New Zealand Red Stag Hunting Near Wanaka
Doddsy's Hunting is a family-run outfitter at Lake Hawea that guides red stag hunting in New Zealand on 30,000 acres of private land in the Southern Lakes. A further 100,000 acres of tahr country near Aoraki/Mt Cook adds a second species. The New Zealand red stag roar runs from March into early May. That's when a rutting stag answers a call and closes the distance himself, so it's the window to plan a New Zealand red stag hunt around. Tony Dodds runs the business and grew up hunting this country with his father.
Free-Range and Estate New Zealand Stag Hunting
A New Zealand stag hunting trip with Doddsy's comes in two forms. Free-range red stag hunting is spot-and-stalk hunting on open private land. A stag there has earned his age, and nobody can promise you'll find him. Estate red stag hunting is a shorter, more certain option on managed land (less of that uncertainty, same early starts). Neither is easy at 5am in a southerly. Numb hands, no visibility.
​
Hunts run two to seven days. We collect you from Queenstown Airport, and you stay at the lodge or in Wanaka. Every block is within 90 minutes' drive, and your guide will try to get you within 50 to 250 yards before you shoot.
Why the Guiding Matters
Plenty of red stag hunting in New Zealand gets sold as effortless. It isn't. Southern Alps weather can turn within the hour, and a stalk can start with glassing a stag from the far side of a basin. Doddsy's guides hunt the same private ground every season, so they know where a stag beds down when the wind swings. More on how a typical hunt runs.
Trophy Red Stag Scoring: SCI
SCI scoring is the trophy measuring system Safari Club International uses for its record book, and it's the one most American hunters already know. Doddsy's grades every trophy red stag on the SCI scale, from Bronze (under 330 inches) to Gerhart Classic (600 to 700 inches). Tony Dodds is an official SCI scorer. See examples of each trophy class, then ask us which one fits your budget.
Red Stag Hunting Prices in New Zealand
Doddsy's quote every price in US dollars, so there's no exchange-rate guesswork when you compare red stag hunting prices. Each package covers guiding, your accommodation (lodge or Wanaka) and Queenstown airport transfers. Red stag pricing starts from a set package. From there it moves with trophy class, free-range or estate, and whether you add another species. Request a price and you'll have an answer within 24 hours.
Trophy export is separate. Shipping a red stag head to the US costs roughly USD 2,100 to 3,100, covering cleaning, documentation, an approved crate, trucking and air freight (prices change each year). Our Wanaka taxidermist prepares the paperwork once he knows your US port of entry, where the trophy is declared to the US Fish and Wildlife Service on Form 3-177. You can also check 50 pounds of meat per person as luggage, butchered and packed for USD 200, and declare it to
US Customs on arrival.
​
Contact Doddsy's Hunting to check roar availability for your New Zealand red stag hunt.