More from NZ

We started at 7:30 pm and ended at 10:30 pm.

These 2 psoed the way we found them in the tree.


1 Shotters with my 2250 bulked. Crow Magnum in .22.


This was another 2250 victim. My brother cut this one open to try find the Crow Magnum and all he found was shattered bone fragments. HAHA

One of the "pinkies" we pulled out of the pouches. Most humane way is to kill them at the same time. We arent cruel buggers that would just leave them to starve to death.

[shadow]

Once again, fine shootin Andre and were glad to have you guy's down there keeping those country rat's population at bay. Great pic's too, keep at em. Ed

Another good hunt eh Andre? 2270XT still putting out lots of power in the Winter night shoots?

Damage and I went out tonight to the Golf Course despite the light rain, we only found 5 five, bagged three, lost one stuck too high to retrieve and the last one ran off while we took its parent. Pretty light night for us. I think we've hammered this course very hard now, and were dicussing moving on for a while.

No photos, too wet.

Crow Mags are perfect for these critters, they could have been purpose designed for these tough animals. One shot well placed will bring them down. The .22 cal Crow Mags are just an awesome pellet. Even the .177 cal takes largeish game down.

cheers

GS

[longislandhunter]

Great pics as usual and great shooting for sure.  

Jeff

[Big_Bill]

Great Account Andre !

You fellows sure have an exciting night life... And thanks for including us in it !

Great Photos and Shooting !

[dw33]

Good shooting.  What kind of animals are those?  Do you eat them?  Are they considered a pest?  Sounds like a great time.

I didn't know you were here too Adam:)
That 2250 seems to be doin the Job for you eh Andre:)
You still have your Typhoon?

These critters are an introduced pest speciesthat have naturalised over the last hundred years. They were imported originally to create a NZ fur industry, but the commercial side wasn't sustainable and they were left to their own devices.

Consequently the Australian Brushtail Possum is now a huge pest, destroting vast areas of native forest vegetation every night and being a vector for Bovine Tuberculosis. Last count/estimate of the Possum population in this country was 4 million humans, 30 million sheep, 80 million Possums.

We do our bit for helping keep them out of the parks and accessible farmland we are allowed to hunt on. Also there is a small demand for the fur developing, so that is plucked and sold to traders. Its not a lot but more than pays for pellets and the cost of hunting fun.

Night hunting these fellas is the only way, spotting their eyes with a torch and then getting close as you can. They have been known to be tough quarry for rimfire hunters, and are suitable for powerful airgun hunting. While not as difficult as some quarry, they are sometimes quick to escape and they hide in the tangle of branches if you don't get them down quick which is why two or more shooters work in teams if you are after the fur.

The fur is hollow and very warm. It is combined with Merino wool to create a uniquely NZ yarn blend. It is highly sought after in Europe and Asia, and removes much of the scratchiness from the finished garment. Hence the growing demand for the Possum fur.

Well thats about all there is to tell.......lol. I hope that didn't bore Y'all.....

cheers

GS

greyskull - 8/12/2007  12:52 PM

Well thats about all there is to tell.......lol. I hope that didn't bore Y'all.....

cheers

GS

Not boring at all, Adam. Remember, New Zealand is a place that most of us up here have never been, but have heard neat things about.

I keep forgetting that you guys are in the middle of winter down in your neck of the woods (hard to comprehend from up here where we're regularly hitting the 90's during the midday). Out where I work, one of the research project leaders named Steve, is from NZ and I'd mentioned your hunting reports to him the other day at coffee break. He gave me the scoop on your possums and was contrasting them to the possums that are common in the southeast US.

Keep up the good work, and the hunting reports.

Bryan

PS- By the way, ya done good with that "y'all" stuff. We've been teaching Steve how to speak Southern. You oughta hear his 3 little girls make fun of his accent...LOL...

[longislandhunter]

80 million possums????   That is simply amazing !!!!!   Talk about a target rich environment.  :)

Jeff

David these are probably the biggest pest in NZ. Don't be fooled by 80million figure. I've been out a few times and not found any. They can be very hard to find at times. When you do find them then it's all on. HAHA

[DAMAGE]

Think about it this way Andre 70 million possums now that was an estimate done about three years ago now at an average half of that would be female and these buggers breed once to twice a year now lets do the math say if we took todays population lets make it 80 mil like you said half that down to the 40 million of females that have bred once then it would be doubled thats 80 mil say if they bred twice a year as they do here thats 120 mil thats per year WOW now take out how ever many DOC take out with 1080 poison then the few thousand people like us that shoot or trap them  thats a hand full which is more than likely better than what doc does that would still mean that they are growing at least 50 to 80 million stronger each year I just cant see it.
the only possibility is that they are in remote spots where 1080 is not allowed to be dropped or any hunting done and half of NZ is like that.
Just something to keep in mind it's easy to sat the government estimate but when you put 2 & 2 together and do the math some things just don't add up but hey my math skills were always crap.

Sean,

 For the benefit of our friends over there/here lets tell what DOC means.Its our Government agency for conservation. (Dept of Conservation) It used to be the NZ Forestry Service, covering the indigenous AND the exotic planting forests. They were seperated and the exotic forests sold off during the right wing political years of the 80's.

The native forests suffer most from Possum infestation and yes Sean is right there are many areas inaccessible to hunters either because of remoteness, or DOC won't allow entry. 1080 poison is airdropped in these areas every few years or so.

Basically the Govt and DOC have given up and think they are here to stay, so control is the order of the day. Unfortunately they breed like they are on steroids in our nice climate.

Hopefully the world possum fur market will pick up.......like a nice fur lined huntin cap anyone?.....see "Damage"...lol

cheers

GS