Thread: New member from UK

Hi all, new here! I’m a Brit interested in seeing how you guys do your hunting, and learn a few things along the way. not visited NZ yet but keen to come.
Cheers all
Andy

Welcome to the forum.
Nz hunting differs in many ways from the UK.

What he said

Thanks both, Looks like a great forum youve got here, it’ll keep me busy with reading for a while!

Welcome. Watching some hunting videos from nz shows how it works real well too. Will differ a lot whether you want to do bush stalking or hunt more open areas like private farm land. And then you have pig hunting with dogs, which is particularly exciting. Here is a nice wee video I just found, shows the bush environment nicely and how the deer can usually only be seen in small sections between the trees. https://youtu.be/BSIao8mhPWM
Edit: actually that land on the video looks nice and easy compared to some of the thick nasty stuff that I have dealt with. Still need to find these nicer areas with lots of animals myself.

Thanks Jessica, Ive been watching The Hunters Club, and a few others all of which Ive enjoyed - you have stunning scenery down there, I’ll watch that film thank you!

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Welcome to the forum.
Nz hunting differs in many ways from the UK.

Pretty sure we could play a good "name the differences" game with that one.

We have hills higher than their highest "mountain".

And we dont go hunting in the Range Rover lol

i had relatives come over from the usa, one of them wanted to go hunting (he does allot himself) so i showed him nz conditions and he freaked out. so i took him out to a farm to shoot rabbits. 45 minutes later he could hardly walk.
back in the states he rides a quad to his tree stand. climbs a ladder and sits with sandwiches and a thermos. he has pre baited the area with corn and waits till one of his game cameras notifies him of deer approaching. then back on the quad for the trip home.

Haha, yeah lots of differences! For sure we have nothing like the landscape (unfortunately) and its pretty densely populated here (65million plus). Some use Range rovers, though apart from the shiny new ones driving to and from the expensive big shoots (incidentally thats a small percentage of shooters here despite what the media portrays), most shooters use either old Landrovers/RRs etc. Or the enlightened ones use Toyota, Mitsubishi, Isuzu!
What we do have is some good shooting for pigeon, wildfowl, rabbits and foxes plus challenging driven shooting, a lot of it at a cost that your everyday working man can afford. Plenty of stalking for Roe, Red, Sika, Fallow, Muntjac and CWD (mostly forest or lowland until you get up into the hills of Scotland) if you look for it.

The downside here (and with you too?) is increasing pressure from antis, the media and tbh the divisive nature of shooters themselves, every forum you look on has shooters at each other’s throats over lead free ammunition or ethical shooting distances or the colour of your shooting trousers! We can’t change the mind of an anti but we can learn how to present ourselves better. Interestingly, we have a national census coming up here this month, one idea doing well at the moment is for all those involved in country pursuits/rural life to register their religion as being part of the Free Church of Country Sports (look it up on FB for more details) Sounds crazy but the idea is that if its recognised, it will give some legal protection against the actions of the militant animal rights brigade and antis, converting their actions into hate crimes with far heftier penalties.
Be really interested to hear how you get on with the media/antis over there?
Cheers
Andy

That sounds like a great idea.....play them at there own game and win.

Better still would be for those same people to claim rights as an Ethnic minority....it worked for the Irish travellers ( IE ; Pikeys)

Playing them at their own game is exactly it, the system (rightly in principle) should protect minorities, you can’t pick and choose which minority! So registering as a minority religiousl group potentially should have some benefits. A couple of years ago Vegans did the same and it was acknowledged in court, so we’ll see. It’s free to write it on the census too which has appeal to our more tight fisted hunters!

"Free Church of Country Sports", registering shooting/hunting as a religion is actually quite well thought out. I hope it is successful.

From what I understand I think we are more like the States in that hunting is very accessible and a lot of public land is designated as hunting blocks, and unlike the UK and and mainland Europe, it isn't the rich or upper-class that mainly hunt, if anything it's the opposite. Here, you pay your $240 (approx?) for a firearms license which is valid for 10 years (unless you're a young'un, then your first one is for five years apparently), then you can basically issue yourself a free hunting permit for a chunk of the country through a government website, and away you go. This is valid for most mammal species for most of the year, in some cases during the roar/rut you may have to enter a ballot to get a permit for some areas, and fowling requires a separate paid license. As above; a lot of our pig hunting takes place using dogs and a knife, meaning no firearms license is required, the same case for bow hunting, though again you need the permit from the Department of Conservation.
If you visit it is very easy to go hunting on public land, either by getting a tourist firearms license (though that may have become more difficult in the last couple of years) or simply by going with a license holder. While here, you could give pistol shooting a go, as it'll be a novel experience unless you're in the military or law enforcement back home. Most pistol clubs love having visitors come and have a shot and see what it's all about, even if they have no intention of joining.

It's not all climbing glaciers or fighting through the bush to find an animal. Many take a ride to their favourite paddock to shoot a deer. More likely on a quad bike than a Range Rover, but you get the idea. Jealousy? Yes, definitely! Also, plenty that will pay for an easy opportunity on private land.