Lyford
Lyford is a 6,497 hectare Canterbury block of mostly bush country with some lower tops. Elevations run from 278 m on the lower edges to 1,740 m on the highest ridges, with a median elevation of 1,033 m. 24% of the block sits above the bushline and 3% climbs into true alpine country, so this is a mix of bush and tops weighted toward the bush — most of your hunting will be done in beech faces, scrub and gully systems.
Slopes lean west-facing, with a fairly even spread of east, south-east and north-west aspects to fall back on. The mix of aspects gives hunters choices for working out of the wind and finding shaded faces where deer hold during the day.
Game on the permit includes red deer, chamois, wild goat and wild pig. The four-species mix and the strong proportion of bush make this a useful block for hunters wanting variety on a multi-day trip.
Open Lyford on the interactive map
Boundary, huts, terrain, tracks and 1080 zones — all layers, one map.
Terrain & elevation
Based on a sample of 20,454 DEM points inside the block.
- Elevation range
- 278–1,740 m
- Median elevation
- 1,033 m
- Middle 50%
- 859–1,194 m
- Above bushline (1,200 m)
- 24%
- Alpine (1,500 m+)
- 3%
- Dominant aspect
- west-facing
278–1,740 m, a mix of bush and tops, leaning west-facing.
What you can hunt here
Access & getting there
There are no huts or campsites recorded inside the Lyford block, so this is fly-camp or vehicle-base country. Plan for foot access from a margin into the bush and put time into glassing the tops and the bush edges from the higher knobs.
The block is open to air access and is flagged for WARO, so helicopter operations may be working the higher faces. Be aware of activity before committing to a long push up onto the tops.
Permits & rules
You need a DOC hunting permit to hunt this block. It is classed as a Ordinary block in the Canterbury permit area, with a hunting status of Permitted.
Commercial wild-animal recovery (WARO) operates over this area — expect helicopter activity and pressured game.
This block sits within a DOC air-access zone — fly-in hunting and helicopter drop-offs may be permitted.
A DOC hunting permit is required for Lyford. The block sits under the Canterbury permit area as an Ordinary block with hunting permitted year-round, so no ballot or seasonal restriction applies.
1080 & pesticide status
- Pesticide (1080 or similar) has been laid in or near this block — check current dog and carcass restrictions before you hunt.
- An operation is planned for this area.
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