A good weekends shooting.

D

Death from Afar

New member
Saturday: Went out pigeon shooting over decoys and a blind with two friends. It was over a pea field and the farmer was having the life torn out of his crop. ( Note: As Pigeons are designated a "pest" in New Zealand there is no bag limit at all) - in 4 hours we shot 341 pigeons. Man, it was great fun. They came in in waves and couldnt resist the decoys- weapons were my 870 pump, a ruger 20 gauge and an SKB over/under shotgun. We actually ran out of ammo , and had to resot to using a few boxes of BB's we had in my truck, which were the fist of God. Great fun! Lessons: the smaller shot seemed to work better- 6 or 7) as the pigeons are quite fragile and only need a few pellets- 4 while it gives you a bit of extra range, was much harder to hit with)

Sunday: A days varminting on rabbits. In 4 hours we shot about 100. ( again, rabbits are a serious pest, and an enviromnetal disaster, so there is no season, or bag limit, something many of my american friends struggle to get their heads around) I was using my LTR, my mate had an AR15, and my other mate had a ruger #1 in 220 swift. We were carving up the rabbits at all manner of ranges, which kept the farmer very happy as well. Lessons: VMAX ammo is superb and shoots well in all rifles. Pity it is so pricey. Target turrets can be more hassal than they are worth as you spend so much time monkeying around with scope settings.

All in all, a great weekend, but " home command" may not let me forget it for a while.
 
Sounds like you sure had fun!

I wish I had a lot of rabbits where I live I am lucky if I see one rabbit after hikng all day.

p.s. Do ya think you could mail me about a 1000 of them rabbits.:D J/K
 
Last edited:
Roy- yes, AR's FALs's etc are kosher. Basically, you have to be licenced to shoot, and there are several types of licence. A- is rifles and shotguns, B - is pistols, C is "restricted weapons" ( i.e machine guns), D is a dealers, and E is a military style semi automatic like AR's. If you have a, say, C licence your weapons have to be stored in a locked steel safe. So, if you like you can own an MG34 - http://www.guncity.co.nz/xurl/function/viewprd/prd_id/113737/792-german-mg34.html

There are a lot of rabbits around these parts. When I was a kid I would go out for a shot after tea and shoot 200 some nights.
 
Deathfromafar

How difficult is it to get a gun license there?

What are your rules for out of country hunters?

It seems that you guys have more liberties then us Californians. :confused:
 
Roy, its pretty easy. We have a pretty good relationship with the police,. and it was not all that long ago that the cops were encouraging people to go hunting into the outdoors etc. It was only a few years ago that firearms safety things used to be on TV.

Shooters are licenced, the guns are not registered. You have to show you have no criminal convictions ( mainly for violence) and no real mental health problems, then you have to a safety lecture, then sit an test on firearm safety. The police then visit your house and check you have the right security for the class of licence you want to get. Its basically a locked cupboard for rifles, a strong box for pistols, and a safe for machine guns. Thats pretty much it. Licences last for ten years, then you have to apply for a re-licence and go through the process again.

I have had lots of American friends visit and all have commented on how helpful and friendly the cops and customs are for bring weapons into the country. You will struggle to bring in an AR15, but you will have no problems with a hunting rifle, say. Hope this helps
 
Other Hunting?

What is your bird hunting like?

What species do you have to hunt?

What are popular hunting dog breeds there?

I apologize for all the questions, but your country has always fascinated me.

Thanks for all your responses.
 
Thats all right Roy- I get quite a few questions about shooting in NZ, and indeed one member of this forum is in the process of immigrating here, he enjoyed it so much!

I am not an expert on bird hunting by any means, and normally tag along with the experts. I do know the bird hunting is good, and considered the best in the world for some species. Water fowl being the only game in the country that has a season. There is no deer season for example, and for pests like wild pigs and goats you can shoot huge tallies as they are in big numbers in some places. There are no predatpry mammals at all in this country, so shootingis the only control- you are actively encouraged to shoot as many possums and rabbits as you can. The Fish and Game council runs all the bird shooting and all the info you need can be found at :

http://www.fishandgame.org.nz/

Fish and game look after all bird hunting as well as fishing. The country has regions for the council as different areas have different pressures. In the top half of the south island, canadas are in such numbers that they orgainse culls of the birds, which are great fun.

Dogs- Again, I am not an expert, but German Short hairs are easily the most common I have seen. A mate of mine has one and we are training it on the rabbits at the moment.

Have you seen the Lord of the rings? Many of the extras in the battle scenes were my soldiers when I was in the Army, so all the outdoors scenes are where I have been hunting.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top