Central Otago Branch NZDA

Reminder meeting tonight 13th December - committee meeting 6:30
General meeting 7:30
Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road Galoway
Feel free to come along if you are thinking of joining and see what we are about 🦌

Another successful working bee was completed over at our club hut in the Landsborough this weekend . A huge thank you to Tony , Dave, Sam, Martin,Lex , Mel and Callum for a great day in great weather.. the roof is done , some finishing touches to still be done to some of the new windows but the hut is looking fantastic and water tight ! Don't forget the hut is there for use contact Tony Alexander if you would like to book 0274479398

On Friday 4th of November a group of ladies made their way up to Mount Cook for the Ladies Thar hunt organized by the amazing Katie Duggan from Southern Lakes NZDA

It is so rewarding to see the transformation in these women from shy and nervous when they arrive Friday to confident and empowered by Sunday when they have been given the opportunity to test themselves and pull through new challenges. Congrats to Lisa Moffat and Ini Gunn for getting their first tahr and Kate Aynsley for matching her personal best. A great experience had by all.
Such a fantastic experience I would recommend all women members to get on board these organized ladies hunts are for people of all abilities they are fantastic opportunity for ladies to share their skills and advice to help fellow ladies to reach their best

Hi everyone

I joined Phil Wilson on a day out in the Ahuriri valley yesterday placing more traps and clearing those already in place as we went,
A fantastic day made better by the weather and the knowledge gained from the experience

Phil has been in the pest control game a while now and has fantastic knowledge to share..

Placing traps for certain species in the right place..identifying animal trails to maximise exposure to the target species.. using the right traps to minimise the risk of unintended by catch of protected species.. lots more

I enjoyed helping out and learning new skills

I found it much like hunting or fishing by using another method to make the catch ..not just drop a trap just anywhere and hope for the best

I'm hoping that our members can get on board with this and the Landsborough trap line starting next year..

For the record the traps have been in place only a couple of weeks and we have caught Ferrets and Hedgehogs

Phil has a few more to place around a wetland with input from the wetland ranger.. another hot spot for predators

As we travelled up the valley the bird life on the ground and in the air was a pleasant reminder of why we're doing this..

Thank you Phil for your knowledge..enthusiasm and above all else the time you give

cheers

lex

Reminder meeting tonight - committee meeting 6:30
General meeting 7:30
Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road Galoway
Feel free to come along if you are thinking of joining and see what we are about 🦌

Reminder this is on today 😊

Central Otago Nzda is selling our Fundraising Calanders! $15 per Calander , please PM the page if you would like one ! This has involved members sending in their best snaps from out and about out there doing it

Central Otago Nzda is having a social family day ! This Saturday 15th October from 11:30am at the Alexandra Clay Target club , bring along your family or friends or if you are looking at joining come along and meet fellow club members
Gold coin donation Bbq , cash liquid refreshments and have a crack at some clays ( $20 cash for ammo and Targets)
Please flick us a message on here or txt Kelsey 0273091727 so we have a rough idea on numbers - 😊
121 Crawford Hills Road Galloway - NZDA sign at gate

Reminder meeting tonight - committee meeting 6:30
General meeting 7:30
Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road Galoway
Feel free to come along if you are thinking of joining and see what we are about 🦌

Photos from New Zealand Deerstalkers Association Inc's post

Southern Lakes NZDA - 2022 Ladies Tahr Hunt

Here we go Ladies
The sign up page for the Ladies Thar hunt is now online the trip is for 4th-6th November 🏔🐐

Southern Lakes NZDA - 2022 Ladies Tahr Hunt The ladies had a blast and learned so much hunting tahr together last year, we're looking forward to this next all-women hunting trip.

Reminder meeting tonight 121 Crawford Hills Road Galloway
Comitee meeting 6:30-7:30
General Meeting from 7:30pm
We welcome all new and prospective members to come along and meet some of the team

Reminder meeting tonight Tuesday 9th August 7pm Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road ,Galloway
Comitee meeting to meet @ 6:30 - thanks

We welcome anyone looking at joining to come along and see what we are about

Branch members teamed up with another local rod and gun club to shoot some meat for the local food bank

Many thanks to the organizers..a rare sunny day 60 plus goats shot and a couple of pigs good effort to all of those involved

At our last club night we had Dani Wilson come along ans show us her products from phone scope

This is a range of products that do phone adaptors for all kinds of optics.. a neat electric lighter and amazing fire putty

She started this up during lockdown
Very cool stuff

Website
https://phoneskopenz.com/

Instagram


Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/phoneskopenz/

Discount codes to be used at the checkout through PhoneSkopeNZ website or they can email me directly

$5 off PhoneSkope kit
DeerStalkers
$5 off Dual Arc Lighter
Burn

Reminder - Meeting tonight Tuesday 12th July at Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road Galloway
Committee meeting @ 6:30
General meeting @7 pm
We welcome all members or people looking at joining to come along

Trophy chamois hunt

July 8th to 10th

Based Pleasant Flat hut Haast

Arrive by 8pm with a safety briefing and equipment inspection at 8.30pm

Cost $55 plus Helicopter approx

$250 1 trip

$500 2 trips

Hunters will need to be experienced and hunt in two's or three's which may reduce Helicopter cost.

