Thread: Deer Population Growth

I believe sometimes we wear blinkers when looking at the past.
IM TOLD when the 1080 carrots were dropped in here...one of the first times it had been done..the place stank and was covered in deer carcases rotting.
by pinacles hut at mt somers is a basin called slaughter gully....Gerald O rouke hunting there in heyday...there was mob of 90 hinds there..how it got its name. Jim Darcy told me during the meat hunting years of 60s-70s there was mob of 6 lived there.... Ive shot a few close by but there is no "mob" lives there anymore..there are no mobs as such anywhere nearby either. when first started hunting there 30 years ago it was open country and vegetation was knee high...its not up over your head,no sheep grazing area now and no burn offs to keep it open.Im told repeatedly there are "lots of deer by Stavaley" but the NZTOPPO map shows most of the huntable area there is either private or coloured red..no hunting.... so here in south canterbury at least..the percieved issue on public land isnt caused by lack of hunting pressure where its allowed..more lack of access/land tied up.that same block has a "safari "operation on one side of it with some rather .....vigourous anti poaching activities for want of better term carried out,folks hunting legitamately on Doc controlled public land accused of being miles away FFS...
the big mob of stags that have been seen numerous times in area "not to far away" from here is on private land with zero oppertunity to be hunted...the lilybank senario all over again..private land nusery reseeding land all around it and good luck if you get caught shooting deer crossing road...will have book thrown at you
no not scaremongering thats how its playing out around here.