Thread: Commercial vs Recreational Hunting in NZ

regeneration of bush/vegetation damage is an interesting one, lets for arguments sake take mount somers as an egzample. pinacles hut was built in slaughter gully back about 25 year ago. its called slaughter gully because Gerry Orouke got stuck into mob of over 100 hinds in there way back in 1900 and nuts and bolts
another fella who meat hunted area in 60s said a group of 6 hinds lived in that same area during that period of time
I spent a heap of time in andaround that hut before I got married and the deer just dont LIVE there any more,neither do the sheep that used to graze right to there from over the back towards waterfall creek.... when I first started hunting area some 25ish years ago I took series of photos right around me (didnt have flash panning digital cameras back then) and the majority of vegetation in the area was about a meter high,if you go back to that same spot now it is well over your head,even the hebe type bushes are huge by comparison to what they were.
the bush in that area has well deserved reputation for being thick tangled crappy going.....plenty regen going on.... beech seedlings everywhere AND broadleaf five finger,seven finger etc too so animal numbers arent whipeing out the vege anytime soon.
the whole arguement that deer COULD go back to numbers of the 40s etc is flawed as times have changed,technology has made your weekend hunter far more able to get out and harvest an animal ,sure we arent as fit as we were back then but with 4wds etc we dont need to be. the big herds of unchecked numbers wont build up because they wont go undetected...eg the back of high country stations get visited all the time and flown over all the time,deer arent going to go undetected and breed up into huge herds because they will be seen...thus able to be dealt with,weather that is by shooting a few for the pot/allowing easier access/search n destroy either foot or by air or waro and dare I say it poison.
times have changed.
put trusty 222 and his lot in the bush areas and some of the long range guys out in open areas and your block animal numbers could be reduced in a big way quickly,buzz around in a 44 on search and destroy and same applies.
its so much easier now as to be a non issue.