TIPS

Tip from: Scott Kunac, Allan Millar's Hunting & Fishing

When heading into the hills for an alpine hunting trip, there are a few must-dos that will make your time in the hills a lot more enjoyable.

Optics and Rifles

When alpine hunting, you spend a lot of time sitting and glassing for game. A good quality pair of waterproof 8 or 10 power binoculars is required for this job. Likewise good optics are required on your rifle as well. Vari-power scopes with higher magnifications are preferred and a rifle in a magnum calibre sighted in accurately to shoot out to 400 yards is your best option.

Tip from: Scott Kunac, Allan Millar's Hunting & Fishing

When heading into the hills for an alpine hunting trip, there are a few must-dos that will make your time in the hills a lot more enjoyable.

Equipment

Good clothing and footwear is essential. Full shank gortex boots, knee high gaitors and 100% waterproof breathable clothing will make your stay in the mountains a lot more comfortable if conditions are not too favourable. You may need a slightly larger day pack (around 45 litres) to fit in what you will need for a day in the mountains.

Here is what I would normally carry in my day pack:

* Waterproof over trou
* Extra fleece top
* Gloves and a warm beanie
* Headlight
* Bic lighter and a rubber strip
* Thermal blanket
* Rope and light cord
* Extra food bars

This equipment is in addition to any hunting equipment that you would normally carry.

Tip from: Scott Kunac, Allan Millar's Hunting & Fishing

When heading into the hills for an alpine hunting trip, there are a few must-dos that will make your time in the hills a lot more enjoyable.

Maps

It's always a good idea to have a topographical map of the area you are intending to hunt. This can be invaluable if you are not familiar with the countryside. If there are a number of you in the same hut, it is also good to know where each of you are hunting every day. In the event that someone does not make it back to the hut, at least you will know roughly in which area he will be found.

Tip from: Scott Kunac, Allan Millar's Hunting & Fishing

When heading into the hills for an alpine hunting trip, there are a few must-dos that will make your time in the hills a lot more enjoyable.

Weather and communications

Always check out the long range mountain forecast. You could be completely wasting your time or end up not being able to get out once you are in there. Always let someone know where you are planning to hunt and when you are planning to return. A mountain radio or satellite phone along with an EPIRB should be part of your equipment when staying in the mountains.

Tip from: Charlie Meyer, Otaki Hunting & Fishing

If you don't know something or you are unsure with regard to anything - from firearms and safety to property and stock protocol on someone else's land - never be afraid to ask someone who knows. If you think "If I ask that he will think I'm a goose" and then don't ask, then more often than not, you will end up looking like one. With firearms, sometimes there are no second chances and there are plenty of people willing to help.

Tip from: Charlie Meyer, Otaki Hunting & Fishing

For a lot of people this is out your back doorstep, but for a lot of budding hunters, finding land to hunt on is the first stumbling block. Let's be clear about one thing, private land is exactly that, private land! A lot of land owners are more than happy for you to shoot on their property providing you respect their wishes.

Going to see a farmer/land owner face-to-face to ask is a lot better than cold calling on the telephone. It shows you are more serious and gives the farmer a chance to see if you look dodgy or not. If he gives you the thumbs up, do everything he stipulates and you may well have a hunting spot for life. Also never underestimate the value of a few beers or other small gift to show your appreciation.

Tip from: Charlie Meyer, Otaki Hunting & Fishing

Before heading straight out to smoke your first rabbit, make sure your gun is sighted in correctly. Almost all new guns have a scope on them, but don't take it for granted that they will shoot straight. Ask the dealer if the gun has been bore sighted which will save you some time, or if you are pulling "old faithful" out of the cabinet, put a few rounds onto some paper to make sure you are on target.

