Thread: Maybe need to start shooting everything we see in some areas

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/1...id=app-android
So given a couple of big assumptions, first that the situation is as described, 2nd that many hunters choose to pass on shots to find a better specimen- whether meat, rack or doe without fawn. Or meat bag already full.

It doesn't take much imagination to see a F&B media campaign ending in some form of mass extinction attempt.

So the question arises, what actually is the role of the hunting community in effectively controlling the numbers of animals we hunt ? If it's left to govt forces its likely some future generation will be reduced to shooting paper targets only.

I looked but didnt see phone number for access.......also interesting the deer were videoed and not shot....
fifty quid to knob of goat shit anyone trying to access that property of surrounding land will be turned down as a dirty "cunter"...... Miss Chen, thats almost your back yard,maybe you should track them down and see if access is forth coming...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I looked but didnt see phone number for access.......also interesting the deer were videoed and not shot....
fifty quid to knob of goat shit anyone trying to access that property of surrounding land will be turned down as a dirty "cunter"...... Miss Chen, thats almost your back yard,maybe you should track them down and see if access is forth coming...

yea you would think if the word was put out there , there would be plenty of meat hunters willing and able to bring the numbers down.....was thinking if he balloted out weekends on the bushline he could recoup some $ ....but then worksafe and council compliance issues would probably be a pain in the arse for him....

i guess as posted earlier if the govt incentivised meathunting more would be out smashing it...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

I looked but didnt see phone number for access.......also interesting the deer were videoed and not shot....
fifty quid to knob of goat shit anyone trying to access that property of surrounding land will be turned down as a dirty "cunter"...... Miss Chen, thats almost your back yard,maybe you should track them down and see if access is forth coming...

Ive actually sent out a couple of letters for access to private land around the Dunedin and Catlins areas but havent heard back yet, might never hear back. But yeah the catlins public areas are chock full of deer and they do leave their mark. Thats the place I managed to run into a red within 5 meters. Not sure if the properties mentioned in the article are interested in a hunter like me in there, as I just shoot the first thing I find and leave with meat. But if they would let me in I would happily shoot more than 1 if I happen upon more than 1. The little Tautuku forest huts run by forest and bird are a nice place to stay as well. If they let us know problem areas and gave us easy access, hundreds of hunters including myself would even be happy to pay a fee to get some venison.

The'd need to change the stigma that follows hunters, and maybe incentivise hunters for taking a few extra animals. Get more ammo shipped and reduce the cost, 20 bucks a tail, allow more effective gear to take more shots.

@JessicaChen

Starting to take this mindset up around the ruahines, (private and public land) taking more and giving more and more away to friends and family. My parents get a kick out of emptying the freezer and saying "weve given it away, we need more venison" im not fussed so long as its not the stuff from the butcher. Butcher costs money

Well I have been doing my bit on public and private, there are far too many around, ruahines needs a clean up as does the Haurangi and private, well yeah they do too....one farm I go on has cullers in once a month and I still go out and see 20 plus without looking and shoot 1 to 4 at a time....

Happy conservation team

Hamish

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Are you guys allowed to hunt using a semi-auto shotty with slugs?

One with a 8 shot tube and red dot would be my pick for short range, high density deer/goat culls.

Originally Posted by caberslash

Are you guys allowed to hunt using a semi-auto shotty with slugs?

One with a 8 shot tube and red dot would be my pick for short range, high density deer/goat culls.

Yes, but not on public land, and semi (and pump) shotguns with mag capacity over 5 are prohibited.

I may be a little naive here but someone a little while back, on a different thread, suggested that if a significant number of us joined Forest and Bird then we would have voting rights and therefore a say in how things transpire. It doesn't have to be an "us and them" situation so that we can save the trees and still hunt. I stand to be corrected on this but to me it seems logical. It does however require a large number of deerstalkers joining F and B. Change things from the inside !! The $57 annual membership is a small price to pay.

Originally Posted by Andygr

I may be a little naive here but someone a little while back, on a different thread, suggested that if a significant number of us joined Forest and Bird then we would have voting rights and therefore a say in how things transpire. It doesn't have to be an "us and them" situation so that we can save the trees and still hunt. I stand to be corrected on this but to me it seems logical. It does however require a large number of deerstalkers joining F and B. Change things from the inside !! The $57 annual membership is a small price to pay.

Union makes strength. You can break a match with your fingers... never a hundred matches together.

Stop waiting for stuff to give you phone numbers or hand out written invitations for access. Door knocking has always been irked for me in the past. Doc land is crawling with deer also. Shoot them. The good times are here now.

There is no maybe about it. We need to be shooting more hinds. It may already be too late to make a difference. Learn from History - 1860s deer introduced; over subsequent decades expand in range and numbers; acclimatisation societies realise numbers are a problem by the 1920s and attempt limited culling by recreational hunters; by 1931 Govt has declared all-out war on deer. We are in a similar cycle. Deer populations recovered from the lows of the 1980s and 1990s caused by high pressure from helicopter and ground based commercial hunting. There is no point disputing this, if you wish to do so: the argument has passed you by and you are talking to yourself. The discussion now is about what part recreational hunters have in managing wild animals into the future, not whether or not it needs to happen.

The common narrative is that recreational hunters can't control deer numbers. This is not necessarily true, it's more correct to say that the management agencies through the last 100 years have never tried to effectively utilise recreational hunters as a management tool. It's not likely that the current agency will either, but if we don't independently take the initiative as recreational hunters to actively manage populations by killing more females, we will lose the social license to have populations at all. The risk of wholesale paradigm change around wild animals in NZ is real. If we can't demonstrate that we can sustainably manage our wild animals society will likely begin to consider eradicating them. And this may not be possible but it's certainly possible to reduce numbers to the point where we cannot hunt them with any expectation of success. The political pressure is a real risk to us, and we are a small minority of Nz. The urban majority buy into the narrative of introduced wild animals as deleterious pests - we should never use this term.



Short of an exponential increase in the WARO market(unlikely - it's a sad dead industry circling the drain, and hasn't been effective in managing wild animals for the past 20 years except to a limited degree locally), deer numbers in NZ are not going to decrease on their own. Either we work out collectively as hunters that we need to sustainably manage populations and habitat - and landowners need to work this out too - or the urban majority of the population will vote on the side of preserving our native flora biodiversity and we'll lose any say in the matter.

You may scoff and say eradication will never happen or is impossible. Currently poisons are not used or registered for use for controlling ungulates in Nz (no, 1080 is not used for this - anyone who thinks it is, is simply factually incorrect). Political pressure in future could conceivably change this - which would rapidly change the landscape of deer management. Technology is moving fast, thermal technology substantially improves hunter efficacy. It is foolish to hope the problem goes away.

It was encouraging to see DOC trailing some hunter Access into the Nelson Lakes NP for the purpose of reducing numbers, a few other regions should take a look at this, opening access up during March/April would be good.

Time to load some more ammo.