National Wild Goat Hunting Competition

The competition is brought to you by DOC and the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. It is supported by Federated Farmers of NZ (Inc.), and Hunting & Fishing Ltd. 

Dates

• Competition: 1 August – 26 November 2023
• Local open days and prizegivings: Varies – see NZDA branch table below for details
• National prizegiving: Friday 15 December 2023 

How to enter 

Entries close at midnight on Sunday 26 November 2023. 

The competition is free to enter and competitors do not need to preregister. Competitors need to head into a NZDA branch open day or an official recording point to make an entry.

• NZDA branch – enter heads and/or tails.
• Official recording point – enter tails only.

Tails entered and recorded will be kept at the hub and then disposed of by a NZDA member or approved verifier. Goat heads may be kept and disposed of by NZDA volunteers unless the hunter wishes to keep their entry. 

Competition rules

All competitors must hunt within the competition rules. Read the National Wild Goat Hunting Competition rules. 

You can take part anywhere you have permission from the landowner to hunt. This competition promotes safe firearms use, keeping safe in the back country, and ethical and humane hunting. 

Competition categories and prizes

There is over $50,000 worth of prizes kindly donated by the hunting and outdoor sector.

National categories

Every entry at a local NZDA branch or official recording point will count towards the national categories.

Prize packs may include hunting apparel, footwear, vouchers, a Traeger grill, freeze dried meals, personal locator beacons, binoculars, headlamps and more. 

Local NZDA branch categories

There are 15 NZDA branches running local events throughout the competition. Prizes for the local categories will be given out on the specified prizegiving date in December. Local spot prizes will be given out at branch open day. All entrants must be on site to receive spot prizes.

Each NZDA branch will have the following categories and prizes:

Read the disclaimer for both national and local prize winners in the competition rules.

2023 Sponsors

Founding sponsor: Hunting & Fishing

Major sponsors: NZ Hunter and Huntech

Supporting sponsors: Traeger Grills, Backcountry Cuisine, Lowa Boots, InfiRay, Te Tari Puureke Firearms Safety Authority, Tatonka, Bushnell, LEDLenser, Thorlo, and Topo4GPS.

Where to hunt wild goats

Wild goats are found throughout New Zealand in both the North and South Islands. They occupy a wide range of habitats and can be found from sea level to the alpine zone, living in introduced and native grasslands, scrub, and forest. Concentrations of goats can be found in Taranaki, Hawke's Bay, Marlborough, and Otago. 

To find where to hunt goats near you:

• talk to your local NZDA branch about hunting in your local area
• use the Wild goat distribution map (PDF, 5,993K)
• use the hunting block search function to find where to hunt for wild goats.

Note: wild goats are often seen in places where you are not allowed to hunt like on road edges, train tracks, river, and road reserves. 

Protect kauri when you hunt

Native kauri are under threat from a disease commonly referred to as kauri dieback which can easily spread by soil movement from dirty footwear, animals, equipment and vehicles. 

If you are hunting in the Northland, Auckland, Kaimai Ranges, Coromandel, Waikato or Bay of Plenty areas, be mindful of kauri and follow the kauri protection guidelines for hunting. 

Read more about kauri disease.

Related links

• Wild goat hunting
• Hunting know before you go
• Hunting safety
• NZ Deerstalkers feral goat webpage
• Use Herenga ā Nuku Aotearoa's outdoor access map to find out if land is private.

NZDA branch open days

Anyone can take their entry to a NZDA branch open day. You do not need to be an NZDA member. If you can't attend a NZDA branch open day, contact the relevant branch below to arrange an alternative time to make your entry.

Official recording points

Please call or email during business hours and arrange an appointment to have your tail sighted. All tails must be presented for registration in a secure and clean manner for counting and disposing.

Contact 

For further information email Megan Robinson: wildanimalmanagement@doc.govt.nz.