Table of contents for Issue 112 in NZ Hunter

The Department of Conservation (DOC) has contracted ZIP to undertake predator eradication programmes on Stewart Island THE WARNINGS THAT WERE IGNORED Before beginning operations in the Pukunui area, members of the hunting sector and the local community advised ZIP to undertake thorough deer repellent trials. In our view, minimal effort was put into this study. Advice was offered to ZIP, but it was not acted upon, and the pro-deer repellent trial results were inconclusive, to say the least. Despite clear warnings from the hunting sector that the impact on the Whitetail herd would be devastating, ZIP proceeded to use the 43,100-hectare block as a measure of deer population impact. The result was the death of 97% of the Whitetail in the treatment area. Words cannot adequately express what this has…

It happened to be that this new area was soon extended to some neighbouring properties that included some large lifestyle blocks and farms whose owners were more than happy for us to shoot over. Joined by another young lad down the road named Brad, we enjoyed many fine shooting evenings with our 22lr. Soon, the size of the quarry went from rabbit, possum and rats to goats, pigs and deer. Due to the proximity in some circumstances of the nearby houses and the time of the night that we were shooting those bigger animals, using suppressors on our centerfire rifles to remain discreet was essential. It happened that I had done quite a bit of subsonic shooting and hunting in the past, having experimented with Various calibres such as 308,44…

When the rest of the 20-year olds were organising parties in Ibiza and tanning on Greek beaches, Sam, Dylan and I were scheming something a bit more up our alley. I realised that the Northern Hemisphere roar was just around the corner, and that we might just be able to turn a boys'trip into the hunt of a lifetime. At first, it was a toss-up: big Red stags in the Czech Republic, or Norway with its moose and caribou. After a few conversations with Czech and Norwegian mates at work, the choice became clear. The freedom to hunt in Norway's wild landscape was calling. I posted a few photos from back home on a Norwegian hunting Facebook page, offering a Kiwi hunting exchange. By the next morning, my inbox was…

Gathered in an area spanning two to three hours travel time are about 30 specialised grounds dedicated to training retrievers At this time of the year, hundreds of dogs, dog trucks and trailers, professional and amateur trainers, and a sophisticated industry supporting the sport arrive to winter over in the warmer climes of northern Florida and southern Georgia. I've come to learn more about training dogs at an elite level and to watch AKC (American Kennel Club) Retriever Field Trials. They are high-stakes events designed to test a dog's natural and trained abilities in simulated hunting scenarios. Unlike hunt tests, where dogs pass or fail individually, field trials pit them against each other, with judges scoring on a comparative basis. The tests involve both tricky short birds and long-distance retrieves,…

A mate suggested that I make some jerky and do a recipe for it I think it was just because he has a lot of goose and swan breast in his freezer from last year. It could even be from the year before (either he doesn't label or date items too well or the labels fell off - we'll give him the benefit of the doubt!) Let's be honest all hunters face the problem of what to do with it, or what was even in the packet I just pulled from the freezer! To be fair, I think he knocked some up on his Traeger and thought they would be great in the maimai next year as a snack, and wants me to do it. Jerky is not just great…

Sadly I can skip straight to the end right now. The ultimate hunting 4x4 will be different for everyone, it depends entirely on your needs. Do you hunt four times a year, primarily walk-in trips and you only bring home boned out, bagged meat? You possibly don't even need a 4wd. Are you a pig hunter with dogs? Do you regularly bring home lots Of whole animal carcasses for a chiller? Does it need to be South Island river capable? Do you need to drive long distances? Are you worried about fuel economy? Does it double as a farm ute, family car, tow wagon? So we'll have to confine this to my perspective. For me, it has to be moderately economical, have space enough for dogs and whole carcasses, be…

Based at Nokomai Station one hour south of Queenstown with her partner, she enjoys enviable access to the hills and wide open spaces. Her Instagram showcases wholesome rural and outdoor snippets, but our conversation goes well beyond that. We talk about hunting, her career as an elite golfer, a formative stint in the Navy, her passion for art and photography, and the creation of her own brand. Read on to meet the ambitious and adventurous woman behind it all. What were some of your earliest outdoor adventures? I grew up on a lifestyle block in Thornton, just out of Whakatane, and I was a super sporty kid. Dad and I did a lot together outdoors. I loved going over into the sandhills behind our place shooting rabbits with him. I…

Protecting our herds, our voice and ourselves 1080 A MAJOR THREAT TO RAKIURA'S HUNTING HERITAGE Few hunting experiences in New Zealand compare to pursuing Whitetailed deer on Rakiura/Stewart Island. Introduced in 1905, this herd is one of only two free-ranging huntable populations in the South Pacific and attracts an estimated 3,500 hunters to the island each year. Rakiura White-tailed deer are without-a-doubt a nationally significant resource with cultural, recreational and economic importance to the island community. Recent monitoring following last year's aerial predator control operations has confirmed what many hunters feared. Deer activity in treated areas dropped dramatically. Where bait containing 1080 was distributed without deer repellent, deer activity declined by around 97 percent. Even in areas where repellent was used, activity fell by approximately 75 percent. The operation, which…

