Thread: Herd management and Playing our part

Originally Posted by yeah_na_missed

Thanks for posting this @Sidetrack. It's helpful to read. I'm soon to get back into hunting after 15 years away (and then almost 2 yrs getting licensed again). I have no real desire to hang a set of antlers on my wall. If a good head popped up, there's little doubt I'd have a crack, but hunting for food and just getting out into the bush are the main drivers for me. I'm the same with killing for the sake of it - previously limited to small furry fuckers as part of pest control.

On the topic of managing numbers, I get that rec. hunters have to do their part to get populations under control, or the whirly birds come in spitting lead. However, one question I have is how do we record the impact we're having? We hunt the same land as choppers, so there is no way of saying to the powers that be that we as a group are having an impact unless we record the numbers we are taking out of areas. Would it be feasible to take a similar approach to the glory days, and hand in tails to the local DOC office as proof of numbers? Otherwise I feel we might be pissing into the wind a little if we want to be considered as part of the solution, and remain relevant. Dunno. Data is power.

@MickyDuck, sounds like a recorded gps track might be helpful to show to your local orrificer where exactly you have been. Bush might make it a little less accurate, but would be within hundreds rather than thousands of metres. NZMaps app records your track. Costs $12 a year to have that feature, and is a but more battery hungry, but would certainly be rather farking satisfying showing old mate that he's full of shite. To be fair to him though, there is precedent of hobbits venturing far beyond their preferred habitat...

I purchased a updated GPS soon afterwards for just that very reason.....