Tip from: Charlie Meyer, Otaki Hunting & Fishing

Most poeple associate small game hunting with a .22lr rifle, for very good reason as it has been the most successful calibre for generations but now there are some other options out there worth exploring.

a. .177/.22 cal air rifles - with the invention of high powered air rifles (1000 feet/sec+), now anyone can own a rabbit/possum killer without a licence as long as they are over 18 years of age. Ammo is cheap and it is a great way to get the kids into it. Range out to 40 metres.

b. .22lr Rim fire rifles - by far the most popular firearm. It is usually the first gun anyone buys when they get their licence. Available in bolt action (1 shot at a time) and semi automatic (self loading). Many options of these guns now offer suppressed packages to reduce the noise made by the gun. Range out to 80 metres accurately.

c. 17HMR/17Mach/.22WMR - still rim fire, newer calibre offering more velocity and flatter shooting, giving accuracy out to 150 metres plus. No recoil and still relatively cheap to run compared with centrefire calibres. Great calibre for a shooter who enjoys the challenge of more range.

d. .223rem/.204ruger/22-250 Centrefire rifles - bigger, noisier and ammo is more expensive. Why then you ask? Because if vaporising a rabbit at 300+ metres spins your wheels, then this is where you need to be. Sky is the limit on price but this is how to maximise performance. Range 300+ metres.

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

Have your gun fitting so it shoots where you look. This test requires that you first have a consistent, well practiced gun mount. To test for gun fit, set up a pattern board at 16 yards. Fire several consecutive shots by mounting and shooting at a centre dot without aiming, but by merely pointing at the target. If the highest pattern density is off centre, take the target and your gun to a compentent gun fitter for adjustment.

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

When pointing your gun, focus on the target and not the gun barrel or bead. Point, don't aim. Aiming slows your swing and causes you to shoot behind. Since a shot string is 10-14" long, use it to your advantage by pointing slightly more in front of a target. If you miss crossing targets, you are probably shooting behind. Try to "miss" in front by doubling your lead, and if still missing, try doubling the lead again.

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

Learn to first swing the gun and then mount it. If we mount the gun as we swing to the target, the mount takes no time. Allow your pointing instincts to take over your swing. As you eyes become sharply focused on the target, finish the gun mount and shoot the instant the target is in sharp focus.

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

When shooting (or practicing your swing/mount), position your feet so that a line extending from your rear heel to your leading foot points to where you will break the target. Keep your stance relatively narrow. This position encourages a smooth swing and a good follow through.

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

Practice swinging and mounting an unloaded gun to your face in front of a mirror. Make sure you stand erect. Do not lower your face to the gun or tilt your head. Lift the gun straight up using a shot concise motion. Be sure to use both hands equally, as though they were connected by a steel rod. Mount the gun precisely from the same starting position each time. Always mount to the same place on your face each time. Mount the gun to the face not the shoulder. Do ten swings/mounts each day (the best shots make this part of their daily routine).

Tip from: Grant Boyd, Ballingers

In all shooting, practice safety first. Always wear hearing and eye protection. Keep your gun unloaded and the action visibly open until you're ready to shoot. Once you are finished shooting, make sure the gun is one again empty and the action is open. Alays keep the gun's muzzle pointed down range. Never point a gun muzzle backward over your shoulder.

Tip from: Russell Summers

For compact overnight camping, we recommend a Kiwi Alpine Pot or Jetboil with your backcountry dehydrated food and a Hennessy Hammock. All you need to find are two strong trees. We all know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night with a stone or a twig in the middle of your back.

Tip from: Russell Summers

If you are hunting or tramping alone, take the security of a 406 EPIRB. With accuracy of approximately 100 metres, in the case of an accident you have a much better chance of being found quickly. I recommend the ACR which costs approximately $749.

Tip from: Russell Summers

For a small hunting and tramping tent, look for a tent that has more than the standard corner-to-corner poles. Extra bracing poles will make for a much stronger tent to withstand wind and snow. I recommend the Coleman Epsilon 2 or 3 person for $299 - $399.

Tip from: Russell Summers

For compactness, buy a down bag; for warmth, buy a down bag. Use a silk or cotton liner as this saves the need for regular washing and it keeps you from getting cold if you're sleeping with the zip down in warmer weather. Recommended gear is Camping & Tramping HF1000 at $399 - this is a good quality down bag at an excellent price.

