Issue 110 - December / January |
On Sale Monday 8th December

We’ve finally had a gap in the bad run of spring weather we’ve been having lately and got a little hill time in to clear our heads from the political stuff that has been so all consuming lately

We currently have opportunities for hunter lead management we’ve never had before, but that comes with significant risk if we cannot deliver – and there’s plenty of ideologues out there with totally unrealistic goals waiting for us to trip up! The GAC is really stepping up in this space, and we need to make sure we are a united sector behind them.

The media lately has been full of not particularly factual stories of the “deer plague”, particularly in Westland. There are definitely some areas where there are too many deer – particularly the farm and town edges all the way down the West Coast, as well as the lower valley river flats in the main catchments. These problem private land areas have developed due to a lack of access for recreational hunters for many years, and also the fact it’s very hard for helicopters to target some of these areas very successfully. We need to work with landowners to get accredited hunters into these areas to step up the deer management and get numbers down and maintain them at an acceptable level. This is going to be a challenge that won’t get solved in a single season.

These are the most visible areas close to populations and roads and that’s why the general public are now seeing deer like they never have before, leading them to think that the deer population has exploded everywhere. This is not the case. There are large areas that have had repeated 1080 drops where the animals are almost nonexistent, and other areas with regular WARO taking hinds as well as stags that have deer numbers under control, and in extremely low numbers in some cases. Some WARO operators are better than others at removing hinds and keeping numbers down, depending on the hourly rate they need to recover their running costs. The lighter animals are worth a lot less per kg, as well as being less kgs in the first place.

So we have widely variable deer populations and need variable solutions to manage them for conservation, recreation and commercial values. Large numbers of skinny deer do not work for anyone. We must control the female breeding unit to keep the herd at a level where the bush is in great condition, and so is the low to moderate population of animals it sustains. We will have to work harder to get an animal, but at the least when you do get one they will be worth eating and might have a trophy head. A low to moderate population of top quality animals will provide the best hunting experience, and the most active and vocal roars.

We need to manage WARO better to ensure they are taking the right animals while still remaining viable and that is a challenge. Traditionally WARO has had a largely free rein, as DOC do not adequately monitor their concessions and they have few restrictions and conditions to be met anyway. Other than over a two week roar period, the roar ballot periods, a brief Christmas closure, and working around the poison operation buffer zones, they can largely go where they like and do what they like on the majority of PCL. This leads to inevitable conflict with recreational hunters that DOC refuses to manage. We must work together to do better here.

In some cases we are going to need aerial search and destroy when the economics are not viable for recovery, on smaller animals and species, and in some remote areas where the ferry times are too long. This is all simple game animal management 101 that has already been implemented by the Wapiti and Sika Foundations, something a flip flopping Department of Conservation answering to the government of the day has never managed to do consistently. The GAC is really looking to lead this management, through HOSI’s in areas where they are applicable, through to working with recreational and commercial hunters elsewhere, to avoid the continual boom bust scenarios we have endured for many years. WARO should be complimentary not conflicting but this needs hands-on management by capable motivated people. It’s an absolute no brainer for the GAC to take over management and concessions relating to game animals, anywhere they are being managed for anything other than eradication – which is only in a very small proportion of places like Northland. They have the expert sector knowledge and with our support the social licence to make the hard decisions we need to make in some cases to ensure the future of recreational and commercial hunting and game animals in New Zealand.