Recent activity in the Central North Island

This trip was a continuation of the last, culling reds from a recovering farm that has been let go, and thinning out the fallow in the lower country. It's a mix of meat hunting and straight culling - it's hard to get your head around the amount of killing after a while, especially when you know the animal won't be used. There's complex reasons as to why we were largely culling to waste, don't bother challenging it cos I won't go there! The pig population is thriving, most deer carcasses were gone within two days, and on one occasion a deer I dropped at 8am was gone by 7pm.

The nature of the terrain is such that there's a lot of 400-600m shooting. It's been good to get into this and it's become pretty much the norm for me now. There's plenty of close up action too, and I had great fun on the goats with @shooternz's cast lead .308 subsonics.

Here's some video of some of the shots taken, and photos of some of the game. I struggled a bit with the filming as animals rarely stay put for long, and I missed some good action which was a bit frustrating! The camera also had an incredibly annoying habit of shutting down due to "flat batteries" right at the critical moment, despite it indicating full power and the batteries being new. It's going to be replaced.

It's been good to get into the fallow, such good eating.

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As usual, no mercy was shown towards the goat.

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Here's some victims of the subsonic .308... goats and rabbits. The rabbit carcasses are as clean as a whistle.

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This mob of goats were taken with the trusty old .243 Win, seven shots for seven goats at 270-300m, and a bloody hot suppressor.

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This young red spiker was typical of the bush animals - scrawny and not great condition. There's way too many deer in the bush and there's just nothing left in the understory, completely barren. So out onto the farms they go, where they meet the likes of me unfortunately.

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The lower country reds that have been living on the farm for a while are in generally better condition and decent meat animals.

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Some videos of the highlights. I've got more stuff that I'll add in time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Yvr1hnc0YI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPA3eCOknw8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0dJaqn1iW0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ehzoj9X4l8

Thanks for sharing

None of us should have to justify the why and where for when it comes to hunting, you make the end decision based on the job at hand. Haters are always gunna hate

Hamish

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Some great footage Dave, yes it must seem strange to some at the waste but when in high. numbers it is nessacary.Very impressive the Creedmore in action.

Wow, what an opportunity.

Great opportunity.

I take it it hasnt been able to be hunted for some time?

good shooting

@mimms2... the pig hunters have already been in twice since we started, and pulled out a 193lb boar on the first trip. Big fat horrible thing, rubbish jaw. Since then, just lots of little ones. From the pig mark I've seen, it's mostly large sows with weaned "good eater" sized offspring and one or two older juveniles. That explains the speed with which they get through a deer, probably 8 or 9 pigs on a carcass at once.

Great footage, thanks for sharing. Reminds me of some blocks that I’ve hunted in the past which have a similar story i.e. very remote and generally marginal land that was cleared in the early 1900s and then abandoned a couple of decades later, before eventually being farmed again. Fallow and goats were dominant but there were also a few reds floating around. But still a tough gig in terms of being a viable farming proposition. Without capital fertiliser, good subdivision and reticulated water, it seems to be a losing battle against the scrub. Wicked hunting though!

Awesome stuff man great shooting :cool:

No need to justify. Just doing what needs to be done for the better of the land and animals. Good stuff

Nice gig, very jealous despite not being to take everything you shoot

Culling has always been part of our country; it’s an essential part of environmental management. I’ve left two in the last month and didn’t feel guilty; there’s more deer today than in any of my 30+ years of hunting.
Great videos showing some nice shooting, thanks for sharing - I just love all the stories and videos that we share with each other here. 😀

Thanks fellas. Yes the culling is essential. Going back next week with the family to continue the job, now the selection criteria has changed completely from pregnant hinds to spikers and yearlings, as the hinds have dropped their fawns. Got a new rifle to play with and my eldest boy is good to go on his first proper goat hunt with the .243 Win, so exciting times.

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

Thanks fellas. Yes the culling is essential. Going back next week with the family to continue the job, now the selection criteria has changed completely from pregnant hinds to spikers and yearlings, as the hinds have dropped their fawns. Got a new rifle to play with and my eldest boy is good to go on his first proper goat hunt with the .243 Win, so exciting times.

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From what I recall from your precious posts @Flyblown this all started from you doing some hard yards by door knocking and chatting to rural people. You deserve all the pleasure that you derive from those efforts.

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Originally Posted by Flyblown

Thanks fellas. Yes the culling is essential. Going back next week with the family to continue the job, now the selection criteria has changed completely from pregnant hinds to spikers and yearlings, as the hinds have dropped their fawns. Got a new rifle to play with and my eldest boy is good to go on his first proper goat hunt with the .243 Win, so exciting times.

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What the new rifle Dave...bigger or smaller than current ones?

6mm Creedmoor, @Mooseman. Got some new gongs and three boxes of high BC bullets to try. And a whole lot of far away varmints to hunt down. I'm going to see if I can do what those Otago bunny bashers can do with their 6 mils. It will also be working hard on the goats and if the bullets are performing as I expect they will, it'll doubtless be knocking some deer over too.

Sad to say, but the old 10 twist .243 just isn't getting much of a look in these days. I'll keep it for the lad.

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Originally Posted by Tahr

From what I recall from your precious posts @Flyblown this all started from you doing some hard yards by door knocking and chatting to rural people. You deserve all the pleasure that you derive from those efforts.

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That is exactly how it all started @Tahr. Things have progressed quite a lot since that first chat on the road.

Big clearings !!