Disclaimer

Readers are reminded that articles printed in this publication are the personal opinion of the writer and may differ from the official views of the Sambar Deer Management Foundation Inc.

2000 Season Report

Before starting the report on last season I again thank those Companies and Departments who make access available to the land for the public ballot. Without the continued support and assistance of these organisations and their personnel the public ballot could not go ahead in its current form. Those in particular I am thanking are:-

While mentioning the cutoff time I must emphasise that it is VERY IMPORTANT to have your ballot application in before the time stated. The applications close and ballots MUST be received by 5.00pm on July 6th 2001. This does not mean posted on the 6th or 7th. As there is NO advantage in when your ballot application is received PLEASE post early.

Last year we issued a total of 281 licenses, 153 for ballot blocks and 128 for private land. The numbers issued for private land is down on previous years.
The percentage of licence returns from hunters is down this year to 67%, 77% (118) from ballot block hunters and 55% (70) from private land hunters. Hunters need to remember that sending back a return IS A CONDITION of the licence. The information received on these returns is important to the Foundation. These returns give us information on the health of the herd on both ballot land and private land. It also gives us information on the hunters, the amount of funds they produce for the local economy and the amount of time they are putting into the annual hunt. We again offered a carrot to hunters last year with a prize draw for those who have the returns in by due date. This is obviously not working so maybe we need to start penalising those who do not send their return in.

During the season we were given reports of 37 animals taken. This was made up of 11 hinds and 26 stags. Hunters on ballot land took 15 animals, 1 Waitarere, 6 Santoft, 1 Tangimoana and 7 from Moutoa. Some reports are still received third hand. This makes them difficult to confirm. Hunters are asked to contact a Foundation monitor if they take an animal even if they are not required to contact MAF.

Hunters saw 573 Sambar during the season and many also saw animals on their research trips. These were made up of 119 young animals, 114 stags and 304 hinds. On ballot blocks 233 deer were seen by hunters. The balance were seen by hunters on private land. The numbers of all animals were down on last year and the Foundation will be monitoring this during the current season to see if it is a trend. It is important that hunters fill in the information on the season return as accurately as possible. This information is important in the continuing management of your Sambar herd.

Hunters are certainly spending plenty of time out there looking even if we did have some lousy weather. A total of 3177.25 hours (down on last year) were spent by hunters actively hunting and they also spent some 1153 hours (up on last year) researching their hunting areas before going hunting. This year the fastest successful hunt was on a ballot block and took 45 minutes. This hunter spent about 3 days checking out his block. On average ballot hunters spent 14.6 hours hunting and 5.8 hours on research. Private land hunters spent an average of 20.75 hours hunting and 6.7 hours on research. Hunters estimate they spent $60006.40 in relation to their hunting, this is an average of $319.18 for each hunter. If this was spread over all licenses issued rather than just those who sent their returns in the amount spent would be $89689.81.

What is New with the Foundation

By the time this is printed the Foundation will have signed a new contract with DOC to manage any Sambar deer hunting season. This contract is basically the same as our old one with one major change. We will now be able to contract with the Department on other related matters. This means that the Foundation can be far more directly involved with any problem deer and other areas of concern. This could apply to both private land and land currently balloted.

We have also been advised that we can recommend to a land owner or occupier that a person does not receive a licence. This is an option that the Foundation may use where we have problems with a hunter from previous years. Such a recommendation would only be made after the proper procedures have been followed. Hunters should be aware of this when they are in the field.

We also have the right to recommend that only hinds or stags be taken from different areas. This is a management tool that the Foundation has been considering for some time. We are pleased that this is now available.

During the year we looked into liability insurance for hunters while they are hunting Sambar. We have costed this and to include it in the cost of the licence would add $30.00. That is assuming that all licences included the cover. The committee felt that this increase was unreasonable at this time. The broker we spoke to did point out that many homeowners policies included a Public Liability clause and we suggest that you look at your policies. However the best policy is to follow all the rules and conditions that come with the licence and DON’T do anything silly in the field.

As part of this we do recommend that you keep your eyes open (and stay away from) any signs of illegal "crops". These are often protected by traps that you do not need to run into. At least pass on any information to Foundation monitors so that the Forest managers can warn their workers.

Fires in the field (particularly ballot blocks) are completely banned. Anyone found, by a monitor, with an open fire will be told to leave the forest immediately. We already have the authority to do this. Should you find a fellow hunter with a fire we suggest that you talk to him nicely but firmly. It is your access to the forest that is being risked.

We also recommend that hunters wear some form of clothing that makes them stand out. Camo clothing has little advantage when hunting Sambar as like most deer they are colour blind. There is a good range of blaze orange clothing that is patterned so that you will still blend into the bush as far as the deer are concerned.

Other Contributions
The Chairman's Thoughts
From the Hired Help
From a Monitor's Diary
Several Different (so far unsuccessful) Approaches to Sambar Hunting