New Zealand Hunting & Wildlife | 180 - Autumn 2013

7/22/2019 New Zealand Hunting & Wildlife | 180 - Autumn 2013

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AUTUMN ISSUE 180 - APRIL TO JUNE 2013

NEW ZEALAND

& WILDLIFE


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ISSUE 180 APRIL JUNE 2013 An o cial publica tion o the New ZealandDeerstalkers Association Incorporated

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Disclaimer: The in ormation contained in this publication is given ingood aith and has been derived rom sources believed to be r eliableand accurate. However, neither NZDA nor any person involved in thepreparation o this publication accepts any orm o liabilit y whatsoever

or its contents including opinions, advice or in ormation or anyconsequences rom it use. Articles and opinions expressed in thispublication are not necessarily those o the New Zealand Deerstalkers

Asso ciati on Inc.

COVER PHOTOHigh Alert , by Carl Finlay, Te Awamutu Branch, 2012.Second place Taupo Branch Trophy Game Animals, andthird place Wellington Branch Trophy Best Digital Print.

FEATURES Aim Between the Shoulder Blades Robyn Harper ............................................. 6

Experience and Youth Bob Pittaway ............................... ................................. 10

New Zealand Big Game Series New Book the Alpine Chamois ...................... 13

Opinion A very Simple Measuring System Ray Webb ............................... ..... 18

Nek Minnit Nightmare Jason Searle ............................... ................................. 20

Families Who Hunt Together Laura McIntyre...................................................30

REGULARSPresidents Report - Tim McCarthy ................................................................... 2

Editorial The A termath o Violence Overseas and its impact in NZ................. 3

Letters to the Editor ......................................................................................... 4

HUNTS Report - Bill OLeary Time or Refection ............................................ 6

COLFO Report .................................................................................................. 8Wild Game - Another Aspect - Red Deer Oddments - D Bruce Banwell .............12

Young Hunter Story How I got into Duck Shooting Colin Bates....................14

Take me hunting Kids page - win a ree Kilwell prize......................................15

DOC Update Ian Cooksley National Hunting Advisor ...................................16

Tip O s Cleaning Trophy Heads or AHT Competitions S Corlett ................ 23

Lock, Stock and Barrel What Rife to use or Deer? - Chaz Forsyth ...............24

Habitat Golden Bay Deerstalkers, Conservation Champions.......................... 26

Opinion Random Mass Killing Phil Creegan ............................................... 28

Bugle - News rom around the traps ....................................................32 and 36

Blast rom the Past Trip to Erewhon Station EB Boyd-Wilson ...................... 34

On Target Various shooting event results ......................................... 36 and 46

Swazi Junior Shoots - North Otago and Rotorua ..............................................37

Heritage The Akya Rescue Sledge Trevor Dyke ......................................... 38

Places to Hunt Mackenzie Country, Waitaki and Otago ................................. 40

DVD/ Book and Product Reviews ................................................... 37, 29 and 42

Poem The Legend o a Kaipara Buck Mark Nobilo ..................................... 43

Points o Envy - 2012 AHT Competition Winners ............................................. 44

NZDA National Shooting Calendar 2013 .......................................................... 45

CONTENTS

1NZ Hunting & Wildlife180 - Autumn 2013


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Have you heard any preliminary grunts or groans out there rom the big

boys in the deer arms and parks? Just the other day I heard a groan not

ar rom work across the valley and it made the hairs stand up on the

back o my neck. Its only the end o February, but the weather is star ting

to cool and the days are drawing in earlier. I think we may have an early

ROAR this year.

This brings to mind the tragedies o last year. One person losing their

li e in the pursuit o their sport is one too many. So please, when you

embark on your hunting trips and the excitement o hunting a roaring

stag is oremost on your mind, take the time to stop and think about

the No.1 rule when hunting -IDENTIFY YOUR TARGET BEYONDALL DOUBT.My advice to you all is:Assume that movement orsound is another human being until you can 100% proveotherwise. There are two things you cant take back; and that is thespoken word and a speeding bullet.

On the 20th January 2013 the National Executive learned that the

department o conservation had decided to grant wild animal recovery

operation (WARO) permits to two helicopter companies in the St James

recreational area, which is totally against DOCs own management

plans. We reacted swi tly to this, but to no avail, as the WARO consents

commenced on the 1st February, while we still wait or an explanation

rom the minister o conservation. Please read our letters o concern on

this issue on our website www.deerstalkers.org.nz

The timing o these permits being granted un ortunately coincided with

the reshu fe o ministers in cabinet, in which Hon Kate Wilkinson was

replaced by the Hon Dr Nick Smith. I have yet to meet the new minister

but I am sure we can build a good working relationship with him.

The select committee or the Game Animal Committee (GAC)

has reported back to the government and only some o ourconcerns have been addressed. The ull report can be viewed

on http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/09ED514C-789B-

4B39-BC32-42C6932EF97B/256750/DBSCH_SCR_5692_

GameAnimalCouncilBill3472_9477_1.pd

PRESIDENTS REPORT

PRESIDENTS REPORT- AUTUMNT i m M c C a r t h y - N a t i o n a l P r e s i d e n tN e w Z e a l a n d D e e r s t a l k e r s A s s o c i a t i o n

B e s a f e b e s e e n .

B e t t e r N o M e a t

t h a n

N o Ma t e

NZ Hunting & Wildlife180 - Autumn 20132


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EDITORIAL

INTRODUCTIONFresh on the heels o several multiple homicides in the USA, we notice that saviours o the public rom themselves havespring into action, almost be ore the blood has dried. Are these calls, or all manner o changes to the law, likely to impactNew Zealand, and more important, upon the already law-abiding, licensed New Zealand rearm owners?

It is likely that over a (say) ve year time rame, they will. First, we need to examine eatures o multiple homicides whereverthey take place:

COGENT ASPECTS OF CURRENTLAWS IN GENERAL1. Homicide o any orm is generally

unlaw ul almost all o the 200 -pluscountries o the world speci cally prohibit

homicide, threats o homicide, attemptsat homicide and threats to public order.

2. For many nations in the westernworld, suicide deaths by rearm vastlyoutnumber those by criminal action.

3. For many nations in the world,particularly in the western world, violentdeath by knives and blades exceed thosecarried by rearm misuse.

4. Within the USA, where more than20,000 rearm control laws exist, itis noteworthy that homicides tend tobe higher in the states already haveclose controls on rearms, includingregistration o handguns. Furthermore,these states (where a higher incidenceo rearm-armed violence occurs) tendto be in the more densely populatednorth-eastern states, while in the less-regulated southern and western states(apart rom Cali ornia) rearm-armedviolence tends to be lower.

5. Oddly, it has been observed too thatviolence o all kinds (including rearm-armed violence) has declined sharplyin all 43 o the states where this ispermitted, ollowing the introduction oconcealed-carry laws.

6. Another eature worth noting is thatviolence with rearms tends to involvelower socioeconomic groups with closeties to the drug culture, particularly thosein major conurbations.

NEW ZEALAND FACTORS7. Within New Zealand, assaults o allkinds by other weapon and by cut tingor stabbing, both exceed the misuse o

rearms by a actor o six and have done

so or the past teen years.

8. Repeated invitations or properlyresearched evidential materialcon rming the value o ull should

rearm registration have been met byno response when sought within NewZealand approximately a decade ago.

9. Proponents or ull shoulder rearmregistration appear to overlook the actso

(a) The signi cant expense incurred bysuch policies,

(b) The limited bene ts derived rom suchpolicies, and

(c) The diversion o signi cant policeresources into such measures.

10. Calls made or reducing the number orearms as a crime control measure

are never matched by similar calls orreducing motor vehicle numbers as ameans o reducing road tra c deaths.

11. Generally, it appears that justi cations orincreased controls upon citizen rearmownership ollowing anti-social outragessuch as multiple murders are about aslogical as penalising all motor vehicleoperators as a result o the actions odrunken drivers.

12. Finally, the question o whether rearmcontrol is to be equated with crimecontrol must be asked, given that onlythe law-abiding are likely to register their

rearms.

BRIEF BACKGROUNDNew Zealand had ull shoulder rearmregistration which was abolished by the Arms Act 1983. This re fected the Police

nding that the rearm registration systemo the time was riddled with errors and was(in pre-computer times) simply unable to beused or crime-solving. The new legislationadopted the philosophy o ocussing upon the

t and proper user, not upon the chattel, therearms which had proven to be di cult to

manage. Handguns and restricted weaponsincluding selective re and ully automatic(including sub-machine guns and machine

guns) all remained registered, and could onlybe held on an endorsed arms licence. Thisphilosophy began to be eroded ollowingthe multiple homicides o David Gray in1990, when the 1992 Arms Amendment Actintroduced among other eatures, changes inthe controls relating to rearms, and reducedthe working li e o the arms licence. Militarystyle semi-automatic arms (MSSAs) becameclassi ed and required registration, to be heldunder a new endorsement. Last year, anotheramendment was enacted, again dealing with

inanimate chattels, empowering the Police todeclare almost any rearm to be an MSSA,and placing controls upon items like lowpowered and high-powered airguns. Again,the philosophy o t and proper had beenoverstepped by the introduction o controlsplaced upon the item (generally as a result omisuse by ill-intentioned individuals).

