Thread: Moose !!!

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/120...-national-park

Credible witness too

Would be awesome they are a majestic animal

What a joke. For a couple of seconds and they flew around again and it was gone ...yeah right. another alien in the sky bs. Theres no fu ken moose left in nz, anyone thatbelieves that crap needs a doctor

Originally Posted by deer243

What a joke. For a couple of seconds and they flew around again and it was gone ...yeah right. another alien in the sky bs. Theres no fu ken moose left in nz, anyone thatbelieves that crap needs a doctor

Yea but the bloke is an expert moose hunter a couple of seconds is all one needs , Can you recommend one for me because I’m a BELIEVER...

Originally Posted by Huntfisheat

And you have sen how many Moose in the flesh yourself?

I have never seen a wapiti in the bush nor a Thar but I believe they are there. Never seen Sambar or Rusa either....

I've seen deer hide in an area of `scrub not much larger than their body size from out of a helicopter, so wouldn't question that if a moose had been seen on a clearing and then walked back into the bush you wouldn't see if again

you may not see the animal, but there is a good chance you would see sign...?

Not long ago the Herald or Stuff, I forget which, ran a 3 part documentary on the search for the moose. Me and the wife watched them online and they were not just interesting but very well-made, and highly informative. Whether you’re a believer or not they really are well worth watching.

There were some specific recent examples of fresh sign left that would in my humble view be very hard to explain without the presence of an extremely large ungulate, larger than a purebred bull wapiti. I came away hopeful that they are there but not entirely convinced, but equally hopeful that if they are, no one finds them (or if they do they keep quiet about it). If there is a tiny remnant population in the forest, the fastest way to destroy it would be for everyone to go looking for it all at once...

Anyway whether you’re sceptical or hopeful the documentaries are worth a watch, even if all you come away with is the unshakeable realisation that Fjordland is all but an impenetrable wilderness that only nutters and masochists choose to spend their recreational time in!

Alot of the speculation over the last 10 odd years, stemmed from a prominent Te Anau helicopter operator who supposedly saw one.
I believed it at the time.

I've read and enjoyed Ken Tustin's 'A wild moose chase'. It convinced me that there is [or was then] a small surviving population -how long they will remain sustainable is questionable.

I don't know Ken at all, but while Moose are clearly an obsession for him he is a very experienced knowledgeable hunter/biologist. You might argue that he 'wants them to exist', but he seemed to approach the search in a balanced and scientific manner. From memory his evidence included a cast antler from the 1970's, tracks and browse sign in the 1990's and then DNA evidence in the early 2000's.

So if you stumbled across a moose while hunting in Fiordland the question is, Would you shoot it?

In my mind the question goes around and around.
It would prove there is/was moose there but a real risk of tipping them toward extinction in NZ.

Originally Posted by Joe_90

So if you stumbled across a moose while hunting in Fiordland the question is, Would you shoot it?

In my mind the question goes around and around.
It would prove there is/was moose there but a real risk of tipping them toward extinction in NZ.

Shoot with Camera
Get it to hold up latest News Paper showing date 1st

Originally Posted by Joe_90

So if you stumbled across a moose while hunting in Fiordland the question is, Would you shoot it?

In my mind the question goes around and around.
It would prove there is/was moose there but a real risk of tipping them toward extinction in NZ.

Shoot it in a heartbeat.

Give it a couple more to be safe.

Tell nobody for years then leak it quietly and deny it all.

I think i saw/read the same or a similar material on Ken. One of the quotes that stuck with me was at the end when they asked him if he did find one and get a photo or other clear evidence, would he actually tell the media and make a big thing of it. he said no....

Originally Posted by Joe_90

So if you stumbled across a moose while hunting in Fiordland the question is, Would you shoot it?

In my mind the question goes around and around.
It would prove there is/was moose there but a real risk of tipping them toward extinction in NZ.

Hard to know until it happened, I would like to think I wouldn't shoot it.
Like others, I hope they are still in Fiordland but I'm not 100% convinced they are. It would take one to be shot to prove it, which would be a shame.