Thread: Thermal Optics under scrutiny?

Numbers. One wairarapa place I shoot next to have trapped 800 in 3 years. Another place Brian and I have shot 200 off and recently the farmer 30 in one go and we still see 20 or 30 odd most evenings. And on another 3 of us saw over 150 in 2 nights. Shot 4. And these places also have a chopper run through to cream them every year too. And the most heavily hunted public spot in the wairarapa is still full of deer. If these numbers aren’t got on top of one way or another it will be an environmental disaster in a couple more years. Everywhere I go the bush is stripped.
And the answer isn’t letting more hunters on. Picking at them won’t work.

you are right Thar great fun but control no - some of the fallow populations down towards Wanganui the same - and the attitude from the landowners dont shoot does well you and I know thats exactly what they need to be doing - no a chopper every now and then is the way to go -a lot on here fear aerial poisoning and rightly so - at the moment DOC have clearly stated in policy documents they will not use aerial 1080 on deer - lets hope it stays that way - but they are not the only agency are they - and its not as easy as many would think -its not as simple as going out with possum buckets - buckets would need modifying - pellets would need to be a lot bigger and a stronger dose possibly - no one is geared up for it thankfully -and the public outcry well lets hope it would be huge if it was put foward

Originally Posted by Tahr

Numbers. One wairarapa place I shoot next to have trapped 800 in 3 years. Another place Brian and I have shot 200 off and recently the farmer 30 in one go and we still see 20 or 30 odd most evenings. And on another 3 of us saw over 150 in 2 nights. Shot 4. And these places also have a chopper run through to cream them every year too. And the most heavily hunted public spot in the wairarapa is still full of deer. If these numbers aren’t got on top of one way or another it will be an environmental disaster in a couple more years. Everywhere I go the bush is stripped.
And the answer isn’t letting more hunters on. Picking at them won’t work.

I agree with you. Conversely over the last few years Ive seen what can be achieved by 2 guys with sole access too around 3000+ hectares.

I think the private land deer issue is one that needs solving. And solving that will go along way to reducing public land numbers.

But as Ive said, the average recreational hunter isn't concerned with control in reality. its about "easy" deer and controlling numbers works against that.

Whats your ideas for a solution?

Originally Posted by whanahuia

I agree with you. Conversely over the last few years Ive seen what can be achieved by 2 guys with sole access too around 3000+ hectares.

I think the private land deer issue is one that needs solving. And solving that will go along way to reducing public land numbers.

But as Ive said, the average recreational hunter isn't concerned with control in reality. its about "easy" deer and controlling numbers works against that.

Whats your ideas for a solution?

I think your last paragraph is the problem.
I have no problem with the Hunter that goes out once a month to shoot a meat animal, all I'd say to that person when you shoot your one in a group of 5 try knock the other 5 over as well, then you get 5 sets of back steaks easy win for your freezer and the hills.
I do realsie that there is property's around with deer high numbers but I don't buy into the private land being the problem, all the farms around here use chopper shooting twice a year, we have cullers coming in at night with thermal gear doing all the farms in the area.
All at our cost and these animals are all coming from the forest parks.
I'm just trying to offer a farmers view on it we often get accused of not doing our bit, but the gates open from the park and that the hunters not doing there bit.

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Originally Posted by BRADS

I think your last paragraph is the problem.
I have no problem with the Hunter that goes out once a month to shoot a meat animal, all I'd say to that person when you shoot your one in a group of 5 try knock the other 5 over as well, then you get 5 sets of back steaks easy win for your freezer and the hills.
I do realsie that there is property's around with deer high numbers but I don't buy into the private land being the problem, all the farms around here use chopper shooting twice a year, we have cullers coming in at night with thermal gear doing all the farms in the area.
All at our cost and these animals are all coming from the forest parks.
I'm just trying to offer a farmers view on it we often get accused of not doing our bit, but the gates open from the park and that the hunters not doing there bit.

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It's a shared, cross-tenure problem.

Forests provide shelter.

Pastoral land provides feed.

There is not enough feed in the Ruahine forest to support a fraction of the population of deer. The most available and practical place to target deer for control is in open pastoral country.

Unfortunately with cross-tenure problems come different sets of values, and different priorities.

Originally Posted by gimp

It's a shared, cross-tenure problem.

Forests provide shelter.

Pastoral land provides feed.

There is not enough feed in the Ruahine forest to support a fraction of the population of deer. The most available and practical place to target deer for control is in open pastoral country.

Unfortunately with cross-tenure problems come different sets of values, and different priorities.

Yeah I get that 100%
But hunters need to step up when you can get to the tops with your kids and see mobs of deer running around that arnt frequenting farmland I believe there's the issue.
It's no secret that numbers out of hand, as a kid you'd never see a single deer around here now people are hitting them in cars on the road.
The first people to complain when the choppers come and do search and destroy is the hunters.


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bit of a problem to Brads with hunters ability's -- roar time down the lake at Waikaremoana 12 visiting hunters 5-6 day trip - all drinking up large -little bit of hunting effort 6 deer - same period of time our top two local meat hunters 10-12 deer -

Originally Posted by BRADS

I think your last paragraph is the problem.
I have no problem with the Hunter that goes out once a month to shoot a meat animal, all I'd say to that person when you shoot your one in a group of 5 try knock the other 5 over as well, then you get 5 sets of back steaks easy win for your freezer and the hills.
I do realsie that there is property's around with deer high numbers but I don't buy into the private land being the problem, all the farms around here use chopper shooting twice a year, we have cullers coming in at night with thermal gear doing all the farms in the area.
All at our cost and these animals are all coming from the forest parks.
I'm just trying to offer a farmers view on it we often get accused of not doing our bit, but the gates open from the park and that the hunters not doing there bit.

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every area is different. I get that backing onto the ruahines might mean more of a public land issue, but in the king country with lots of smaller areas of forest, its often the private land holding the numbers and restricted access.