Spotlighting on DOC Land

As we all know , spotlighting on doc land is not a legal practice . and in my eyes for good safty reasons!

But is it legal to spotlight in DOC land with out a gun???

I ask this because a mate and i shoot wallibies with a bow. and are also on the mission to shoot a ferrit / stoat. these are most easly found on doc land at night and are pests.

You cant realy shoot log distance or up in the air because arrows are between 30 and 50 dollars a pop

As far as i can seee there is nothing illegal about it ???? is this correct????

Where can i find out if it is or not???

And whats your views on it?

According to the small print on the DOC permit -

"9. Absolutely no spotlighting. Hunting wild animals during the hours of darkness (1/2hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise) is prohibited."

Doesn't say anything on the method, just hunting in general, so I'd assume bow is off-limits too..

Spotlighting doc land is illegal
Pretty simple really.

It's unlawful to discharge a firearm on public land in the hours of darkness. I'm not sure whether the no hunting at night rule is actually written into legislation or whether it is a DOC policy/condition of your permit. Maybe they weren't thinking of bows. I don't know but would be interested to know what the LAW says.

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Originally Posted by Beavis

It's unlawful to discharge a firearm on public land in the hours of darkness. I'm not sure whether the no hunting at night rule is actually written into legislation or whether it is a DOC policy/condition of your permit. Maybe they weren't thinking of bows. I don't know but would be interested to know what the LAW says.

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Exactly my thaughts.. but i had never read the fineprint on the permit so strikers comment i think may have answered my question.
I think i will have to investigate further .

Found this in the permit conditions.

•If you wish to hunt in a manner that isn’t covered by this permit, contact the nearest DOC office for information on how to apply for a permit for your intended activity.

Best you contact DoC and ask to be safe 2SK

doc do have permits for spotlighting small game, but they ARE NOT very forthcoming with them.

Twoshot, here's two words for you : Andrew Mears

As a frequent user of DOC campsites, I would really appreciate if you do not spotlight (rifle, bow, whatever). Just saying...

trust me ebf i know twoshotkill well and he is not a fuck wit who shoots at headlamps. he has merely asked a question as to the technical wording of doc spotlighting policy.

Tussock, look I have some strong views on spotlighting, and let's just say that I am concerned with what is around and behind the "target". In daylight, you hopefully have a reasonable chance of confirming a safe firing zone. You know, the where does the bullet go if I miss part. At night, using a spotlight, unless you are EXTREMELY familiar with the area you are shooting, personally I would not pull a trigger or let rip with an arrow. People camp all over the place on DOC land...

Bottom line is you need to evaluate the risk and ask yourself if it is worth it. In my book it is not...

Comparing your house (? in a rural area) where you know exactly where your neighbours are etc, to public DOC land is two very different situations...

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Originally Posted by StrikerNZ

According to the small print on the DOC permit Hunting wild animals during the hours of darkness (1/2hour after sunset to 1/2 hour before sunrise) is prohibited...

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I am sure I have read this on a permit.
As well. I have personally broken this rule as it is written God knows how many times, without a light.
I would think that anyone else out there that has done a bit of hunting has done so as well.

Food for thought?



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk. So please forgive my sausage fingers!!!

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Originally Posted by Tussock

How is he any threat to you or anyone else ebf?

Pisses me off when you stay in a hut or a campsite and there are wall to wall possums. DOC should be giving permits so guys can go in there and clean them up, if they are not going to.

Its not dangerous, if your as sensible as with any other shooting activity. Im out every night cleaning up possums around the house.

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They sure to like congregating around buildings :)

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

They sure to like congregating around buildings :)

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Possums or people ? ;)

Its perfectly safe if 7 basic rules are followed;)

take a breath and count to 10 EBF you are winding yourself over a simple question to which you have jumped to a huge conclusion deep breaths.