More recently both Canada and Australiaintroduced ull rearm registration, in thebelie that this would reduce violent o endingwith rearms. Anti social outrages involving

rearm misuse and multiple homicides taperedo a ter this measure was introduced in theCommonwealth o Australia, although it isknown that rearm-armed homicide wasdeclining in Australia be ore the inceptiono such measures there in the late 1990s.Canada abandoned its e orts at achieving ull

rearm registration a ter the expenditure oan unknown sum exceeding a billion C$; thesum remains unknown despite the Canadian Attorney-Genera l spending time and e ort

in an attempt to ascer tain the public moneyinvolved. Her nal report noted that variousCanadian government o cials had seeminglyattempted to thwart her review.

THE AFTERMATH OF VIOLENCEOVERSEAS AND HOW IT MIGHTIMPACT HERE C h a z F o r s y t h , N a t i o n a l E x e c u t i v e M e m b e r



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Co- ounders: Dr G B Orbell MBE, Arthur Hamilton

Patron: Ian Wright

National President: Tim McCarthy

Immediate Past President: Alec McIver

National Vice President: Bill O'Leary

North Island Members o the National Executive:

Steve Corlett, Sandi Curreen

South Island Members o the National Executive: Chaz Forsyth, Snow Hewetson

Chie Executive O cer:Dianne Brown

National Treasurer: John Crone

Honorary Solicitor: Peter Barrett

Auditor: Signal & Associates

LIFE MEMBERS: R Badland QSM, M St J, J Bam ord, D Bruce Banwell,W J I Cowan, M Dunajtschik, A S D Evans MNZM, D Hodder,R McNaughton MNZM, W OLeary, G Smith, I D Wright

NZDA RECOGNISED SPONSORS 2010:

Ampro Sales Tasco, Belmont Ammunition, The GameButcher, Halcyon Publishing, Kilwell, Hunting & Fishing NZ,Malcolm Perry, NZ Guns & Hunting, Shooters World Ltd Gore, Stoney Creek (NZ) Ltd, Swazi Apparel

AFFILIATED TO:Council o Licensed Firearm Owners (COLFO ),NZ Mountain Sa ety Council (NZMSC),Outdoors New Zealand (ONZ),Sporting Shooters o Australia Association Inc (SSAA) ,Shooting Sports Paci c Forum (through COLFO),International Hunter Education Association (IHEA )

BRANCHES: Ashburton, Auck land, Bay o Plenty, Blue Mountains, Bush,Central King Country, Direct, Eastern Bay o Plenty, GoldenBay, Gore & Districts, Hastings, Hutt Valley, Kapiti, Kaweka,Malvern, Manawatu, Marlborough, Napier, Nelson, North

Auckland, North Canterbury, Nor th Otago, Northland, Otago,Palmerston, Porirua, Rakaia, Rotorua, Ruahine, SouthAuckland, South Canterbury, South Otago, South Waikato,Southern Lakes, Southland, Taihape, Taranaki, Taupo, TeAwamutu, Thames Valley, Tutira, Upper Clutha, Waikato,Waimarino, Wairarapa, Wairoa & Districts, Wellington, WestCoast, Western Southland, Whangarei

All rights reserved opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those o theNew Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS SERIAL NUMBER977 1171 656 006

A particular virtue in wildlife ethics is that the

hunter ordinarily has no gallery to applaud or disapprove of his conduct. Whatever his acts,

they are dictated by his conscience. Aldo Leopald

New Zealand Deerstalkers A ssociation Inc,formed July 1937

HUNTING LOBBY GEARING UP FOR A FIGHTIN USAI've just returned rom the Sa ari Club InternationalShow, held this year in Reno. It's a massive huntingshow where hunters can buy anything and everythingrelated to hunting, including NZ hunts. I got to talk to a lot o hunters rom all over the States, includingTexas and Mexico. All o them are paranoid about theObama administration and what they see as a seriousthreat to their right to bear arms. I asked many othem i they had considered another option such asregistering the owner, rather than the rearm, andexplained how it works in NZ. But the majority didn'twant to know about it ... they just don't want changeo any sort. The American redneck is certainly verymuch alive and well. I spoke to one couple who had aloaded handgun hidden in every room o their house,including the toilet!! All the ammunition manu acturers had stands thereand those I spoke to all said they couldn't keep upwith the demand or ammo since Obama made hisspeech. As well as production ammunition, that

included bullets, cases, powder, primers etc.I later visited the Cabela store in Reno and the BassPro store in Las Vegas, Each store would be around

two to three ootball elds in size with huge ranges ohunting/ shing/boating/outdoors gear, (and the BassPro store is two foors as well). I talked to the sta inthe hunting section at each store and they said theycannot keep ammo on the shelves since Obama'sspeech. Each quoted examples o customers buyingas much as 5000 boxes o ammo (100,000 rounds),mostly handgun ammo. At Cabela they told me o onecustomer who lled the tray o his Ford F150 Ute withboxes o ammunition - and an F150 Ute has a realbig tray!!Certainly the hunting lobby and NRA are gearing up

or a ght that they need to win i they are to retaintheir current laws. A ter talking to so many peopleover the period o the Show, and at the two stores, Icertainly got the impression that while a lot o themare well in ormed about the current guns laws andthe possible changes being talked about, there arean equal number who are just reacting becauseeveryone else is, and they don't really have a clue

what they would like to see as an ideal outcome.Whatever happens it's sure going to be all out war.Bill Grice (by email)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

It is very admirable or parents to introduce theiryoungsters to the outdoors and hunting in particular.Consequently the story, Passing on the Knowledge,"Taking Your Kid Hunting", in the last issue had thatto commend.However, I was disappointed in the article that allthe shootable deer seen were shot and they werehinds. Passing on the knowledge that hinds shouldbe shot is not a good message or youngsters. In

act the entire message o this article was that weneed to employ every technique o stealth or strategypossible in order to shoot every deer we see, andthey did. Once an animal had been taken and thecarcass back at the hut the message should havebeen to hunt selectively rom that point on. No suchsubject was raised, ather to son.I was also disturbed by the message to a youngsterthat by parting with a st ull o cash to a helicopteroperator you can be in deer paradise in 15 minuteswith all the com orts o home. What ever happened totaking a kid hunting by tramping into a hut or a ew

days, getting your deer and carrying it out, therebymaking a complete experience o the event. I thathad occurred with this ather and son theyd havethought twice about shooting two deer to carry out !Here the message was, the money and helicopter willdo the work, we just do the killing.I anyone excuses the shooting o hinds by re erringto "over population" o deer, they are seriouslymisguided. New Zealand has low populations odeer on public land. In act Landcare Research hasestimated that only 250,000 wild deer are in NewZealand. That pales by comparison with the UK -comparable land size to NZ - where rom memorythere are six times more deer than here.Witness also the gures rom the Pennsylvania GameCommission available on the internet. [Pennsylvaniais exactly the same area size as the North Island with2 large urban areas, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,bigger o course but roughly equal to Auckland andWellington].

The Commission states, The annual deer harvestinvolves harvesting hundreds o thousands o deerover a 4 month season.Figures available rom 1990 to 2007 o deerharvested by licenced hunters:1. Largest harvest o the period 550,000 deer

[2000]2. Poorest harvest o the period 320,000 deer

[2007]3. Typical harvest o the period 400,000 deer [1990]4. Extrapolating the gures or 18 years that is no

less than 7,200,000. This is a colossal number odeer harvested or an area the size o the NorthIsland.

These yearly harvest gures are roughly double theentire population o NZ deer.The idea sometimes expressed o a potential deerpopulation explosion is anci ul. Deer do not explodeuncontrollably in numbers. They have one awn ayear and a percentage do not make it through harshwinters.

To me it's important we educate youngsters into acomplete experience o hunting, only taking whatyou can utilise and hunting selectively; avoid takingbreeding hinds and instead culling out poor antleredstags or taking a spiker or yearling or meat.It is paramount that we as model hunters with avested interest in hunting and deer do not perpetuatethe propaganda and myth circulating rom o cialdom

or nearly a 100 years that deer are there to beshot on sight. A concept which originates rom adeep dark hole o sel -loathing or the sins o our

ore athers or ever having released them in the rstplace to paradise. These myths and propagandaneed to be put on a dusty shel along with a myriado bad ideas which have crippled the thinking oenvironmental politics or decades. It is up to us tooccupy the high moral ground.Bud Jones, Endowment Li e Member Wellington Branch



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IS THERE ANYEVIDENCE?I am very much aware o the stance that theassociation places on the need or people toNOT shoot each other, either accidentally orintentionally.

I am concerned and dismayed at theavailability o computer games whichsimulate the hunting down and shooting othe people you are playing the game with.

I am even more concerned about the actthat such games are available or kids to playa ter school in the local libraries.

