Thread: Hey all you Wellington slackers

Saw these running above red rocks last year.


Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk

Lived in Wainui for a couple of years, about 30yrs back, deer were poking about that far back, I always got a giggle out of Bambi raiding gardens, still do

Sounds like a good crossbow would work and be safe if pointed into the bush.

As part of the lower Nth Is DOC culling crew back in the 90's we used to dreed these jobs as it was on our patch.Every winter it was the ineffectual window dressing job of giving the pigs & deer a tong up in fringe Naenae, Taita, Snakes Gully, Wainui and Eastbourne hills following public reports of fence jumpers raiding Auntys vege patch.
By the time we were hauled out of the scrub to deal with the issue, invariably the transient jumpers had cleaned up Auntys spud patch and had long moved on to the next tasty drive in.And so began the dance in the ol man gorse of tracking them down.In the case of pigs the dogs would usually manage to scrag one or two out of a mob and haul it down to Auntys rose bed in a rolling maul/bail.The balance of the mob would scarpper to the next county.At least we could deal to the pig with a safe sticker.But in the case of bailed long necks it was a case of having to use a gatt.I used to cringe discharging firearms in these built up situations.Surely a disaster waiting to happen.The Plod were fully informed of our movements, but just to be walking around in broad daylight with loaded firearms in the burbs was unsettling as the property owners didnt have a clue what was going on.Also at times the bails would occasionally spill right out onto busy suburban streets with commuter traffic .I used to fear getting my valuable pack skittled by a passing vehicle.It was a fruitless ineffectual exercise that I would prefer to foreget.Couldnt get back into the Tari's or Haurangi's quick enuff.
A yarn to mention from back in that time. Directly below the summit of the gorse clad Wainui Hill on the Seaview base was (and may still exist?) THE Tip Top bread bakery.So fresh daily bake fires up say 3.00am,5.00am trucks roll up to the compound to load up for the early morning delivery to the Hutt Valley supermarkets, dairys etc.The compound is 8 foot chain link security topped with razor wire to prevent any light fingered type helping himself to a crate of mollemberg.Double chain link gates for the B-trains only way in or out.Old mate unlocks and swings open the gates for the first truck off the rank to start loading up with the still warm sweet smelling yeasty crates of bread.5 mins latter having loaded the last crate jumps into his cab to turn and burn.Ignition, clutch, select gear , hit the head lights switch, jandal...WHAT THE FUCK!! Heres mumma feral sow with her litter of piglets drawn out of the cold dark winter Wainui gorse to a feed on some of Tip Top's finest still warm for breaky. They're already thru the gate and he can cut em off at the pass..He won the foot race to the gates.Slammed shut, job done. They all ended up in the staffs freezers and thank christ we didnt get another dreaded message to come sort out some problem pigs.Win-Win

Originally Posted by Finnwolf

I would expect somebody with a suppressor, subs and night vision would get a few of those deer?

Would love too, got a Blackout suppressed with subs and a Pard NV007... but I value my license.

....: "Eating our carbon sink". FFS! haven't twig and tweet got anything better to do???
Thats right. They haven't,

I don't know the areas at all but perhaps a little clearing work amongst the gorse and some old style baited deer pen traps might work?

So where is the best "hot spot" street / area in the Wellington area that one can go to with a camera only to photograph deer in?

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

Yep, but they had better work for Greater Wellington Regional Council, or there's a good chance they would be dobbed in.

I know a very sneaky man, with no fear who gets many deer in that area. He doesn’t work for GWRC either!!! A couple of the heads in his garage would make you drool. He doesn’t have a blackout or night vision gear either.

I also know a couple of sneaky ginga twins who may or may not be related to me who may get a few deer and catch a few pigs within earshot of many houses in that area.

Originally Posted by video hunter

So where is the best "hot spot" street / area in the Wellington area that one can go to with a camera only to photograph deer in?

Back in the day the deer were transient, i.e clean up someones caulis then down the road for someone elses tasty treat. This during the stressed winter months.So back then no definative spot x as a street addy. However there was one consistent spot for boars if you are after happy snaps of Sus Scrofa.Dont know if its still the case but during the 90's the inmates of Rimutaka Prison raised domestic sows to produce pork for the mess.It backs on to thick gorse, wilding pine & tee tree steep, hill country, so not ideal for telephoto shots of Boris in the open. Come Sow's cycling time it would draw any local boars out of the Pinehaven ,Silverstream area down to pacing the prison fence adjacent to the piggery which bounders the scrub.Worth a look , we used to tip a few up on that beat

I know of some chaps who were getting many deer in the Sydney suburbs. They posed as photographers patrolling the suburbs when they found a deer they used a short dart gun and doped the deer then followed it. The deer went to stock farms. Never got caught as far as I know. : )

Not a bad example of a backyard Wainuiomata stag

Originally Posted by steveg

Not a bad example of a backyard Wainuiomata stag


Attachment 173790

Yip given age, those Oronga genes always produce weighty heads

@craigc has some magnificent heads from that herd. He might post some pics up.

Deer in the Hutt Valley raiding peoples back yards is nothing new. I have had friends recently show me photos of deer on their back lawn on the outskirts of central Upper Hutt. @craigc made a good point lately that a lot of the issue is large blocks of land that used to get regular hunting access/control have now been split into smaller lifestyle blocks, and those new land owners quite enjoy seeing these pretty deer so don't let people shoot them.
It can make it difficult when I am undertaking pest control on private land and the neighbours are not happy about it. In the last month I have shot 7 "Town" red deer for people I know. Also deer are quite smart and quickly learn where they are safe. I recently viewed video footage of 6 reds walking between a friends house and garage without a care in the world. She told me that she loves seeing them despite the damage to the garden. And of course they breed and then move into someone else's postage stamp sized block of bush and so the cycle continues.