I was talking to a farmer from Porangahau a while back who told me he could usually see 50-70 deer from his breakfast table every morning! A decade earlier there were no deer at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by gonetropo
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I was talking to a farmer from Porangahau a while back who told me he could usually see 50-70 deer from his breakfast table every morning! A decade earlier there were no deer at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by gonetropo
That’s on of the areas I was talking about in my first post
Can't get much easier to fill the freezer than that gonetropo.Quote:
Originally Posted by gonetropo
Lower Waikato here. DoC blocks get hammered with weekend hunters as generally easy access. High human population not far away in the ‘golden triangle’. 1080 doesn’t help as well. Lots of mobs of deer on farms. Private access though so it’s a case of not what you know but who you know. Seems to me the primo areas is the East Coast between East Cape and Palliser
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Totally unrelated to firearm law changes, but the rabbit numbers around the Taupo area are insane, especially in urban areas where no shooting can take place. I just wrangled a small game permit out of the local DoC office so I'll be going for a walk around one of my old spots out of town to check it out.
I had another really good goat hunting spot that is getting harder and harder to get a goat on now. It used to be never fail, I think that some serious culling has happened on the farm land that surrounds it. The last time I was there I actually watched a farmer shoot a bunch of goats on his property, so I don't think they are selling them.
Good money for pet food been paid out now. Well ok money.
A farmer i talked to the other day said they have shoot 900 goats in 18months, muster the ones they can and the shot goats they can get a bike to go for pet food.
Only if there's certain poisons that are not present in the area.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Waimata
The guidelines for hunters is that brodifacoum should have an exclusion zone of 5 km and 6 months for pigs and slightly different for deer.
So it is possible to eat stuff from a brodifacoum area but I wouldn't risk it. And I wouldn't pay a premium for the venison if it had.
Been hunting the Blueys for 35 years more deer down there in the last decade nothing to shoot a pregnant hind who dresses out at 14 kg on the hook more rat like now .Back in the day got excited when I saw fresh shit now guaranteed to bump into something great times just need to shoot more to get meat volume up [emoji106]
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Brodifacoum is a cumulative poison and will be passed through the entire food chain right down to the birds and insects. Its half life in soil (and into water) is twenty years. Very nasty stuff. It is so bad that no aerial brodi can be used except on islands or fully pestproff fenced areas classed as "inland idlands".
Coli' is also cumulative and debilitating. Kills dogs very slowly. Go to Google Scholar and look up the msds data on these poisons.
Observation.Quote:
Originally Posted by sightpicture
Haven't shot a rabbit for a few years now.
See a few on our place and then the virus cleans them up.
Years ago my brother used to run competitions at his pub.
You would hardly get an entry now.
We used to have a lot of rabbits we don't now.
The conversion to dairy with the longer grass changes things to.
Mind you last time I went to PiroPiro flats they had an impressive amount a couple years ago.
I've seen more rabbits than ever before in Northland. The farmers and lifestyle blockers I know agree. I've stopped shooting on a couple of lifestyle blocks because so many houses have gone up in the immediate vicinity, it's not safe anymore, plus I feel that has been an attitude change towards shooting. I don't want any trouble for the sake of a few rabbits.
Most rabbits I've seen yet this summer in Taranaki. One theory is that with Predator free 2050 kicked off the stoat population has been knocked back. Could be part of the answer.
Adding to my above post small pest wise hare, rabbit numbers have stayed constant. Possum numbers have being creeping up. Yes I have being doing pest control on a regular basis. Give it a good go over winter for the possums. Rabbit numbers could be helped with wild cats around but haven’t seen/shot a cat for a while now though....
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Any comments about pigs?
It’s actually 3 years, for all critters, as it’s an anti colagulant it builds up in the systemQuote:
Originally Posted by Russian 22.
I’m sitting on the couch having a coffee watching a couple of rabbits on the lawn. I saw six in a quarter acre “paddock” last night so time for a cleanup methinks!
What's your chosen smokepole?Quote:
Originally Posted by Cigar
I would have to say pig numbers arent what they were on the coast, yep some of those big farms up the coast still have a heap of pigs. The forestry blocks where the hunting is locked up to staff only still have numbers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Max Headroom
The Motu pigs took a big hit couple years back like a disease went through and wipe them out, numbers dont seem to be what they were. In saying that every man and his dog has a dog box on his ute in gizzy now. Pig hunting is not what it was with tracking gear and even with a hand gps the average guy can walk of the track now and find his way back to his ute.
I don't go in to pig territory enough to give a worthwhile answer, but every pig I've seen recently has had a big litter with it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Max Headroom
What about snares? I used them to good effect in Scotland.Quote:
Originally Posted by HOO
Do you work for DOC? Because that thinking comes out of there stables and its not a total truth on it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody
But then that's one of my elbow on it.
KH
No way do I work for doc or any other poisonous outfit.
