Thread: Proposed 1080 drop for Raukumara Urutawa and Waioweka

Originally Posted by bigbear

The problem is Raukumara's is basically land locked and the location its costly for hunters to fly in. So deer numbers have exploded and not just reds. As you will be aware off the locals and farm staff are just taking the cream not even putting a dent in animal numbers. Also the locked up forestry is another problem up the coast.
That also is the same for possum numbers. How many guys go in the middle of the Raukumara's trapping??
Am not a fan of 1080 but what other options are out there.
I am sure they have just done a search and destroy in there?
I know a farm the boundaries southern Raukumara's that have shot 1500 deer in 12 months and still not on top of the problem.

Holy shit that's scary if that many dead isn't on top of the problem. Must be a shit tonne chewing up their paddocks

Originally Posted by charliehorse

Holy shit that's scary if that many dead isn't on top of the problem. Must be a shit tonne chewing up their paddocks

Raukumaras is shocking. Edge deer maybe in ok nick, but right in the guts they’re half starving to death. Been like that for years!!

If I recall correctly the ERMA 1080 review declared targeting deer and large mammals with 1080 (sodium monofluoroacetate was illegal.)

As we know 'officially' 1080 does not kill Kea, however there is right now a research program at Arthurs Pass into preventing Kea deaths through the use of different Kea repellants

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

As we know 'officially' 1080 does not kill Kea, however there is right now a research program at Arthurs Pass into preventing Kea deaths through the use of different Kea repellants

Eh, "As we know"... come on be accurate and dont put your spin on this... the powers that be acknowledge that kea are killed by 1080 , if they didnt why the hell would they be doing trials to find a kea repellent for 1080 baits ?

Originally Posted by sore head stoat

Eh, "As we know"... come on be accurate and dont put your spin on this... the powers that be acknowledge that kea are killed by 1080 , if they didnt why the hell would they be doing trials to find a kea repellent for 1080 baits ?

Yes on the one hand trials but on the other flat denial that many birds are killed, this is the contradictory points I wished to hi-light. First hand on a property we owned, the entire Kea colony of 12 birds was wiped out. The Kakariki's also were killed.
At a guess Kea have a Matriarchal / Patriarchal flock structure that once upset destroys the colony to the extent that the old home range is not re-populated by surviving birds ?

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Yes on the one hand trials but on the other flat denial that many birds are killed, this is the contradictory points I wished to hi-light. First hand on a property we owned, the entire Kea colony of 12 birds was wiped out. The Kakariki's also were killed.
At a guess Kea have a Matriarchal / Patriarchal flock structure that once upset destroys the colony to the extent that the old home range is not re-populated by surviving birds ?

https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK22...p-kea-safe.htm

Paragraph 5.

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Yes on the one hand trials but on the other flat denial that many birds are killed, this is the contradictory points I wished to hi-light. First hand on a property we owned, the entire Kea colony of 12 birds was wiped out. The Kakariki's also were killed.
At a guess Kea have a Matriarchal / Patriarchal flock structure that once upset destroys the colony to the extent that the old home range is not re-populated by surviving birds ?

There is Kakariki in other areas of Canterbury other than the Poulter and Hawdon that seem to proliferate in mast years
then have a drop in numbers once the predators get going.
With the amount of 1080 that has been dropped in the aforementioned valleys you would think the numbers of Kakariki would be better especially with the releases as well.
By memory the last 1080 operation in Arhurs Pass was a failure in terms of predators not killed according to the operators report.
Sadly the Poulter used to be good hunting with lots of Keas to annoy you.
When the first 1080 was getting used round Haast Dave Saxton was adamant it was killing the Kea, took the scientists a lot longer to work that one out.

There is only one "W" in Waioeka....just saying.

I was talking to a local NZDA member the other day and saying another 1080 drop had occurred in AP nat park. He had a bit of a moan about it...

What I cant understand is why the local NZDA don't have a direct line to DOC and ask for tracking tunnel / chew card results or other methods that DOC use to establish that pest populations are getting out of hand .. the other thing I dont understand is why DOC are not proactive and send tracking tunnel results etc to local NZDA branches or have them available monthly on there website for all to see ?

This thread was about the proposed aerial drop for the Raukumara and surrounding areas was it not!? Not about Kea.
I'm not fond of aerial 1080 by all means but I also have spend a little bit of time in Raukumaras and to be fair a lot of it is stuffed. It needs a reset. The possum numbers are out of control and in some catchments the deer have eaten themselves out of food.
The head quality has decreased dramatically and a vast majority of the hunters only go in during the roar to target stags. Other than that most of it seldom gets hunted.
There are a few hunter lead conservation efforts that anyone who cares about pests, 1080 and conservation can volunteer their time and money to to help prove that hunters can achieve conservation goals and there is less need for such things like 1080. I'm sure anyone whinging about the 1080 (other than Tb free drops) is helping chip in on some of these hunter led projects?

Originally Posted by TLB

This thread was about the proposed aerial drop for the Raukumara and surrounding areas was it not!? Not about Kea.
I'm not fond of aerial 1080 by all means but I also have spend a little bit of time in Raukumaras and to be fair a lot of it is stuffed. It needs a reset. The possum numbers are out of control and in some catchments the deer have eaten themselves out of food.
The head quality has decreased dramatically and a vast majority of the hunters only go in during the roar to target stags. Other than that most of it seldom gets hunted.
There are a few hunter lead conservation efforts that anyone who cares about pests, 1080 and conservation can volunteer their time and money to to help prove that hunters can achieve conservation goals and there is less need for such things like 1080. I'm sure anyone whinging about the 1080 (other than Tb free drops) is helping chip in on some of these hunter led projects?

Hasn't there just been a fair bit of search and destroy of deer in there? Used to be renowned for big heavy stags.

Originally Posted by Puddleduk

Hasn't there just been a fair bit of search and destroy of deer in there? Used to be renowned for big heavy stags.

Yeah plenty of search and destroy and still a few hours to go until the end of the financial year. If you look at the condition scores of those animals culled you will see even with the culling there are still plenty of skinny deer around. Not to mention some of the highest possum densities I have seen on PCL. When it was first announced that there was going to be an aerial drop there was plenty of opposition. However it didn't take too long for many of the people that have had a fair bit to do with the Raukumara to change their mind when they stopped and looked at the health of the area.
Still a few good stags get taken but with a healthier ecosystem that will increase.

I went into the raukumaras afew weeks ago, there was no shortage of deer. There was also a shit load or possums. Alot of the deer I got a good look at were in very poor condition. Skinny as all hell. We will be heading back in to the raukumaras in a months time with a "shoot everything we see" mindset, i hate 1080 but the number need to be reduced in there. What meat we can will be recovered but alot of the deer seen on the last trip were in some very hard to reach spots.