The bloody weather! Ok, enough about that - but it has been one of the topics that has been having a huge effect on everybody from the drowned East Coast to the sunburnt south and west!

The other big breaking news as I write this is the Prime Minister retiring and National announcing a hunting and fishing portfolio. Congratulations to Todd McClay on being the first spokesperson. It’s really pleasing to see all the hard work we’ve all put in to this space including at the recent Sika Show leading to more and more politicians across the political spectrum recognising how hugely beneficial hunting and fishing is to New Zealand - both physically, mentally and economically. As with all these sorts of initiatives, the devil will be in the detail, but it’s another step in the right direction.

The hunting sector is working on a bunch of game animal management initiatives that will be hugely beneficial to both hunting and conservation. When these projects are made public and come to you for consultation, make sure you support them boots and all. Working under the framework set up by then Conservation Minister Kiripatu Allan, we have opportunities now like never before, so we need to continue to be coordinated and all on the same page to make the most of them.

We’ve spent a lot of time in tahr country lately filming some awesome episodes for the TV Show, both on the east and west of the main divide. In a lot of areas the numbers of nannies are looking pretty well under control with little recent obvious tahr damage to vegetation, but this doesn’t mean we can back the pressure off on them. There are still areas particularly in some parts of the West Coast where numbers are still a problem, but anywhere you see groups of nannies east or west, do your best to thin them out a bit.

Preliminary results from the camera trial conducted by Landcare for Ospri around the Kaweka 1080 drop are in. This trial was comparing the old EDR deer repellent which is largely cereal baits sprayed with pig’s blood, to the new ProDeer repellent which is mixed right through the cereal bait, to a control block that didn’t get 1080 at all. So far all I can say is there are deer left in all three blocks, but we’ll have to wait for the full analysis to know much more than that.

You’ll see Dave Keen the current President of the Tahr Foundation has written of some of his less than desirable experiences following other parties in the tahr ballot blocks. It sounds very similar to what we experienced following other hunters in the 3rd period of the Wapiti ballot. Hopefully the message is getting through that we all need to tidy our act up and not be so selfish!

The GAC and the NZDA have been doing a lot of work on the new firearms licence fee consultation. There is potentially a 500% increase in licencing fees for new applicants proposed which is simply ridiculous. See the GAC article on page 106. This is going to affect all of us so follow the link to the discussion document and please put in a submission stating that licencing fees must remain sensible for all the reasons stated by Tim.

Keep yourself and other hunters safe in the coming roar by slowing things down and taking the time to evaluate just what sort of animal you are shooting at – its species, age, sex, trophy potential, just what part of it you are going to aim for etc. That is how you properly identify your target, and if we all do that then no-one can get shot by mistake.

Don’t forget the new Season of the TV Show starts on the 26th of February, with a ripper two part trip into some epic country culminating with the trophy of a lifetime – say no more!

The winners for last issue are Paul Fletcher and the Petersen Family. Logos appeared on page 10, the Ironman advert, and page 71 the First Lite advert.

Greg

In this issue:

• Miles Under The Belt – Ryan Hart’s big Main Divide stag
• Allan Foot Getting Down To Business – pre-rut Sika
• Mitch Thorn and Where It All Began
• Mason Bay with good mates by Mike Burrell
• Paul Stenning’s Journey Into The Night
• Learning To Let Go by Luke Care
• Things A Hunter Must Know Part 1 – Firearm Safety by Mike Spray
• Dave Keen talks Backcountry Etiquette
• Cody Weller – Efficiency is Silence
• Sako hunt – a Finnish Drive by Luke Care
• Roy Sloan: Wapiti Mahi Part Two
• Alex Gale – A New Dawn for the hunting community?
• Tahr Ballot Blocks – Arbor Rift and Shelter Hollow
• Dickie Spur Hut  – RemoteHuts
• Game Animals of NZ – Franco Formisano and the NZDA
• Two Old Goats – Mountain Goats in BC by Archie Landals
• A Molesworth Adventure with “that guy” by Tracy Morrow
• Summertime BBQ Pork and Lemongrass by Richard Hingston

Test Fires: We evaluate...

• Swarovski’s ATC 17-40x56