As an example of the insidious nature of brodifacoum;
You may recall a recent revelation of tuataras dying in a reserve managed by "conservationists", whom you might assume would know the dangers of brodifacoum. Well, these bods used brodifacoum to deal to other pests. The tuatara were dying. Oh dear; what could be causing it? Well, one of the bods happenned to stand on a bug and the squashed remains were the brodi dye ! Oh golly gosh ! Tuatara eat invertebrates ay ! Analysis showed the tuataras were being killed by secondary poisoning of brodifacoum.
So, "kiwi hunter", pull your bl--dy head back into your ignorant skull.
Yup. Brodi is bad shit. Far worse than 1080
Here in the top of the south Kahurangi National Park deer numbers are now low enough Id call anyone a prick for shooting one, they have been poisoned and culled almost out of existence and it is only the private land and forestry bordering it that is reseeding it.
Able Tasman National park is pretty much deer free where even 15 years ago it was quite common to see deer in the campgrounds at night with ya headlamp.
Nelson Lakes National park has moderate deer numbers and a few chams about, but not in the "Kiwi" areas so much.
Mt Richmond Forest park used to have very high numbers in areas we were not allowed to hunt because we may leave them in a waterway.....so recently they were shot to waste and left to rot :wtfsmilie: at taxpayer expense, the rest of the park has reasonable numbers.
As @deer243 said best numbers are "fringe hunting" or a couple days walk.
So their management application wasn't to good ah.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody
KH
https://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/...tuatara-deathsQuote:
Originally Posted by Woody
Like almost all use of poisons in our country. Dangers are understated by the dominant users, sellers and applicators.
Yes Woody, I understand you don't like poisons and like the focus of chch, which turned on the guns instead where it should be on the one who pulled the trigger! That's where responsible should be the on the person.! Poisoning has a place, but application is everything, can't blame the poison , that's a shift of focus.Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody
I am not here saying I am right about poisoning, but l know it takes all types of application's to manage pest control.
Dropping of 1080 isn't what I like to see either and I don't agree with it ! That's not controlled application either.
When we take responsibility for our actions then we can be called to account.
Finger pointing is usually out of focus.
KH
That's MPI hunters guidelines.Quote:
Originally Posted by Fat ninja
3 years for commercial. Should have clarified :)
Today I was told by someone who works at a rural business that farmers in the Pio Pio/Aria are saying rabbit and hare numbers have exploded recently, with some saying they have never seen so many.
Just been having a few Xmas beers with my boys. They reckon on one day out pig hunting on private land in the Wairarapa this year they saw over 200 deer. The biggest mob being about 50. Now I realise they are only 18 and prone to exaggeration but this is pretty common thread whenever they go out for a hunt. Two nights ago they saw 25 in a block of cutover pine forest. They shot one each but could have shot more. They are privileged in terms of the access they get but there are way too many deer. The landowners can’t keep the numbers down. One of them has admitted to this but for some reason is highly protective of them. The only way you can reduce numbers in these areas IMO is by thinning them out by chopper.
No it's by inviting you and meQuote:
Originally Posted by gilly
Merry xmas fella
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Yeah mate we will keep working on the Gingas. One day us old fellas will get to the promised land!!! Merry Xmas.
If they need any help....Quote:
Originally Posted by gilly
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@gilly
Next door neighbour (fit, young and keen), has been out down around Ocean Beach and a few of the gullies running up into the Park there.
Reckons next time, the 270 will got some exercise, as he too has seen quite a few mobs around that area.
I need a quad bike and then I'll do my bit there with the 308.
Unfortunately, the 6.5 x 55 ammo that you dropped off to me, never got used as other things cropped up and the rifle under consideration never got bought. :oh noes:
So it's still available for a non-CM fanboy to use.
Despite the council poisoning the crap out of my possum area they are back. Apparently rabbits too. I think the explosion of lifestyle blocks populated by tree hugers is probably having the biggest impact as they don't shoot, poison or trap.
As far as deer go I think you have two extremes, although speaking generally as different all over country. Where land is able to be publicly accessible and hunting allowed numbers get hammered and deer are far more cunning and nocturnal to survive.
On restricted areas of forrest blocks and farms excellent numbers and the deer are way dumber. In these areas owners and managers will also rather cull than let people in due to the hassle unfortunately.
Its also a reflection of how society has changed in NZ about trusting one another.
So feast or famine it seems.
CM?Quote:
Originally Posted by WallyR
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Yes it's certainly possible to shoot a deer on public land but usually takes a fair amount of effort. If like me you are busy with young family and work it's not easy just to take a week off. So if you don't have private land contacts this pretty much puts deer off the menu. Apart from possums and the occasional goat my main shooting activity was service rifle...
You don't need to take a week off to get a deer. I don't have any private land deer hunting spots on private land but still do alright.
I would prefer to earn my venison anyway so paddock deer don't interest me.