Not a pub beer or a BBQ beer but a ‘kicking back reflecting on a great day in the field’ beer. Scott and I had spent the morning catching the odd big brown trout from one of my favourite spots in the world. Scott had never visited this particular area, so I thought I'd give him the grand tour. This involved a quick detour to my family's duck hut. As it was close to lunch time, we thought we might participate in a few drops of the pride of the south. While we were happily sipping away the talk soon turned to hunting ducks. I casually commented that I'd recently watched on TV a well-known and respected hunter remark about the ammo he used. Funnily enough it was a brand…

XERO® L60I LASER RANGEFINDER KNOW THE DISTANCE AND BEYOND WITH THE XERO® L60I LASER RANGEFINDER. This high-performance rangefinder combines premium optics with advanced GPS technology and state-of-the-art sensors for an unmatched range-finding experience. Get a sharp view through a full-color, high-resolution graphic overlay that displays distance, mapping, navigation and more. Range trees out to 2,000 yards, and range animals out to 1,500 yards with 7x magnification. Don't just know the distance – know the precise location with advanced navigation features. Drop a waypoint on locations you've ranged to keep track of them, or share the locations with your compatible device. Use the graphic overlay with onboard TopoActive mapping to navigate to projected waypoints with the Laser Locate™ feature. For locations even further, use the Sensor Locate™ feature to drop a…

As we headed over Arthur's Pass, it dawned on us how strange it was to set off on a trip of that length with someone we had never actually met before, having formed our opinions of one another largely through each other's social media and YouTube videos. Raddy let slip that his parents were both a little worried about the lack of concern we had, given we were about to walk around the mountains with rifles and potentially share a tent for the coming week without having vetted one another beforehand. Similar thoughts had been shared with me by my family, so we jokingly put that idea to the side and hoped the other person was mentally stable and not too strange. The plan was to hunt some renowned Red…

Given his partner Jess's interest in attending, we opted for an ‘armed tramp’ rather than the typical approach of long, cold, glassing sessions that covered less ground. Something told me that wouldn't be very appealing for a first time tag-along! Little did I know, but this change in focus would be the key to a rewarding hunt. I had been hunting with Matt since he arrived in New Zealand in the spring, but we were yet to secure his first Red deer. Excitement was high as we set off from the car, and within ten minutes we caught a glimpse of a stag up high. Hopefully a sign of things to come! We continued up the valley for a few hours and reports from other hunters exiting the area suggested…

“Bro, what if we try get a deer with the bow?” I laughed. Not because it was dumb - but because I thought that we were out of our minds. We'd both been into hunting for a couple years, not experts by any stretch, but we had the basics to hunt New Zealand bush. We'd shot rabbits, pigs, goats, and even a couple of small stags with rifles. But bows? Thats a lot harder. It wasn't just a step up - it was a whole new game. Looking back, I don't think we even understood how difficult this actually is. So we made a plan, right then and there: we'd hunt a deer during the roar. No rifles or shortcuts. Just us and a compound bow. I still remember the…

It can also tell the hunter something about the size of the population that they are hunting and whether the numbers of deer in the area are declining or increasing. This extract from my new book ‘Advanced Techniques for New Zealand Deerstalkers’ will deal with techniques for assessing the age of deer by their teeth. TELLING THE AGES OF DEER FROM THE TIME OF ERUPTION OF THEIR TEETH As in cattle and sheep, the number of teeth in the jaws of deer increases with age, and a knowledge of the ages when the various teeth erupt can help the hunter tell the age of a deer that has been shot. Fully grown red deer have ten permanent teeth on each side of their lower jaw (see Table 3 and Fig.…

Better Hunting is a free online training platform built by the NZ Game Animal Council to help hunters improve their skills and knowledge, while helping them understand their obligations and responsibilities as hunters and firearms users. The courses and resources are intended to provide a pathway and support hunters who go on to do practical training, such as the NZDA HUNTS courses. The content is designed by New Zealand hunters, for New Zealand hunters. You can do the courses on your phone and even download them for offline viewing using the app. Visit betterhunting.nz to check it out. If you enjoy using it, please share it around. BETTERHUNTING.NZ New Zealand's environment is spectacular but can be unforgiving. Weather changes fast, terrain is challenging and help can be a long way…

REMOTE HUTS WEBSITE The hut is a bit of an anomaly as far as highcountry huts go. It's a oneoff Lockwood prefab design built by the Forest Research Institute in 1977 to study the effects of introduced possum on the rata-kamahi forest found at that altitude, and was not originally intended for public use. The hut had a coal range, hot and cold running water, and an external bathtub connected to its roof-fed water system. The research work ceased after FRI became part of Landcare and they continued to have limited oversight of the hut. The Department of Conservation took over from them in 2006 but the hut was not listed in their 2017 Remote Hut Management Plan and it still doesn't appear to have any official management status. DOC…

It is one of the most insulating pads on the market, and certainly is for its weight. It has the highest warmth-to-weight ratio of any pad I can find details of. The warmth rating of a sleeping pad is often overlooked despite being arguably more critical than your sleeping bag. Since I began using a guilt more in the colder end of shoulder season hunting I've become hyper-aware of the importance of true insulation from a sleeping mat - to the point where on really cold nights I can only sleep on my front or back, where my core has maximum surface area contact with the insulating mat. Nemo have become one of the market leaders for hunting-oriented camping systems since their collaboration with First Lite, and this model is…