Wapiti Roadshow

This has hit the road with a number of presentations over the next month up and down the country. The presentations include a doco by NZ Hunter on the FWF and all it's efforts with the herd, general conservation etc. Funds raised will go to the Foundation, much needed in the battle with our mates F & Bird. Don't think that just because you aren't a wapiti hunter it isn't worth supporting. If F & B get their way other herds (sika) etc will be in their sights.
Auckland NZDA is hosting a presentation 10 July but uptake of tickets is slow and if not enough tickets are sold wont happen. Surely there are plenty of concerned hunters in the Auckland region. Attached is the link to the event, consider a ticket a donation to the future of hunting in NZ. https:http://fwf.net.nz/roadshow/

Done a donation.

I wonder why they chose Methven over Christchurch. I would have gone to one in Chch. I donated instead.

Because Methven has a cool little picture theatre, that isnt afraid to show some movies that dont run in the mainstream. Have seen it completely packed out on several occasions. And because Methven/Ashburton/Rakaia has a rather strong hunting fraternity with a good number of guys well invested in hunting Fiordland.

Just bought my ticket to Methven.

I went to the roadshow recently when it was held at the Hutt Valley Deerstalkers club night. Roy Sloan from the Wapiti Foundation gave a passionate talk about the threat from the proposed legal action by F&B to can the agreement between the FWF and DOC for the FWF to look after the area. If they succeed, there will be no managed WARO to keep the animal number in sync with the environment as its currently not commercially viable. If WARO takes off again, then it will be another boom-and-bust cycle. With no wapiti herd of significance, it is likely that the stoat trapping lines run by the FWF will run out of volunteers. The film put together by Willie Duley was excellent and if watching that doesn’t make you want to head for the Fiords then nothing will.

So far only 27 tickets sold for the Auckland presentation 10th July. Pretty apathetic of Auckland hunters in my opinion. Each year Auckland would probably make up the greatest number of applications in the ballot which is to be expected with a regional population of 1.7million. If you want to be able to chase a viable wapiti herd (and for that matter other species) in the future get off your bums. How about a few more of you showing some appreciation of what the Wapiti foundation are doing both for the wapiti herd and hunting as a whole? Look forward to seeing you at the Auckland NZDA clubrooms 10th July @ 7 Target St. Pt Chevalier.

Bugga, Wellington done and gone:oh noes:

Was hoping to catch it here in Nelson but I'll be at work.

Roadshow starts up again next week Wednesday night in Dunedin, here in Oamaru on Thursday night, Methven on Friday night, Nelson on Saturday night then on to the North Island

this from F and B might interest some of you -

https://www.forestandbird.org.nz/res...0b82-339409885

So their tactic is that if f and b does not have things run the way they want, they will take it to the unesco who might remove fiorland park from world heritage park list.
I wonder how many 1000 s of$ f and b has put in fiorland and how many traps their members have set up and worked on over the years compared to the work done by fwf?

None . The management of F and B are political lobbyists chasing their own agenda. Far removed from the actual membership who do good works in the community for nature.

To clarify - I am a card-carrying member of F and B

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Originally Posted by Fee Knicks

None . The management of F and B are political lobbyists chasing their own agenda. Far removed from the actual membership who do good works in the community for nature.

To clarify - I am a card-carrying member of F and B

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Which makes it impossible to support F&B, even though many of their members (yet) might have their intentions at the right spot.

I think the actual members (i.e. the ones that actually do stuff) of Twig and Tweed leaving because of the ideologue vandals being what they are would send a strong message. And would send the organization to where it belongs in the long term.

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Originally Posted by STC

Which makes it impossible to support F&B, even though many of their members (yet) might have their intentions at the right spot.

I think the actual members (i.e. the ones that actually do stuff) of Twig and Tweed leaving because of the ideologue vandals being what they are would send a strong message. And would send the organization to where it belongs in the long term.

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Objectively viewed, I wonder if they actually had a net gain of members because of the Wapiti stance? It might well contra what they lose? But I simply don't know. Suggesting this because they have a very strong memberships in the cities and in Wellington which is Green central.

The future is in fact lobbyists and lawsuits serving the wants of the few at the top and at times not even remotely addressing the issue at hand/debate. As me how I know.
My fear would be that the wapiti of Fiordland are akin to the sheep of the western US where most of the work is done by the working class whilst those at the top reap the rewards...see governors and raffle tags in the US. I'm not sure where the list of successful Wapiti lottery applicants is held but I wonder who draws every year and who has to wait 20 years for a tag...however I'm sure everything here is on the up and up as y'all seem to have much of it dialed in as far as togetherness is concerned. Proud to be here. I'll be at the Nelson viewing.

