Carcass etiquette

Evening all

I'm keen to know people's thoughts or practices when it comes to butchering an animal AND what do you do or where do you leave the remains?. I see old mate Tasman on his YouTube page covers the leftovers with rocks or whatever is available.

I was horrified when a workmate told me recently that he was hunting in North Canterbury earlier this year and came across a stag minus it's head and was left lieing in a stream!.

Last deer I shot on the West Coast I took the back wheels and back steaks, it was on the bush line by the sea so I dragged the carcass below the high tide line and next morning it was gone, I'm sure the fishies appreciated it.

According to a mate of mine who was pretty clued up on this sort of thing, after 100m in a flowing stream, offal is diluted enough to not make someone sick. I had an experience once where I drank from a creek that had a bunch of dead gots rotting in it 50m around the corner. I panicked and boosted back to the truck, never got sick. Take that with a pinch of salt I suppose.
The only time I worry about carcasses is if it's near a public, which of you follow the rules shouldn't ever happen as you're not supposed to shoot within 500m of a track or road. It's always disheartening finding a carcass in your hunting spot, however ever I've shot animals and then seen animals within 50m of tye rotting carcass 2 weeks later.. each to their own, the carcass goes back to earth either way I guess

I drag mine out of sight and try to go back a week later just on evening Mr fat piggy may be there - but yes there's lazy buggers around - but goat culling at times we had 50 or more carcasses one has to be practical but I would never leave one in a river or stream

What do you think happens to the carcasses of the many more feral animals that die of natural causes than being shot?

Agree, drag it out of a watercourse if possible, but otherwise I’m fine leaving it where it lies.

Same as above always drag out of waterways otherwise i just leave it to nature have seen pigs into previously shot animals once they find it doesnt take long for them to clean up whats left , in the summer the pigs sometimes dont even get a chance with all the flys around

I don't leave them near tracks or huts. And I wait till they get out of creeks before I shoot them. Otherwise offal just stays in the bush where I shot it. This thread reminds me of a young hunter who had just shot his first ever deer, and was busily gutting and butchering it inside the hut, much to the horror and rage of some Australian middle aged women trampers who showed up...

''This thread reminds me of a young hunter who had just shot his first ever deer, and was busily gutting and butchering it inside the hut, much to the horror and rage of some Australian middle aged women trampers who showed up..''

Bet you didn't do that again :D

Yep I know there are animals that die naturally in or near rivers etc. But I drag anything I kill away if I possibly can. A while back a mate and I shot 3 chamois Up In the basin below scott creek waterfall. For those who dont know, it gets alot of non hunters walking up there too. We butchered them and actually had a young couple turn up and watch. Then we buried the remains under rocks. because we were aware it might ruin someone else experience if we left them laying about.

If on private property I always check with the owner as to what he would like.....Nothing gets your permission to be on there revoked quicker than if you leave carcasses/gutbags where his missus and kids see/smell them......

Public land... As others have suggested above..

Interesting anecdote re disposal of carcasses.
Did a legal permitted swan cull on a large property quite a few years back....the owner wanted the carcasses dumped in his offal pit.
The first day we shot just over 300 swan in the first 3 hours, then spent the rest of the day breasting them out and loading them on my trailer to cart them to his offal pit which filled it up. The following weekend we shot 499 on the saturday before 12 and spent the rest of the day and all the following day to process and dump them. Ended up borrowing his bulldozer to dig a trench to bury them. The property had been closed to hunters up until then...but the farmer was so impressed that he gave us permission to hunt the property during the game bird season.

Gave some of the meat to the local IWI, turned most of it into salami's and gave it to various rest homes and locals. Also gave some of the carcasses to the IWI who ran a traditional cloak making course using swan feathers. After plucking them, they then used some of the carcasses as eel bait in their eel traps with good success. It was a win/win situation for all concerned.

Cool, thanks for all the replies.

Not close to camps, or water.
Not in public places.

Foxes soon clean it up.

