenstown, its the adventure capitol of NZ and my favorite city on either island. You can do anything that makes the heart beat fast near that city.

If you find that you aren't getting into the tahr and chamois, you can hire a heli to drop you off in the high country where there's game for a few days. Those chopper pilots all know where the animals are located. That used to cost about a thousand bucks or so for two guys.

Keep in mind, all animals in NZ are feral, the government often operates eradication programs where they either poison or heli shoot to eliminate animals that are eating native vegetation. They may shoot 500 or 1000 tahr out of an area to protect native plants. It's OK to talk hunting to anyone in NZ, so just ask locally if there are any areas that you should avoid due to eradication programs.

Another cool thing is the fishing, there is excellent ocean fishing, and excellent trout and eel fishing in the streams. (check on regs)

You will find NZ people easy to talk to, very inquisitive, and some of the nicest folks on the face of the earth. I have actually looked at real estate there as I like it so well. You will have a blast no matter what.

[bearpaw]

Almost forgot, be sure you have an expeditor lined up to ship your animals back. You will also need a recieving agent here in the US.

[carpsniperg2]

I heard my first roar on arthurs pass. I remember it like it happened yesterday

I echo fox glacier amazing pictures and some great hunting to be found.

[Machias]

I have actually looked at real estate there as I like it so well.

What did you find out?  Is it possible for a foreigner to own a small piece of property in a good hunting area?