Thread: Rainbow station..access for hunting, whats the go???

It's easier for them to close the road then deal with stuck vehicles. As far as I'm aware you have never been able to the station land itself, only use the road to gain access to public land. That particular valley has always been difficult to gain access through the off season. Each manager prefers to let their own staff hunt it. I can understand locking it up once the snow hits.

Personally I have had difficulty with them. Not replying to emails or phone calls. When you are able to make contact you are mostly abused and told to bugger off. Now I simply throw my mountain bike over the gate and go about my business.
Rainbow station is well know to be difficult to deal with.

Originally Posted by EFriz

Personally I have had difficulty with them. Not replying to emails or phone calls. When you are able to make contact you are mostly abused and told to bugger off. Now I simply throw my mountain bike over the gate and go about my business.
Rainbow station is well know to be difficult to deal with.

Sounds like you may be part of the problem.

Plenty of people bike through the Rainbow each year. Its a well known cycle tourist classic. I've fished the river in there ( with licence and backcountry permit) and would consider biking in from the gate to access the DOC/Public land for fishing /Hunting. On a side note - some rental vehicles with Tom Tom or similar GPS used to indicate this was the quickest way to drive from Hanmer to Nelson! Good luck with that our foreign friends! That may have pissed off the Rainbow on a few occasions!

Originally Posted by Scott29er

Plenty of people bike through the Rainbow each year. Its a well known cycle tourist classic. I've fished the river in there ( with licence and backcountry permit) and would consider biking in from the gate to access the DOC/Public land for fishing /Hunting. On a side note - some rental vehicles with Tom Tom or similar GPS used to indicate this was the quickest way to drive from Hanmer to Nelson! Good luck with that our foreign friends! That may have pissed off the Rainbow on a few occasions!

I get that mountain biking is not likely to be a huge issue, but anyone hopping round the gate on private property and assuming the right, is just going to make landowner tighten things up all round

Originally Posted by Pengy

I get that mountain biking is not likely to be a huge issue, but anyone hopping round the gate on private property and assuming the right, is just going to make landowner tighten things up all round

It is actually a public road tho Pengy I am fairly sure and is not "private property " but crown pastoral lease......two quite different things.
Happy to be corrected on that but that is my understanding.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

It is actually a public road tho Pengy I am fairly sure and is not "private property " but crown pastoral lease......two quite different things.
Happy to be corrected on that but that is my understanding.

Ok. I thought the lease holder had right to refuse access

and please stop blaming overseas visitors for all of our woes

Sounds abit like they have selected people they let in the off season for hunting and bad luck anyone else. Thought DOC had a agreement with them to allow access for hunting
onto DOC land. One way to manage the animal numbers. Maybe if they hardly let hunters in other than whose in the know maybe we should be be in the ear of DOC about the high number of animals in there and as you cant get access prob a good idea to bring in the green rain to control them......... might see then better response lol. Yes, no reply to second email asking whats the story, is the website wrong etc etc.
No answer to the phone call.....yes, looks like hunting the rainbow is only for the selective few and im not one of them.
Reminds me of the council up the roding and matai catchments. they say you can apply for a hunting permit as they want animal numbers controled etc.
Catch is the caretakers give them out. As they hunters they always say NO. Keep it for themselves and their mates. They dont control numbers thou, they manage them, so the council hire cullers to go in their once in awhile to
cut the animal numbers down.
If the council actually forced the caretakers to allow others in they wouldnt have that prob;lem but thts how it works i guess

Originally Posted by deer243

Sounds abit like they have selected people they let in the off season for hunting and bad luck anyone else. Thought DOC had a agreement with them to allow access for hunting
onto DOC land. One way to manage the animal numbers. Maybe if they hardly let hunters in other than whose in the know maybe we should be be in the ear of DOC about the high number of animals in there and as you cant get access prob a good idea to bring in the green rain to control them......... might see then better response lol. Yes, no reply to second email asking whats the story, is the website wrong etc etc.
No answer to the phone call.....yes, looks like hunting the rainbow is only for the selective few and im not one of them.
Reminds me of the council up the roding and matai catchments. they say you can apply for a hunting permit as they want animal numbers controled etc.
Catch is the caretakers give them out. As they hunters they always say NO. Keep it for themselves and their mates. They dont control numbers thou, they manage them, so the council hire cullers to go in their once in awhile to
cut the animal numbers down.
If the council actually forced the caretakers to allow others in they wouldnt have that prob;lem but thts how it works i guess

To be fair....
I've hunted Rainbow off and on for the last 14 years or so, I've known 4 different farm managers in that time and all have been really good people once you spend a bit of time having a conversation with them,
I've found they are incredibly busy guys up there and sometimes stuff gets forgotten, I've also been declined access on occasion because other party's had asked first.
To suggest it deserves to be 1080ed just because you haven't been able to gain access yet, is a bit over the top,
In my experience the deer are pretty patchy on rainbow already with the local waro poacher doing his best....or maybe I'm not hunting it enough...
Leatham is pretty close , why not try that.?

Originally Posted by davhope

To be fair....
I've hunted Rainbow off and on for the last 14 years or so, I've known 4 different farm managers in that time and all have been really good people once you spend a bit of time having a conversation with them,
I've found they are incredibly busy guys up there and sometimes stuff gets forgotten, I've also been declined access on occasion because other party's had asked first.
To suggest it deserves to be 1080ed just because you haven't been able to gain access yet, is a bit over the top,
In my experience the deer are pretty patchy on rainbow already with the local waro poacher doing his best....or maybe I'm not hunting it enough...
Leatham is pretty close , why not try that.?

1080 comment was tongue and cheek, , i dont want 1080 dropped anywhere. Just annoys me access is difficult to access DOC land. They still charge 40 dollars, but if they state on their websites that access can be gained in the off season cant see why not. If thats not the case they should up date that no hunting access is in force . Still, clearly its if you in the know and i dont think thats right when you want to use a road to access DOC land and not theres but there you go

Know before you go
The formed roads and tracks have not been engineered, nor are they maintained to meet the standards for public access. Parts of it are hazardous. The hazards are not individually signposted or marked. Sudden weather changes can cause additional adverse conditions and/or additional hazards.

The Leaseholder consents to access by the public only on the basis that each person travels at his/her own risk, accepts full responsibility for his/her own safety, and accepts that the Leaseholder has no liability or responsibility of any sort for any injury, damage or accident to any person or property that enters Rainbow Station farmland and its surrounds, or when traversing the private formed tracks and/or roads.

The road is only suitable for high-clearance 4WD vehicles. There is no cell phone coverage and breakdown services may not operate in the private area. Drivers also need to be self-sufficient and prepared for sudden changes in weather. You drive at your own risk.

Unseasonal snows, slips or elevated fire risk may close the road without notice.

Quote above from the DOC website. I then checked the Rainbow Station site - said access closed until the new season. Hunters and the like should have put in their submissions or concerns to DOC etc when the new owners took over a few years ago - owner is from Nelson i believe. I know previously that there was an arrangement to access out of season for hunting but.......nothing lasts forever unfortunately and the road has been previously washed out nearer the Rainbow end if you have been checking the info online..Who funds the road repairs is likely another issue even though we pay a road toll during summer at the homestead gate? I don't agree in the highly restricted access to the Rainbow road at times but f..k all of you people take part in submitting your concerns to LINZ/DOC etc and blame others like the NZDA (7000 members)/GAC for hunter related problems with access and firearms. More political power in numbers/organisations like F&B (about 70,000 members). So make your vote count at this years MMP and stop worrying about taxes and the like - all Govts put up tax! Think more about your hunting interests. Just saying....