Tabla de contenidos para Issue 101 en NZ Hunter

This was as a result of the variable weather patterns and less daylight hours in a lot of places over summer. We can expect some late fawns on the ground next spring and summer. No doubt you’ve all heard Forest and Bird have put their judicial review of DOC and the community agreement between the Department and the Fiordland Wapiti Foundation on hold for 6 months. This is straight from their press release: "Forest & Bird welcomes the opportunity to work with the Wapiti Foundation and DOC on this critical issue,” Forest & Bird Chief Executive Nicola Toki said. “There have been inaccurate suggestions that Forest & Bird’s legal action is aimed at exterminating wapiti, with some speculation the judicial review could even mean the end for all game animals,”…

The deer aren’t moving as much and are often in bush where fewer and fewer hunters seem to hunt these days. Funnily enough, it is for those reasons that I love winter hunting, especially with my indicator dog, Sami. There are fewer hunters about, and scent holds a lot better than when it is hot and windy, so she can track scent better. And because deer are often yarded up, when you hit fresh sign, they are often not that far away. The forest floor is quiet and less crunchy. The other plus is that it isn’t light enough to hunt in the bush until after 7.30am. So, on day hunts I get a good sleep and can then hunt all day, or until I have had enough. You have…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To I’d just posted another story on the Hunt forum about a recent hunt at my local, resulting in a healthy young hind joining us on the trip back home. A new hunter had noticed I’d had some success and wanted to know which track I’d taken in. The discussion continued over a couple more messages - to his credit, the questions stopped short of “where is your Spot X?” but he circled dangerously close. I pondered this young hunter’s dilemma, thinking about the challenges of starting out, no doubt wondering what to do and where to hunt? I felt somewhat envious, for he was at the very start of the “process”. If it became an experience he embraced, it would result in a tremendous amount…

With that being said, its fairly easy these days to be able to find obscure and hard to find produce outside of the commercial kitchen. My philosophy for food is simple; find the best organic produce I can, and cook it with the respect it deserves. Simplicity is key here, I’m not a fan of over complicated food at the best of times. Simply put, I do my best to let ingredients speak for themselves, there is a lot to be said for a tomato straight from the garden drizzled with a little quality olive oil, some black pepper and a little basil. When I was 20, I was lucky enough to spend some time working in the worldfamous restaurant, St JOHN in London, famed for its nose to tail…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To The Trent is one of the bigger tributaries of the Ahaura River and most of the valley is uncharacteristically gentle and wide for Westland with large grassy flats and open forest glades along the fringes. There is one major gorge upstream of Mid Trent, after which the valley opens out again. Top Trent Hut is located in the upper valley and Trent Saddle at its head provides a relatively easy crossing into the Haupiri catchment. The Trent/ Haupiri circuit would be the most common of the trips described in Mid Trent’s hutbook. Having said this, the hut is a fairly low use one, with a mix of hunters, trampers, fisherfolk, and the odd horse trekker as visitors. The main reason for the low numbers is…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To Despite being that close, he literally had no idea that death and an eager black Labrador lurked mere metres away.. Her incessant whinging told me that Kiera had seen him, and was waiting rather impatiently for me to raise the Benelli so she could be cut loose to do her thing and retrieve him for me. While we continued to watch him, he casually swam right up to the spinner and briefly snagged himself on one of the trailing decoy lines. Even this did not seem to bother him overly much. I, however, was howling with laughter and Kiera’s eyes were looking at me with an expression clearly saying “What the hell is wrong with you?” While casually sipping on an everpresent and rapidly emptying…

Unpleasant is, of course, manageable with the right gear and a week’s acclimation after West Coast tahr ballots. With many hunters at home, or running thermals over crop paddocks, the high country can be largely empty and provide a last opportunity to secure a trophy set of antlers. This excursion involved five days in July. The forecast was perfect, and the snow level remained unseasonably high for that time of year. Our leave balances were running dangerously low after some great roar and rut trips from the previous months, but with little convincing, Dad, Troy, and I found ourselves with packs on, heading into familiar country. After the usual grind in, we spent the first few days up high, based out of the relative luxury of a hut. We saw…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Events & Politics New research, bringing together DNA analysis with archaeological insights, has revealed how fallow deer have been repeatedly moved to new territories by humans, often as a symbol of colonial power or because of ancient cultures and religions. The results show that the animal was first introduced into Britain by the Romans and not the Normans, as previously believed. They also reveal how British colonial links during the 17th-19th centuries played a key role in spreading the deer around the world, including the Caribbean island of Barbuda, where fallow deer are the national animal. The research, conducted jointly by Durham University and the University of Exeter, compares contemporary fallow deer records with zooarchaeological samples dating back 10,000 years. Funded by the Arts and Humanities Research…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To Better Hunting Aotearoa The programme is also intended to provide a pathway and support hunters going on to do practical training, such as through NZDA’s HUNTS courses. The platform has tonnes of content all designed by New Zealand hunters for New Zealand hunters. You can do it on your phone and even download the courses for offline viewing using the app. For new, inexperienced and casual hunters, the two main courses, Hunting Essentials and Firearm Essentials, cover basic hunting and outdoor skills. More experienced hunters will still find useful information throughout many of the modules, in the maps, forecasts, hunting and ballot calendars, intentions form or games. Each module has a short quiz and there are assessments you can do to ensure your knowledge is up…