I don't know i there is any evidence availableto suggest that playing such games increasesthe likelihood o kids growing up and shootingeach other either accidentally or intentionally,but it certainly does encourage them to think that guns are a 'game', and pointing a loadedgun at another person is part o the game.

I wonder i anyone any one would be ableto access any in ormation regarding thedetrimental e ects o such games, and i youwould be prepared to support my intendedrecommendation to councils that they bansuch games rom being played in libraries.

Any help I can get would be muchappreciated.

Phyllis Leigh (by email)

PRESS RELEASE: FISH & GAME VOTE TOREMOVE SUB-GAUGE EXEMPTIONThe Southland Fish & Game Council has takensteps to phase out an exemption that allowshunters the use o lead shot in sub-gaugeshotguns in their pursuit o water owl within 200metres on all waterways over 3 metres wide.

There is a lot to gain - our environment and

health o our ducks, wetlands and waterwaysand, our credibility, says Southland Fish & Gamemanager Maurice Rodway.

At its recent February meeting, the SouthlandFish & Game Council considered all the evidenceand submissions presented, along with otherin ormation and research undertaken by sta , andresolved: The use o lead will be phased out over athree-year transition.

The 2014-15 game bird season will see SouthlandFish & Game encouraging the voluntary use onon-toxic shot; 2015-16 requiring the use o non-toxic shot on all public waterways; and 2016-17requiring the use or all water owl hunting within200 metres o a waterway greater than 3 metreswide.

Hunters will not have to stop hunting, they willonly lose a ew metres in range, which onlyrequires a slight change in hunting tactics, saysMr Rodway.

The Southland Fish & Game council has shown awillingness to consider groups o hunters, such as

juniors who could be genuinely disadvantaged bythe change, and voted to continue their exemption,along with those shooting with .410 gaugeshotgun.

Councillors have listened to the concerns othose who want to retain the use o lead shot

care ully. They have done their own research bytalking to hunters, including some o those whosigned the petition against the change, and oundthat when the issues were explained many werenot so opposed.

Mr Rodway and the Council are expectingcontinued opposition rom some quarters o thegame bird hunting raternity, and have alreadyreceived submissions against the proposal, citingthe poor per ormance o steel shot.

However, steel shot loads are commonly used tohunt water owl in North America in 20 gauge shotguns and some o the Southland Fish & GameCouncil who have used these loads report thatthey are surprisingly e ective.

Feedback is be encouraged rom all licenceholders in the meantime and will be sought duringthe 2013 game season hunter surveys.

For further information contact: MauriceRodway, Manager, Southland Fish & Game (021)2215801, Maurice.rodway@southland shgame.co.nz



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February and March were to be time out anda chance to do some shing and at the endo the rst month I had managed to ca tch an8 pound salmon and a near 15 pound browntrout. This wasnt what I had expected butI am not complaining. Certainly I was a lotluckier than two deer that turned up when myson and I were expecting a quiet morning onhares and again luckier than the wallabies thatshould have been taking cover rom the rstrain in weeks on the only evening I had ree ora hunt.

On refecting on this past month I reckon welive in a great hunting and shing country butwhile some o us seem lucky (sometimes)in our pursuits, the real results come withplanning and persistence and grabbing theopportunities when they present themselves.

Some time ago when my wi e had setour salmon shing holiday in concrete inthe hope that nothing would interrupt ourplans, I received a request to run a rangeo cer course in Dunedin and it presentedopportunities too good to miss. Thank ul oran understanding wi e I was able to run thecourse or Otago Branch with Southland alsoattending. The trip gave the opportunity to talk HUNTS with the Otago Branch and explain howthe streamlined instructor quali cation processwas so much more user riendly than had been

the case. The opportunity was also there totouch base with HUNTS Coordinators NathanDawson (Southland), Barry Gamble (NorthOtago) and Jono Young (South Canterbury). Anearlier side trip had enabled a catch up withUpper Clutha instructors and tidy up someassessment paperwork.

And so back to Nelson in a weeks timeand back to preparing or the revalidationo our NZDA HUNTS instructors. Earlier inthe year negotiations with MSC have sortedout a process and dra t documentation or

revalidation. Both Richard Brodie (MSC) and Ihave taken a break or shing and revalidationwill be my priority in late March and April.

Late March will see other HUNTS activitywith Manawatu being the rst to complete acourse or 2013 and Porirua and Central KingCountry scheduled to complete be ore Easter.Nelson has already had enrolments or ourcourse star ting in July and I imagine that otherbranches are getting inquiries.

I would ask that coordinators let me know the

dates and programmed events o their coursesso that I can plan to visit as many coursesas possible or at least touch base i passingthrough on my travels.

Other work that has occupied my thoughtsin between salmon and wallabies has been

the review o the Administration and Sa etyManagement System (SMS) manuals. Theintention is to update the administrationmanual and combine it with the SMS manual.I this works we should have a single re erenceresource or running HUNTS courses.

Also on the work list is the review o theHUNTS Training Manual. Currently we havesu cient stocks o the current manual toget us through the rst hal o the year andwe also have Alex Gales DVD as a valuablealternate resource.

Well I am heading or bed. I have the alarmset or an early start shing and unless I aminterrupted by a big weight on my line I expectto spend a lot o the morning thinking aboutHUNTS and planning or the roar and duck season.

NZDA HUNTS REPORT

HUNTS - TIME FOR REFLECTIONBill OLeary, National Coordinator, NZDA HUNTS

Bill OLeary National Coordinator,

NZDA HUNTS

"Aim between the shoulder blades," Jonowhispered. I sat with elbows resting on myknees, steadying his Brno. A semi-circle oclarity in a ogged scope enabled me to takea bead on the Fallow does back. A de t toucho the trigger ... Bang! Instantly she fippedbelly-up.

"Wait a ew minutes, you may have juststunned her," was Jono's advice. Looking

down the rocky scree slope I knew I'd hit herair and square. The doe did a dying kick with

her orelegs, then lay orever still.

In June I started the NZDA HUNTs course withthe South Canterbury Branch o the NZDA. Six

o us were in the 'A Team'. We'd all had someprevious hunting or backcountry experience.This advanced course was tailored to sharpenour skills, knowledge and techniques. I am

50 years young and can't sit still. Why do Iwant to hunt? This question was put to me onnumerous occasions. Hunting is somethingI've always wanted to do. As a youngster,occasionally one o my brothers and I would beinvited to join a very keen deerstalking amilyon the Korokonui Range, near Te Awamutu.Each year this amily would embark on amonth long hunting oray to the South Island.Later, we'd view their slides o these trips. I

AIM BETWEEN THE SHOULDER

BLADESB y R o b y n H a r p e r , S o u t h C a n t e r b u r y B r a n c h



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STORY

was enthralled. About our years ago a huntingguide (who's children I taught) talked aboutthe NZDA HUNTs course. When enquiringabout the course I was obbed o and got thedistinct impression it was or 'young' lads.Dammit ... how could a keen emale hunter-to-be learn to hunt? This year the timing wasright. I'd stepped down rom a our year stintas president o the local tramping club. Could I

cut the mustard with hunting? You bet!

A tahr hunt in early November, up theRangitata ... sweet. Our instructions werenannies and kids only. NO bulls. Friday'showling nor'wester duely turned to a cold wetsoutherly that peppered snow on the tops. Lowcloud delayed the hunt, so a river crossinglesson was planned. The raging, rumblingriver never had a leather clad toe dipped intoit. As the river was uncrossable (even orgrunty 4WDs), the advanced teams reverted

to Plan B. We hunted blocks at one end o therange. I had to pinch mysel - I was really outthere doing it - hunting tahr. Lance, our veryexperienced instructor, another trainee and I,stalked a small mob on a steep ace. With adi cult uphill shot, I missed a curious nannyon lookout duty. We three were watched andwhistled at rom the alert mobile mob. Wehunkered down, relaxed and waited or thingsto settle down. Suddenly Lance said, "Let'smove now, like we're going or a walk." Upwe popped and walked steadily toward these

agile animals. I shook my head and smiled atthe audacity o this method o stalk ing. Wehad no cover, so what the heck! A ter about200 metres we stopped, crouched down andI went orward peeping over a small lip. Onenanny was munching away on some tastyalpine morsels. Resting the rife on Lance'sshoulder I took aim. Down she went. Then shestood up. Working the bolt quickly I took aimagain. Down she went. Then she leapt ... overthe blu ... and out o view. Standing whereshe last stood we spot ted her lying in bracken,

unmoving. "I you've gut shot her, dress herthere. I you've lung shot her, roll her down thehill to the ence." Had I heard right? Roll herdown the hill? My ellow trainee assured methat they are easier to roll with the guts still in.

Nanny and I had a ew one sidedconversations on the way down. Herlittle set o horns had a knack orhooking onto rocks, briar, matagouri,bracken, and manuka. For variationthey'd dig into the ground. To even thescore I give her a good kick down thescree slopes. Dislodging her rom thescrub she bounced into was a littletricky, but determination on my part

reed her and away we went again. The

ever present light snowfakes ell thicker and

aster just as we threeloaded our nannies intothe 4WD.

