Some of you may be asking why have we got a kea on the cover?

Well firstly it’s a truly magnificent photo of one of our iconic mountain birds, taken by our very own Luke. And secondly is showing what we all know but a lot of the population don’t - and that is hunters are some of NZ’s greatest conservationists, and we enjoy seeing the results of our mahi! We really care about the environment and our iconic native species. We’re out there, off-track, in the hills seeing the real deal first hand – not like some, who almost never actually set foot in the wilderness. Instead, they’re sitting in their ivory tower, houses in town listening to some of the ideological propaganda bandied about by the 

eco-fundamentalist organisations, and donating to them, thinking that they are making a difference. They are naive to the fact that a significant amount gets swallowed up keeping those organisations lobbying and propaganda wheels turning, and we see little of it making its way down to boots on the ground conservation gains - particularly when compared percentage wise to what is achieved by our lean and efficient hunting foundations.  Some of these conservation organisations do have some good local initiatives - in fact many hunters are members as we all really care about the forests and birds that we spend our lifetimes in and around.

Those in the hills partaking in the real conservation like the many volunteer community groups running predator trapping, management programs for deer, tahr or goats and other biodiversity operations are the ones really giving good value for money - often at no or little cost to the tax payer. Yes, DOC does great work too, given the restrictions being a government department places on them. Their budgets are spread far too thinly though, and nothing any government department does comes cheap!

Look at what the likes of the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation has been doing for years, and more recently the Sika Foundation. These guys kill more predators and control more deer per dollar (and at little or no cost to the taxpayer) than any other government or volunteer organisation.

And the quid pro quo is simply reaching a balance of what’s good and achievable anywhere there are significant biodiversity values while leaving a low (high quality not quantity) population of our valued game animals for current and future generations. This is simply recognising ecological reality – the out of date ideological legislation and those who advocate for it have not eradicated a single introduced species from New Zealand – not one! All it/they have done is put hurdles in the way of achieving real wide scale managed control of these valued species for their harmful effects and their resource value (recreational, physical, mental and economic) and that is the real win/win for New Zealanders now and in the future. 

You’re all aware of Forest and Birds pending judicial review of DOC and the FWF over their management of Wapiti Area in Fiordland National Park. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that F&B see this as a landmark case to protect exactly the sort of out of date legislation I have been talking about. If you read some of their communications it is blatantly clear they see the FWF achieving legislative control of the management of the Wapiti Area as setting a precedent undermining their unrealistic ideology. Look at what happened when the Minister of Hunting and Fishing attended an event organised by the very sector he is supposed to represent, and in his own constituency? F&B’s CEO came out publically haranguing him for doing exactly what they would expect him to do if the boot was on the other foot!

This fight is only just beginning and it will take a lot of funds and lobbying to get a sensible outcome here. The FWF has already raised $65,000 in donations alone for this campaign, but a lot more is going to be needed, so keep them coming! And keep leading by example showing the rest of New Zealand that hunters are some of our greatest conservationists! 

It’s been a fairly benign winter so far in the mountains, and we’ve still been able to get out and about and get a fair bit of filming done. Our young Chessie dogs have finally got to see what one of their main job descriptions in life is – and that’s being hardy waterfowl dogs capable of taking multiple rough days on the big water in a row in their stride. And despite missing out on all of last season due to Cyclone Gabrielle, they’re actually going pretty good! Now we’ve got the whole off-season to work on swimming long straight lines (300 to 400m) to birds they haven’t seen fall – and can’t see in the big waves on a windy day. This is the toughest challenge for any gun dog in my opinion, and one not many are capable of. So now is the time to plan and initiate your training regime for the next nine months, so you don’t end up in May wondering where the time went!!

In this issue:

• A Word from the Editor
• 06 SSika Adventure with the Family, By Jamie Fairbairn 
• 14 The 7mm PRC – Part Three, by Greg Duley
• 18 Balancing Act in the Ballot Blocks – Part One, By Pat Barrett
• 26 Optimal Tahr Management, By Geoff Kerr
• 32 Land Of The Free, By Dono Gibbs
• 34 Never Say Never, By Dwight Grieve 
• 40 Piecing the Puzzle Together, by Cody Weller
• 44 Britt Davies on Adventure and Empowerment, By Hannah Rae
• 48 Hunting the Tops with Kids, By Daniel Urquhart
• 52 Better Hunting – A Beginner's Guide to Pig Hunting, By The GAC
• 56 Mental Hunts, By Kendra Hill
• 62 Looking Back to Move Forward, By Game Animal Council
• 82 Tahr Ballot Blocks – Speculation Creek, By Points South
• 84 Remote Huts – Top Waitahu Hut, By Andrew Buglass
• 80 Murphy’s Law, by Luke Care
• 86 Triple Treat, By Tracey Morrow
• 92 Noord Holland Wildfowl and Hare, By Andrew Balcombe
• 98 What’s New
• 102 Potted Duck, by Richard Hingston

Test Fires: We evaluate...

• QuietKat E-Bikes
• Stone Glacier Terminus Pack
• The Nemo Winter Sleep System