Thread: Deer Population Growth

Originally Posted by Flyblown

No offence intended whatsoever but I think this is a very naive view....

The way I interpret your response is that there is a hefty dose of envy, which is getting in the way of understanding the practical realities. Like I say I do not mean to offend but sometimes some attitude adjustment needs to happen to be able to see a problem for what it really is.

I don't think it was said with envy, well not unhealthy envy at least.

I for one know of places where I can reliably shoot deer on public land, but its a two hour drive from home ($100 of diesel and RUC's these days) and a four hour hike. There's also no sign of there being too many deer so I'm only shooting what I can carry (1-2 deer) I'd by lying if I didn't say I wasn't jealous of hunters who know of (or have private access to) area's where they see herds of deer and perhaps have easier access. I can also accept thought that knowledge like that comes from years of hunting.

I think there could be a more balanced approach though such as an "adopt a hunter" programme through NZDA's, where seasoned hunters commit to taking a junior hunter out to an area with too many hinds for culling and/or meat harvesting purposes. The junior hunter would have already demonstrated a level of commitment through NZDA membership (maybe having done the HUNTs course as well) which reduces the chance of an area being overrun by people. I know this already happens informally to an extent but there's no formal system or organised hunts like this that I know of (North Canterbury DA is my branch).