We had our tahr, whatwould we like to huntnext? The lure o the WestCoast chamios beckoned.

A quick fick up and overthe Whataroa into thewilderness in a chopperhad two teams sa elydeposited near theirrespective camping spots. Two chamiosspotted by the pilot con rmed we were indeedin chamios country. The rst day we recciedthe area. Mysti ed why we weren't seeingany animals, we hunkered down or a middaysiesta. An hour or two later, Lance, our alert

instructor glassed a mob eeding on a armountain ace. Later, as we turned towardcamp our more were observed eeding andplaying. A ter a rigid night blue sky greetedus. The guys went ahead and scored threeo the our we'd observed the day be ore. A tender knee and very cramped leg musclehad me hobbling so I elected to glass all thevalleys, saddles and basins the other side ocamp. On dusk two were pursued but they hadthe goods on us. Next morning, to our utteramazement one curious chamios watched useating break ast. Break ast was tossed intothe tent, packs on, rife in hand, and Lanceand I were in hot pursuit. This little chamioswas on high alert and hightailed it acrossthe river and sped up the opposite mountain

ace. With mist rolling in we sat and waitedor it to disperse. Suddenly Lance whispered,

"There's two up there, can you see them?"Indeed I could. They were grazing and workinghigher. To our utter amazement they turnedand barrelled down the mountain ace, crossedthe river ... "Quick, this way." To a smallknob we hurriedly crept ... there not 70metres in ront o us they stood. Oh, theexcitement, the tension, the wonder... With Lance's shoulderas a rest, I placed

the crosshairs on the one to the right. Shetreated us to a oot s tomp and hiss-like bark!What a thrill! I scoped to the one on the le t. Ithad turned broadside. I squeezed the tr igger... click! Darn, I still had the sa ety catch on.Catch o , CRACK ... it disappeared. "Nice

shot! Nice shot!" exclaimed Lance. My earswere ringing rom the report. I laughed andlaughed ... somewhat incredulous that I hadactually shot one very curious chamios. A lit tleover an hour later I sat beside my tent nishingbreak ast smiling at a beauti ul head with 71/2 " hooks.

At branch meetings o ten there's a lone emaleamong the many males. I am looking, listeningand learning. To all the instructors, thank you or welcoming me. Thank you or sharing

your experiences, and imparting skills andknowledge with patience and good humour.

To girls who are seriously thinking abouthunting, contact your local NZDA branch andenquire about the HUNTS course. It is wellworth it!

PS - Did you notice the NZDA supporters/ sponsors clothing I practically live in?Stoney Creek and Swazi produce abulousoutdoor clothing or all conditions!

H app y and s a f e hun t ing.



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Since the last report there have not been alot o meetings; one in ormal meeting with

police, another with Ministry o Foreign A airsand Trade (MFAT) sta and one with an MP.The Council met early in February to discusssetting up the strategy committee. This groupwill help us plan or the areas on which to

ocus our energy or the next ve years.

In relation to the January a irgun death wemade two radio and one TV comment.

We are continuing to discuss the potentialimpact o the Arms Trade Treaty with theMFAT, and we are monitoring the recent events

in the United States o America to see i theywill a ect the development o the treaty.

You may have seen a number o mediaorganisations publishing a call or ull

registration o rearms to improve sa ety.We have contacted the author o the article,asking or him to share the research thatbacks this claim. The research we have seen

rom overseas shows complete registration isneither cost e ective nor accurate, there orenot o ering a bene t to match the cost.We have also contacted the members oparliament (MPs) who are on our mailing list,and reminded them o the research we hadcirculated to their advisers in March last,which shows two societies similar to ours areeither removing ull registration or questioning

its value in providing real bene ts to publicsa ety.

COLFO took the opportunity o the end o yearto refect on the number o shootings in theUSA and sent an email to MPs highlightingthe signi cant di erences between rearmslegislation in New Zealand and the UnitedStates o America, (available on our website).While it is not prudent to say events likethese could not happen in this country, whenyou consider the vast di erence in rearmcontrols, the risk o a similar event happeninghere is very low.

I you have any thoughts or eedback pleaseemail me at chair@col o.org.nz

15th January 2013 saw the ollowing reported in the press.

Better en orcement needed: Firearm dealerBy Brendan Manning

While international shooting tragedies re-ignitedebate around gun laws, a local gun dealersays legislation here is up to scratch - butstricter en orcement is needed.

Figures released under the O cial In ormation Act show o the 234,000-plus gun licenceholders in New Zealand, 5516 are permittedto possess military-style, semi-automatics(MSSAs).

There are nearly 15,000 rearm licenceholders in the Eastern police district, whichincludes Hawke's Bay.

Hawke's Bay Rife Club secretary Les Marshallsaid New Zealand's gun laws were su cient,but only when en orced.

I you get a gun [related] problem in thecourts they don't seem to get the rightpunishment. They don't seem to hand downthe maximum sentences.... they seem to be

airly lenient.

Mr Marshall said while law ul gun owners werepenalised, unlaw ul gun owners with stolenweapons continued to fout the law.

Mr Marshall saw no reason to allow MSSAsin New Zealand, I don't see any use or themwhatsoever in this country.

A ormer High Cour t judge who was appointedto review gun control laws in 1996 ollowingtwo shootings by police and the Aramoanamassacre is again questioning the need or

civilians to possess military-style weapons.

I do nd di culty in seeing any purpose inhaving multiple ring weapons o the militarystyle, Sir Thomas Thorp said. I can't see whatpurpose they serve to us in this country.

American Vice-President Joe Biden is dueto release recommendations rom his gunviolence task orce this week in response tocalls or tighter gun control laws, speci callyaround the ownership o military-styleweapons and high-capacity magazines.

It ollows the second-deadliest school shootingin US history in December in which 20 childrenand six sta were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

The gunman used two pistols and aBushmaster XM15 assault rife, a gun availableto Kiwi arms enthusiasts with E categorylicences.

The most recently available gures romStatistics New Zealand show more than26,000 rearms were imported in 2011, worth$13.5 million.

Although rearm owners are licensed, thereis no way o knowing how many guns theypossess because o a decision in 1982 to

abandon a system o licensing each gun inavour o licensing gun owners.

In 1996, Police National Headquartersestimated there were 1.2 million rearms

nationwide.

Sir Thomas said while New Zealand'sgun-related o ending was lower than otherdeveloped countries, police routinely oundblack-market guns in criminal hands duringdrug raids.

Police annual reports show 599 rearmlicences were revoked in the 2011/12 nancialyear or gun control breaches; 79 under theDomestic Violence Act.

The number o illegal rearms in circulation isunknown.

However, Sir Thomas' 1997 Review oFirearms Control in New Zealand estimated100,000 guns were held by unlicensed

owners.

His report recommended that all rearms beregistered (not just handguns and MSSAs);licences be renewed every three, instead o10 years; and MSSAs be banned and madesubject to a Government buy-back.(Editors comment Thorp also added, unless a compliance rate o not less than 90 percent can be achieved, the benefts derived rom registration would be signifcantly reduced. [p184] A act that is nearly always omitted by the media and the anti brigade.)

To date most o Sir Thomas' recommendationshave been ignored by Parliament. End oreport.

COLFO

COLFO



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12/52

One evening, out o the blue, while in allprobability the television was watching me, Iwas rudely awakened by the insistent ringingo the telephone. It was brother-in-law Bill.

A ter the normal introductory small talk andcompulsory inquiring about the health o our

amilies, Bill got right to the point. His sonJasper had suddenly got keen on hunting andcould Uncle Bob accommodate him sometimesoon to teach him the basics o that noblepastime. I elt honoured and pleased to be ableto help and replied in the a rmative askingwhen this event was liable to take place. Verysoon, said Bill, also stating that Jasper wouldcontact me shortly.

It so happened that within weeks o thephone call by Jasper, two very keen younghunters rom Tauranga came and stayed

or the weekend. Early Friday evening theyarrived and over cups o tea interspersed witha couple o beers we sat around the kitchentable swapping yarns. I should amend that

statement to a one sided conversationtranspired with me endeavouring to entertainthe two boys with tales o mishaps andmayhem while guiding people in recentyears. My wi e in ormed me later that someo my stories appeared to be veiled threatson the protocols o hunting and that theboys appeared to become quite nervous. I

thought that by injecting humour and slightexaggeration into the conversation it shouldmake two budding hunters more com ortable.

Having witnessed a number o noteworthy dosand donts over many years o escor ting orintroducing people to hunting I always eel thatit is my duty to pass on valuable tips. Someobvious mistakes that budding hunters tend tomake are as laughable as they are annoying,especially when yours truly is endeavouring toget the would-be hunter as close as possibleto his quarry. For example, I took Jacobout one a ternoon to look or a deer. Jacobassured me that he had been hunting be oreand had shot a ew deer so I didnt hesitateto drop him o at the top o a ridge withinstructions to walk down the long spur whereI would eventually pick him up at the bottom.