Hunt is entirely weather dependent and open to NZDA members and or pending members.

Trip coordinators Phil Wilson [email protected] and Tony Alexander

This trip also has the opportunity for hunting for Red deer if getting up on the tops isn't for you

Hunt is dependent on numbers

Some more photos from the Ferrintosh Thar hunt

Queens Birthday weekend was the Ferrintosh Thar hunt , with members of our club along with Southern Lakes NZDA and Upper Clutha NZDA . This was an amazing trip with 8 Bulls and 6 Nannies harvested the team had some very big climbs with packs full of delicious Thar meat !
A great weekend had by all with alot of people getting their first Thar .
A huge Thank you to Phil Wilson and Tony Alexander for this trip - keep your eyes peeled for the next Members trip coming up

A big thank you to Larry and his team at hunting and fishing Cromwell

We had very informative chats in regards to ammunition and why there are shortages , canal fishing tips and tricks along with answering any general questions members had

Followed by some nibbles cooked on the Traeger and refreshments along with the wonderful ladies from Tannacreiff Wines with their awsome range of hunters ports 😍

A great night had by all
Looking forward to doing this again in the future

Reminder meeting tonight 7pm - comitee meeting 6:30 Alexandra Clay Target club

We have a special trade night organized for Wednesday 15th June 7pm at Cromwell Hunting and Fishing we will be having a look at some specialized equipment and there will be experts there to explain and answer any questions you may have , there may be some carpooling options for the out of town members just leave a message below if you need a ride - cheers Kelsey

Reminder - Our monthly meeting is this Tuesday 14th 7pm , comitee meeting from 6:30pm , Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road Galloway , we welcome people to come along to a meeting and get to know what we are as a club

Another instalment of where in the mountains is Callum Peter Taft

The Stunning Rees Valley:

The plan was to target both deer and chamois but it turned into just a chamois trip as that was all I could find!

To access the public conservation land you have to cross Rees valley Station, if your 4wding up and/or carrying a rifle it's a good idea to give the station owner a call to let them know. They appreciate the communication. Make sure you identify the public conservation land boundaries, the private land goes up 98% of the true left of the river.

So after speaking with the station owner I was off! I spent the majority of my time up from shelter rock hut with reasonable numbers of chamois to be found. They were actively rutting so I was treated to classic chamois antics with the bucks being quite curious during this time.

After surveying a few bucks, missing out on one I thought was a shooter, and having a chopper fly quite low through the area I was hunting... I was feeling a bit dejected. However my luck changed as a nice looking buck emerged on last light, he was onto me but gave a final opportunity. The 7mm-08 sealed the deal.

Certainly a place I'd love to explore more of, especially in the summer when it's not so bloody freezing.

Reminder to get your photos in team for the calander , please email these to [email protected]

An awesome weekend out for our clubs Wallaby Hunt near Waimate , we ended the weekend with 26 Wallabies , 1 pig and a rabbit a great way to help farmers get rid of some pests and for our crew to get out for experiences and see some spectacular country

Central Otago |

To Join our club the following link sends you to the joining website - https://www.deerstalkers.org.nz/branches/south-island/central-otago/

Central Otago |

Reminder Today is the last day to sign up for our club wallaby hunt this coming weekend 27th May - 29th May - we have 2 spots available please contact Kelsey on her or 0273091727

So far on our list we have
Reid
Kelsey
Lex
Collin
Stefan
Johan
Chad
Chad's friend

Thanks to Andrew Preston's organisation around 15 of us had a very interesting and informative morning at Galloway station looking over and learning about a range of new hunting weapons that are new to or about to become available to hunters in New Zealand
The photos attached were taken before the woolshed filled up

The opertunity to take a shot was undone by the extremely windy conditions but a lot was learned about the equipment on show indoors anyway

Without doubt hunting weapons have come a long way with new materials and inovative engineering

Thank you Andrew for and enjoyable morning

cheers

lex

Where in the mountains is Callum Peter Taft this week

2 weeks in lake sumner RHA.

I had a plan to do a large loop through lake sumner rha but seeing as i couldn't really fit 2 weeks worth of food in my bag, I went in prior to this trip and stashed some supplies at a midway point.

The trip started and ended at windy point on the Lewis pass highway and consisted mostly of tops hunting, with a small portion of the trip being spent in huts and bush hunting. Overall I saw a lot of deer, I would say the numbers are possibly too high so it's good to see the GAC doing some work to control manage that. I don't think an overpopulated RHA is a good look for hunters in general.
Anyway, as I was saying.... plenty of deer, I took a couple animals during the trip for some meat, and a cull stag with poor antler growth but I was mainly on the hunt for an old stag. I found one in the end but on the stalk in he was spooked by a chopper! So it wasn't meant to be I suppose.

