Thread: $11.50 for a block

An other thought, next thing the animal numbers down there will be deemed to be too high (already shitloads) and we'll be funding a 1080 drop to thin them out.... Arhh the cynic in me

There are already 1080 drops in the Bluies on a regular basis.

I am with VC, this is the thin edge of the wedge, whats next?

Dino

yip its all a pain in the bum, BUT be thankful that we are able to hunt. we are pretty lucky here in NZ.

I dont hunt there allot but after being at some of the meetings DOC had on this i would rather pay for a permit to hunt it like we do in so many other areas than have it go back to an open block system which was the other option. The problem is it is such a popular area to hunt and warrants a permit system so we have to pay. Thankfully most other areas are free unless through a ballot period.

I got my letter today. I was a bit horrified actually, not being aware of it coming.

The whole thing smacks of - well if you want recreational hunting areas (DOC want to get rid of them) then here you go, this is what you get.

We were already paying for the cost of them mailing out the permits, no one at DOC has been putting kill returns in the computer for years (I checked) and I am not sure how they come up with the figure of $30-40K admin cost at all.

Sounds like revenue gathering just because they can, and too push hunters into wanting an open block system, which is what DOC are after.

They say that within a year they will have the ballot online....yet strangely, it will still cost you that money to apply.

You'd think they would be sponsoring us with all the deer we kill for them, instead of them treating hunters like this.

Originally Posted by Beast

Really, you would hunt less because it costs you $11.50? or 34.50 if you got one out of 3 months you applied for? If you applied every month that's 146.50 including postage for a year. Say you get 3 maybe 4 months based on whats said, if you make the most of your your time that's sweet F/A additional cost per trip. I'd bet recent increases in fuel costs would be a bigger burden than that. Doing shit costs money, that's life. Is it really worth saying one would put morals aside and not be selective on whats shot based on a few dollars?

Beast its $11.5 PER application, whether you get a block or not. Even if you ring up for one...
Currently I personally "apply" for between 10 and 15 blocks a year. My missus who also hunts would put in between 5 and 10 per year so that is a significant cost to our house hold.
To put it in perspective a family trout licence is ~$150/ year which allows me to catch trout almost anywhere in NZ. A Game Bird licence is ~$70 for the season for a managed population anywhere in the country.
My main issue is that Hunters are paying the full cost for this system and I don’t think DoC have the mandate to do that. They don’t do it for trampers who use tracks? Do you pay an entrance fee when going into a National park to pay for its administration? Do hut fees cover the entire cost of building and being maintained?
DoC do have a mandate to foster recreation and in an RHA, which the Blue mountains is, part of that would be helping pay for the ballot system which has strong support from users (hunters) because it promotes safe use of the resource.

There is a few minutes of TV time outlining the changes to the ballot hunting system on Cue TV.
It will be shown today or Monday unfortunately they could not give me a time.
If you miss it you can find it, once it is shown on:
Youtube channel:
Southtodaynews

What you have to realize is that Doc,like Mpi and the related fishing issues, is run by Economists. They only see things in relation to the Dollar.They quite plainly do not give a fat rats ass about anything else except can it be made to have a revenue stream.
On a slightly different tangent,russel norman of the green party is rabidly against fishing and hunting in ALL forms and woe betide us hunters and fishers if Labout ever makes it into power as the costs of various activites will go through the roof.

Welcome to the nz of the future.