Last seen, Jacob was wearing a three-quarter length bush shirt that came tobelow knee level. I didnt know what he waswearing underneath until I caught sight o

him wandering down the ridge towards mewearing a green T-shirt and pure white sur ngboard shorts. The pants were like a neon signfashing on the hill and Jacob was upset theanimals he did happen to see were all goingsouth at a hundred miles an hour. To makematters worse, Jacob had le t his bush shirtat the top o the hill and expected me to nd

him a handy deer while he wore the mostunsuitable hunting mocker I have ever seen.

I there was a de nition or impossibility thiswas it and I didnt manage to get Jacob onto adeer until the ollowing day when he was moresuitably attired. In situations like this it paysto have a sense o humour, but at times it is astruggle.

When one is stalking deer and endeavouringto guide a young or new hunter into a position

where the only thing le t to do is take acare ully calculated shot at an unsuspectinganimal, then ones senses are attuned toevery sound emanating rom that person.Sounds such as heavy breathing, squeakyboots, slurping on a CamelBak water tube,talking, walking heavily, breaking brancheson the ground or above the ground, loosebullets jiggling in pockets and coughing are allampli ed by the tension. All o these storiesand more were related to Jasper and Campbellthat evening be ore the hunt and I went to

bed that night con dent that my light-heartedlecturing would be o supreme bene t or the

ollowing day.

The next morning I was pleasantly surprisedto see the lads had invested in some quitereasonable hunting gear such as good qualityboots, puttees, quiet clothing, not to mentionwell-maintained (brand new) rifes in .308 and.270 calibre respectively.

At rst light we ventured up a side road andwithin teen minutes o leaving the house,

came upon our Fallow spikers grazing in agully. The sound o the motorbike had alertedthem but they didnt start to head o until theshooting started. The result was our shots

red and one wounded deer. To Campbellscredit he tracked the deer or perhaps hal -an-hour be ore putting it out o its misery andit was a good result a ter a rough start to theday.

Venturing on out we reached a point on theblock where we le t the bike and proceededon oot. I was highly amused a ter ten minuteswalking to hear the unmistakeable squeakingo boots, and they werent mine! I managedto hold my tongue as I detected that Jasperwas becoming quite embarrassed about the

STORY

E X P E R I E NC E A N D Y O U T HB y B o b P i t t a w a y , D i r e c t B r a n c h

One o several Red hinds seen during the day



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squeaky boot syndrome. A very short timelater Jasper was sitting next to a muddy watertable on the track with his boots o . He thenproceeded to rub mud onto the tongues o hisboots in an attempt to s top the noise. Not onlydid it work but I also commended the boys orslurping their CamelBaks noiselessly.

Neither o the boys had binoculars and theyhad to use their rife scopes to check outgame. This is a practice that I tota lly abhorbecause o the likelihood o getting a humanunexpectedly in the sights, and its also notmuch un sharing one pair o binocularsbetween three people. I had done enough

lecturing the night be ore about most thingsincluding the need to possess a good pair obinoculars and anyway I was trying to keepthings positive on the hill.

Not long a ter oiling his boots with mud,Jasper managed to shoot a Red hind a ter ashort stalk. This was a ter I reminded the boysto keep o the skyline, keep o the ridge andkeep their bloody heads down.

This was Jaspers rst deer and is always aspecial event in the li e o a hunter. I believe I

was as pleased and excited as he was and waspromptly asked by the two boys to show themhow to dress out a deer. I knew I was there orsome reason and this was it. An hour later theboys missed what I thought should have beeneasy shots at a Fallow, but shooting o handis not ideal and a discussion ensued regardingthe importance o a good rife rest i possible.

The boys then produced lunch that had beenpurchased at a bakery in the Bay o Plenty theday be ore. Just sitting back in the middle o

deer country, having a bite to eat and goingover the details o the mornings hunt is asimportant and enjoyable as the actual hunt. Iwas also in great company. These two young

ellas were keen, enthusiastic and a pleasureto be with.

A ter a pleasant hal hour or so we retr ievedthe bike, dragged the deer down near a track,loaded up and headed to another part o thestation that held good numbers o deer. Itwas to be Campbells next shot and we soonsaw our Reds disappearing into a scrubbygut a ew hundred metres away. I instructedCampbell to go along and get himsel into acom ortable shooting position as I elt that thedeer wouldnt stay there orever.

Minutes later the deer appeared heading uphilland when the last one paused, Campbell red.The deer appeared to finch but carried on andout o sight. Campbell yelled out an expletivebut I assured him that the shot was a k illingone, and a ter a short search the large Redhind was discovered upside down in a sidecreek. I was probably expected to gut thisanimal too, but with a bit o guidance andribbing over the sharpness o knives I managedto keep my hands clean while the likely ladscompleted the task.

It was mid-a ternoon by the time we had

loaded the second Red hind onto the bike. Mythoughts quite o ten go to Mr Honda and whathe would think about the kiwi hunters load onhis quads.

Our nal destination and hunting spot wasto be one o my avourite meat sa es. Myphilosophy as an ageing hunter is to tryto shoot deer ABOVE the tracks and thisparticular area lends itsel to just that.Parking the bike I announced to the boys thatI may have a shot mysel i a suitable animal

presented itsel . A walk around a scrubby track or 200 metresgot us to a small ridge rom where we couldlook up into a nice little bush basin. There

would have been at least a dozen Reds therebut they had winded us. As they climbed upthrough a small patch o native I whispered toJasper to try and shoot a young stag on theright and I would have a go at the eight-pointeron the le t. By some good management andtons o good luck I saw my stag alter a ter theshot rom my 7mm-08 and start hurtling downtowards us.

Jasper absolutely pole axed his Red spikerwhich disappeared out o sight into thetrees. As we walked up the hill I was quietlycon dent that we had achieved our goalbut with rifes ready we werent taking any

chances. We soon ound the animals quitedead and both were one shot kills.

The deer were taken by ring uphill at about200 metres and, better still, they were bothabove the track. A ter dressing out the twolarge animals it was shear simplicity to dragthem downhill to the quad. Because o thereasonably high deer numbers on the propertythe policy at that time was no restric tion onnumbers killed providing no meat was wasted.

We would be dining on sausages and salamis

or months a ter this e ort, not orgetting ocourse the choice cuts o steak.

The weekend was capped o by a pig huntthe next day that was short lived because oa major storm ront that came through lateSunday morning.

This proved to be one o my most enjoyableweekends hunting or years. The recipe orthis was taking out two young guys who werethirsting or knowledge about hunting andthe game they were pursuing. I am sure they

learned many things but I also need to learnto keep my lectures to a minimum so that mycharges in the uture can at least get a goodnights sleep be ore a day on the hill.

Campbell with his deer

Jasper with his rst deer



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17/52

Luke Jarvie (Upper Clutha Branch) on a recent hunt where he used his Tikka .243 to take the deer at 140 metres.

John Broughton (Southland Branch), Sam Milne (holding

pig) Julia and Alexis Broughton taking townies Lucy and Alice

Milne out on a hunt

Makayla Bothwell, 3-years-old loves going out hunting with Dad Daniel (Marlborough Branch).

Alex Graham (Hutt Valley) who shot his rst two goats with his athers Tikka .223 at 170 metres.

His dad Hamish only helped with the bolt and Alex who will soon turn 9 did the rest.

James Pe ers jnr (Manawatu Branch (16) in Hanmer Springs area with his chamois.



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DOC UPDATENATIONAL HUNTING ADVISOR

By Ian Cooksley, National Hunting Advisor/Community Relations

Contact details:

Department o Conservation - Te Papa AtawhaiTelephone: 06 350 9705E mail: [email protected]

Manawatu Rangitikei AreaPrivate Bag 11010 Palmerston North 4442717 Tremaine Avenue, Palmerston North 4414

THE PATHWAY TO THAT MEATON THE TABLEThe seven species o deer (eight i you countmoose) , tahr, wallaby were introduced into NewZealand as a source o recreation and oodthereby supplementing the already establishedpigs and goats rom early exploration voyages.

These introductions o ten involved lengthyboat trips rom ar o countries at considerablepersonal cost or those involved.

(A good insight to these early acclimatisation e orts is contained in the book, Gamekeepers

or the Nation, the story o New Zealands acclimatisation societies 1861 1990, by the late R M McDowall.)

From this legacy o introductions the sport ohunting in New Zealand, as we know it today,

was established. Get ting involved in hunting isnot an arduous task but does involve varioussteps on the way.

OBTAINING A FIREARM:Be ore anyone in New Zealand obtains a

rearm they must hold the relevant licenceunder the Arms Act 1983. To obtain a rearmslicence apply in person to your nearestpolice station. The Arms Code an importantpart o the licence process is available at apolice station or on the police website: www.police.govt.nz/services/ rearms/arms-code-introduction

SELECTING A FIREARM:There are numerous types and calibres o

rearms available and or the beginner thechoice can be a bit bewildering. Joining ahunting club should provide the right advice aswill most rearms retailers. Available on theNew Zealand Mountain Sa ety Council website(www.mountainsa ety.org.nz) is the pamphlet,Selecting a Firearm which also provides soundadvice.

