# Hunting > Varminting and Small Game Hunting >  Pukeko legal or not?

## Littledog

I am having trouble with Puk's eating our chook eggs and even a few chicks. I made a fenced run for the chooks but the puks still get in. Is it legal to shoot the Puks without a game bird license? I tried searching the net but I got conflicting answers.

Anyone know?
Cheers.

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## screamO

I Think the PC answer is, yes you need a game bird license.
But if they are causing trouble, well I know what I would be doing.

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## stug

Get in touch with fish and game.

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## 25/08IMP

They have the same season as ducks and come under the same license and rules although different limits which are on the license.

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## P38

What Pukes?

 :Wink:  

Cheers
Pete

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## 7mmwsm

> What Pukes?
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers
> Pete


That was going to be my answer.
Bang, what puke. Oh that one. Bloody dog must have munched it.

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## Rushy

Put your ear up to your computer and listen closely Littledog.  Pest control measures need to be exercised to protect your stock.

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## Danny

She's a no brainer mate. The Internet isn't though

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## rockland

As stug says, get in touch with your local Fish & Game. Should be able to get a control permit (think they`re free) which allows you to nuke a certain number of pooks.
Having a permit covers your ass just in case the neighbour goes crook at you.

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## Gapped axe

Yes you can shoot them if they are destroying your live stock, just need to get a permit to do it, you don't need a license if you're the owner. Permit is free and hassel free

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## Uplandstalker

You do need a permit from Fish and Game, regardless if they are interfering with livestock.

Even if they killed your chickens, these chickens would need to be your livelihood, not just a few chickens that you have for your own consumption. 

Bottom line is you need a permit to cull out of season or greater limits than published. Just like a farmer needs a permit to cull parries or swans.

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## smidey

Up here it's easy to get a permit to shoot them against normal game bird rules. I have had permits for my local golf club and a mates property. Both times, to shoot with a rifle out of season. Phone the local ranger, I'd be surprised if you didn't have a permit emailed within the hour

Sent from my workbench

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## Rushy

Damn without knowing it I have been flagrantly breaking the law for years. I will sit down tonight and pen a letter of apology to the owners of all those Puke's and Parries that trespassed on my land and shat in my troughs.

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## Scouser

> Damn without knowing it I have been flagrantly breaking the law for years. I will sit down tonight and pen a letter of apology to the owners of all those Puke's and Parries that trespassed on my land and shat in my troughs.


Its going to be a 'long' night @Rushy......... :ORLY:

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## MassiveAttack

It's not hard to get the permit so why wouldn't you.  You have to decide which group you belong to in this life, ethical hunters or ethicless poachers.

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## MSL

So if I shoot a pukeko without a permit and out of season I am an ethicless poacher... What a load of shit

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## MassiveAttack

> So if I shoot a pukeko without a permit and out of season I am an ethicless poacher... What a load of shit


It's a logically true statement even if you don't like the conclusion.

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## smidey

> So if I shoot a pukeko without a permit and out of season I am an ethicless poacher... What a load of shit


i don't think poacher is quite the right word but it is ethicless hunting. 

Pukes are a pain in the ass due to their behaviour and numbers but rules are rules and we should follow them what ever the species.

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## MSL

I just think the ethicless poacher part is a bit far fetched

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## MassiveAttack

> I just think the ethicless poacher part is a bit far fetched


The is the definition of the word from the great Google in the intercloud
poach2
pəʊtʃ/Submit
verb
gerund or present participle: poaching
1.
illegally hunt or catch (game or fish) on land that is not one's own or in contravention of official protection.

So if you shoot a pukeko out of season you are by definition poaching.

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## MSL

I'm well aware of the definition. But if I shoot a pukeko on my own property, do I consider myself to be an ethicless poacher? No. By definition I guess I am but I can live with that

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## Danny

Jesus guys. What a load of shit. 


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## P38

I recon.

Just get a permit and introduce them to the business end of a fast moving hollow point 223 projectile.   :Have A Nice Day: 

Cheers
Pete

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## Dundee

Just call them Takahe you'll be right. :Thumbsup:

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## screamO

I can see this thread going peeeer shaped, Lock it now!