It's a place I'd certainly go back to, beautiful country, good hunting, fishing, natural hot pools scattered through the place... it's got a lot going for it. However it is very popular so plan your trips with that in mind if going there, also be wary of leaving a vehicle on the Lewis pass highway. There's been a run of vehicles being broken into, mine got done while I was there. All in all though, a great trip.

We have made the decision as a club to make calanders as a fundraiser , please send in your best photos to [email protected] to get a chance to have your photo in our calander , their will be prizes up for grabs , we are lucky that we get to see some of the most spectacular scenery when we are out there doing it

Our hut at Plesant Flat is getting there with the upgrades
Fully weather tight ✅️
New carpet ✅️
Flashing and spoutings ✅️

A huge Thank you to Tony , Lex , Reid , Stefan , Craig , Chad and Johan for all of their time and effort last weekend the whole club appreciates the work being put in

Whats on with C.O Nzda

*Dobson 4WD hunting trip
13th-15th May for Reds and Tahr , follow the link below to sign up
https://www.southernlakesnzda.org.nz/event-4816245

*Remy Warren at Upper Clutha Nzda AGM Thursday 19th May 8pm - please let Lex know if you are interested in attending this at [email protected]

* Range day trialing some new release fi****ms - 21st May 10am Galloway Station , Crawford Hills Road Galloway

* Club Wallaby Hunt 27th- 29th May
Contact Kelsey via the page if you would like further info or to book a spot

* Tahr Hunt 3rd - 6th June
https://www.southernlakesnzda.org.nz/event-4816277

Reminder Metting tonight Tuesday 10th - comitee meeting @6:30pm
Alexandra Clay Target club

Hey team
So I have posted pictures as shown, to show you the potential plan for waro to come in, in the Central otago area. This will be effecting lauder basin, old man range, pisa range etc. Submissions close the 11th of May which is soon! We need to speak up in regards to being against this! So if you are you better get on the band wagon after reading this and send your reasoning through tonight.

Please keep any submissions polite.

Attached are some maps which you might find useful to forward onto members to make a submission regarding the DOC proposed WARO operations

You will see they cover the public conservation land we hunt and if helicopter access is given they will decimate deer herds. All of these areas hold reasonable numbers that are relatively easy for ground hunters to access. Going by the DOC proposals the areas marked yellow will allow helicopter access but only at certain times. So they effectively helicopters could hunt it any time just before the roar shooting everything then we go no helicopter access from mid March through to the end of April.

Send an email to [email protected] as to why you are opposed to this being opened up . Telll them all these areas need to be NO WARO ACCESS.

Want to sign up to to our club wallaby hunt ?
27th-29th May , private message the page for sign up forms and further information

Cheers
Kelsey

Another update of where in the mountains is Callum Peter Taft

Lauder Basin Conservation Area:

Awesome block to hunt, the area holds reds, fallow, pigs and plenty of goats. There is reasonable 4wd access right to the hut and around the block, 4wd access is only open from December through to end of April and requires you to fill out a form on the DOC website in order to gain the gate codes.

It's quite a popular area but still holds reasonable numbers, just get away from the 4wd tracks and you'll come across something. If your willing to hike up there when there is no 4wd access you'll probably see better numbers too.

Saw a few nice 10 point stags but all were immature and needed a few more years. Though they showed nice shape and growth.

Ended up shooting a fallow hind for meat on the last evening.

This would be a great place for someone cutting their teeth as well with the access and range of game species.

Could be a good spot to organize a club trip.

Where in the mountains is Callum Peter Taft this week.

Took few friends into Eyre creek for an early roar mission. These guys are newer to hunting, and being north island based, we're keen to get into some big south island country.

Unfortunately we never caught up with the big boy after I found him on an earlier recon mission but a chamois buck, red stag and fallow hind made for a very successful bounty.

Deer numbers seemed moderate to low, but they were certainly in very good condition. Gaining a bit of altitude and some decent glassing usually revealed a few options. The area holds fallow, reds, pigs and chamois. As well as the odd trout in the river.

It's a reasonably popular spot with good 4wd access to the hut, a spacious 6 bunker right beside the river. But there are plenty of options if your sharing the valley with other hunters.
Permission is required to cross private land in order to access Eyre creek, landowners were great and require a simple phone call to obtain the gate code.

Reminder : AGM on this evening 7pm , Alexandra Clay Target club 121 Crawford Hills Road , Galloway - Hope to see you there

Southern Lakes NZDA - Home

Upcoming events

AGM Tuesday 12th April 7pm Alexandra Clay Target club 131 Crawford Hills Road Galloway

Ladies Hunt 22nd- 25th April
Mavora Lakes area
( this trip is currently fully booked but they do have a wait list on the website )

Dobson 4wd Hunting trip
22-24th April

If you are interested in these trips visit the Southern Lakes website for more info and to book https://www.southernlakesnzda.org.nz/

Southern Lakes NZDA - Home The Southern Lakes Branch is part of the National Association of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association. Due to the nature of the Queenstown population;  the branch attracts people from all over the world, we have a good mix of Kiwis,  as well as a good mix of "new" Kiwis from the UK, USA, Canad...