Thread: trapping pukekos

When I had a pond in Awaiti wetlands the cockie was overrun with Pukes,like dozens, the next season there was stuff all.
Apparently they can contract some virus when numbers are high.

Originally Posted by dannyb

all bullshit aside, the matter of dispatch matters not, you risk a big fine if you do not go through there process of getting a permit. If they are in numbers that are causing you ongoing issues then it is "worth your time doing the metric shittonne paperwork"
Even though they can be a pest when numbers get up they are still a "protected species" and the penalty for hunting/culling them without a permit or licence during game bird season is up to 2 years in prison or up to $100000.
no hate here good luck

Shit, I’m lucky, I’ve never be caught them. You good accidentally run them over,

I have hunted and trapped them more or less full time over the last 3 years. Mainly for market Gardners, Lifestylers, Orchard and Vineyard owners etc. They are super destructive and can cause $1000s worth of damage a day. In this region the numbers are very high which just can not be sustained in a food growing area. I counted over 400 of them in the front 3rd of an orchard I was working on, and that was after I had done a big cull back.

Yes they are considered a Native as it is believed they flew here on thier own, they are cute and have a bit of character but they are destructive little devils. As others have said they shit in troughs passing on salmonella to stock and horses etc, they rip out more or less any seedlings that you try and plant (but of course not to eat them, they just prefer to watch the seedlings die on the ground next to the hole), they will poke a hole in every single lettuce of the crop because they only like to eat the heart and they will strip and damage crops of pretty much any variety. I have even known huge Maize plantations to be mulched back into the earth rather than be harvested because the damage from the Pukeko is too high.... mix that in with the shit weather everywhere and the world wide shortage of Maize and you get an idea of why they have become the #1 pest I get called out for.

They are very smart and cunning, you only get a couple of opportunities to hunt them easily before they wise up and then it becomes an escalating war. Trapping is more effective in winter when there is less food around but I am still pulling good numbers every day at the moment, I havent tried using the small individual cage traps and I wouldn't bother - once they see one trapped in them the others will not go near it.

Best option while they are fairly tame is a good shoot up, but don't mess it up as you only really get one chance before they figure it out and stay 400m away from you.

Talk to F&G to get the permit, it's pretty easy to get if you explain the damage they are doing and if the numbers in the region are high.

Oh, and they are aggressive and will happily kill other animals, including endemic ducklings etc.

So it's Barry the conservationist, not Barry the Hunter aye

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

do not touch them - they are a native species and you will need permission from DOC to touch them - leave them alone - they here first- learn to live with them - bloody harmless native bird - if you have to shoot old puke -at least do it properly and get full permission from DOC - shame on you - find another way - a very pretty native bird

Question. If you applied to shoot pukes as they were fouling your water and refused a shooting permit, could you then hold the relevant athourity who refused the permit, if you were to lose stock due a direct result of them fouling the water.
I was under the impression that the native classification was applied to any animal that made it here under its own steam and started its own population. That in fact there are native animals that have very recently self introduced. Endemic is only of this country.

Cheers Mintie, yeah I might as well just go through the process and give them a proper going over

Seen them kill a few ducklings on the pond below my house. Teal and grey ducklings.
When they come up harassing my chooks in there run they are fear game.

Yeah I believe they used to be protected but have recently ( in the last few years) gone onto the duck shooting season license, or you can apply to shoot them on a case by case basis. I have a mate in Wainuiamata who has horses and donkeys and he has lost animals to Salmonella from them getting into the troughs.

Originally Posted by kruza

Question. If you applied to shoot pukes as they were fouling your water and refused a shooting permit, could you then hold the relevant athourity who refused the permit, if you were to lose stock due a direct result of them fouling the water.
I was under the impression that the native classification was applied to any animal that made it here under its own steam and started its own population. That in fact there are native animals that have very recently self introduced. Endemic is only of this country.

Originally Posted by rugerman

So it's Barry the conservationist, not Barry the Hunter aye

always Barry the hunter - I just cant see the sense in plonking a poor old native bird - why not target the local cats instead

In this case because the cats are probly keeping the pukeo down

Shame on you for targeting some poor old ladies cat. Apart from toxoplasmosis and eating a few birds and lizards can't you just admire their natural hunting ability

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

always Barry the hunter - I just cant see the sense in plonking a poor old native bird - why not target the local cats instead

Originally Posted by rugerman

Hi guys, we have a heap of pukekos around work and although I might be able to get permission to shoot them it would be a metric shitton of paper work and hassle. So I was thinking of using a live capture trap and giving them the old bing bong. Has anyone trapped Pukes before and what bait did you use to catch them ?
They are getting in the drinking bowls and spreading Giardia and other nasties so want to thin them out a bit.

Trap them with a 17HMR. PM Mintie. Guru in these birds.

Oh true. I might have been thinking about spur winged plovers

Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

They have been on the schedule longer than I have been shooting. And I shot my first one in 1970.

Originally Posted by rugerman

Yeah I believe they used to be protected but have recently ( in the last few years) gone onto the duck shooting season license, ...

Mum cooked up a puke casserole for us during duckshooting in 1979, so I hope they have been on the license for quite a while. It was nice.

All birds are automatically protected in NZ, if a new species arrives it is fully protected until it is added to a schedule of the Wildlife Act.