HUNTING SAFETY:During the process o obtaining a rearmslicence various sa ety aspects are covered in aclassroom type environment.

Rein orcing the rearms licence requirementsin a eld context, plus many other aspects ohunting, is the NZDA HUNTS programme run byNew Zealand Deerstalkers Association.

The Firearms Sa ety pamphlet available romthe New Zealand Mountain Sa ety Council and

the Arms Code available rom a police stationor website, are good sources o written sa etyin ormation.

FINDING SOMEWHERE TO HUNT:In New Zealand there are two main options,private and public lands, and permissionis required to hunt on either. For DOCadministered land there is in ormation onwhere to hunt on the Departments websitewww.doc.govt.nz/parks&recreation/hunting/ where to hunt

On public lands, hunting o ten occurs alongside a range o other recreation activities.The Department in managing these activitiesendeavours to maintain a backcountryexperience whilst encouraging the use o sa epractices.

Guiding a lot o this visitor managementeach Conservancy has a ConservationManagement Strategy (CMS), which is a 10-year document that describes how places areto be managed.

As part o the Depar tments planning processthe public can make submissions on a dra tCMS and hunters are encouraged to submit,especially on matters that relate to hunting.The Departments website www.doc.govt.nz/getting involved/consultation/ consultingon Conservation Management Strategies,contains in ormation on the CMS process, howto make a submission, including a discretionalsubmission orm, and when dra t strategies willbe available or comment.

Remember on Department administered

land a hunting permit is required or whichin ormation is available on the DOC website:www.doc.govt.nz/parks recreation/hunting/ permit& licences

THE HUNT:Be ore and during the hunt an individual hunterhas a multitude o decisions that will o tendictate the outcome o a t rip.

Above all considera tions should be your andother persons sa ety(Remember no meat

is better than no mate) . For those who haveattended a NZDA HUNTS course you shouldbe well prepared, or those who havent theNZ Mountain Sa ety Council pamphletGoing Hunting contains a range o use ul in ormation.I hunting on DOC administered lands the localDOC o ce can provide in ormation on currentconditions.

An aspect o a hunt that may be overlookedis the question o animal wel are. Whilstthe hunting or killing o a wild animal is notunlaw ul under the Animal Wel are Act 1999,

causing an animal to su er unnecessarily is.

TAKING HOME THE MEAT: A ter all the e ort involved in securing yourintended quarry you owe it to yoursel to look a ter the animal through the ood preparationprocess.

A handy guide is the bookletFood sa ety or recreational hunters available rom the NewZealand Food Sa ety Authority or on its websitewww.nz sa.govt.nz

BRAISED VENISON STEAK:Now that you have secured that prime youngdeer here is an old camp recipe.

Select 4 to 6 large stewing steaks and lay ontop o 4 to 5 onions cut into rings in your campoven. Add one dessertspoon o at. Sprinklewith four and salt and pepper, brown or hour, then add 1 mug (1 pint) o vegetable juice or water. Keep the lid on the camp ovenwhile cooking. Simmer or 1 hour, stirringoccasionally. Thicken, i required, with dry soupor a four and water paste. Potato powder isalso ideal or thickening a braise, but be care ulyou do not use too much.

(Camp Cookery, D M Cowlin)



19/52


20/52

Although I agree with anumber o points that Alain Jorian has raised inhis article on GeneticallyManipulated Red DeerNZ Hunting & Wildli e (H&W)issue 179) there are severalobservations he has maderegarding the Douglas ScoreSystem that need addressing.

Symmetry - The Douglas Score System(DS) is not strongly based on symmetry, butas emphasized throughout the DS Handbook,it is based on the SYMMETRICAL SIZE ocounter parts. Size being the lengths o themain beams, tines, and girths or coronetand beam. Apart rom applying a degree oanalysis or symmetry when selecting counterparting tines on heads with multi point tops,tines can erupt rom di erent places, in

di erent directions, have di erent girths,be totally di erent in appearance and su erno penalty under the Douglas System. I didwrite an article in H&W issue 166 to justi ythe retention o visual judging by the national judging panel just or this very reason. I wedogmatically applied the Douglas Score (mosto our branches do to avoid controversy) andawarded the top placing to the highest scoringhead we could on occasions have some airlystrange looking heads, be they damaged,de ormed or lacking primary tines, winning ournational competition.

Fig.1 Shows a symmetrical 14-pt Red deerhead where the right antler is a mirror imageo the le t. This set o antlers will score themaximum possible or its antler growth underthe DS based on symmetrical size.

Fig. 2 Shows a very non symmetrical 14-ptRed deer head where right and le t handantlers have the same counterparts as Fig. 1but they have erupted rom di erent placesand are quite di erent in shape. Providedthe scoring actors are the same or eachhead then both would be credited the samescore. This non symmetrical head is no waypenalised or being an oddity.

Even i the head in Fig.2 scored greater thanthe one in Fig.1 I know which one I wouldsooner have on my wall as it is an authentic

example o the species.

Excess spread Perhaps the one aspect othe Douglas Score system that has huntersthrowing their arms up in horror is the mat tero excess spread. All o the deer speciescovered in the Douglas Score Handbook,including Fallow, are subject to excessspread correction i they exceed the spreaddeadline or that particular species. It is ratherdisingenuous to imply that Norman Douglaswould have set the Fallow excess spreaddeadline at the longest antler plus our inches just because he had taken a allow headwith spread greater than its longest antler.No, Norman would have gathered as muchin ormation on deer antler con guration thatwas available at the time and thus determinedthe average or normal length, spread/spanproportions or each species. I include spanas the excess spread correction also includesa component o span. Note that the span omany early heads taken in New Zealand wasnot always recorded. I Norman was today able

to re-look at all this historical data plus currentdata he may well arrive at di erent parametersto what he regarded as typical back in 1959. As Australia has adopted the Douglas Score

System I wonder i their data would also beincluded. Interestingly it was mentioned on arecent trip to Australia that a large proportion

o their Sambar are deemed overspread underthe DS criteria.

Why penalise or excess spread in the rstplace? I we were to imagine a set o antlersthat grew out sideways like a moose head theywould not only look pretty odd they would alsohave massive spread and span measurementswhich i not penalised could end up scoring argreater than a nicely proportioned trophy.

OPINION

A VERY SIMPLE MEASURINGSYSTEM BASED ON SYMMETRICALOR BALANCED SIZE.R a y W e b , O t a g o B r a n c h ,N a t i o n a l A H T J u d g e / D o u g l a s S c o r e C o o r d i n a t i n g T u t o r

Fig.1 Fig.2



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Most hunters would not be too perturbedi their prized trophy that was deemed ourinches excess spread was just docked the ourDS points but when this is multiplied by threethen the loss o twelve points appears a veryharsh penalty! In DS tutorials I am o ten askedwhy treble this excess spread measurement. Itis explained in the handbook but just to put aslightly di erent perspective on this matter.

Firstly, i we consider the above example,to bring the head back to its optimumspread score we would reduce his spreadmeasurement by our.

Secondly, i the spread has been reduced byour, so too should be the span. (In act this

would be slightly less than our but to simpli yarithmetic it is rounded up).

You will note in the DS sheets that the spreadand span measurements are combinedto produce a spread actor but all thesubtractions are taken rom the spread. (Againthis is just to reduce the arithmetic to onesimple calculation).

We now have a spread/span score thatcorresponds to the ideal specimen. I we le tthe score at this ie, just multiplied the excessspread by two then we wouldnt really havepenalised the head or excess spread at all.There ore we multiply the excess spread bythree which is equivalent to taking anothertwo inches o the spread and two inches o

the span. The spread plus span score is nowequivalent to a head that is two inches underthe maximum allowable spread. It can be seen

rom this that heads that are well over spreadare penalised more than those slightly overspread.

Remember that headsthat are under spreadhave already penalisedthemselves socertainly dont require

urther penalty.It would be impossibleto design a scoringsystem to cover allconceivable variationso antler growth. All scoring systemshave strengths andweaknesses and itcould be argued thatthe penalty imposedon excess spreadheads, where theoverspread is notcaused by excessivespan but by outward

protruding points or palms, then under the DSthey are being unduly penalised.

Multi-point heads When determining thecounter parts or the top tines on multi-point heads I have ound it can become alittle con using keeping track o them unlessthey have a piece o colour coded, namedor numbered tape attached. Carry out thislabelling be ore you put a tape on the head andi you have someoneassisting, discussthe counter partingprocedure. Anotheropinion is generallyhelp ul.

There have beenseveral articlesrecently inH&W regardingtechnicalities in the

interpretation othe Douglas Scoreparticularly whencounter parting tines.O concern is thatmany o our keenyoung hunters maybe put o learningthe rudiments omeasuring our biggame trophies inthe belie it is artoo complicated. In

act what Normanachieved was a verysimple measuringsystem based onsymmetrical or

balanced size. The vast majority o big gametrophy heads that we encounter require verylittle debate on what determines a counterpartand are very straight orward to measure. Thenew generation o measurers will probablyhave ar more problems trying to get togrips with an out dated imperial system omeasurement than with the Douglas ScoreSystem.

