Innehållsförteckning för Issue 97 från NZ Hunter

NZHUNTER MAGAZINE HOW TO He was a master stag with a thick, shaggy mane and a large set of antlers with eight polished white points. It was a very proud moment for me, and the mounted head that hangs on the wall in my house continues to rekindle fond memories all these years later. Having left the stag hanging overnight, I returned to the carcass the following morning, took out my old Instamatic camera and posed alongside my trophy while my mate took a few photos. Regrettably, when I look at the photos today, I simply cringe. The muzzle of the rifle I had leaning against the animal points right at my head. The bolt is open, but that is little consolation. The head of the master stag, which I…

YOU CAN WIN SEND US YOUR HUNTING PHOTOS FEATURING ONE OF THE BERET TA FAMILY OF PRODUCTS AS LISTED ABOVE AND THE WINNING PHOTO WILL RECEIVE A PAIR OF STEINER PREDATOR 8×30 BINOCULARS RRP $699 Entries should be emailed to editor@nzhunter.co.nz Subject: Beretta Photo Competition Firearm used must be shown in photo…

GWYN THURLOW - NZDA Wild Pig Sus scrofa Male = Boar Female = Sow Young = Piglet Feral or wild pigs were the first intentionally introduced big game animals to successfully establish in New Zealand. Today, they are probably the most widely distributed game animal we have and are pursued by hunters all over the country. Initial Liberations: The first pigs to touch our soil were a pair gifted to a Māori tribe in 1769 by French explorer Jean de Surville. There are no records for what happened to these pigs, but one would imagine their fates were pretty much sealed. In 1773, Captain James Cook released pigs and goats in Queen Charlotte Sound – an event widely regarded as the first proper introduction. This is obviously why our pigs…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire This system from Allan Foot at AJ Productions is the complete opposite, once set up properly it has given me flawless performance all year long. This review follows on from the UoVision UM595 Cloud 3G reviewed in Issue 86, another of Allan's products. I'd love to report back on how it's going now a couple of years down the track, but someone pinched it! Regardless, the select 4G is a great step up, both in performance and specifications. It uses the same front-facing screen that I love. It has great camera capability. The 30MP camera provides sharp imagery, and the invisible “Black Flash” (940nm) LEDs for night-time recording provide great rendition on pitch black nights. It can also record 4K, 2.7K, 1080p, 720p and WVGA video…

NZHUNTER MAGAZINE HOW TO In recent years the Predator Free 2050 movement in this country has been both expansive and intense, and is continuing to be so. All over the country, predators are hunted for sport, profit, conservation, and protection of agriculture, silviculture, and biodiversity. THE ROLE So, what is a predator you might ask? Well, it starts with mice, and includes mustelids (stoats, ferrets and weasels), rats, feral cats, hedgehogs and ‘possums, to name the key players. I will note that while wallabies are not predators, they are becoming an increasing threat. In recent years there has been a huge amount of government money poured into pest control, and into biodiversity growth and protection, hand in hand with a huge upswell of community and volunteer effort. The result has…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To Since 2019, having returned to university as a mature student pursuing a PhD in psychology, I have consistently found myself in financial tight spots. Higher education pursuits, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the cost-of-living crisis all converged to make life as difficult as possible. Luckily, being raised as a hunter, I had access to a steady supply of free-range, cheap meat. With the change in perspective that financial insecurity brings and a more intentional attitude towards my hunting and butchering practices, I was able to take the pressure off my grocery bill and simultaneously discovered a greater appreciation for wild game and the kitchen side of hunting, which I had underappreciated for years. It changed the whole hunting process for me. Getting in the kitchen is…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To A SERIES PROFILING A TAHR BALLOT BLOCK EACH ISSUE A relatively short flight as far as tahr ballots go, but this proximity to the coast also means that in nice weather it will be prone to that daily cloud rolling in as it builds along the coastline. With basecamp situated at 1350 meters, this is one of the higher elevation landing sites. You'll be drying out gear and soaking in the sun whilst those Landsborough hunters will be shivering and lucky to catch any at all. But the flipside here is that you'll be fully exposed to any weather from the south and the west and that's generally where the bad stuff comes from. So, it's certainly a place you want to be in and out…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire They make a range of both monocular and binocular rangefinders with a range of features and specs depending on your intended use. We recently received a pretty full range of their rangefinders, the KILO3K, 4K and 5K monoculars, and the 6K HD and 6K-HD Compact binoculars. MONOCULARS Starting with the monoculars, obviously their ranging capability goes up as you go up the range, with the name being the maximum range in yards to a reflective target in good conditions that each unit is capable of - e.g. the KILO4K is rated at up to 1600yds on deer, 2000yds on trees and 4000yds to something like a reflective road sign. Sig Sauer also make a KILO8K monocular and KILO10K-ABS HD binocular which is about the most capable…

