Thread: An odd response..

Recently I thought I would be proactive and contact a few DOC offices around the place in NI to get some info on places to look for goats/deer etc. So I can make some plans on trips.
And weirdly, one response I got, was basically, just pay for one on private land. And that was from down the line where there are definitely DOC areas that hold game..
Is it just me or is that a bit odd for DOC to be telling me?
I had to ask twice via email because he never answered my question, just kept talking about paying for hunting.
Private is totally fine, don't get me wrong. But that wasn't my question. Just struck me as odd, I half expected him to want me to ask who he uses so he could recommend someone.
Weird!

you need to know who to ask in a DOC office other wise that is the sort of stupid reply you will get -- you need a staff member who does Bio-Diversity Threats- someone out doing goat control and possum control - or someone in the Area Office who does hunting - be warned they are rare breed these days

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

you need to know who to ask in a DOC office other wise that is the sort of stupid reply you will get -- you need a staff member who does Bio-Diversity Threats- someone out doing goat control and possum control - or someone in the Area Office who does hunting - be warned they are rare breed these days

He was the biodiversity officer. I saw it in his title. Perhaps not the right one though. And he is a hunter, he just kept on talking about his Thar hunts down south and how much they cost. Weird fulla!

very sadly many cant be bothered - would it not be a wonderful world where one DOC Officer at an Area Office was specifically tasked with having good knowledge of the Area hunting potential and answering requests from hunters for information - the odd Area is lucky enough to have such a staff member and they should be looked after but sadly in so many areas - what has happened that a lot of the goat and possum work has been handed out to Contractors with one DOC staff member just processing paper for it - so a staff member with good knowledge of hunting in the Area is now a rare beast - there are exceptions but not a lot

Originally Posted by AlwaysLearning

Recently I thought I would be proactive and contact a few DOC offices around the place in NI to get some info on places to look for goats/deer etc. So I can make some plans on trips.
And weirdly, one response I got, was basically, just pay for one on private land. And that was from down the line where there are definitely DOC areas that hold game..
Is it just me or is that a bit odd for DOC to be telling me?
I had to ask twice via email because he never answered my question, just kept talking about paying for hunting.

protecting his personal meat supply?......which would be silly cos there's plenty out there for everyone....I do know of one Waikato ranger that was a meat hunter in a past life

Originally Posted by scotty

protecting his personal meat supply?......which would be silly cos there's plenty out there for everyone....I do know of one Waikato ranger that was a meat hunter in a past life

Yeah it was definitely like he was intentionally not answering that particular part. Even went as far to say once is all said and done with gas etc $100 for a deer is a great price. Meanwhile, I never asked about paying for a deer, nor about price. It was like he was almost trying to convince me. It was so strange.

Unfortunately DOC are mostly bureaucrats & spend most of their time covering their ass, to keep their jobs, in the ever PC world in which we live.

At least three things that could be feeding into that

1. It can be sometimes be hard to get through the day in some offices, it's ok if it's a standard day with nothing out of the ordinary. But it gets tricky for people when they get stuck between having to service what should be a common and easy request and how the rules of the workplace expect members of the public to be treated. If the email has .govt in it, rest assured that persons job is probably harder for them then it needs to be and sometimes what feels like a light task at our end almost breaks the camels back at theirs. I am not trying to defend or justify this either, I point it out more so we can be aware of what we are actually dealing with, and how it works.

2. Sometimes people just latch onto something and think it is the best and only way. We see it all the time on this forum, and this is not to denegrate anyone, I sometimes do it myself, but it's almost every thread that someone gives clear terms of reference and someone else jumps in suggesting the OP shouldn't waste time with what they are proposing but rather run with a whole new idea that is way outside of the OP ballpark.

3. I have shared local goat spots with new people on here, the last one was by phone call because firstly I couldn't be bothered typing it all out, and secondly I wanted to make sure he understood my explanations of where to look. 3/4 of the phone call ended up being about what approach with different weather, what the walk times are, animal behaviour, time of day, what elevation you need to gain to see them etc. None of which I had a problem with, but the point of all this is I could have texted this person half a dozen GPS coordinates, and there is a high chance this would have been a waste of his time. Just telling people a place to go doesn't always help them, and old mate at DOC could have been considering this.


It could be none, one or a combination of all three, but any on their own would be enough to create the response you recieved. Ultimately in my own experience, you can't beat empirical data, just go for a walk and if the animals aren't there on the day, it's an armed tramp, which isn't the worst kind of weekend.

In all honesty, you Are better off getting in a car and going for a drive and checking areas for yourself.

Ive done exactly the same as you in the past, and very few times has the advice given been satisfactory. One head of animal control sent me too an area it turned out they had just culled. I suspect he wanted some mopping up done.
Luckily the pilot I contacted had done the work and when I told him where, who and why, he just said, nah, not worth your while.

You probably won't believe it,but once upon a time DOC used to hand out ammo if they knew you were heading into a block over run with goats.

How things have fucking changed.

Late 1990's. Was doing a potentially armed raft down the Motu with half a dozen lads from work (Army). Rang the regional DoC centre and asked if it was worth while taking a rifle or two. " Yeah, there's heaps of goats and deer at the mo. Get stuck in".

The entire three days rafting honked of recently dead animals. Judging by the state of the carcasses scattered all over the show the gunship had been through within the last 2 weeks. And would have been organised by the regional DoC office. Could have had the decency to say "don't bother with the rifles".

Which office?

Opotiki.

Originally Posted by norsk

You probably won't believe it,but once upon a time DOC used to hand out ammo if they knew you were heading into a block over run with goats.

How things have fucking changed.

with contract hunters the normal method these days likely most DOC offices wont be holding any ammo supply's - when I was running culling operations I would have had at least 5.000 rounds of .222 in store but no we never gave it out - just would not have been allowed to

Originally Posted by XR500

Opotiki.

Not you, the OP