John Tate’s Hunting Story

John Tate’s Hunting Story

John Tate is a natural outdoorsman from North Carolina who secured a hunt at Poronui at the 2025 Dallas Safari Club Show – and soon came to the Lodge for the adventure of a lifetime.

Winning a hunt at Poronui Lodge felt unreal. I’m still in awe of that entire trip and how it all happened.

I’ve always been an outdoorsman. There’s a lot of wild quail in North Carolina, where I grew up and still live, so my dad and granddad had bird dogs growing up. As soon as I was old enough to keep up, I’d go quail hunting with them. Then came squirrel hunting, riding the four-wheelers, taking the .22 out in the backyard, and deer hunting with my dad. Every September, my family would plan a dove hunt somewhere (my first job was reloading the shotgun shells). So we’ve always been big on good Southern hunting traditions.

After graduating from Appalachian State up in the mountains of Boone, I spent nearly 25 years in hunting and outdoor production. I’d film hunts and produce TV shows, traveling all over the States and even South Africa once. But I’d never been to New Zealand, which was one of the two dream trips I’d always held on to (as well as Alaska).

Then, at the Dallas Safari Club Show, I bought five raffle tickets. Two went into a tub for an Argentina dove hunt, and three went into a New Zealand Red Stag hunt. I left the show before they drew names for the hunts, and later that day my coworkers called to say ‘I think you just won it.’ A couple days later, the Dallas Safari Club confirmed it. I could not believe it.

People ask me all the time where my favorite place is that I’ve been to. And I’ve seen some beautiful places. I’ve lived a blessed life. But New Zealand is on a whole different level… it is at the top of the list.

From the moment I arrived in New Zealand, I felt it. I stayed at Lake Taupo the night before Poronui – holy smokes. It was a beautiful sunset. In the morning I walked up to the edge of the water, got some breakfast and a coffee; there was a farmers’ market going on and I got to enjoy a little bit of the town. It’s a very wonderful country, a real slice of heaven. New Zealand is on a whole different level. I’m still in awe of that entire trip and everyone involved.

Lisa picked me up from Taupō, and soon after I arrived at the Estate I had the chance to check my bow to make sure everything was still dialed in after the long flight. Bowhunting is my thing. It’s an intimate way of hunting, and has a level of difficulty that requires discipline. I’ve bow hunted elk, caribou, and whitetails, so I have a routine and the right gear, but I’ve never got a Red Stag – so I was really looking forward to this trip.

I met Jeff that afternoon. He’s a great guy and a great guide, and we hit it off right away. That first evening, we rode around in the Can-Am with his dog Marty, saw some good stags, and watched another beautiful sunset. I was just glad to be there.

The next morning, we hiked up near the Pinnacles, and we spotted one of the stags from the night before. He was about 70 yards away, but I just didn’t want to take the shot – he wasn’t right for me. So that afternoon, we moved into the north end of the southern part of the Estate and found stags bedded along a creek. It was about 75 degrees that day, and they were in the shade cooling off.

We were looking at these three or four, and we had a crosswind, so we made the move to drop off into another ravine and get closer. There was one that had its head down low below a little dip in the ground, so we got closer – then I saw another one bedded up by himself along the creek about 100 yards away.

Jeff says, “Do you like him?” And I said, “Jeff, I like all of them.” But I knew this one was right for me. I’m no stag aficionado, but I just felt he was a pretty stag. He had a lot of his velvet on the rack, and looked great. And if you get me within bow range of an animal, I’m not going to just let him walk by.

So we make our way down. Marty’s hanging with us. We get up on this shelf, crawl a bit closer and get him within 40 yards. But he was bedded down, and just wasn’t in a good position for me, so we backed up a bit, another 10 or 15 steps to get a better angle.

With the rangefinder, I’ve got him in at 45 yards now. I dial up my bow sight and came to full draw, eased up, and squeezed off the shot. I felt really good about it.

He runs off, and we lose sight of him in the cover. I look at Jeff, and he’s giving me the thumbs up – a good shot. We wait for a little bit. Normally we’d give it 15 or 20 minutes with a bow, before the deer is down. But I made a really good shot, so I know I’m going to find my arrow.

Jeff heads off to get the Can-Am, walks 40 yards up the hill, looks over, and sees this stag lying over there on the bank; we just hadn’t seen him before because of the angle. I just hear an “Oh my god, there he is!” He comes down, hugs me, we start celebrating, and recovering the animal. It’s a beautiful trophy and just a stunning animal.

We make our way towards the Lodge, and Jeff tells me he’s taking the deer to the chiller – and I say “No, man, give me a knife. I’m going to help you.” That’s just what I do. So we took our time harvesting the deer, talking more about life, and doing right by this Stag. We’re late for supper, but that’s just part of it.

That was the first day, and it set the tone for a great week. There was a part of me that couldn’t believe my shot happened so quickly, but at the same time, I’m glad it did because then the pressure was off, and we could enjoy the rest of the week just hanging out.

We spent the next couple days exploring the property, staying out of other hunters’ way, riding around looking at Fallow deer, Rams, Sika. Then the rain came in, and we decided to bow hunt Sika on Poronui Hill.

I’m addicted to Sika hunting now with a bow. They really are ghosts. We had a couple close encounters – one perfect 62-yard quartering-away shot that just skimmed under the deer and he got away – but that’s bowhunting. It was so fun.

I also trout fished with Alex, who is awesome, really knowledgeable, and just a great kid. I don’t practice my fly fishing like I should, so I get frustrated really easily, but Alex was so patient. We hiked into a couple of deep pools, and on the third or fourth spot I hooked a big brown, then a silver rainbow that jumped out of the water two or three feet like a largemouth bass. I caught another rainbow in bright, almost spawn colors. We had a great lunch. It was just a great day on the river.

Poronui is special because of the people. As soon as you go through those gates, you’re family. Everyone was phenomenal, very friendly, very accommodating. I got to meet Jon, the owner, and talk Alabama football and turkey hunting. Lisa, Claire, Darren and his wife, Anna, Saba, Carolina, and of course, Jeff and Marty were great. They all made me feel so much at home. Everyone there was truly 100% genuinely friendly, and just a great group of people to spend time with. The meals were incredible. Just everything was incredible. I’ve traveled enough to notice the details, and the attention to detail is what matters – and every detail I could imagine was covered–  and then some. I can’t not go back.

I was sad leaving. I was ready to go home, and see my family, but there was an emotional attachment that I’ll always have to Poronui. Winning the trip definitely pushed me to go. While I was there, I Facetimed my nephew: he’s a big fisherman, and he was very jealous. I told him that he has to come with me my on my next trip – this one, I assured him, was a ‘scouting trip’!

Here is Jeff the hunting guide’s story [link to his story].