Thread: Newshub attacking Sika

For what its worth, my thoughts include:

• As hunters I think we should separate F&B from this issue…for my money they will have to do way more than change their language to convince me they have changed their position on introduced animals, the legitimacy of hunting, and their regard for hunters. There are multiple examples of them being duplicitous and untrustworthy, so fuck’em.

• By definition, the statement that there are too many deer in the Kawekas (or any other landscape for that matter) has gotta be bullshit. As other posters have noted, there are places where there are too many deer for the carrying capacity (from a biodiversity perspective) and others where that is not the case. And while the correlation with deer density exists, it isn’t 1. In short there are places that can handle relatively high numbers, and others than can handle bugger all. Thats the lens that should be applied to these matters, imo.

• DoC recognized this with their previous aerial S&D and focused that on the Mountain Beech areas ….. Sean Husheer did a PHD thesis on Mt Beech, and I understand his work to some extent underpinned DoC’s approach to that work. Hard to argue with that type of approach, I think.

• Comparisons with the past aren’t necessarily useful, or valid. For example, a pilot who worked lots of the private Kaimanawa blocks ( and the public land too, of course) in the late 1970’s/early 80’s they were catching and shooting mostly Reds, and now they have been supplanted almost entirely by Japs. The differences in their feeding habits means the impacts will be different, too.

• With respect to the private lands I’m (mostly) inclined to the view that the grazing up to mid last century would have impacted the environment more than the current deer numbers do. And the effects of the Ohinewairua fire of 1983 are still pretty raw in places too. For my money fire is still the greatest risk to biodiversity on most PCL in NZ.

• A simple step DoC could take is to be more permissive with respect to allowing helicopter landings on PCL. Not as big an issue in the Kaweka’s as say Kaimanawa for example, but in my view material nevertheless. As @Tahr noted it is possible to land at specific sites in the Rangitikei during the roar again now, but a few years back you could get permits to land there over a 6 week period in spring, along with a site at Whakamarumaru as well. DOC chose to view that as landing for management purposes ( animal control) but determined that the numbers being shot were insufficient to justify the ‘concession’, and so in a review of the Kaimanawa FP Management Plan they canned that arrangement. Be nice to think their thinking has now changed, but in my view is indicative of their shithouse attitude towards rec hunters at that time.

• Rather than articles like this one from Newshub provoking a response from hunters, I’m of the view that it most usefully serves as a reminder that hunters should support their advocacy bodies (in this case I’d put Sika Foundation at the top of the list) and also get in (and stay in) the ear of DoC …. Reminding them that any actions should be science based, and arguing for improved access where that is an issue, and the like. Worth remembering also that outfits like Sika Foundation will always have to be a bit more restrained and reasonable than individuals, so don’t underestimate the impact of collectively strident individual advocacy too …. works for F&B.