Thread: Shooting to waste

While culling to waste is somewhat distasteful that is the nature of the beast when trying to get numbers down.
Yes. Some stations in Nth Canterbury and Marlborough have used choppers recently and 700+ deer is not unheard of, certainly in Marlborough. These are numbers that recreational hunters would never come close to. One aspect is that you need to shoot any and all animals seen as efficiently as possible, something a lot of hunters can't accept. Also,some of the country involved makes a trip into Muzzle station almost look like a walk in the park and that place is regarded as one of the most remote stations in the country.
As alluded to by others, animal recovery for consumption requires MPI certification and you are required to have a supply contract with a processor before they will issue one. This costs money and among other things requires you being trained by the processor as to how to dress and present the animal to the receival depot. All animals have to have a GPS plot where taken. All 1080 treated areas and their buffer zones are a no go, along with any areas with a history of Brodifacoum application. All these areas have to be noted in your poisons summary for the property you are harvesting animals from as well as all neighbouring properties. If you are doing it by the book you also need a WARO permit for DOC land even when foot hunting and when I last checked with DOC Christchurch in late 2019 none had been issued for the South Island. WARO permit is free but the associated paperwork fee was $1000, which is a bit of a dis-incentive aye.
Overall, the MPI requirements are a bureaucratic nightmare to deal with. Processing costs aren't cheap, minimum numbers required.
How many out there are willing to go through this hassel for the feel good factor of not wasting good meat ? Not many I would hazard a guess.