This is our premier game award. To become a Master Bowhunter a member must achieve five big game awards and five small game awards.

Big Game Species:

Big game animals – Tahr, Chamois, Red deer, Fallow deer, Sika deer, Sambar deer, Whitetail deer, NZ Wapiti, Wild Pig (15 kg or over), and Wallaby.

Big game fish – Shark (20 kg or over), Stingray (20 kg or over) and Kingfish (15 kg or over).

Game taken with the aid of artificial light is not eligible as big game.

The Big Game Award System:

For a big game award, only a single kill is needed but each subsequent award must be for a different species, up to five awards. All big game species listed above are eligible with the exception of stingrays and sharks and there are special rules for wild pigs and red deer, see below:

Wild pigs – to gain a big game award for a wild pig the minimum weight is 30 kg.

Red deer – To gain a big game award for a red deer it has to be shot on public conservation land, the hunter must have a current DOC hunting permit for the area where the animal was shot, and the permit number must be entered on the claim form.

All game for these awards should be claimed on-line or on big game animal or big game fish claim forms.

The Small Game Award System:

Each small game species is allocated game points as detailed below and awards are won by accumulating the required number of points.

On each award, only 20 points may be gained for any one species.  However, points in excess of 20 will be carried over to the next award.

Small Game Point – Animals and Birds:

Note: Wallabies shot at night using any form of artificial light are small game animals; all others are big game animals.

Small Game Points – Fish:

Note: NZ Fisheries size and bag limits apply at all times.  Please check the recreational fishing rules here.  For those species not covered by these rules the minimum length is 250 mm.

All game for these awards should be claimed on-line or on small game claim forms.