Shotover Saddle Faces
Shotover Saddle Faces is a 2,650 ha block in the Cardrona/Glenorchy/Shotover permit area. Elevations climb from 377 m on the lower faces to 2,439 m on the tops, with a median of 1,389 m. Seventy per cent of the country sits above the 1,200 m bushline and 38% in true alpine ground.
This is mostly above the bushline tops country, with steep faces and high ridges punching up out of beech and scrub on the lower drainages. The block leans north, so the slopes catch sun through much of the day — useful for finding animals working the warm faces.
Game on the permit is red deer, tahr, chamois and wild goat. Four-species permits on alpine ground are relatively rare in Otago, and the tahr presence on the Shotover side is a useful drawcard.
Open Shotover Saddle Faces on the interactive map
Boundary, huts, terrain, tracks and 1080 zones — all layers, one map.
Terrain & elevation
Based on a sample of 8,890 DEM points inside the block.
- Elevation range
- 377–2,439 m
- Median elevation
- 1,389 m
- Middle 50%
- 1,146–1,605 m
- Above bushline (1,200 m)
- 70%
- Alpine (1,500 m+)
- 38%
- Dominant aspect
- north-facing
377–2,439 m, mostly above the bushline, leaning north-facing.
What you can hunt here
Access & getting there
Helicopter access is permitted on Shotover Saddle Faces, and Wild Animal Recovery Operations (WARO) are also permitted — commercial operators may be working the open faces.
There are no DOC huts or campsites recorded inside the block — parties will be fly-camping or working off a base outside the boundary.
Permits & rules
You need a DOC hunting permit to hunt this block. It is classed as a Ordinary block in the Cardrona/Glenorchy/Shotover 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, and Shotover Saddle Faces sits within the Cardrona/Glenorchy/Shotover permit area. The block is Ordinary with a Permitted hunt status, so permits are issued through the standard online system rather than a ballot.
1080 & pesticide status
No current, planned or proposed pesticide operations intersect this block in our data. Always confirm with DOC before taking a dog in.
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