Tip from: Russell Summers

Any experienced tramper will tell you that New Zealand's weather conditions can be extremely volatile. It always pays to take a handheld compass with you plus a spare set of batteries for your GPS. I recommend Silva compasses priced from around $30 and $10 for a spare pair of batteries for your GPS. It beats sleeping out in the cold for the night.

Both are available from Hunting & Fishing New Zealand.

Tip from: Russell Summers

One watt LED camp lanterns are a lightweight source of light around the campsite or in a tent. From around $50, about the size of a cellphone, they are safe with no heat or carbon dioxide gas.

Invest in good optics - they make a huge difference in bad light and ensure you get the accuracy your rifle is capable of delivering. Be sure that your rifle is properly sighted in and check this regularly - especially before a big trip.

Tip from: Jim Chote

Pre-bait drift lines. Set up a large berley pot on a rope and float, drop in water, mark GPS position, and then do your drift. If you don't have much success on that drift, you can go elsewhere and come back later to that spot, and redrift down the berley trail. Hopefully the berley has attracted fish and you come up with tight lines.

There is some great evening snapper fishing to be had in Tauranga Harbour from November through to February. With daylight saving, there is still plenty of time after work to head out for an evening fish.

Tip from: Grayson Reynolds

Strayline around the Mussel Farms using 8/0 or 9/0 hooks. I bait up with 1/2 a mackerel as snapper can't steal a bait his size without biting - and hooking up!

Trout are predators with a programmed response to attack. To a trout, the actions of a demented smelt is just another way of announcing... 'lunch'! Trout jigging is boat based drift angling where lures or flies are dropped to the level the fish are thought to be at, and then teased into life. Lightweight tackle is used ensuring the angler gets a real work-out when the fish is hooked. By using electronics that display the lake bed, likely trout spots can be located and targeted by stopping upwind and drifting the boat over.

The first thing a saltwater angler does religiously after fishing is to wash down his or her gear with fresh water and if a boat has been used, this too gets a thorough going over. While protecting against the effects of salt corrosion isn't a threat to fresh water anglers, preserving the rivers we fish from the risk of invasive plants or pests by washing gear after use is something we should be getting in the habit of doing.

Didymo cells can stay alive in wet waders and fishing equipment for several days! Hunting & Fishing New Zealand is appealing to fellow anglers to take the threat of Didymo spreading further seriously. Obviously we wash our gear down with a disinfecting solution if we've fished in or near a river system known to be infected, but better still would be to get into the habit of doing this anyway wherever else we fish just in case that water too has become infected. We can also keep a watchful eye at car parks and road ends. Visiting anglers can be politely quizzed as to where they fished last and whether they have been disinfecting their gear. An explanation, and the gift of some disinfectant, and a demo (right there and then on their gear - with their permission of course) will definitely help the cause.

Lynda Topp was fishing and filming in the South Island last season when the extent of the Didymo spread became public. As a Kiwi icon, and a well respected fly fishing ambassador she was devastated to learn that some of her favourite rivers were affected. Lynda has attempted to use her profile to bring home the importance of disinfecting gear to fellow anglers.

It'll soon be that time of year again when magpies become annoying, aggressive and sometimes dangerous. Magpie decoys and the distress call 'lure' tape have become sought after items by customers of Hunting & Fishing New Zealand. Predatory decoys such as hawks and owls also attract territorial magpies into the shooting range of concealed hunters. Home Use! Gardeners have discovered magpie decoys discourage blackbirds, thrushes and mynha's away from ripening fruit etc.

Pest control using air rifles is growing in popularity as quality high powered air rifles become more affordable. The ability to hunt more safely and with less disturbance to neighbours than with .22's and shotguns makes sense. And so long as they are 18 or over air weapons users do not need to have a firearms licence either. Therefore in semi built up or lifestyle block areas, where nurtured gardens and orchards attract vermin like possums, rabbits, magpies and mynas from miles around, an air rifle with pest control capabilities solves many of the problems some people associate with firearms ownership - an item which could virtually be considered a lifestyle block essential.

