Thread: 223 on deer

Originally Posted by 9STAGS

Tahr the photo of the skinny Fallow and even the other 2 look to be lying on good grass/tucker.
Is the feed just not there to sustain the current population?
Could there be another reason to poor condition? Older deer nearing the end of their lifespan maybe.
Don't normally see to many skinny deer on farmland, unless they are sick or the land is really marginal country which by your photos looks to not be the case.
Either way having a hunt with your lad would of been a nice day/night out.

Thats a relevant comment. These poor condition deer are leaking from a large private scrub block of shit country where there is low hunting pressure. They have been malnourished their whole lives. While there is excellent grass and cover outside of their sanctuary they seem to prefer to return to their home range after a nightly foray onto surrounding farm country. Those that don't return and take up new digs never seem to get back to decent condition or get popped before they can. And Im constantly culling new arrivals.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Thats a relevant comment. These poor condition deer are leaking from a large private scrub block of shit country where there is low hunting pressure. They have been malnourished their whole lives. While there is excellent grass and cover outside of their sanctuary they seem to prefer to return to their home range after a nightly foray onto surrounding farm country. Those that don't return and take up new digs never seem to get back to decent condition or get popped before they can. And Im constantly culling new arrivals.

Is there any law in NZ preventing flying a chopper a little bit too low and sounding some air horns whilst on approach through a neighbour's property and doing a cull on authorised land once they bolt out?

Or have I been reading too much 'Chopper Boys'?

Originally Posted by Tahr

Thats a relevant comment. These poor condition deer are leaking from a large private scrub block of shit country where there is low hunting pressure. They have been malnourished their whole lives. While there is excellent grass and cover outside of their sanctuary they seem to prefer to return to their home range after a nightly foray onto surrounding farm country. Those that don't return and take up new digs never seem to get back to decent condition or get popped before they can. And Im constantly culling new arrivals.

Cheers for the reply.

Yes that makes more sense than scratching my head and wondering why you were shooting skinny deer on that nice green grass.
Ive heard of that before, and it certainly frustrates some farmers when they have neighboring blocks to them that are incubators for uncontrolled animal populations that filter through to their good grazing country.