A new guide will help hunters manage New Zealand’s red deer population, during the upcoming Roar period and beyond. 

The New Zealand Red Stag Ageing Guide has been developed by released by the Game Animal Council (GAC), with input from professional hunters Chris McCarthy and Willie Duley.

It aims to provide hunters with easy-to-understand information on how to assess the age of red deer stags. 

GAC General Manager Tim Gale says hunter-led game animal management in New Zealand is basically a two-sided coin.

“On one hand it is about making sure we help manage population density by actively harvesting breeding females, while on the other, it is about being careful as to the age of the males we target.” 

“Being able to identify a few key characteristics will mean hunters can quickly and accurately determine the maturity of a stag and leave behind younger males that are yet to reach their full potential” 

“In this way hunters can help act as stewards of our red deer herds,” he says.  

“The old adage is, ‘you can’t shoot great stags, if you shoot good stags’, and is why as hunters we need to have an eye on the future when we make decisions about what we harvest.” 

Gale says the overall aim is to achieve high-quality, low-density game herds with a reduced number of breeding females and a higher proportion of mature trophy-aged males. 

“This provides the win-win of better hunting and a healthy ecosystem,” he says.

Red deer are the most widespread deer species in New Zealand and are the game animal that Kiwis hunt most often, say GAC. 

The deer are also an important food resource for many communities and in places where increased numbers lead to over-browsing, they can present a significant management challenge.