Table of contents for Issue 90 in NZ Hunter

If Te Mana o te Taiao Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy 2020 (ANZBS) is the CV, then this plan is like the cover letter. It isn't overly detailed, but it sets out what the values are we're working toward, how to interpret the ANZBS when it comes to game animal management nationally, and principles that will underpin regional management strategies. So, when Te Ara ki Mua say's ‘the ecological impacts of goats, deer, pigs, tahr, and chamois need to be managed while respecting the cultural, recreational, and economic values that these animals may provide’ it is a big deal. This is what DOC, the Game Animal Council and stakeholders will refer to when implementing management and, crucially, it tells them that these are valued animals. This is how it sits;…

Ice was loved not only for her hunting ability, but her warm nature and constant desire for affection. From a hunting point-of-view she left a huge hole – the second good dog in our kennels to be killed in less than 12 months – leaving us with only our main bitch, and a 12 month old pup to soldier on. ‘Hero to Zero’ is an adequate term to describe my hunting in the weeks and months that followed! From regularly catching pigs with two hard bailing bitches, to suddenly having pigs walking on the dogs, and watching an experienced dog lose some of her confidence at the loss of her mate, was an unpleasant pill to have to try to swallow! The only other dog I had – Tiger –still…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Events & Politics If you haven't already, go and track down a copy and read his article as it lays the groundwork for this one. Public land access is a key issue and if hunters are to be part of the solution, we need to be able to get to these places easily and regularly. There are plenty of examples of deer ‘islands’ around the country and the problem has become worse, rather than better. Access issues are perennial - I'm sure any readers could think of examples across the country – Raukumaras? Ruahines? Lake Sumner? I was speaking to Tim Gale from the GAC late last year and he said that since the 2015 Health and Safety at Work Act all recreation groups have noticed a…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To It is tucked in under a knoll on a spur that divides two large unnamed side-creeks and has panoramic views out over Styx Saddle, and of the Newton and Browning Ranges. The Biv is located in the Waitaiki Historical Reserve which is overseen by the Mawhera Corporation. Campbell Biv is one of the least-visited huts in the area and for a few decades had pretty much vanished from public consciousness. It was marked on the maps of my youth but stayed on the fringes of my awareness even during my regular visits to the Arahura. In all those years I never met anyone who had been there or knew of a reliable access route. I did eventually hear of a DOC fly-in check that was…

The Game Animal Council is proud of the role we played in developing the Te Ara ki Mua wild animal management framework and see it as a victory for common sense The framework, which gives effect to the recognition of game animals as valued introduced species in the Aotearoa New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy 2020, balances the conservation impacts of these animals with the recreational, cultural and economic benefits that they provide. Most older hunters will understand what I mean when I say that for far too long game animals, and particularly regarding deer management, has suffered from a boom-or-bust approach in this country. It's either been a complete war on deer or nothing ‘officially’ has taken place at all. Te Ara ki Mua is the opportunity to move past that…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire It's a classic kiwi tale of progression, starting with rabbits by bow and arrow and moving on to goats and then big game animals. Snippets and anecdotes take us through his career as a hunter and general bushman, culminating in enjoying the sport with his children Caitlin and Brad. Where Peter differs is that he didn't seriously pick up a rifle until much later than most hunters. His first hunts on goats, and even deer, were with the bow. And not the lethally accurate compound bows of today, a recurve to start with and then the first of the compound bows in later years. I don't think it even had a sight! The fast bullets didn't come on the scene until he began culling in Pirongia…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Food & Fauna Recently I watched a hunting show where they made some, although they need a lesson on how to hold a knife when chopping onions!! What I'm saying is that they seem to have made a resurgence back onto the kiwi diet, just like the ol’ pie has. I mean what could be better than a homemade sausage roll, right? I had it in mind to make this recipe some time ago, but the problem has always been getting the stars in alignment. Every time my son and I were out hunting we ended up with subway pigs (little foot long ones) that weren't suitable, or the weather didn't play its part. If he went out and got some decent sized pigs his mate took…

Eventually an opportunity arose for an early May hunt into a place that neither of us had ever visited but had spent countless hours studying promising catchments on topo maps. In the lead up there was a lot of banter as to what calibre Luke's first stag would be. Eventually a meeting invite was sent to confirm the date of the hunt entitled “Luke's 15 Pointer” - we figured we had to be “realistic” as there are not many even heads out there. We set out from Christchurch and camped overnight on the river flat at the first deep river crossing. Thinking the weather window looked to be a beauty we slept outside under the truck's awning. All was bliss until 4am when the rain came in sideways, waking us…

It's called a hanging lake, not because it was the place of execution for the unwanted, but because it hangs high in a valley above the surrounding river valleys. This lonely area, called Lake Monk, deep in the Cameron Mountains of southwest Fiordland, is not a place of retreat for clergy, but home to a few hardy deer and even smaller numbers of chamois. It's a place few hunters have heard of and still fewer have visited. It's rugged and challenging terrain, and with the poor quality of the heads available, ensures that only the odd visitor ever frequents its challenging shores. THE HISTORY First discovered in 1951 by Jim Monk, a Fiordland aviation pioneer, its place in hunting history was ensured when Thane Riney, an eminent American biologist working…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To A NEW SERIES FOR 2022 PROFILING A TAHR BALLOT BLOCK EACH ISSUE Quite simply its awe inspiring terrain in all directions, with some enormous rock slabs forming much of the upper true left, and the lower canyon pretty obviously shouldn't be messed with.. Gerhard Mueller was a rather prolific explorer/surveyor and has a pass from Zora into the Mahitahi named after him, from what I can find he explored this country way back sometime around 1887. Flying up the Karangarua and over the head of the Jacobs into the Zora would have to be one of the most scenic flights you can do, but it's also a fair distance. Meaning it costs a bit more than some other landing sites, and also there's always a…

