Hunting in Wairarapa
19 DOC permit areas, 36 huts, 1,495 unformed legal roads — and what each of them means before you go.
What has been recorded here
- Wild turkey 189
- Rabbit 46
- Brushtail possum 45
- Peafowl 34
- Brown hare 20
- Feral goat 19
- Red deer 9
- Fallow deer 6
- Feral pig 6
Most of these are logged by the public rather than by hunters, so a cluster is a real sign the animal is about and out where it can be seen — it is not a record of where people hunt. But records follow tracks, roads and campsites, so empty country usually means nobody has walked it with a phone rather than that there is nothing there. Presence, not density.
Occurrence data from GBIF.org.
Where you can hunt
DOC files 19 hunting permit areas in Wairarapa. Public conservation land needs a permit, and each area carries its own conditions and closures — which are DOC’s to set and worth reading for the block you pick.
1,495 unformed legal roads run through the region — public roads that were surveyed and never built. Many cross private farmland, and you may pass along one without asking anybody, though the paddocks either side stay private.
Balloted and restricted blocks here
- Juken forestsBy permit Hunting, through clubs and iwi · run by Clubs and iwi
1080 in Wairarapa right now
5 DOC operations are in their caution period in Wairarapa. Baits and carcasses can still kill a dog, and the caution period is the recorded minimum rather than an all-clear.
- OSPRI Sthn Tararua Aerial Deer Repellant 2025-26 caution to 2027-09-05
- OSPRI Sthn Tararua Aerial 2025-26 caution to 2027-09-05
- OSPRI Sthn Tararua Aerial 2025-26 caution to 2027-09-05
- Project Kaka Aerial 2025-26 caution to 2027-06-05
- Project Kaka Aerial 2025-26 caution to 2027-06-05
Every recorded operation, and what it means for dogs
Shows operations recorded by DOC from March 2022 onward. This is not a statement that 1080 is or is not present now. Always follow on-site warning signs and check DOC for the authoritative position.
Huts
36 across 6 parks and conservation areas. 32 you can simply turn up at, and 25 of those have a fire.
Hut locations and facilities: Department of Conservation (CC BY 4.0), via the DOC open data hub.
Tararua Forest Park23 huts
- Alpha HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Arete Forks HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Arete HutTurn upWaterToilet
- Blue Range HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Carkeek HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Cattle Ridge HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Cone HutTurn upFireWaterToilet
- Cow Creek HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Dorset Ridge HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Dundas HutTurn upMattressesWaterToilet
- Herepai HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Maungahuka HutTurn upMattressesWaterToilet
- Mcgregor BivvyTurn upWaterToilet
- Mid King BivvyTurn upWaterToilet
- Mid Waiohine HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Mitre Flats HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Neill Forks HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Nichols HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Roaring Stag HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Sayer HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Tarn Ridge HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Totara Flats HutBook aheadFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Tutuwai HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
Aorangi Forest Park6 huts
- Kawakawa HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Mangatoetoe HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Pararaki HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Sutherlands HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Tauanui HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Washpool HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
Holdsworth area3 huts
- Atiwhakatu HutBook aheadFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Jumbo HutBook aheadFireMattressesWaterToiletCooker
- Powell HutBook aheadFireMattressesWaterToiletCooker
Remutaka Forest Park2 huts
- Waiorongomai HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
- Wharepapa HutTurn upFireMattressesWaterToilet
Elsewhere1 hut
- Winchcombe BivTurn upMattressesWaterToilet
Ōtaki Forks area1 hut
- Kime HutTurn upMattressesWaterToilet
Before you walk in
This is a snapshot of DOC’s hut dataset, not a live feed — DOC last refreshed it in April 2026 and has flagged it for replacement. Huts close, burn down, get booked out and get alerts put on them. Before you commit to sleeping in one, open its DOC page and check.
“Turn up” means first come, first served — carry a Backcountry Hut Pass or tickets, and expect company. The rules about firearms and carcasses near huts are the same everywhere and worth reading once.
Asking for private land
Most of Wairarapa is somebody’s farm, and that is where the animals a landowner wants fewer of usually are. Find the block on the map and we work out the postal address without ever showing you who owns it; you print one page, they scan the code and answer.