Hunting in Canterbury

Overview

Canterbury packages a wider variety of hunting country than any other region in New Zealand. The eastern foothills give way to a series of major braided rivers — Rakaia, Rangitata, Hurunui, Waimakariri, Waiau — that climb west into the main divide. Behind those, the Mackenzie Basin, the Hunters Hills, and the inland Kaikoura Range form a vast back country of tussock, beech bush, and alpine top. Canterbury contains the heart of New Zealand's tahr feral range, the country's strongest accessible chamois populations, abundant red deer, and the only meaningful Bennett's wallaby hunting in the country.

For most South Island hunters, Canterbury is the year-round home patch. Christchurch sits within an hour of half a dozen genuinely productive catchments, and the rest of the region can be reached inside half a day from any of the main South Island cities.

What You Can Hunt

• Red deer — abundant through all of the major catchments and tussock basins.
• Tahr — Rakaia and Rangitata headwaters are core feral range. Canterbury holds some of the best public-land tahr country in the country.
• Chamois — present throughout the eastern Southern Alps, including catchments where tahr have been heavily controlled.
• Fallow deer — Banks Peninsula and pockets through the foothills and forestry.
• Bennett's wallaby — South Canterbury foothills, Hunters Hills, and the Mackenzie Basin. The only meaningful Bennett's hunting in New Zealand.
• Wild goat — common in slip country, bush margins, and the inland tussock.
• Wild pig — present in the eastern hill country, particularly inland from Geraldine and Timaru.

Where to Hunt

• Rakaia and Rangitata headwaters — classic tahr and chamois country. Easily accessible from Christchurch or Timaru via the gorge roads.
• Arthur's Pass National Park — alpine country on the main divide. Red deer and chamois; tahr at the southern edges.
• Lewis Pass / Lake Sumner Forest Park — beech bush and tops. Red deer and chamois, plus the eastern end of the Spenser Mountains.
• Waimakariri and Hurunui headwaters — high-country basins, red deer and chamois.
• Inland Kaikoura Range (Canterbury side) — bush-and-tops country; red deer and chamois.
• Mackenzie Basin — vast tussock high country and braided rivers. Red deer, Bennett's wallaby, hare. Access varies — much is high-country station leasehold.
• Hunters Hills — South Canterbury, the core of Bennett's wallaby country. Mixed conservation land and private station.
• Banks Peninsula — dispersed fallow deer and goat in regenerating bush, mostly on private land by arrangement.

Getting In

• Road — every major catchment has road access to within a few kilometres of the bush or tussock edge. State Highways 73 (Arthur's Pass), 7 (Lewis Pass), 8 (Mackenzie), and 1 (north and south) frame the region.
• Foot — all conservation-land hunting is foot access from the road end. Tracks and huts are well developed in the forest parks and headwater valleys.
• Air — fixed-wing landing strips at Mesopotamia, Erewhon, and several other high-country stations. Helicopter access into tahr and chamois country is heavily used and a long-established part of Canterbury hunting culture, subject to current DOC rules.
• Water — minor in Canterbury. Jet boats are used on the lower braided rivers but are rarely the primary access for hunting trips.

Seasons & Weather

Canterbury is the driest of the major hunting regions, with a clearer four-season pattern than the wetter West Coast or Fiordland.

The nor'wester is the defining Canterbury weather pattern — hot, dry, and ferocious on the eastern slopes; clear and windy on the tops. Cold southerlies follow with rapid snow drops.

Gear & Conditions

Canterbury hunting ranges from short bush stalks to genuine alpine work. A flat-shooting medium-calibre rifle (6.5mm–.30 cal) covers everything from chamois at distance to bull tahr in steep country. Optics matter more here than in the bush country — much of the hunting is glassing-led. For tahr trips, expect to camp on snow at altitude; for wallaby trips, a flat-shooting rimfire or light centrefire is more appropriate. Boots that handle scree and shingle, an ice axe and crampons for serious alpine work, and quality avalanche awareness in winter are all part of the kit list.

Permits & Regulations

A free DOC permit covers public conservation land throughout the region. Tahr hunting takes place within the framework of DOC's active aerial-control programme — check current control status before any trip. Helicopter access concessions vary by park — verify current rules. Bennett's wallaby is classed as a pest under the Canterbury Regional Pest Management Plan; hunters are encouraged, but live movement of wallabies is illegal under the National Pest Management Plan. Many high-country stations carry public-access easements via the Walking Access Commission — check the map before crossing leasehold country.

Open the Map

Open Canterbury in the full hunting map →

National parks, forest parks, hunting blocks, tracks, huts, walking-access areas, and current pesticide operations across the Canterbury high country.

Useful Links

• DOC: Arthur's Pass National Park
• DOC: Lake Sumner Forest Park
• DOC: Tahr hunting and control
• DOC: Chamois hunting
• DOC: Hunting permits
• Environment Canterbury: wallaby control