Have you shot a bull tahr stacked with age rings, a heavy old stag, or a battler of a buck? Email us some high resolution images and a caption (under 100 characters) to go into the draw to win the annual Old Man Trophy - a grand prize for one of the six winners each year: A $ 1000 voucher supplied by Tyron Southward Taxidermy for any of their services WINNER Matt Short “I shot this sika stag in the middle of winter in Herb's Creek last year. We were walking up the creek to set up camp when the dog indicated it on a slip. The stag saw the dog and I managed to shoot him as he turned to make an escape he had probably made many times…

The rain was persistent with great big fat drops that managed to find any unprotected skin, and worse, wormed its way down the back of necks. As I glanced to my left, I could see that my two companions looked as miserable as I did. If we'd been in a maimai the wind and the rain wouldn't have posed a problem at all, but we weren't - we were lying exposed in the middle of a now very wet dairy paddock in layout blinds and the novelty had well and truly worn off. When Tom (who had to go to work after the hunt was over) suggested that maybe we call it a day, Gerald and I both pounced on his suggestion and were out of our blinds before he…

NEW ZEALAND Grand Winner Photo Gallery The winning photo receives a Hunting & Fishing voucher to the value of $100. Send all your photos to editor@nzhunter.co.nz Note: Photos must be of a suitable size for printing - a minimum file size of 1MB is preferred.…

Matt was an amazing talent in all the activities that he pursued. Everything he did was all selftaught. A lot of the pursuits were passed on and taught to many people. From fly fishing for trout, snapper and kingfish, rifle hunting, graduating to using a bow and arrow, to free dive and spear fishing, whitewater kayaking, trials riding and just instilling in people the love and appreciation of the outdoors, have all been activities and passions he loved over many years. Matt's more recent passion was photography. Again, self-taught, he spent many hours researching to hone his skills from behind the camera. The patience and skills he used for many years for hunting etc, he applied to an even greater extent as a photographer. He would spend hours at times…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To Our focus for this edition was to work up some loads to cover all of the scenarios readers are likely to encounter with the rifle as it comes, at 20”. When we cut the barrel down (how far that will be is yet to be determined) we'll attempt to find a satisfactory subsonic load if possible. With a shorter barrel it's easier to achieve consistent subsonic velocities so we'll wait until we lop 200fps worth off the front end! Before we started on the load development there was some housework to maximize its accuracy. The two stage HACT (Howa Actuator Controlled Trigger) trigger is crisp enough as it is, but that pull is too heavy for our applications. Lighter trigger weights will make a world…

It was reserved for us adventure fanatics, and signified an escape from the nine to five routine and busy day-to-day life. Not only is isolation something we're familiar with, but it's also something we spend our spare time in search of. Back in March of 2020 that's exactly what my mate Chris and I were doing. It doesn't get much more remote than Fiordland, down in the south of New Zealand, so isolation is something we were expecting on our drive down to Te Anau. At that time, Covid was starting to spread through Europe and the first couple of cases had found their way to New Zealand. There was very little information about it… nothing to worry about, ‘cos once we're on that chopper it won't affect us… how…

Put simply, it's the process of piecing together video clips, images, and audio, to create a seamless and condensed movie that's entertaining and informative for people to watch. A lot of the process depends on the footage you have to work with and what exactly you want the finished product to be, whether it's telling the whole storyline of a trip in the hills, a punchy highlight reel or a short teaser video. As with photos, the more work and effort you put in when capturing the content out on the hill, the smoother and easier the editing process is going to be - especially when it comes to telling a complete storyline. Remember your viewers were not on the trip, do not know the country, how things unfolded or…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE HOW TO I can't remember a time when I wasn't obsessed with nature and hunting, and I have been lucky enough to combine my two loves in my mahi as a predator hunter. My job, and my passion outside of regular hunting, is to do my bit in the fight to protect our vulnerable taonga species from the variety of introduced predators that they have little or no defence against. This work takes me all over the country and I am privileged to work alongside people who are similarly committed. Some of these folk are hunters like myself. One of the key taonga species I work with is kiwi and I am the National Predator Advisor for Save the Kiwi. I still can't tell you what it…

This is the story of the many great mates who contributed to 190+ pounds of prime elk meat making its way to the processor in the United States of America. I'm the one who released the arrow, but I contributed the least to this hunt. Let's go back to the start. In 2018 I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to visit the USA for business. As I started to do some research, I was elated to learn that my visit time coincided with archery seasons in many of the states. However, the more I researched, the more I realised that a USA hunt would be difficult to plan on my own. The rules for each state were different, with confusing ballot and draw processes, and different rules applying…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire A gift that will last - 100 years in fact, every pan comes with their trademark three-generation guarantee. These are the only cast iron skillets made in NZ in a foundry (I love that word, how emotive) in Auckland. Hand-poured to order; with molten, recycled T1100 Iron. The highest grade of recycled iron you can get. They come raw from the foundry, so you get the fun process of seasoning and baking the pan. All detailed with clear, easy-to-follow instructions. There's simply nothing to go wrong, nothing to break and no coating to damage. The more you use the pan the better it gets and you can cook on anything in the world, you could use a blowtorch to heat it and it'd be no worse…