Tip from: Charlie Meyer

Finding Trout - Charlie's proven method is to first find the depth fish are at or to locate likely structure (which will attract the smelt etc trout feed on) using his electronic fish-finder. His boat also has a GPS meaning he can return to the hot-spots where he has learned trout gather and feed and where fishing has been successful in the past.

Staying in the fishing zone - once the desired spot is located the boat must be positioned far enough up-wind that lines will be down before the boat drifts into the zone. For breezy days when the boat would otherwise drift through too quickly, Charlie uses and recommends the 'Bag-em' Drogue or Sea Anchor (available in a range of sizes for different boat lengths at Hunting & Fishing New Zealand).

Match the Hatch - because of the slow drift, the trout have time to take a good look at the jigs and flies on offer before being tempted to strike. Charlie swears by Pat Swifts prepared rigs - three hand tied smelt flies rigged on fluorocarbon leader, supplied ready to go - just attach a sinker or a hookless teaser jig.

Even if you trust yourself not to shoot another hunter, do you trust them not to shoot you? Blaze is the answer. We owe it to ourselves, our families and fellow hunters to look as unlike a deer as possible.

We already knew Mallard Wonder Ducks were devastating on parries, but disguised as parries they proved even more deadly! The method is to simply pull a dark brown stocking or bag over the body, white material over the head, turn on the spinning wings and get set for action.

Kids love to go duckshooting. Making them feel part of the team can be as simple as decking them out in a bit of their 'own' camo. When it comes to shotguns, Hunting & Fishing New Zealand specialise in smaller gauges like .410 and 20g. A real cracker and exclusive to this franchise is the Akkar youth scale 20g pump action. Budding hunters can use it as a single barrel until they are experienced enough (and big enough) to learn to pump the action - far safer than a double barrelled gun, let alone a semi-auto in young hands!

- Rig your tails on straight, and pre-measure where you hook will exit.
- Keep the hook sharp.
- Use the lightest tackle you can get by with.
- Slow down - your soft bait is so lifelike you can vary the retrieve.
- Set the hook - like fly fishing the take can be soft.
- If you miss a strike try again - the natural look and feel may not have spooked the fish.
- Experiment - soft-baits are a new fishing system so when you think fish are present but not biting change the colour, size or head weight.
- Broaden your horizons by taking the spin tackle to the sea sometime as any predatory fish will devour a soft-bait.
- Soft-baits should be considered expendable. The realistic soft feel and flexible swimming action mean that fish will destroy them. But being so affordable, the angler can afford to discard them when they lose their predator appeal.
- Learn a new skill. Soft baits open up new water but require practice and experimentation.

Tip from: Carl Watkins

Take care of your equipment so that it does not deteriorate while you are not using it. The 'Bag-em' range offers protection from the harmful affects of salt spray and sunlight.

Tip from: Russell Summers

Use line specific to the type of fishing you intend to do with each particular rod and reel.

Tip from: Gary Fraser

When stray-lining burley up big-time. Make the effort to fish the change of light - but only if conditions are right. You need to be familiar with the area and have your boat properly equipped to either go out or return in the dark.

- Take advantage of their natural aggression - try speed jigging.
- Keep an open mind when fishing, and try something new before everyone else does and the fish get educated to it.

Tip from: Andy Tannock

Whether clay bustin' or copping the blast of magnum ammo at close quarters in a maimai, we do urge hunters to take the responsibility to protect their hearing. I personally resisted wearing ear-muffs duck hunting for years, even though my hearing is already scratchy. To me it was more important not to miss out on hearing some incoming birds, than to wear 'sissy' ear-muffs. Last season I tried a set of Peltor Electronic muffs and was astounded to learn that I shot just as well with them on as without. Better still, the microphones in them picked up even more sound than my un-muffed ears could - in other words I could hear more not less!

- Feeding imprints your pond as a familiar and ‘safe’ place for game.
- Feeding assists waterfowl to survive autumn when the moult and low water levels put game birds under stress.
- More ducks die of natural causes during this period than are shot during the hunting season according to the experts.
- Feeding ensures ducks are in better shape for the 'table'.
- Feeding will hold birds in your area even when natural food sources are depleted.