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Originally Posted by Tahr

Objectively viewed, I wonder if they actually had a net gain of members because of the Wapiti stance? It might well contra what they lose? But I simply don't know. Suggesting this because they have a very strong membership in Wellington which is Green central.

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Good point, how many traps will a greenie in wellington help set up in fjordland? they do love their virtue-signalling and wanting to ban other people from doing stuff... whether people like that make for a strong base in memberships is a different matter... Keep in mind there are not that many greenies out there, they just like to scream louder than the rest and pretend they are...

As for if they gained members you are right we do not know.

The fact that they pulled out of that "election" thingy, and that they "paused" their legal action are interesting data points however that point that the backlash might have been stronger than what they originally anticiapted. But that is just an interpretation.

I went to Methven last night, bloody pleased I did and wel worth it!. I saw the 1st screening which went for a good 45mins, Willie did the introduction and said after the screenings there would be further guests and much more info about what was happening with this saga.

The old and new footage was priceless, was bloody good to exit the theater and pass the next crowd waiting to see the 2nd screening. I didn't go to the blue pub to hear the extra info as needed to get home. I highly recommend seeing it!.

there is good article in latest NZHunter with interview of woman who is member of both organisations and who organises trap lines down there..well worth the time to read it..might put some fears off to bed.

Yup, I went to the Methven one last night, great night, very informative. Methven was the first sold out show. Three viewings, 5pm kids with caregiver for a gold coin donation, and then 2 viewings after for all us keen hunters. Place was packed. And then after that, it was off to Samuels Bar at the Blue Pub for Roys presentation, along with Tim Gale from the GAC. Followed by an auction for donated prizes which was well supported and brought in a lot of money for the FWF.
All in all an excellent night, and so bloody good to see such a big crowd there supporting the Foundation. Theres tough times ahead and these guys were able to put our perspective across very well. Thank you to the NZ Hunter crew, Roy Sloan and all the hardworking volunteers in the FWF, Tim Gale, and all the others leading the good fight.

For what it's worth, I'm a greens voter who also supports the wapiti foundation. While there are definitely some absolute fuckwits it's not a monolithic block, just like every other political group. And I've had significantly better results talking to people about the shared conservation efforts and love of the outdoors than anything else.

Wanted to go here but can't get off work early so having to miss it.

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Originally Posted by Happy Jack

Wanted to go here but can't get off work early so having to miss it.

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Was certainly worth viewing, you may get another opportunity to see it locally in the future :)

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Originally Posted by Kiwi Greg

Was certainly worth viewing, you may get another opportunity to see it locally in the future :)

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That would be good.

Aucklanders - roadshow arrives this wednesday 10th 6:30pm @ NZDA Clubrooms 7 Target St. Pt Chevalier
Get your tickets online or doorsales as well.
Dont miss out, by all reports well worth coming to
The Foundation need your support.

In Hamilton on the 9th apparently.

Went to the Dunedin event. Good turnout and informative presentations.

My interpretation of the take-home messages, for those unable to attend or considering attendance:
- Success (or otherwise) of the FWF model may predict success (or otherwise) of future herds of special interest, which may include: Sika, Tahr, Chamois, Whitetail, Sambar, certain Fallow herds (Greenstone/Blue Mtns come to mind) etc. This is a large proportion of the animals we all love to hunt, therefore we should all care about the FWF cause.
- FWF are very good at what they do (managing a herd of Wapiti/conservation/etc) but maybe not so good at what F&B do (public relations and story telling). FWF are getting hunters on board, but the next step is preaching to the non-converted. We should all be going to the roadshow events where possible so we can fully understand the strategic messaging and how we can most effectively convert the non-converted.
- F&B have something they fight for (conservation of forests and birds...) but need something to fight against - albeit misguided, this happens to be FWF right now.
- F&B will capitalise on any unclear/fuzzy messaging. This means we need to be laser focused on what we want to achieve and how we tell that story. Fringe messaging like ban-1080, anti-DOC, political angst, insert whatever your pet-hate is here, will be unhelpful at best and provide F&B with valuable material at worst.
- It's important we make a considered and concerted effort to help FWF achieve their goals so that we can achieve ours - better hunting and healthier environments for NZers.

Just my interpretation and extrapolation of what was said. Get along and find out for yourselves if you can.

Very well put @Edunn