Thread: aerial culling still happening

Today 10/10/21 while out unting up wallabies with good mate,we heard chopper approaching,saw big dark blue/black notail fly past and land on road by our vechile...then it flew back over top of us,definately saw us on ridge..no wave etc...few minutes later we heard them start shooting...then kept shooting....some time later flew back to road....and back up for more shooting...heard 35 or more shots...then it dissapeared and we did not see it return by mid after noon when we left area...Doc vechile with fuel /jerry cans parked within 200 yards of where our truck was.

now weird/strange/frustrating thing......its a Sunday,in school holidays in often hunted public land...... where was notification culling was about to happen????
where was warning signage at roadside block entrance????
99% sure wallabies were sideline targets and big hairy goats were main target as most of time the whirly bird was up in shingle n bluffs.....
we were north of waitaki and south of rangitata east coast....
anyone care to shed some light on this????
we still managed to have good walk,shot half dozen wallaby and a rabbit....

Well… if your that concerned…. Did u get licence plate number of DOC truck …. Or helicopter rego/tail number… …. Do u think it was an illegal ops ??

@A330driver I was out with Micky duck yesterday. Firstly it was hard to get definite rego of chopper and the ute was a genuine DoC hilux so no, this activity wasn't illegal in our opinion. I just find it unusual that they would do this on a Sunday which in Mickys case, and probably many others was his only day off for the week.

It was meant as a genuine question/inquiry…… in my business there’s no such thing as a weekend … just another workday

If they were after tahr that are outside the feral range. They will be culling and shooting everything

Yeah I understand that a lot of people don't work Monday to Friday but DoC normally do.
And yes @High Country Boy we were outside the tahr feral range.

“Quote..”but DoC normally do.”

“Normally” bring the operative word right???

Window of suitable weather might have been the reason? I am not down that way so not sure what it’s like lately the rest of the time.
Just taking a stab at possible explanations.

Wouldnt you have got a notification via email you put down on your permit? I seem to get them every time anything happens in the areas I have a permit to hunt?

There is ongoing wallaby, goat and tahr control operations occurring in many areas this isn't a secret either. It occurs when the weather allows, even if that means on a Sunday.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk

I have never had any notifications from Doc about anything even after ticking the box on the permit application.

Could be petfood guys with a WARO permit, I heard the bretheren crowd in Blenheim were buying Tahr . . . .

Originally Posted by Tentman

Could be petfood guys with a WARO permit, I heard the bretheren crowd in Blenheim were buying Tahr . . . .

was definately a DOC vechile supplying fuel...and no animals seen recovered....search n destroy.

Not many doc staff work Sunday.Theres been enough fine weather mid weeks to phone a chopper up and shoot pests mid week,let alone on a Sunday.

You could try replaying registered flights on flightradar24, might find the chopper rego.