Hunting Giant Red Stags in New Zealand
Backcountry Hunting Podcast
Joseph von Benedikt
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 3 October 2025
⏱️ 92 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever dreamed of hunting a huge Red Stag in New Zealand? So have we... so we got a couple of experts on the phone and unpacked just how to get it done, along with chasing big fallow deer, himalayan tahr, chamois, and even Roosevelt elk on the tip of the South Island. This was one of the coolest and most informative episodes we've done in a long time. ENJOY!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Folks, we've done several episodes on hunting New Zealand in the past, and they've all been really well received. |
| 0:06.6 | Most of them have addressed New Zealand as a DIY destination and how you can hunt a variety of animals, including some red stags, free range red stags. |
| 0:17.8 | But in truth, I found that this doesn't necessarily address the legend that New Zealand |
| 0:26.5 | has for red stags because a lot of the free range stuff has smaller genetics and so forth is hunted |
| 0:33.8 | more aggressively. You're just less likely to find a really big red stag, you know, |
| 0:38.3 | big mature trophy red stag. And if you see pictures of red stags in New Zealand with happy |
| 0:46.1 | hunters behind them, generally they're jaw-dropping animals. And that is what we're here to talk |
| 0:51.9 | about today. How can you go to New Zealand for a red stag hunt and do a really challenging hunt that has the right elements of fair chase and effort and reward? |
| 1:05.8 | So you're coming out of there, not just with an incredible animal, but an incredible experience that you will remember for the rest of your life. |
| 1:15.2 | Folks, I've got two great gentlemen on the line and across the ponds, yes, plural, in different directions. |
| 1:22.3 | You know Rob Gearing, owner of Spartan Precision Equipment, he's in the UK, late at night, exhausted from a busy day of selling |
| 1:29.7 | bipods and tripods to famous people around the world. And we got Darren with Avon Valley Safari. |
| 1:38.9 | On the northern tip of the South Island in New Zealand, it's Darren's first time on the podcast, and I'm just delighted |
| 1:46.2 | to have you here with us, my friend. Thank you for joining. Thank you for having me on board. |
| 1:51.5 | It's a right to be proud of the story. So Rob was the one that introduced Darren and I and said, |
| 1:57.1 | hey, you guys need to make something happen together. And more specifically, he buttoned |
| 2:01.5 | hold me at the shot show and pulled me aside and said, there is a place you need to hunt in |
| 2:06.9 | New Zealand. And so I'm going to make an introduction. And so I'm planning to go in April of |
| 2:14.6 | 26 to hunt with Darren. And I'm tremendously excited about that. |
| 2:19.4 | Rob, since most of our listeners know you, why don't we go straight to Darren |
| 2:23.2 | and just ask you, Darren, if you would take a minute and introduce yourself, your background, |
| 2:28.3 | and your operation? |
... |
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