The first real bite of winter is hitting the hills as I write this.

The roar is well and truly over, and we’re into our planning of the cold months ahead now. We had an awesome sojourn in the Greenstone after Fallow, we’ve done our first sortie after Rusa, and have tahr rut, winter Red stags and of course waterfowl to hunt and film over the next few months. There’s been so much going on politically over the last year that had/still has the potential to seriously affect what we do. The on-going tahr cull issue and the firearms law changes are the two biggies, but Battle for the Birds, TB and pest free NZ, and the ZIP operations are also either having a significant affect, or in the case of ZIP have the potential to have a significant effect (if it begins to get extended to larger tracts of our public conservation land). For a more in-depth update on this, read the GAC column on page 94. What is becoming increasingly of concern to me talking to hunter’s who should know better around the country, is that many of you just don’t realise how pivotal a role the GAC has had in achieving the good outcomes we have managed so far on these and many other issues.

Starting with the tahr issue, the Tahr Foundation worked very closely with the GAC to achieve the rethink of the disastrous cull plan first proposed by the MoC via DoC. The GAC provided the Foundation with the science and the direction to handle this issue in a credible and successful manner. While we are not out of the woods yet, we are working very closely with the GAC to achieve sensible outcomes with DoC and the Tahr Liaison Group. While the Foundation became the public face of the fight, it was helped and co-ordinated by the GAC.

The firearms issue is another one, where the GAC got the opportunity to give sensible information to Parliament before that crucial caucus meeting on the Monday following the massacre. No other group got this opportunity. Through the GAC’s sensible handling of this matter, we were able to help guide Parliament away from making a snap decision to adopt a blanket ban on semi-autos - as Australia did after Port Arthur. Other groups were able to give feedback that helped refine the legislation (after the caucus meeting where the decisions were largely made), but only the GAC was consulted beforehand.

Then there’s the other issues we’ve had success on, like the Kaweka/Kaimanawa Ospri 1080 issue. A sensible outcome has so far been achieved here solely due to the GAC managing to get past local Ospri people and involve the constructive people further up the chain.

This is the huge advantage of being a statutory body, which no other big game club or firearm organisation has. The problem for the GAC is so far all the work is done totally by volunteers, who have to try and hold down their regular jobs and families while getting all-consumed by some of the huge issues we’ve been faced with recently. And generally the people we are up against are salary earning Government departments paid by our taxes. Our over worked volunteers are spread far too thin and will burn out - the only way forward is to fund the GAC properly so it can employ qualified staff to fight our battles for us. There is so much more it can do if properly funded – for example the Herd of Special Interest legislation, the only way we can secure a future for our game animal herds.

This funding needs to be independent of the government – as funding from Government will come with strings, and we may well need to take the Government on at some stage.

The GAC legislation allows for the commercial sector to provide some funding via a trophy export levy, but the majority of the work the GAC has been doing has been of most benefit to recreational hunters. We need to stump up, and contribute our share – as surely ultimately he who pays, says. This is the most immediate challenge for all recreational hunters who care about the future of our sport – come up with a way of funding the GAC.

Lastly, keep supporting all of the other volunteer organisations working on our behalf.

The logo winners for Issue 70 are Stuart Wright and Graham Bundle, logos were on the DPT advert on page 12, and the Sportways advert on page 45.

Hot barrels for your winter hunting exploits.

Greg

In this issue:

• A Huge 15 Inch Tahr from the Ballot Blocks
• Red Stag Hunting in the Otago tussock
• Jacques Jacobs cores an East Coast Trifecta
• Murray River Whitetail with Theo Thompson
• Pig Hunting - Urewera Boars with Luke Care
• The Last Adventure of Todd, Richie and Baden’s 5 Months Hunting – a 14 inch Bull!
• Alf Semini with a Kaimanawa 8 out in the tussock
• Points South’s Winter Hunting Tips
• Jetboat Driving – Tips and Tricks from Wattscraft
• Backridge Butcher Breaks Down Hindquarters
• The Night Sky and the Grey Duck with Matt Winter
• Johnny Bissell talks Indicating Dogs – Part One
• Conditioning Your Body for the Chase with Michael McCormack
• Corey Carston’s ‘Moby Duck’
• The Serpentine Hut, the latest from Permolat

Test Fires:

• Swarovski’s new baby Z5 - the 2.4-12x50 BT
• Ledlensers new MH11 headlamp
• The First Lite Wick – A first class baselayer