I put this post up to not only get some info on the legality if it but to see what peoples views are of it .
It is good to see some passion on both side of this.
The way i see it is that im still on the fence as i know what im like with safety and see it as a safe practace if at all times we bow shoot animals in close range and on the ground. This is not to say that if it was legal, any idiot would be fireing arrows in the air, and in all directions in areas they dont know. so it would be safer in the long run to put a blanket ban on it.

But at the end of the day it looks to be not legal either way so .......

Anyone got any ideas on where we can shoot a stoat during daylight???

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Originally Posted by Twoshotkill

This is not to say that if it was legal, any idiot would be fireing arrows in the air, and in all directions in areas they dont know. so it would be safer in the long run to put a blanket ban on it.

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Absolutely, and I do understand where you are coming from :) I am not in favor of blanket bans - if we all end up living in cotton wool bubbles life would be pretty boring...

There are however some fairly common sense reasons why spotlighting on public land is not allowed, at least in my mind.

[QUOTE=Twoshotkill;82983]I put this post up to not only get some info on the legality if it but to see what peoples views are of it .
It is good to see some passion on both side of this.
The way i see it is that im still on the fence as i know what im like with safety and see it as a safe practace if at all times we bow shoot animals in close range and on the ground. This is not to say that if it was legal, any idiot would be fireing arrows in the air, and in all directions in areas they dont know. so it would be safer in the long run to put a blanket ban on it.

But at the end of the day it looks to be not legal either way so .......

Anyone got any ideas on where we can shoot a stoat during daylight???[/QUOTE]

First of all you need to distinguish the difference between a weasel and a stoat. A weasel is weasily identified, but a stoat is stoately different.:)

I would be stoked if you could weasely tell me how to ???

It can be done safely if you are onto it. The people that fuck up and shoot people while lighting were probably careless and bound to have an accident anyway.

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Originally Posted by mucko

take a breath and count to 10 EBF you are winding yourself over a simple question to which you have jumped to a huge conclusion deep breaths.

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He's been away for a week just catching up cos he's missed letting us know stuff .. And he knows lots a stuff ..

Ive seen them in broad daylight on bush tracks- Hollyford, random spot in Murchison and Eastern Okataina out from Rotorua. The one in Murch was chasing a weka in an out of blackberry patch, could've watched for hours........good times

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Originally Posted by Happy

He's been away for a week just catching up cos he's missed letting us know stuff .. And he knows lots a stuff ..

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Aw Happy ! You missed me mate ? ;)

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Originally Posted by big_foot

Ive seen them in broad daylight on bush tracks- Hollyford, random spot in Murchison and Eastern Okataina out from Rotorua. The one in Murch was chasing a weka in an out of blackberry patch, could've watched for hours........good times

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Wow.. i just spent the weekend at okatina didnt take the gun , just followed my mate with the bow to film some woblies getting smashed.
HUNTING IS SO MUCH EASIER THAN FILMING!

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Originally Posted by Twoshotkill

Wow.. i just spent the weekend at okatina didnt take the gun , just followed my mate with the bow to film some woblies getting smashed.
HUNTING IS SO MUCH EASIER THAN FILMING!

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I agree with the filming being hard. You should see all the video footage of my feet when the camera is on when I think it's off, and the dissappointment of thinking I had some great footage, only to find the camera off!! I still get a huge kick out of reliving hunts etc.

Yea.
I roared in a sika stag last year while my mate stood about a meter away from me ..... From my view it was wide out in the open so i knocked it off its feet.... On film you cant see a blody thing. So frustrating!

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Originally Posted by ebf

Twoshot, here's two words for you : Andrew Mears

As a frequent user of DOC campsites, I would really appreciate if you do not spotlight (rifle, bow, whatever). Just saying...

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An odious comparison. Most spotlighters have a modicum of intelligence not suffering from a complete lobotomy.

Jeez guys, can we all pls have a collective untangling of the panties ? Nowhere in my posts did I refer to all spotlighters as drunken hooligans.

Mucko, TeRei etc, I did not compare 2shot to Mears, merely mentioned Mears as an example of spotlighting on DOC land gone wrong...

