Thread: Ruahine deer control

Received the info below in a recent DOC update. I'd be hearing rumors of such but hadn't seen any official information until now.

As a keen Ruahine hunter, I was wondering if anyone has any further info/details on specific areas where this will affect? (in particular the WARO). Any areas that won't be impacted?

Monitoring in Ruahine Forest Park indicated relatively high numbers of wild deer compared to national averages. Important understory plants, which help a forest regenerate and stabilise slopes, are disappearing.

To address these negative impacts, together with local iwi/hapū, we are drafting an adaptive deer management plan with advice from a newly established Community Deer Advisory Group. This group includes hunting, conservation, and recreation organisations. This will complement our existing work to keep wild goats out of the Park.

Basically, we’re taking a flexible, science-based approach.

Trial actions are taking place this autumn, and findings will help inform our longer term management approach:

NZ Deerstalkers Association hunt: We worked with the Lower Hutt Branch to make it easier for hunters to fly by helicopter into the Western/Central area of Ruahine Forest Park. The hunt took place on 14-17 March 2025. Around 80 deer were removed. Hunters targeted hinds and the branch will provide DOC with track logs and kill way points, and hunter observations. This will help us assess the effectiveness of the hunt.
DOC aerial management: In May, we will carry out aerial control in the remote and hard to access North-West deer Management Unit (MU) - an area of 12,056 hectares. This work also complements possum and rat control being carried out in the Northern Ruahine’s high priority ecosystem unit, an area which contains a rich and diverse range of habitats and species. Where practical and within budget limitations, we will work with community to harvest meat from this operation.
Industry/WARO incentivisation: We have contracted the commercial venison industry to harvest 300 deer, operating under normal WARO permit conditions. Lower weight deer harvest is being incentivised. The work will start May 2025 and finish when the harvest target is met.
All three actions combined, make a start in addressing Ruahine deer impacts. We’ll continue working with the community to assess the effectiveness of each action and refine the deer management approach.