CHARTERS BLUFF

Scenic Trips Fishing Hunting Diving Tramping

Hunt Stewart Island

Contact: Bob & Chris HawklessPh: (03) 212 7254 - Fax: (03) 212 8321 - Mob: 0274 335 801

Email: [email protected]: www.manacharters.com

47ft Morgan Hull charter vessel, 650hp V8 Fiatengine, cruises at 12-13 knots.

Bob Hawkless: ex commercial fisherman for 25 yearsplus 20 years hunting experience on Stewart Island.

Hire equipment: 12ft Stabi Crafts, 12ft dinghys,outboard motors, camping equipment,

gas bottles & dive bottles.



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NEK MINNIT NIGHTMAREB y J a s o n S e a r l e ,S o u t h e r n L a k e s B r a n c h

Ever since I can remember my ather andhis band o merry men have been guidingme through the hunter-gatherer li estyle,downloading their vast quantities oknowledge acquired rom the University oLi e. Un ortunately I didnt make the grades

or the University o Li e and had to attend areal one instead. A ter ar too long buried inbooks its nally time, to dust o my bootsand hit the hills.

April 12th 2012, the day o my 24th bir thday,and I was trudging over the hill into theSmoothwater at stupid-oclock. Firearmat the ready, roaring horn in hand and ullo enthusiasm I was amping to down aRed stag. Slowly stalking my way throughthe dense bush, roaring my head o , thesound o nothingness was starting to getdemoralising. Parking up or lunch on anice open ridge I collected a stag beetlethat caught my eye and was preparing to

demolish my seg roll, when out o the depthso the gut below came the sound I hadbeen dying to hear all day, the aint moanrevitalizing my enthusiasm. Throwing mygear together I was o again in hot pursuito the roaring stag who was replying withno hesitation. I was almost on him when thewind stopped playing the game, the stag gotmy scent and that was the end o that.

Day two I decided to stay a little closerto home. A couple o hours into my usualbeat I utilised a tree stump to get a bit oelevation on a clearing down

the hill rom me. Onrst glance there

was nothing to beseen but I had a

eeling there wassomething lurking.

Rising up slightlyon the tree stumpI spotted a spiker,

which had alsospotted me. Slidingmy rife over the top I lined up on his neck ficked the sa ety o and let him have it. Hebit the dust where he was standing. A photosession and slide o the kni e saw me loadedup and headed or home ready or the massarrival o keen hunters awaiting deploymentinto their balloted hunting blocks.

The next morning I swapped my gun or acatch bag, donned my wetsuit and joinedPeter dodgy Henderson on his vessel SheGot the House. With average conditions wefipped over the side, on with the torch anddown we went. I wrangled the crays whilstPete operated the catch bag a very smoothsystem.

A quick boil up and we were headed orthe Cascade with a load o resh crays

or dinner. The chopper whisked us awayand shortly a ter we were at the campsitegetting stuck into erecting the bivvy. Oncecamp was complete I headed down the river

fats in search o

a deer. I had barely le t campbe ore coming across a hind eeding rightout in the open only ten metres away. Iducked in behind the nearest bush andpulled out my camera. Un ortunately thewind was yet again not on my side alert ingthe hind to my presence. She cautiouslywalked towards me but bolted as I slowlyraised the camera. I spotted another twodeer but le t them eeding undisturbed. Upon

my arrival back to camp my brother Jamiecame out with a huge grin on his ace. Hehad also got some deer action shooting ahind on the run and carrying i t back whole toshow everyone.

The ollowing day the crew split up Jamieand my ather John headed upstream, Kerryand my uncle Gary downstream, leavingme to book it up the hill behind camp. Kerryand Gary ran into the hind I had spotted thenight be ore and again let her be moving ondownstream. The next yearling to pop up in

STORY

Young 4-pointer that gave himsel away grunting at me as I roared urther down the ridge

Gary, Jamie and mysel patiently waiting in the Cascade as Kerry and John take fight

First stag or the trip, a young 8-pointer that came charging out to meet me NZ Hunting & Wildlife180 - Autumn 201320


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and I would sort him out. So o down theriver we went. A ter about an hour and ahal o walking we were almost on the ridgewhere we had heard a stag we nicknamedNumb Nuts a ew days prior. Stopping togive a roar, Kerry mentioned he had beenstung by a couple o wasps on the wayup. At this point we had no idea what wasgoing to happen next. It was moments laterthat Gary called out to us that Kerry wasnt

eeling well and that we should come back

down the hill. I was slightly urther uphillwhen Gary urged my ather to come aster.Upon reaching Kerrys location he was faton his back, unresponsive and not breathing.John rushed to his aid elevating him andinitiating a sternum rub to encourage him tobreathe.

Meanwhile Gary had removed the EPIRBrom his bag and was awaiting instruction

to set it o . The decision was made andthe EPIRB activated. I dropped my pack andgun and worked on picking up satelliteswith my athers GPS. The colour drained

rom Kerrys ace as his eyes rolled back into his skull, things were not lookinggood. I gave up and pulled out Kerrys GPSinstead. Quickly marking the location Iwas o down the hill like a hare on re. Ididnt stop running the whole way back tocamp. Jamie called out to me as I bowledinto camp and I ordered him to searchthrough Kerrys bag or any medication hemight be taking. Flicking on the mountain

radio I spoke into the mike IB base - IBbase, this is IB 131, this is an emergencycall, do you copy? The call was received.This is IB base, where are you and what is

your problem? I explained we were in theHackett River, South Westland and that amember o our party had collapsed ollowinga wasp sting. A ter being connected with therescue coordination centre and exchangingin ormation, a helicopter had beendispatched to the EPIRBs location.

During this time my mother whose namewas on the contact list or Garys EPIRB hadreceived a call and Im sure was losing hermind. I was to standby on the radio so I sentmy brother down the river to where we hadentered the bush. From my athers accountalthough he did not come around Kerry wasshowing good signs o li e and at times wasquite violent, uncontrollably kicking his legsthrough the survival bag they had pulledhim into and clenching his sts. Coveringhim in jackets and dragging him up onto my

athers legs to elevate him o the groundthere was nothing they could do but keephim stable and wait or the chopper.

Within about an hour and a hal the chopperhad reached our location and the medicwas waving at the boys through the trees toacknowledge theyhad been spotted.The rst attemptat extraction viaa stretcher was a

ailure and insteada scoop was usedto li t him out andgently lower him

onto the river fatbelow. A ter a quick hand rom Jamie tostrap him into a seat

they were en route or Queenstown Hospital.I headed down river where I met up withthe boys and retrieved my gear and a statusupdate. Back at camp it was an anxious waitnot knowing how our buddy was doing. Thecall came through that he had been put intoan induced coma and was being trans erredby helicopter to Dunedin Hospital, whichmade us all nervous to say the least.

It was a restless sleep and a long wait orthe chopper the next day. We nally gotback out to the bay around one oclock andmade a phone call to Mum. Kerry still hadntwoken up. The seriousness o the situationwas really star ting to kick in, would he everwake up? Dad then called the hospital andKerry had just regained consciousness andwas kept in the hospital or a urther twonights.

This situation is a per ect example o how

ast an emergency can occur. One minuteyoure having the time o your li e nek minnityoure scrambling to save someone elses.Thanks to my uncle Gary or being organisedand carrying a personal locator beacon thesearch actor was eliminated speeding upthe rescue. I would advise anyone operatingin the back country to get hold o an EPIRBand check the survival gear they carry. My

athers guidance and experience was alsoessential in stabilising Kerry and makingsure help was on the way. I the EPIRB was

aulty I was on my way back to the mountainradio with coordinates to their locationand in ormation on what the rescue teamwas getting into. I would like to thank theCanterbury Mountain Radio Service; theRescue Coordination Centre, Hannibal Hayes(chopper pilot), the medic and any otheragencies or individuals who aided Kerrysevacuation and recovery. The combinede ort has lead to the best possible outcomeand despite a sore neck Kerry is on themend and very thank ul to his rescuers.

Moments be ore disaster struck with John, Gary and Kerry

My ather showing me how its done once again a ter roaring this stag up rom the depths below and taking it himsel .



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CLEANING TROPHY HEADS FOR ANTLER,HORN AND TUSK COMPETITIONSB y S t e v e C o r l e t t , N a t i o n a l E x e c u t i v e

With the roar coming up at a ast clip itis appropriate that we have a look at thepreparation o a clean wholesome head orentering into branch and national competitions.It is rather disappointing to have to turn downan entry or the simple reason there aremaggots alling out o the head when entered.Think o the e ort put in to gain the trophyand then have the disappointment o it being

disquali ed rom competition.

The cleaning o a head is not that di cult asthere are detergents that can be used in theboiling process to remove at and render downthe di cult to reach areas o fesh.

