Thread: Aussies and Wapiti

Originally Posted by bigbear

Its not a dig at Aussies but i would like to see all foreigners paying a hunting fee here and also paying double or triple for a trout license. That's what all these private estates/hunting parks were set up for ??
Like $500 for ten days hunting all animals recorded and money goes to a new game animal foundation. $500 was just a figure

Non Resident fishers do pay a surcharge on their licence to F&G. The funds are (supposedly) ring fenced for habitat enhancement. Surprising how quickly it adds up.

Big Bear, i don’t take it as a dig but purely perspective from a non Kiwi who hunts NZ a bit as a foreigner and has also lived there as well.

Personally I think most aussies would be had to buy a non residents license to hunt doc lands. I’d happily pay it.

The other way of looking at foreign hunters is that it is part of tourism and brings in foreign exchange. If trophy hunting for Tahr had not been stopped by Covid this year it would have been difficult for the Govt to cull so heavily. Difficult for a Govt to destroy a multi million dollar industry while it is fully operating.
The issue with the Fiordland waps could be solved by limiting the number of tags available to non residents. As it is, our ballot could be swamped by overseas hunters.

It took a lifetime before fish and game finally got their shit semi-together and started charging a non resident's trout license after years of crying it was too hard and it's still only $169, not nearly enough. A non resident's hunting permit for NZ DOC land is a no-brainer and it should be $500 as a minimum.

I reckon wapiti & Tahr ballots should be for Nz residents only , if Nz guides apply for a ballot & get a block they could then guide that block & take foreign hunters out , so win win , I’d be far happier about the situation knowing that kiwis come first & are not in direct competition against people that do not even live in this country & come here on budget self guided trips in the roar or rut , yes they have to pay for air fares & possibly some accommodation etc but too bad , better off having high value tourists than budget ones , If our elected officials had half a brain they would make guiding mandatory all year round .

Personally I'd like to see the new 4th period gone before over seas hunters, (both would be good gone however) Its probably an unpopular opinion, but I can see the reasons why the fwf added the extra period

I think foreign hunters should only be able to come if they bring koha
And i don't mean money
I mean some of the awesome firearms that we can see and not touch
Things that would otherwise cost too much for import from USA, Europe and Australia

The whole legal gun running system has ground to a halt
Not that it was very easy before C19

its an interesting post you put forth here , interesting to only see Dicko jump in on it from an Aussies perspective.

I personally, understand the job FWF do and agree with many points regarding this upcoming or next season regarding the covid stuff.. that should be a no brainer lol.

The thing is I agree the kiwis should have first jab at it but there has to be some allocation to spaces for Your internationals and Aussie bastards for an Extra cost for sure, that makes sense, even if it is an "international hunters tariff" per say in that $500 bracket.. boom bonus straightto FWF for allowing some- internationals in on the Game. an what a big game its tunring out to be. ....

Australias Sambar hunting is on a down ward spiral pretty quickly this remainder of the year , everyone ive spoke to has Tahr in their sights but perhaps isnt as aware as I of their situation also, as the Cull hasnt been publisiced in AU much at all on a broad scale.... So yer tahr ballots will be heavily Aussie influenced without any doubt next year.

The Red stags are overlooked but will not be from now on for a while, The cost to do a week or two in NZ is worth the experience alone as opposed to effort an cost travelling into remote victorian country which is being heavily culled at present... So the roar out of Ballot will be slightly busier with Aussies but not immediately.

The Waps, well if FWF keep up the great work, You wont see more Aussies in a Ballot but You will see more aussies in te Anua in February with their Thermals and 338laps.. unfortunatly.

many of the better heads may be taken prior to the Ballot blocks and that a tough one to draw a line on.

personal ethics come into it.

Im not rushing into Wap country i tell ya, for an Aussie its inviting fromthe reports but the Reality of spending 10 days in Southland alone is hardcore, let alone a mongrel 10 days hunting jungles..

anyway, following the thread..... no name callin you kiwi buggers alright...

catch yas soon

Yep the February thermal hunting is the problem for Waps.
How do we prevent that ?
The other problem is how to stop the really good breeders being shot.