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## smidey

> I recon.
> 
> Just get a permit and introduce them to the business end of a fast moving hollow point 223 projectile.  
> 
> Cheers
> Pete


I have had best results with an hmr, they do a lot of damage with that little pill exploding

Sent from my workbench

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## smidey

i have targeted them in three separate areas. On my property, a mates property and the local golf club. In all areas I killed a few, probably half the numbers that were there but the rest took a hint after a few instances of them being targeted and moved away. there were dozens of them around my place as we have a wetland near bye but they have moved away, further down river now and have stayed away for a year or more.
since they have departed i have noticed an increase in other birds, particularly pheasants and quail along with a bittern that now passes through every couple of months.
At the same time i also targeted plover, myna and magpies, they also took a hint and shifted camp. that has seen tui, fantail and wax eyes return so all round moving the dominant pests away has really changed the wildlife here.

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## zimmer

Just a pity we have to deal to a native to allow introduced species to flourish. I hope you ate all you shot.
Have to dig out my recipe for Pukes - I think the old standby was to boil them in a pot of water with several stones added. Then once done  throw away the Puke and eat the stones.

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## smidey

it's not about wanting imports to flourish, it's about balance which pukes quickly tip to the extreme in their favour. plain and simple, they are cunts and need to be kept to a sensible number.  :Have A Nice Day:

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## zimmer

> it's not about wanting imports to flourish, it's about balance which pukes quickly tip to the extreme in their favour. plain and simple, they are cunts and need to be kept to a sensible number.


Mate, settle down, my reply was very much tongue in cheek.  In times gone by when I was living on a farm we just blasted them as needed but there no pheasants or quails in equation. We had heaps around and their squawking as dusk used to drive my wife mad, aside from the rest of the mess they used to mak e. The numbers usually got driven down during duck shooting though plus the cats did a good job on the babies - woops fuel for that Welle cat hater.

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## smidey

i'm not fired up at all mate, cool as a cucumber. It's always just a discussion  :Have A Nice Day:  they're still a cunt of a bird  :Thumbsup:

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## veitnamcam

I like them.. I even feed the ones that live in the creek behind work.
But then they are not shitting in my troughs either.

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## Danny

They have great feathers for fly tying. 


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## Carpe Diem

Yup @Danny - exactly right great night flys - had some of my best nights using them in the Western Bays of Taupo late summer.

Great for a scotch poacher or taihape tickler - Oooops there we go again they seem intimately linked as a "bird of the night and honesty challenged" asa species....LOL  :Grin:  :Grin:  :Grin:

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## Tommy

I saw one peck a mynah this morning as I drove past Western Springs, so I guess they're all right deep down.

I have a buddy that says genetically they are actually a relatively recent (but still pre-human nz) arrival from Aussie, seems they must have been blown over in a big storm or something

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## Tahr

> i'm not fired up at all mate, cool as a cucumber. It's always just a discussion  they're still a cunt of a bird


I detest _that_ word. But I have to say if that's what they are, wouldn't that actually make them useful??

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## kiwijames

> I detest _that_ word. But I have to say if that's what they are, wouldn't that actually make them useful??


For three out of every four weeks anyway

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## smidey

> I detest _that_ word. But I have to say if that's what they are, wouldn't that actually make them useful??


Must be useful, and can take a pounding hahahaha

Sent from my workbench

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## veitnamcam

> I detest _that_ word. But I have to say if that's what they are, wouldn't that actually make them useful??


One of many sayings at work is "you know cunts used to be useful till they came in  your size"

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## R93

> I saw one peck a mynah this morning as I drove past Western Springs, so I guess they're all right deep down.
> 
> I have a buddy that says genetically they are actually a relatively recent (but still pre-human nz) arrival from Aussie, seems they must have been blown over in a big storm or something


You see them everywhere around Brisbane. Pretty sure I have seen them at Jackson's airport in Port Moresby as well.

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## Rushy

VC drop and give us fifty press ups while saying "I must not feed the Pukeko's" on every up.