Personally I can't understand all the venom against Mears, yup he did something incredibly stupid, but if you look at the footage of him during his trail, he looked shattered. He immediately confessed, took his punishment, and will live with the consequences for the rest of his life. Compared to Dummer, at least he seems to have acted with a bit of backbone after the event.

Regarding the spotlighting, I've done it, shooting hares on a farm. Personally, I will only ever consider doing it on land that I am very familiar with, and only for ground based prey, where you have a reasonable chance of working out your firing zone. Shooting into the air, at possums in trees, is something I consider unsafe, unless you use a shotgun. If any of the spotlighters want to try to convince me that shooting a 22 into trees at night is a safe practice, I'm all ears.

There are lots of people on DOC land who are not hunters, we all share the same space. A bit of respect for their views goes a long way...

Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion.

It is actually hunting during the hours of darkness that is prohibited , so this includes not only spotlights but night vision equipment, flares , your own beedy eyes as well and any thing which can be called hunting using a, firearm , bow, Atlatal , club or big rock:D

Yup, and you can wander around shining lights at animals all you want if you aren't planning to kill any of them.

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Originally Posted by GravelBen

Yup, and you can wander around shining lights at animals all you want if you aren't planning to kill any of them.

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Wrong...if on DoC land...download a permit and read it

There is a bit about 'use of a spotlight' (as Spook has said) doesn't even have to be for hunting. I'm sure someone somewhere that is grumpy enough might be able to slap you on the wrist for a high powered head lamp (am I right that there is no definition for 'spotlight' in that legislation?)

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Originally Posted by Spook

Wrong...if on DoC land...download a permit and read it

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If you aren't hunting you aren't subject to the conditions of a hunting permit, so its irrelevant.

Obviously this means being unarmed when you're there.

I guess there could be a grey area if you entered the permit area armed but left your weapon at camp while going for a walk with a light later - you aren't hunting because you aren't armed, but you did enter the area under the conditions of the permit. If they charged you they might have to prove in court that you weren't just looking for a good toilet spot though.

Just had a look at the bits of legislation referred to in the hunting permit, there is no mention of spotlighting or night hunting specifically just that DOC can impose conditions on hunting. The permit itself gives no definition of 'spotlight' or 'spotlighting', but the condition that mentions it is fairly clear in specifying that 'hunting wild animals during the hours of darkness' is prohibited - which obviously doesn't affect you if you aren't hunting.

Nice, good, er, spotting! :thumbsup:

This is the dictionary.com definition of SPOTLIGHTING which dosent realy leave us any wiser i think.


spot·light
[spot-lahyt] Show IPA noun, verb, spot·light·ed or spot·lit, spot·light·ing.

noun
1.
a strong, focused light thrown upon a particular spot, as on a small area of a stage or in a television studio, for making some object, person, or group especially conspicuous.

2.
a lamp for producing such a light.

3.
a brilliant light with a focused beam, mounted on the side of an automobile and used for illuminating objects not within range of the headlights.

4.
the area of immediate or conspicuous public attention: Asia is in the spotlight now.

verb (used with object)
5.
to direct the beam of a spotlight upon; light with a spotlight.

6.
to make conspicuous; call attention to: Newspapers spotlighted the story for a week.

7.
to hunt (animals) using a spotlight in order to temporarily blind or confuse them.

Ahhhh Benny boy, my dear :) dictionary meanings mean not much in law, usually if it's deemed an important term then it will be included in the Interpretation section of the act, usually at the beginning.

True but i cant find anything that that states a definition. Typical of the law... leave it open so no one has any idea untill they get a fine slaped on them.

There are eleven regulations which have the word spotlight in them , they are in the Bylaws for the various National Parks , in the bylaws they all say
Use of spotlight for hunting prohibited:
A person must not use a spotlight in the park to identify or dazzle prey in the park
None define spotlight in the interpretation and only one I could find has an interpretation for hours of darkness .

It gets awfully complicated and there is more in Wildlife leglislation in general about dogs than there is about firearms or spotlights .
If you are interested click on New Zealand Legislation and do a search