About Lake Hawea Hunting Safaris

We offer exceptional, high quality, high opportunity, genuine free range hunting that can be tailored to most abilities. Game estate options for some of New Zealand’s biggest genetically improved red stags and fallow bucks are also available

Left: Bronwyn and Chris McCarthy, right: friends Donny and Leara Beth Carmical

Combination hunts and group hunts are what we do best. Ask Chris to build a tailored New Zealand hunt for you, we have a wide range of species to hunt and so much country to explore. Our wilderness concession allows us to hunt most of the South Island and we have access to six private land properties totalling over 250,000 acres of free range private land hunting.

Our incredible free range red stag area is a 50,000 acre exclusive private land lease.

Bronwyn and I live at Lake Hawea, South Island, New Zealand with our twin girls Emily and Lilly and their little sisters Gretchen and Lucy (yes that’s right four girls!) Hidden away and nestled beneath the towering bluff systems and peak of Mt Grand we have our own little piece of paradise.

History

The McCarthy’s have been in the Lake Hawea region since the Otago gold rush of the 1860’s, they settled at Hawea Flat and began construction on a stone homestead on their sheep and cattle farm in 1892 which is still standing proud today. Five generations later we still have the family farm and the old stone homestead.

Flights and Location

All our hunts are run ex Queenstown airport on New Zealand’s South Island. Lake Hawea Hunting Safaris is situated 1 hr 15 mins drive from Queenstown airport.

There are direct flights from Los Angles, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, New York and Vancouver into Auckland (North Island New Zealand); you will then need a short connecting flight to Queenstown.

Direct flights into Queenstown from Australia’s main centres are possible, especially in NZ’s ski season, (late June to September).

THE HUNTING SEASON

Our season runs to a schedule of set dates, we begin in Late February and finish in early July, as we have no regulated season in New Zealand we target certain free-range species are they rut. As part of a combo hunt you will at least experience hunting one species as they rut, the highly desirable period of mid April to early May see’s red deer, fallow deer, tahr & chamois all rutting at the same time.

Lake Hawea Hunting Safaris. Quality trophies, quality experiences.