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## veitnamcam

> VC drop and give us fifty press ups while saying "I must not feed the Pukeko's" on every up.


Na I like birds, even raised a chick when a workmate put a arrow threw mum.
Good on em for surviving in the middle of an industrial zone, we have taken over and destroyed their habitat after all(in this industrial zone all used to be swamp/tidalestuary/wetland). Now its tar-seal/concrete and pollution.

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## Rushy

> Na I like birds, even raised a chick when a workmate put a arrow threw mum.
> Good on em for surviving in the middle of an industrial zone, we have taken over and destroyed their habitat after all(in this industrial zone all used to be swamp/tidalestuary/wetland). Now its tar-seal/concrete and pollution.


I like birds too (especially Nigella Lawson and Elle McPherson) but you don't have to feed the buggers.

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## Tommy

Good on you mate. 'Cept Mynahs. Nasty horrible squawking pricks of things

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## veitnamcam

> Good on you mate. 'Cept Mynahs. Nasty horrible squawking pricks of things


I don think we have them here? just plovers and parries are the stalk ruiners.

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## Tommy

No Mynahs in Nelson? It truley is the promised land!

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## Tommy

Telecomus swamphenous

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## veitnamcam

> No Mynahs in Nelson? It truley is the promised land!


The black and white cunning buggers only really arrived 5-10 years ago too, seamed to have worked their way up the wairou to nelson lakes from blen and back down to here.

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## Tommy

Worth starting a givealittle fund to set every kid between ages 8 and 14 with a .177 meteor and two boxes of pellets.

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## Rushy

> Worth starting a givealittle fund to set every kid between ages 8 and 14 with a .177 meteor and two boxes of pellets.


Is that a question or a statement Tommy?

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## Tommy

> Is that a question or a statement Tommy?


Statement. they piss me off whenever I go to the islands too (the pacific-y ones)

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## stug

> I was  pretty sure Pukeko's are not native to NZ , I knew they were in Papua  New Guinea  and Oz  but not sure where they originated or how they got wherever  , Copied this of the net 
> 
> 
> Australasian swamphen (Porphyrio melanotus) is a species of swamphen occurring in eastern Indonesia, the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands, as well as in Papua New Guinea and Australia. It is also found in New Zealand where it is known as the Pūkeko, derived from the Māori language. The Australasian swamphen previously was considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen.


Pukeko's are native, they got here themselves. They might not be endemic (only found in NZ) though

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## veitnamcam

Endemic, native or introduced? | Sciencelearn Hub

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## Rushy

Thanks for that VC.

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## 7mmwsm

> I like birds too (especially Nigella Lawson and Elle McPherson) but you don't have to feed the buggers.


Geez you're a hard man Rushy. Even I'd feed those two.

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## Rushy

> Geez you're a hard man Rushy.


I would be even harder if I had a hold of either of them.  Harder still if I had hold of both.

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## 7mmwsm

> I would be even harder if I had a hold of either of them.  Harder still if I had hold of both.


Not for long though.

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## time out

Pukes seem to have a bad rep - I saw a pic of one flying with a duckling - but I have never seen them put a foot wrong - I reckon they are a lovely bird 
Plenty of them on the estuary down the end of our street so I watch them a lot while walking the dog  
Parries and Canadas don’t seem to care about them even when they have ducklings a few days old - the pukes never worry the young ducklings 
Stilts seem to be a bit aggressive at present - but maybe they have chicks nearby 
Maybe you have to take them as you find them but why shoot them for the sake of what someone else said 





this looks fairly peaceful and that Puke walked right past that Parrie with her young

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## smidey

I hate them because they came onto my property and killed 12 chicks while mother hen tried to chase it off. Since them I have hunted them consistently around my house and surrounding property and they have mostly all moved on

Sent from my workbench

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## Martin358

> I am having trouble with Puk's eating our chook eggs and even a few chicks. I made a fenced run for the chooks but the puks still get in. Is it legal to shoot the Puks without a game bird license? I tried searching the net but I got conflicting answers.
> 
> Anyone know?
> Cheers.


