Hunting in New Zealand - photos

Guided Hunting	Deer Hunting	Hunting Hut	Hunting Terrain
Hunting Terrain	Hunting Hut	Hunting Hut	Deer Trophies
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About Hunting in New Zealand

New Zealand offers a variety of hunting experiences due to its vast range of remote landscapes. These areas fall into two categories including open spaces such as alpine areas or lowland plains and forested areas which are typically found in lowland areas. The latter consists of dense rainforest or beech with landscapes dissected by rivers allowing a range of fishing opportunities too.

Big game hunting starts in February and ends in August and because seasons are the opposite to the northern hemisphere, vistors often come during their northern hemispehere winter months. In New Zealand, spring covers September to November; summer covers December to February; autumn covers March to May; and winter covers June to August.

Foreign tourists coming here to hunt usually join a guided tour, but New Zealanders usually hunt unguided by going into one of the many bush reserves that allows hunting.

Species that can be hunted in New Zealand include: Chamois, Red Deer, Rusa Deer, Sambar Deer, Sika Deer, Whitetail Deer, Pig/Boar, Tahr, Goat, Arapawa Ram, Turkey, and Duck. Deer are hunted during the months of March to mid April, Duck from May to June, and Goat, Arapawa ram, and Turkey can be hunted all year round.

Before the arrival of humans to New Zealand there were no land based mammals apart from bats. So hunting is not only thought of as sport or recreation, but also as a necessary way to cull introduced species that are usually detrimental to the environment.