North Canterbury News: March 28, 2024

14 The
THE GREAT OUTDOORS
North Canterbury News, March 28, 2024
One mistake can cost alife
The Easter break coincides with
the early part of the Roar
hunting season, and it’s likely
big numbers of hunters will take
to the bush this long weekend.
Recreational firearms user
groups have been co­ordinating
their messaging this year, to
ensure safety remains top of
mind to the thousands of hunters
who might take to the hills and
bush chasingroaring stags or
croaking bucks this autumn.
Te Tari Preke/ Firearms
Safety Authority, which chairs
the Recreational Firearms
Users Group, says New Zealand
hunters in general have agood
culturearound firearms safety,
but it only takes one mistake to
ruin many peoples lives,and the
roar has aspike in these types of
incidents.
Recreational hunting is abig
part of many New Zealanders
lives, says Te Tari Preke
DirectorofPartnerships Mike
McIlraith.
‘‘We just want everyone
involved to have agreat time
away and to head home safe at
the end to their loved ones.’’
Mike McIlraith says Te Tari
Preke will be running safety
messages in mainstream media
and has co­ordinated with key
recreational firearms users
groups who share the same
safety goals for anyone out
hunting this Roar.
‘‘Keeping themselves and
others in their hunting area safe
takes more than luck,’’ says Mike
McIlraith.
‘‘We’veboiled it down to three
key reminders for hunters this
year —make aplan for your hunt
Remain safe ... Hunters taking to the hills this weekend are being urged to
stay safe, plan their hunt and stick to the plan.
PHOTO: SUPPLIED
and stick to it; always treat every
firearm as loaded; and identify
your target beyond all doubt.
Mike McIlraith says hunters
are lucky to be hunting in atime
of high deer numbersinmany
places,with lots of opportunities
for deer.
Hunters don’t need to be in a
rush to shoot the first deer they
see, they should take their time,
and wait until they see the whole
animal.
‘‘All of this helps to keep the
hunter calm and make 100 per
cent surethey have identified
their target.
‘‘If they have any doubts, then
don’t shoot,’’ he says.
‘‘Hunters shouldn’t feel
pressured to take the shot — no
meat or no trophy is better than
no mate. We want all hunters to
have agreat Roar trip and come
home safely.’’
The Recreational Firearms
UsersGroupwas formed to help
align the importantmessaging of
the various stakeholder groups
involved in recreational hunting
in New Zealand. This group
consists of Federated Farmers
of New Zealand, Fish &Game
NZ, Game Animal Council,
Mountain Safety Council, NZ
Deerstalkers Association,and
Te Tari Preke.
The Roar is the name given to
the time of year when hunters
target Red Deer stags which are
at their most vocal attracting
mates.
Counting to monitor
game birds and fish
Fish &Game staff across the
country are out of their offices
catching and counting birds, or
kittedupinwetsuits to count
fish.
Fish &Game New Zealand
chief executive Corina Jordan
spent two days recently
helping the Taranaki and
Wellington offices banding
mallard and grey ducks.
‘‘It’s great toget away from
computer screens and
meetings, toget out in nature
and get stuck in with the team
doing valuable monitoring
work as CEO of Fish &Game,’’
says Jordan, who helped band
500 birds.
‘‘Every year we band about
3500 birds in Auckland and
Waikato, 3000 in Taranaki and
Wellington, and afurther 1800
in our Eastern region.
‘‘We’ve been banding
waterfowl for more than 30
years because it’s important
we have agood understanding
of numbers and harvest rates
so we can sustainably manage
hunting.’’
Birds are tempted with
grain, and information about
their age and sex is recorded
when birds are banded with a
uniquely numbered band
attached to their leg.
‘‘We also get agood handle
on how healthy the birds are,’’
she says.
Unlike their northern
hemisphere counterparts most
New Zealand ducks don’t tend
to travel more than 25km from
where they were banded, but
there have been instances
where afew extremely tired
mallards made it more than
2000km away, landing in New
Caledonia and Vanuatuinthe
Pacific.
‘‘We need hunters to report
their bands so we can collect
data on its age and where it’s
travelled.
This information is crucial
to help us understand what is
happening with waterfowl
across the country so we can
better manage the population
for our licence holders.’’
Fish &Game staff are also
out drift­diving rivers to
monitor trout populations.
The surveys determine
overall trout abundance and
set catch limitsfor anglers.
The organisation monitors
over 100 rivers this way.
‘‘We kit up in wetsuits and
snorkels and glide down rivers,
not only counting trout but also
assessing water clarity and
habitat, and aquatic insect life
and noting indigenous fish
abundance which gives us a
broad picture of river health,
says Ms Jordan.
Many regions have
information dating back over
30 years.
It is the longest­running data
set of its kind in New Zealand.
Because trout have the
highest requirement for clean
water of any freshwater
species in the country, this can
give valuable insight into the
long­term trends of river
health.
2665242
NorthCanterbury Hunting&Fishing
Kaikoura Hunting&Fishing
343b FlaxtonRoad, RANGIORA
134 BeachRoad, HarakekeShoppingCentre, KAIKOURA
PH:03313 1313
PH:033196648
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