My neighbours have a reserve of some sort, thier pukes keep coming over to my duckpond and killed of my duck chicks, i got 5 of them the other flew off, see them occaisoianly but they take off real quick. Now im dealing to the hawks as they have got the nesting adults

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## smidey

> My neighbours have a reserve of some sort, thier pukes keep coming over to my duckpond and killed of my duck chicks, i got 5 of them the other flew off, see them occaisoianly but they take off real quick. Now im dealing to the hawks as they have got the nesting adults


I think you need to read the rules around killing harrier



> It is important to realize that you cannot simply take measures to reduce harrier populations to protect wild, free ranging gamebirds, (whether hand - raised or not), such as pheasants, quail, mallard or other game ducks, pukekos etc. To protect any of these, you still need a DoC permit.


http://hunting.fishandgame.org.nz/si...s%20change.pdf

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## EeeBees

Australasian harrier (Circus approximans)
The Australasian harrier is listed on Schedule 2 as partially protected wildlife, which
means the occupier of any land (or someone with the occupiers authority) may
hunt or kill harriers on that land if the birds are causing injury or damage to property.
This species was moved from Schedule 5 (unprotected) to Schedule 2 in 1986. It is
a native species (found also in other countries) whose range has extended greatly in
New Zealand since European settlement, but whose population has declined since
the 1950s.
In 1996, a Department of Conservation report 4 recommended that the protection
status of the Australasian harrier be reviewed and that it be given full protection. The
report emphasised the harriers importance to New Zealands environment and to the
general ecological welfare of ecosystems they live in. The majority of bird species it
preys on are introduced species.
In particular the report argued that:
 There is little evidence that harriers kill live lambs or ewes (the reason for listing them
on Schedule 2) but rather they are known to take or feed on carcases immediately
after death (i.e., still-born or dead young lambs).
 Although harriers prey on small birds and mammals there are few reports of their
killing protected native birds, game birds or lizards because the majority of their
terrain is open country or intensively-developed farmland.
 They are useful scavengers and will often take car-killed animals and carrion.
 _They assist in the control of rodents and birds impacting on orchards and vineyards,
particularly introduced starlings and blackbirds._
The Australasian harrier is classified as not threatened as overseas populations are
secure.

_They assist in the control...of birds impacting on orchards and vineyards_...they are harassed by magpies, spur fecking wing fecking plovers...I have never seen Harriers controlling starlings or blackbirds in the vineyard...they do rattle the chain of the waxeyes, which is probably the worst bird in the vineyard...unlike the blackbird and thrush who will take the single berry from a bunch, the waxeye assists in the spread of botrytis and other fungi as they pierce the skin of the berry to extract the juice...

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## Bill999

what ever you do, dont "educate them" by doing nasty things to them in cages so they dont come back

this is animal abuse not pest control and will be treated as such by the greenies and animal rights peops

shoot the buggers with a shotgun, if you are the land owner or manager it is ok for you(but only you) to shoot on the property during duck season without a licence
you need to follow all the rules regarding game bird shooting like not using the .22  or 308 and its all legit

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## smidey

I've found they learn very quickly, once you start banging at them they will move away and stay away. I had fifty to sixty around my property. Once I started banging on them they became hard to get as they were very wary and I ended up getting about half of them, the rest buggered off never to return

Sent from my workbench

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## Happy

It's Pukeko oops duck season now isn't it ? Must be we re way past 20 each. We are allowed 10 per day . It's got quiet at night time. You can hear the Teal that never used to come close talking all night. That's not at all bad...  22-250 at 2 hundred meters seems to take care of stuff . Rabbits and stuff don't like it.  Hot Barrells !!!

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## chopsuey

Hi Quite new to forums, below is my attempt to copy a link. Recent story on Seven Sharp about Pukeko.

https://www.google.co.nz/url?sa=t&rc...gHxlHORJnI7UXQ

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## Martin358

> I like birds too (especially Nigella Lawson and Elle McPherson) but you don't have to feed the buggers.


id feed those two

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## Martin358

> Worth starting a givealittle fund to set every kid between ages 8 and 14 with a .177 meteor and two boxes of pellets.


thats the gun i started with at 6 years old, got quail and rabbits.

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