Thread: Commercial vs Recreational Hunting in NZ

This is a very difficult debate to win, as often hunters will try and argue "both sides of the coin" and end up contradicting themselves.

Examples like:

Hunters are doing doc a favor shooting deer. Then turn around and say they are a game animal not a pest.


Ban 1080 as it kills deer. Then post a photo of a hunter posing next to a dead deer they've killed.


Hunting is a right for all New Zealander's to participate in free of charge. Then state we need to change the classification of deer to game animals where you'd more than likely have to pay into a management fund in order to increase the chances of getting a big stag.


I guess the bottom line is we all know too many deer (or any other introduced species) isn't a good thing for the Bush. The greenies don't give a rat's arse how the deer are removed...they just want them gone. Hunters on the other hand are willing to accept the cost to the environment and the steady decline having these animals will cause. And there in lies the conflict.

There really isn't an acceptable compromise, as these views are directly opposing. Any compromise will come at an unacceptable cost to the others values.

If I'm to be 100% honest, I value my hunting slightly more than the quest to restore NZ to its pre European environment. Mainly because the genie is already out of the bottle. But my lens on life comes from a bias of been raised around hunters.