Last updated October 2026
Stewart Island/Rakiura is home to wild white-tailed deer, and for many southern hunters a week on a coastal block is the trip of the year. It also takes more planning than most hunts: a permit system, a ferry or flight, a boat or plane to the block, and every bit of food and gear carried in with you.
★View the Best Shuttles and Transfers in Invercargill→Here is how the hunting areas and permits work, how to plan the transport from Invercargill, and what to sort before you leave the mainland.
How hunting on Stewart Island works
What you can hunt
According to the Department of Conservation, white-tailed deer are found in moderate numbers all over Stewart Island/Rakiura, and red deer in moderate numbers in the northwest. Possums can also be hunted in the open area.
The three kinds of hunting land
Restricted hunting blocks (35)
- How you get access
- Book the block online and get a permit for every hunter
- Accommodation
- A Hunter Camp Trust hut, DOC hut, Great Walk hut or campsite, or a designated campsite, depending on the block
Open hunting area
- How you get access
- An open area hunting permit, applied for online
- Accommodation
- No huts, so you camp responsibly anywhere
Māori land
- How you get access
- Contact the Rakiura Māori Lands Trust
- Accommodation
- Arranged with the Trust
The open hunting area is within Rakiura National Park, so dogs are not allowed there. Check each block page for its own rules before you plan around a dog.
Booking a restricted block
The 35 restricted blocks are booked through DOC’s online permit system. DOC’s guide to booking Stewart Island hunting blocks sets out the rules, and the key ones are:
- You can only hunt a restricted block if you have booked it and been issued a permit.
- You can book a maximum of 10 days at one block, and only one block for any given period.
- Blocks can be booked up to 12 months ahead of the start date, if they are available.
- There is a non-refundable administration fee per booking. If you choose to pay later, you have 7 days before the booking is cancelled automatically.
- Once the fee is paid, everyone in the party is sent an invitation, and each hunter must accept it and the terms and conditions to get their own permit.
You will not be alone
Booking a block gives your party the only hunting rights there, not exclusive use. DOC staff may be working in the block and trampers can pass through at any time, so identify your target beyond all doubt.
The open hunting area
The open area covers the inland part of the island and some coastal sections, and needs an open area permit rather than a block booking. Expect other hunting parties. DOC’s open hunting area page has the map and the topo sheets you will need.
Getting there from Invercargill
Every hunting trip to Stewart Island has at least three transport legs, and DOC is clear that you organise your own transport to and from the block.
Leg one: Invercargill to the island
The island is about an hour by ferry from Bluff, which is 30 kilometres south of Invercargill, or around 20 minutes by plane from Invercargill. The ferry has a per-person luggage limit, with extra by prior arrangement, so a party carrying a week of food, packs and rifle cases should talk to the ferry operator well before the trip.
Leg two: the island to the block
Blocks are reached by sea or air. Charter boats, water taxis, fixed-wing planes and helicopters all work the island, and DOC notes that planes and helicopters may land on beaches below the mean high tide mark, with permitted helicopters also landing at a few named sites.
Get the order right
DOC recommends booking your island accommodation and transport once you have a provisional block booking, but before you pay the administration fee. That way you are not paying for a block you cannot reach on those dates.
Packing for a block
- Food for every day of the trip, plus spare days in case weather holds the boat or plane
- Cooking gear and enough gas for the whole stay
- A chilly bin and salt ice to keep meat cold on the way home
- A personal locator beacon
- The topo maps for your block, which DOC lists on each block page
- Firearms licences for your party, and secure cases for carrying rifles on the ferry and in vehicles
Tell someone you trust where you are going and when you expect to be back, and leave your trip details with them before you cross.
Where Southern Pursuit fits
Southern Pursuit is an Invercargill transfer and hire service run by Brad and Dana Shaw, and it started with a lift to Bluff for a hunting charter: freighted gear to collect, groceries to grab, a gas bottle to lend, then salt ice in Bluff and the boys to the boat on time. Their Stewart Island ferry and charter transfers collect you from anywhere in Southland, including Invercargill Airport, and get you to Bluff in time for your sailing or charter.
On the way, they can collect a pre-ordered Woolworths shop, stop at a hunting or fishing store, and pick up a beacon you have hired from Locator Beacons NZ. Camp stoves, Jetboils, cookware, chilly bins and salt ice can be added from their hire and add-ons page, and their local experience page lists Stewart Island and Bluff charter operators to contact for the boat leg.