The winning photo receives a Hunting & Fishing voucher to the value of $100. Send all your photos to editor@nzhunter.co.nz Note: Photos must be of a suitable size for printing - a minimum file size of 1MB is preferred.…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Events & Politics Research dispels concerns over deer and carbon In a bid to ensure that New Zealand makes the right investment decisions when it comes to game animal management and its objectives, the Game Animal Council commissioned Crown Research Institute Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research to analyse the available science and report on the issue. This has resulted in the recently published paper, ‘Review of the likely magnitude and manageability of deer impacts on carbon stores in indigenous forests'. The paper effectively dispels concerns that deer and other ungulates have a major impact on the carbon storage of our native forests. Co-author of the paper and Principal Scientist in Ecosystem Ecology at Manaaki Whenua, Dr Duane Peltzer, emphasises that, “the evidence for changes in carbon for intact forests…

I was looking through old photos on the phone the other day and came some from trips completed with my young lad Callum - now a strapping teenager fast asleep upstairs (it's 1pm on a Saturday) and my daughter Danielle - about to move away to go to university in the New Year. If anything, let this article encourage you to make the effort to take your children, or young ones in your life, out into the mountains or bush while you still can. They'll never forget it, and trust me, you will look back and be glad you've done it. So, hopefully, here are a few tips that might help you all to get the best out of the experience. 1. IT'S ALL ABOUT THEM I acknowledge that hunting…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To REMOTEHUTS.CO.NZ Mention was made in the article of Crystal Biv which lies further along the range and like Yeats, is another of the community-maintained huts in the valley. The last 20 years has seen an increasing number of partnerships develop between high country user groups and the financially stretched Department of Conservation. The Toaroha Valley is a good example of this model working well. DOC looks after the huts and tracks in the main valley and the Zit Saddle route, and the outdoor community keeps an eye on the remaining three lower-use structures (Yeats, Crystal and Mullins Basin Hut) and their access routes. When Crystal Biv was designated as minimal maintenance by DOC in 2004 it was only getting one visit every 2-3 years and…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Testfire Stone Glacier manufactures premium outdoor equipment, most notably backpacks, tents, sleeping bags, and technical apparel. Stone Glacier products are the result of 15 years of solo sheep hunts from the Dall country of Alaska to the unlimited districts of Montana's Beartooth Wilderness. Minimizing pack and gear weight increases usable load, which in turn extends your range in the backcountry. Stone Glacier's quest for ultralight backpacking gear began 15 years ago and has been a slow and organic process of development, testing, and refining. The brand's goal has been straightforward: build the lightest, most durable gear using only the toughest technical materials available. After hundreds of miles of testing on the trail, years of research and design, this goal has been accomplished. Stone Glacier—redefining the capabilities of…

NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE Food & Fauna Perhaps the new one is sitting outside, waiting for better weather and its first use. In this article I'm going to cover some of the most frequently asked questions and the tools that might be required, techniques, terminologies, and why spritzing is important. TOOLS REQUIRED Spray bottle for spritzing: Most garden centres will have these for internal house plants, and you don't need an expensive one. THERMOMETER: you will generally require two; it's important to have a thermometer that can measure internal meat temperatures. A thermometer that uses Wi-Fi is ideal because it allows you to monitor what's happening inside the smoker while cooking large cuts of meat. Additionally, it can measure the air temperature in the smoker. Some models come with four or…