I thought FWF had banned people from hunting prior to the ballot?

I think the Wap & Tahr Ballot’s should have a limited number of spots for foreign hunters (add the Milford track as well) and they pay a premium, say double what we have to.

Sorry about the Bison photo I got the wrong file, had a phone call while I was posting and now I cant change it.
Trying to upload a series of photos on the young elk bull which is descended from Fiordland animals
Still having upload problems, anyway the bull on the right of the photo is the same bull as the 2yr old in the prior post. Genetics are 1/3rd Fiordland blood.
A big Fiordland bull that has got everything should not be shot. He should be saved as a breeder

Its not just the wap blocks we should be worried about, As i said i think there needs to be a new game animal foundation set up. The permit money goes them and they run the whole permit system on all doc land and manage all game animals. All 1080 programs and culls will need to go through the foundation with 18month notice just stay
The only thing i will say is once NZers start paying is the price will only keep going up. It might start at stay $100 season license for 12months but next minute it will be a $1000 and it will become a rich mans sport
Just my thoughts

Originally Posted by bigbear

Its not just the wap blocks we should be worried about, As i said i think there needs to be a new game animal foundation set up. The permit money goes them and they run the whole permit system on all doc land and manage all game animals. All 1080 programs and culls will need to go through the foundation with 18month notice just stay
The only thing i will say is once NZers start paying is the price will only keep going up. It might start at stay $100 season license for 12months but next minute it will be a $1000 and it will become a rich mans sport
Just my thoughts

yeah man i can see that happening here. we have a good area to a fiord block type permit, as u guys do in alps i guess, but have it for a little fee to go toward things, an make the period 3 month or whatever, maybe one so a more up to date idea of whats in there an who, but not a booking system per say, lots to learn from a block type approach to "limited entry hunting" you could call the national park from here on in... but now the prize is gone theres no real Special about it. unlike ya Waps in Fiord.

Same thing with Aus that $50 last few years, now with COVID the "GMA" / not foundation, govt run lollipop authority over deer huntin/ are issuing FREE hunting next year right.... right after fires, culls an all this... i bet you, i will put money on a over haul now hunting is restricted here, that it becomes a Pay for it, an pay more for it for "old historic areas" which rigns true to ya Wanaka ballot.... o much to learn from NZ with AU but au wants no bar of a introduced GAME animal or managing them....

its fucked.

I’d be happy to pay for a general permit PROVIDED we get a good say in matters, we already pay for ballots and Yes the Game Animal Council should take over the running of the permits, ballots.

to touch on the stag culture here, its not velvet stags like you blokes, its just hard antler.. kill em.

velvet killin of stags is hugely detrimental to a herd, look at the southern alps an you will note. its been 1960s since You guys have seen more than a odd beast here or there... looking back there was a bloody lotta deer but wayyy to many hinds, an still to this day "hind get left" an "velvet stags get smoked" ... ooo k.


i wanted to touch on something elseeee but i forgot... "heavy fines" for hunting in areas 'closed' , close the fiordland hunting area jan feb?
here no penalty for poaching , an when caught often easy easy enough to geto ff with a play dumb card.. no deterrance.

OR on the other side of the arguement, theres an aussie fella bangin on about the future of the thermals and how bad it is to fair chase hunting, calling it day light spotlighting.., i get this 100% , but its 2020, the tehcnology is over taking the oppertunities as they arnt expanding... its interesting... So do ya call Thermals fair game? everyone can have one , if ya can afford it.. if ya can afford it, well , we've seen the calibre of stags in NZ "if ya can afford" it, so what the difference? kettle of fish that one..


Yeah so i rememebered, this coming few years is going to be a huge eye opener for aussies with the fire n cull situations, goin forward if there is much oppertunity left

Your nz herds seen a smashing back then an its never been the same since, except fiordland getting there but as mentioned, alot of sweet bulls must be gettin killed an not heard about... thats been goin on since the 50s