Collaboration the key to conservation success As a statutory organisation created by an Act of Parliament, the Game Animal Council has a set of 15 functions that define what we can do. Those functions, by omission, also define what we cannot do. These limitations mean it is critically important that we work with others in order to achieve positive outcomes for hunters. As a sector, the hunting community has come a long way over the last couple of decades in working constructively with other stakeholders. Of course, there remains those who oppose this collaborative approach, but from my perspective these hardliners are fast becoming an endangered species. For far too long the debate over game animals in New Zealand has been characterised as those with conservation interests against those with…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire Given there’s been a few thousand years of development, it’s a pretty difficult recipe to improve on. The concept is simple – a sheet of fabric to stretch over yourself and shelter from the elements. So where to from there? There’s the basics, like tie-out points – fairly easy to get right. There’s the extras, like the guy ropes – again, not that hard. But you can’t talk about tarps without addressing the fabric With tents so light these days the simple tarp has to work even harder to maintain it’s weight advantage. Tarps are mostly commonly made from nylon, or silicone coated nylon (SilNylon) to be more accurate, but fortunately the fabrics industry is always developing something new, and this time a product from Challenge…

PAINTED ARROW - PHONE & CAMERA MOUNTS PAINTED ARROW™ IS THE ULTIMATE POV CAMERA SOLUTION FOR BOWHUNTERS! THIS IS AN EXTREMELY EFFECTIVE FILMING OPTION FOR HUNTERS TO GATHER MORE INFORMATION ON THEIR SHOT PLACEMENT BEFORE GOING INTO A BLOOD TRAIL. The mount utilizes rare earth magnets to allow any smartphone to instantly attach to any bow and capture the moment of truth! Knowing what happened can help you recover more game. Being able to review your encounters and share hunts with others has never been easier. This affordable filming method yields very impressive footage when properly setup using the foam dampening system. The housing contains extremely strong N50 magnets that have been rigorously tested to ensure your phone does not fall. There are options for compound bows & crossbows to…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To And this process lead us to the relatively new offering from Hornady, the 7mm PRC. This issue we’ll continue to put our custom 7mm PRC through its paces developing loads with a wider range of projectiles. This rifle is based on a Tikka T3x action with a fluted Hardy barrel and a DPT magnum can We’ve now bedded it into the prototype of our new carbon fibre stock for Tikkas, with the highest comb that will still clear the bolt handle - without having to go to an adjustable comb version with the extra weight that always adds. We’ve also added one of our favourite lightweight long range scopes – the Swarovski 3.518x44 Z5. This rifle now weighs 7.125 pounds scoped, which is about our…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To ‘What is he talking about?’ you may ask… Let me explain. You have a friend who only ever sticks to one trusty brand. Nothing else, always the same. Another person across the room would never be caught drinking that particular brew. And then you have your person with five different brands in the fridge, or the craft beer enthusiasts, the ones who prefer the higher-priced options. It’s the same with bow hunters. Some hunters have been using the same broadhead since they started, while others run four different types of broadhead in a five-arrow quiver. Or there’s the titanium/stainless steel-only bowhunter who has nothing but the best engineering has to offer. So, how do you figure out what style might suit you best? Based on…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To A SERIES PROFILING A TAHR BALLOT BLOCK EACH ISSUE This makes for a lot of ice on the rocks in the riverbed. The benefit to those steep valley sides is you’re fairly well protected from the wind, with the downside being that any decent rain will have the river coming up and down like a yoyo, and the lower landing site being flood prone in heavy rain. It’s one of the more limited campsites in the ballot blocks, so don’t expect a few acres to work with. Downstream the lower landing site is at about 1000m above sea level on a rocky piece of riverbed. Here there is more scrub to hunt, and the numerous small side creeks can be followed to access the upper scrub…

Note: Photos must be of a suitable size for printing - a minimum file size of 1MB is preferred.…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Food & Fauna I was pleased to have his company earlier in the year when we managed to get three nannies. This is great comfort food for winter, cheap and practical to make. If you haven’t been on a tahr hunt or live in the North Island, then this will also work with venison or mince from the supermarket– but not as tasty! Meatballs or a type of meatball has been around since the Qin Dynasty and ancient Roman times, and originating in Persia, but if we look at the world today there isn’t really a country that doesn’t have a dish on their menu that includes meatballs of some sort or another. The American version derives from European cuisine and even the Italians have small meatballs…