Thread: Shooting but not necessarily hunting

Hello all!

I would like to take up shooting and want to get a perspective on the attitudes towards shooting here in NZ, as I am not originally from here.

I want to shoot but not necessarily hunt, though I might get into hunting at a later stage. Say I just wanted to go out and shoot a rifle for fun, what's the attitude towards this kind of activity? Where can I go shoot a rifle? Does it have to be on DOC approved hunting land, and do I need a hunting permit to shoot, even if I'm not hunting?

How strict are the laws here? Say I bought a rifle then went out into the country, set up some targets and did some shooting, is this ok? I live in Otago so there's plenty wide open country.

The only resources I can find on the web regarding shooting are indoor competitive target shooting websites and hunting websites, but nothing about just shooting for the simple pleasure of firing guns.

Any advice or opinions are appreciated!