Thread: Hawkes Bay Today wild deer article

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/hawkes-ba...DHCHE4DNEKEVQ/

Interesting read, good on her for organising this and stopping potentially waste of a meat resource. From what I hear the HB deer problem is not going away but this is a step in the right direction.

just a pity that keen hunters cant be directed there DOC and the Regional Council could do a lot more to get hunters to the hot spots

I agree Barry, numbers get reduced and hunters get a piece of the action too. Sadly not unfortunately

Really. Go and ask any farmer in the Waiwhare district for hunting access. You would be dreaming.

Originally Posted by Davo

I agree Barry, numbers get reduced and hunters get a piece of the action too. Sadly not unfortunately

It’s not that simple


Who ensures the “hunters” are……….

responsible enough to be on private property
Culling animals properly and ethically
Protecting farm stock from harm
Protecting other farm/ neighbour assets
Protecting intellectual property
Insured against accidents and damages
Carrying out specific instructions
Persistent enough to actually cull every animal required
Culling within the required timeframe
Operating in a covert way
Maintaining confidentiality about property and operation locations
100% reliable and consistent in ALL weather conditions and hours of the clock

You quickly realise it’s hard work, that requires payment for services, services that require professionalism

Anyone doing this for a job good on you, well done, if your not - there’s a steep learning curve of which no farmer needs to suffer the collateral consequences

Its a double edged sword. @7mmsaum's questions are correct. Yet also animal populations get very quickly out of control after they reach a certain point. I had to devise a system where I allowed trusted friends access without me, and also I charged for meat hunts for people I didnt know, which slowly let me filter some of those guys to also let them hunt by themselves. The biggest one was safety. You had to know that guys would choose safe shots and also that they would stay in the area you wanted them in.
The other issue I had was I was trying to improve the trophy potential of the herd by leaving the good bucks and shooting the poor ones. Peoples assessment of what is poor, what is just young, seems to deteriorate when you are not around. I also, despite explaining what I was doing, had quite a few guys just offer to pay more to shoot the big guys. When really what I wanted shot was doe's.

there would be nothing stopping a group of hunters getting together and offering their services - but it would be helpful if they knew where to door knock first - the issues involved can all be addressed - they are certainly not insurmountable

Originally Posted by Davo

I agree Barry, numbers get reduced and hunters get a piece of the action too. Sadly not unfortunately

These properties already have plenty of recreational hunters and the workers also hunt.
Thing is once a population reaches a certain amount shooting the odd deer simply isn't going to get on top of them.
Back in the '80s how many deer were in the southern Ruahines, bugger all. It has been hunted consistently and now look at the numbers. Most recreation hunters simply can not control a deer population.

Yes I agree TLB but can have a lot of fun trying some keen types out there even if its recreational

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

Yes I agree TLB but can have a lot of fun trying some keen types out there even if its recreational

Problem is what happens for example two of the properties in particular that I have done deer management on the deer have been so hunted, although still in high numbers, and have turned nearly completely nocturnal. Also run at the sound of a bike. This makes it difficult because getting good tallies is reliant on covering a lot of country. If the deer are very bike shy you have to walk. That's fine but it really does effect how much area you can cover in a night. The deer also head back into the bush as soon as shooting starts.
Other properties that have had little hunting pressure life is a lot easier and the results significantly better.

“Most recreation hunters simply can not control a deer population”

More the problem is that most recreational hunters can’t get their head around the idea of what “culling” actually involves, which can vary from eradicating every animal to just select animals as per land owner or organisational requirements. Too many hunters go out and shoot one or two animals to meet their requirements, oftentimes educating remaining animals of human danger, telling themselves and others that they’ve helped said landowner. As mentioned earlier it requires a dedicated and often prolonged effort to achieve required outcome. For example, shoot say ten animals and leave another twenty on a young forest blk and you probably aren’t going to be invited back.
Public liability insurance and other issues are everyday hassles we have to deal with on a daily basis.
It is good though to utilise all meat if at all possible.
Just my take on things, others will hold different views I’m sure.

I couldn't agree more the ruahines are a classic example of this, a mate came out of the ruahines yesterday with his kids after a loop walk, saw mobs of 10- 20 deer the whole trip.
Yet when someone posts on here they went up there and did some culling they get accused of wasting meat...taking two many animals etc..

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

I haven't seen much criticism lately. Most people I think, realise we have to shoot more right now. Use it or lose it folks.

Originally Posted by BRADS

I couldn't agree more the ruahines are a classic example of this, a mate came out of the ruahines yesterday with his kids after a loop walk, saw mobs of 10- 20 deer the whole trip.
Yet when someone posts on here they went up there and did some culling they get accused of wasting meat...taking two many animals etc..

Sent from my SM-S916B using Tapatalk

be great if one could get some co-ordinates of the mobs and post up for the new hunters going in there - any help to new hunters would go down well

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

be great if one could get some co-ordinates of the mobs and post up for the new hunters going in there - any help to new hunters would go down well

Virtually every main slip system 45 mins or more from the road end from mid November onwards (no grass growing at the moment so a bit less activity) will have a deer out on it at some stage throughout the day.
If you went for an overnight hunt and sat and watched slips morning and evening and didn't see a deer it would be very bad luck. Look at some of the YouTube channels of guys that hunt the Ruahines, most of them seldom come home empty handed.
Also remembering the age old saying 10% of hunters shoot 90% of the deer is still reiterated by a lot of chopper pilots and I think that uni survey a few years back had a similar outcome. Plenty of hunters just haven't clocked up enough hours and simply struggle to get deer even if the numbers are high.