Hunt this gorgeous South Pacific island for the Javan Rusa deer, a 200-300 lb cervid in the red stag/elk family that roars night and day. Since the island has no zoonotic diseases of concern, you can legally import your antlers AND game meat as checked luggage!

This may well be the best exotic deer hunt in the world for the money. New Caledonia is one of the last places where you can hunt truly wild stags with trophy fees under $750, and our local friends want to keep it that way! You’ll never pay a sliding scale fee for what you shoot; it only depends on whose land you are hunting. Properties range from open, coastal savannahs with rolling hills to rocky, mountainous jungles with some 40+ degree slopes. The coastal areas have better minerals and browse to grow larger stags on average, but farms here are more strictly managed with trophy fees from $750 - $1,250. The mountain areas still grow monsters, but they can be as pressured as any 3-point draw unit out West; that’s why trophy fees are only $500 - $750 here.

It all comes down to your preference and pocketbook. We’re huge fans of the mountain hunting, but by day 16 we were looking longingly at the coastal farms we drove by. So, to better capture the best of both worlds, we will be offering a choice of two hunting camps for the 2026 season and beyond: self-catered or full-service.

Self-catered: Accommodations are on a 4+ square mile mountain valley where you can wake up and hunt right out the back door. The landowner Guilhem will keep you in stitches and prove wrong anything negative you’ve ever heard about the French. You’ll be responsible for your own drinks, meals (hence self-catered), and trophy prep, otherwise everything is arranged and ready for your hunt like a luxury drop-in camp. You’re not entirely on your own food-wise, as the kitchen will have basic cooking essentials, a recipe book tailored to New Caledonia supermarkets, and a freezer with fish filets and aged venison. Depending on your preference and camp size, you can go full DIY based on our maps and scouting reports, or you can hunt 2x1 guided by Guilhem or another local hunter. We have additional properties close by, so rest assured you won’t be bumping into the other hunters until you’re back at camp. You can even hunt public land forests (their version of dark timber) for the ultimate challenge! Every hunter in our ‘24 and ‘25 camps had shot opportunities on representative stags within 150 yards, but your cup will runneth over if you can reach out to 350. Trophy quality will strongly correlate with your fitness, hunting/shooting ability, and, of course, luck. If you hunt the way you should for an OTC elk unit, you will have a bronze medal stag in your crosshairs every day and a silver about every third day. If you’re limited to the beaten path, then maybe the mountains aren’t the best fit. On the other hand, there was one morning that I could have shot a dandy 30”+ stag from the coffee table.

Full-service: These camps, complete with our standard BME meals and drinks, will be mostly run from the far north 3-4 hours from the airport. This region is hunted less than any other and has some of the biggest stags. Hunts are based out of a lodge within 45 minutes of the hunt properties, or with advance planning we can even spike camp into the New Caledonian “outback” on horses! Hunting success is higher here than in the mountains near La Foa, but by no means is this a game farm cakewalk. The primary lands are working sheep and cattle farms, not hunting estates. With that said, we have hunting-centric properties on retainer in case sickness or injury has you off your game. If you can’t go home without an opportunity at an old bruiser stag, then this is the camp for you.

Whether in the self-catered or full service camps, you’ll experience New Caledonia’s “X factor,” which is all the other hunting that’s available at a fraction of the cost elsewhere: “South Pacific” wild turkey (cross of Goulds and Rios imported from Mexico), Common peafowl (peacock), wild boar, feral goat, Pacific black duck, purple moorhen, ring-neck pheasants, and hare. Of these, peacocks are the crown jewel. The males are just as cagey and challenging as any mature Eastern tom, nothing like their obnoxious barnyard counterparts back home. They roost in the biggest banyan trees way up high or on the steepest slopes, so you’ll want to be in sheep shape to guarantee a shot opportunity. Turkeys here are much more beginner friendly. They aren’t stupid by any means, but they’re everywhere, so it’s pretty hard to go home without one. Between the overpopulation and lack of predators, you even have a good chance at finding a true albino! Unlike New Zealand, no domestic turkeys are raised here so the white ones are genuine wild strain birds.

Any discussion of New Caledonia has to include the world’s largest coral lagoon and the action it offers. Spearfishing is not to be missed if you can dive past 40 feet. Just be ready to shoot smaller fish than back home, as the bigger ones are skittish and may carry ciguatera. If diving isn’t your thing, hook and line fishing can easily be arranged for GTs, reef fish, wahoo/mahi, and marlin. Last but not least, you can go “fishing” for Mud Crabs - a delicacy that tastes like blue crab but can grow to the size of a football.

Self-catered Camp: starting at $2,450 per hunter for (1) Rusa, (1) Peacock, and (1) Turkey
6-day hunt; 2x1 or unguided
Limit 2 stags per hunter

Full-service Camp: starting at $4,250 per hunter for (1) Rusa, (1) Peacock OR Goat, and (1) Turkey
5-day hunt; 2x1 [1x1 add $750]
No stag limit per hunter

[July-August]

Est airfare: $1,750-2,500
Est tips: $175-450