A ghost in the forest

The Whitetail is another challenging animal to hunt. It’s one of the smaller and more nimble deer species with particularly acute senses and has the ability to stand motionless in cover whilst watching the approaching hunter move on by. Most Whitetail hunters have had the experience of not realising a deer was standing just feet away from them until they saw the ‘Whitetail Wave’, as the departing animal flashes its rear end with its aptly named ‘white tail’ at them.

The Whitetail ‘Rut’ is in May and the antlers remain hard from March to July offering a comparatively short trophy season.

Whitetail are restricted to two ‘Free Range’ areas in New Zealand. Stewart Island, New Zealand’s third largest island holds one herd, while there is another in the lower South Island on the fringes of Fiordland National Park.

We offer our hunters access to our private free-range areas on the mainland for a ‘Free Range’ foot hunt for a whitetail buck, where a good level of fitness is required to climb to the areas where the wild whitetail inhabit.

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