Never in a waterway.
Goats and deer where they drop, roughly. On a farm I'll drag them into a gut or tomorrow and try to cover they with leave litter or loose soil. The farmers appreciate that effort.
I've got a funny thing I do with rabbits. Slip the knife up under the ribs and split them up to the chin. Turn them around and run the knife down the belly to the arse. Whip the two pieces of fur off the inside of both thighs, then stretch the pelvis open and crack the front t legs and ribs open. Then lay them on the ground like the capital letter X. It's like a smorgasbord of protein for a kahu, they are onto it by the time I've moved 50 - 100m. I think they recognize me and know the sound of a rifle means food! They leave nothing but the poo channel and sometimes the skin. Sometimes nothing. I once split about 20 rabbits and put them on one knob. Next morning there was this amazing sight of kahu circle like seagulls over a tip! 20 or 30 of them AMAZING sight!

had same experience as hugh when cyaniding possums 30 yrs ago used throw bods out off bush into open after skinning for hawks , they loved it and used to follow me round .

The farmer of a place I have access to gets the GPS coordinates of the carcasses, even stripped ones. Dog tucker...

I like to feed the grissillinia trees with carcase deep in the bush.but deep in the ferny crap I hunt in normally the remains just stay where they are.VERY FEW other people go where I hunt.in open country I will try to poke out of sight under tussuck etc. I've seen nzfalcon n keas race to get to hares after we shot them with unsuppressed 270s and 7x57mm .

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Originally Posted by Hugh Shields

Never in a waterway.
Goats and deer where they drop, roughly. On a farm I'll drag them into a gut or tomorrow and try to cover they with leave litter or loose soil. The farmers appreciate that effort.
I've got a funny thing I do with rabbits. Slip the knife up under the ribs and split them up to the chin. Turn them around and run the knife down the belly to the arse. Whip the two pieces of fur off the inside of both thighs, then stretch the pelvis open and crack the front t legs and ribs open. Then lay them on the ground like the capital letter X. It's like a smorgasbord of protein for a kahu, they are onto it by the time I've moved 50 - 100m. I think they recognize me and know the sound of a rifle means food! They leave nothing but the poo channel and sometimes the skin. Sometimes nothing. I once split about 20 rabbits and put them on one knob. Next morning there was this amazing sight of kahu circle like seagulls over a tip! 20 or 30 of them AMAZING sight!

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I offered the carcasses to a lady for whom I was shooting rabbits for this purpose, I suggested she throw one out on her lawn same time each day and train the kahu, she firmly declined and suggested I could leave them further down the driveway, a few visits later and she changed to wanting them left at the front steps of the house.

kicked straight into the nearest hole,unless hunting on a private block with other instructions

yup bout it Yesmate thats what I do

Had to google Kahu

yes a neat raptor shared with Australia as they have same bird - Australasian Harrier Hawk - now if you want the neatest raptor we have look up Karearea our own little raptor NZ Falcon amazing bird beautifull only surpassed for speed by the peregrine falcon

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

yes a neat raptor shared with Australia as they have same bird - Australasian Harrier Hawk - now if you want the neatest raptor we have look up Karearea our own little raptor NZ Falcon amazing bird beautifull only surpassed for speed by the peregrine falcon

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yeah quite familiar with both the birds....just the first time I had heard the Māori name for them used.

we have a little school and settlement out back of Taranaki Makahu white hawk ya learn something silly every day yuk yuk

The Buller or a tributary is fine... them giant buller slimy phiranas will have it gone by the next dawn.

If you're in a TB zone it's worth considering burying the offal pile and head, at least - especially with pigs. If the pig you shot was infected, the remains (especially lungs and lymph nodes) are a potential disease vector.

Keep it away from water ways out of respect for nature & other people, take as much meat as you can carry as not to waste to much of a resource, hang the vital organs in a tree to give it back to Maui as a sign of respect and a thank you to the land. I usually cover the carcass with fern leaves/branches to keep it out of site.