Thread: Going for a walk

Hi all

My wife wants to go for a walk up some hill/mountain and I want to hunt. She mentioned Mt Sunday as it is fairly near to us being in Christchurch.

Would it be worth taking the rifle there along one of the walks? What are the general rules/etiquette about that? Do you have to have the gun covered and shoot from a certain distance from a path? Or is there nothing on the Mt to shoot?


TIA

If you are thinking about Mt Sunday in the Rangitata - that is a prohibited area for hunting.

Originally Posted by Shamus_

If you are thinking about Mt Sunday in the Rangitata - that is a prohibited area for hunting.

Thanks, Shamus just home and checked the hunting areas. It would have to be Mt Potts and it seems like you would have to be a mountain Goat yourself to tackle that.

Looks like it's Big Kevs Big Dig instead and back to the drawing board.

Plenty of options with walking tracks...front face of Mt Somers pops to mind. I've shot deer from the track at hookies knob first thing in morning. Walking track so all cautions advised.

Originally Posted by SAUM

Thanks, Shamus just home and checked the hunting areas. It would have to be Mt Potts and it seems like you would have to be a mountain Goat yourself to tackle that.

Looks like it's Big Kevs Big Dig instead and back to the drawing board.

I'm a bit old and foggy in my mind but I think me and Mr micky Duck went up there and saw a few and he shot a deer, our first time there, so good effort and not that hard to do.

Lot of people visit Mt Sunday everyday,Lord of rings fans.Mt Potts for you SAUM.

Originally Posted by SmokeyJason

I'm a bit old and foggy in my mind but I think me and Mr micky Duck went up there and saw a few and he shot a deer, our first time there, so good effort and not that hard to do.

nah nearly the same area though LOL

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

Plenty of options with walking tracks...front face of Mt Somers pops to mind. I've shot deer from the track at hookies knob first thing in morning. Walking track so all cautions advised.

I’d be careful what you say online… rule #5 of your hunting permit states “no firearm shall be discharged in the vicinity of huts, tracks…”

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-re...it-conditions/

To answer @SAUM’s question, there’s nothing about having your gun covered and the only time a distance from the path is specified is for Great Walks (500m).

Thanks for the replys. I had a look at Mt Potts while I was beside it and what a mission it would be to hunt that. From the side I was on anyway. I did see a 4x4 parked at the bottom of the track and it's a 1.5km walk to get to the public land and then it goes verticle. ha

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

I’d be careful what you say online… rule #5 of your hunting permit states “no firearm shall be discharged in the vicinity of huts, tracks…”

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-re...it-conditions/

To answer @SAUM’s question, there’s nothing about having your gun covered and the only time a distance from the path is specified is for Great Walks (500m).

You're dead on the money there, the devil is in the details. Hookey Knob is a hunting area, so A-ok to hunt it in that respect. Regarding "vicinity" of a track, because DOC doesn't define what vicinity is, nor does the Arms Act relating to discharging firearms, it's anyone's guess how far you should be from a track (see rant below ). Because so much is left to interpretation, it's up to us as individuals to determine the spirit and intent of the law and try to work within that.


The next bit is a bit of a derail from the thread, but:

I know clarification almost always leads to further restriction, but these completely nebulous phrases tick me off. Writing policy or laws with no definitions is lunacy in my mind.

"No firearm shall be discharged:
In the vicinity of huts, tracks, campsites, road-ends or other public places.
Within 500 m of a Great Walk Hut or track. See Great Walks.
In a manner that endangers, frightens or annoys members of the public, or that endangers any property."

They basically make it impossible to know you're following the law because it's completely subjective. People say to use common sense, then someone gets "annoyed or frightened" despite you working your butt off to keep everyone happy and you're still SOL.
It's right up there with "fit and proper" for leaving us completely at the whim and mercy of anyone who doesn't like us.

Originally Posted by mopheadrob

I’d be careful what you say online… rule #5 of your hunting permit states “no firearm shall be discharged in the vicinity of huts, tracks…”

https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-re...it-conditions/

To answer @SAUM’s question, there’s nothing about having your gun covered and the only time a distance from the path is specified is for Great Walks (500m).

close but WRONG....

No firearm shall be discharged:
In the vicinity of huts, tracks, campsites, road-ends or other public places.
Within 500 m of a Great Walk Hut or track. See Great Walks.

the track mentioned is not a great walk..like milford track etc
which begs the question how does a person now hunt the greenstone/caples???? 500meters from the walkway is a 1km wide strip...

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

the track mentioned is not a great walk..like milford track etc

To be a real pedantic ass (and further derail the conversation) I'm entirely sure that this bit you've quoted does mean within 500m of a Great Walk track. If it meant any track there should be an Oxford comma; "Within 500 m of a Great Walk Hut, or track". Also tracks in general are covered by the bullet point immediately above this ("vicinity of.. tracks"), so it's reasonable to interpret this as a specification for Great Walk tracks.

That said, use some good common sense, and maybe worth a few people contacting DoC to get it reworded so it's less ambiguous.

To come back to @SAUM's question, check out where there are less-used tracks/routes in the Mt Oxford/Thomas/Grey region, just be aware they can be very busy with trampers.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

close but WRONG....

No firearm shall be discharged:
In the vicinity of huts, tracks, campsites, road-ends or other public places.
Within 500 m of a Great Walk Hut or track. See Great Walks.

the track mentioned is not a great walk..like milford track etc
which begs the question how does a person now hunt the greenstone/caples???? 500meters from the walkway is a 1km wide strip...

One stupid question, please ignore my ignorance. So no firearm but can one shoot with a bow?

Originally Posted by Inder

One stupid question, please ignore my ignorance. So no firearm but can one shoot with a bow?

Asking the real questions Based on how it's written and also how the law is generally enforced here, my guess is that you're fine legally to discharge a bow wherever hunting is allowed, but if someone got a bug up their butt over it, they would find something else to charge you with and make the legal fight the actual punishment.

The only way it would be enforceable would be if there's some bizarre legal precedent or definition that makes a bow a firearm under certain conditions, but I don't know of it.