The rst step is to remove the skin and thebottom jaw. The skin needs to be removedbe ore the boiling commences. This can bedone with a sharp kni e or S tanley kni e.The jaw can be le t on and removed a terboiling when it is much easier. By dropping a

dishwashing tablet into the water when boilingthe head it makes it ar easier to remove the

at. I you use just water the a t congregatesaround the head at water level and requires

urther boiling to remove. The dish washtablet also whitens the head during boiling. Itis important that the heat rom the elementor gas ring does not come in contac t with theantlers or horns as it will deteriorate themand also alter the colouration. F ill the potor container you are going to use to a levelsu cient to cover to the base o horns orantlers to avoid boiling o the antlers or hornsto prevent colour changes. The heat should beon low so that the pot does not boil dry whilstcleaning is in progress and there is excessiveheat generated. As the process takes severalhours and you may need to top up the water

rom time to time. There is a smell with thisprocess so nd a place away rom the houseand the partner to boil the head.

When the boiling is completed take a scabbingbrush and brush o the loose fesh on the

skull, this should come away easily. You willneed to remove what is le t o the eyes as theywill tend to be shrivelled inside the socket . A tooth brush can come in handy here. The

next step is to remove the nasalbones. In some cases i overboiling takes place these boneswill all apart when cleaning othe skull is commenced.

Removing the brains can bedi cult; however this can beachieved in several ways. Youcan hose them out through thespinal cord hole, hook them outwith a piece o wire or removethe joint at the back o the skull with a hack saw to enlarge the hole or better access to thebrain cavity. Do not cut o the complete back o the skull as this will lead to disquali cationas the lamdoidal ridge at the back o the skullis the point where skull measurements aretaken rom during competition judging.

Once all the fesh is removed a wipe over withbleach will bring the skull up white and remove

any smell that may be le t. Place the headis a warm dry spot to complete the cleaningprocess.

Please do not write your name or DouglasScore on the head as this is a nuisance or the judges as it will need to be either covered orremoved or competition.

The ollowing are rules are taken rom theAssociations National Competition Rules,4.2 A:

4.2 A. Antlered Game(i) The antlers o the trophy at the time o

entry must be in a natural state (naturalstate is the state o the trophy whentaken).

(ii) There must be no inter erence with thetrophy such as the sharpening o points,removal o points, arti cial colouration etc.

(iii) Antlers in velvet (hard or so t)are prohibited entries in NationalCompetitions.

(iv) The atlanto-occipital joint at the base othe skull (where it attaches to the spine),may be cut to allow easier extraction othe brain. However, the lamdoidal ridge at

the top rear o the skull must be completeand intact. On all Sika, Red and Wapitiheads the ront nasal bone (premaxilla)must be complete and intact so that theskull length can be accurately measured.Heads may be entered with damagedskulls, eg head shot, and acceptance shallbe at the discretion o the judging panel.

4.2 B. Horned Game(i) The horns must be in ull unmounted state

when photographs and measurements aretaken.

(ii) The horns o the trophy at the time o entrymust be in a natural state (natural state isthe state o the trophy when taken).

(iii) There must be no inter erence with thetrophy such as the sharpening o points,arti cial colouration etc.

(iv) The skull jaw must also be in a clean andwholesome condition.

4.2 C. Tusks

(i) The tusks must be in a ull unmountedstate when photographs andmeasurements are taken.

(ii) The tusks o the trophy at the time o entrymust be in a natural state (natural statethat is, state o the trophy when taken).

(iii) There must be no inter erence with thetrophy such as the sharpening o tusk points, arti cial colouration etc.

(iv) The complete lower jaw must also be in aclean and wholesome condition.

TIP OFFS



26/52

LOCK, STOCK & BARRELL

WHAT RIFLE TO USE FOR DEER?WHAT A GREAT QUESTION!C h a z F o r s y t h ,N a t i o n a l E x e c u t i v e M e m b e r

INTRODUCTION

Inviting an aspiring writer to provide opinionson the most suitable calibres or shootingdeer is like wondering i water is wet. Deerhunters always have their own ideas, andthese are bound to create arguments.

THE JOB

You want to read about what 's the bestcartridge to shoot deer with. Where do westart? Some o the early deer hunters, back inthe l930s when times were tough, whacked a

ew with the .22 rim re. Back then, throughto the mid-1970s, Army surplus .303 ri feswere cheap, were readily available and militarysurplus ammunition, sometimes with thetips o the ull metal jacketed bullets crudelyamputated with side-cutting pliers, were stillin wide use. Military surplus .30 06 rifes,

.270 Winchester, the .243 Winchester, the7mm Remington magnum, and handguncartridges like the .44-40 Winchester, the .44Remington magnum all appeared on the NewZealand deer hunting scene, and there wereplenty o others rom both the military andsporting areas to keep them company: like the

.250 Savage and the 7x57mm Mauser. The listgoes on and on.

Clearly, cartridges rom the little .22 Hornetall the way through to the .375 Holland andHolland magnum have been used to hunt deer.Somewhere in the middle o all these is thebest cartridge or is there?

All o the cartridges mentioned above will kill

a deer i the animal is hit in the right place. You've got to nd the animal, aim at its vital

body area, re the shot which strikes there,and then start looking or evidence o the hit(i the animal has not collapsed immediately).That is what hunting is about, not the rife, notthe cartridge or which it is chambered, butthe animal.

DEER HUNTING SKILLS

These are a grab-bag o skills, a combinationo the ability (derived rom experience) todiscern the presence o animals and thewillingness to cultivate these skills by e ort,meaning time spent in the eld seeking,observing and noting where they are andwhere they have been. I tend to visualise thezone o visibility in the bush as being a lot likean inverted bowl, but the area within whichwe can see things is very much a ected byirregularities o the ground, intervening trees,scrub and undergrowth, all o which reduce orrestrict the eld o view.

The trick is or us to see the animal be oreit sees us. This means we have to stand still

a lot, because it is ar easier or us to seemovement when we are stationary. l weare moving, and animals see us, then unlessyou are very lucky, they are gone. I we see

Two hunters and their companion dog, take stock be ore continuing their bush stalk. Both are armed with telescopic sight-equipped rifes, both have stainless steel barr els (although that on the le t has been painted with black vinyl etch primer to disguise its barrel steel) .

Open country o ten involves longer ranges and the use o eld rests is o ten recommended. Here two hunters are ring at goats more than 200 metres away.

NZ Hunting & Wildli e180 - Autumn 201324


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the animal rst, you must still decide i it isshootable, i you wish to re at it, or not(you might not want that animal i you are aselective hunter), so there are a ew optionsopen to you. The trick in my view is to see theanimal be ore it sees you. This really meanssitting around until an animal moves into yourzone o visibility. I you are looking where thedeer are not, you are wasting your time, butyou are still out in the bush enjoying it.

SHOOTING SKILLS NEEDEDFOR DEER HUNTING

These need not be that great, because inpractice, distances (when in the bush) aregenerally less than 100 metres. Combine this

actor with the vital area o a Red or Sika deer,(this is a zone the approximate size and shape

o a netball or soccer ball between the rontlegs o the animal), some 250mm in diameter,and all you have to do is be con dent you canplace a shot into a target o that size, romwhatever position you happen to be occupyingat the time standing, or sitting, mostly (wholies down in the bush?).

To get a handle on how your shooting skillsmeet what is needed, you may need to spend alittle time on the range. Not near ly as much unas out there, doing it in the hunting eld, butthis visit might pay o because it will ensureyour rife is shooting where the sights arepointing (very important i you want to hit whatyour aiming at), and you will nd out i you canhold rom say, the sitting position (both elbowsrested on both knees or greatest stability),and rom the standing (o hand) position, theone rom which you are most likely to see ananimal in the bush. l you can put ve shotsinto a group measuring approximately 100mmextreme spread at 100 metres, you'll do ne.l you can keep your ve shots inside 250mmo hand at 100mm, then that is the limitingrange at which you should try or an o handshot at a deer. Remember, or bush hunting,you'll probably only need one shot anyhow, butthe range practice o ring more than one shotwill boost your con dence.

By all means re a ew shots rom a rest ata target, to ensure the rife is really shootingwhere you think the sights are pointing, makesome adjustments, and then please, please,please try a group without the bene t o a rest.Forget the sling too; you won't be sneaking

quietly through the bush with the r ife slingon, will you? Nothing tangles up worse in thebush than a sling, so I always remove it rommy rife (praise be to quick detachable sling

swivels!) when in the bush. l the r ife is inyour hands, it will come more quickly to yourshoulder than i you have to unsling it be orebringing it up to aim. (However, with a bito trickery, and a well - adjusted sling, it ispossible to have your rife slung and still get itonto aim very smartly, but you need to practicethis rst).

THE GEAR YOU MIGHT NEED

Many tend to write this section up rst. In myview, how you use whatever you have withyou is ar more important than having theright gear. You do need a rife, o course,ammunition, and dont orget that essentialdevice or lightening your load, a kni e (thisis or cutting unwanted body parts romthe animal, to save you having to carry the

entire carcass out). However, some bits andpieces o technology are nice to have andwill be help ul. A telescopic

Documents

New Zealand Hunting & Wildlife | 180 - Autumn 2013