Deer Wars

The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it. But the reality for those involved was very different. The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it, much as ground hunting and aerial venison hunting had previously.But the reality for those involved was much different. Families lost their fathers. Wives lost their husbands. Some such as pilot Dave Richardson carried lifelong injuries suffered in crashes."And I lay there and I thought, 'oh god, I've smashed my bloody machine'. And I thought, 'I'll just lie here for a bit and then I'll get up' and I went to get up. And there's no one at home to get up. I just couldn't move. And I thought, 'oh, god, I've broken my back'."But the industry itself was about to crash in the most dramatic way when on the 26th of July 1995, then Finance Minister Roger Douglas introduced a standard deer price and a reversal of tax write offs to take effect immediately. The bill had an immediate and catastrophic impact on deer farmers and those holding onto deer while building up a herd for the future. Predictably, the Queen Street farmers vanished overnight and their money with them.Some heavily indebted deer farms went into bankruptcy. Many people like Harvey Hutton were ruined overnight, losing both land and house. Even today those who were caught out are bitter about the way the legislation was brought in with no consultation or the chance to prepare.Today deer farming in New Zealand is a $300 million industry, the largest in the world. Some 2,000 farms hold 800,000 deer, all of it built on the back of these pioneers.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

By the mid 70's things were about to change dramatically. The hunters had become so efficient they were shooting themselves out of a job.From 1967 on, businessman Tim Wallis had exclusive hunting rights to all of Fiordland National Park and was taking out deer in their thousands.Resentment from other operators at being excluded came to a head in 1973 in the so-called Helicopter Wars with constant poaching in the park. It went too far with helicopters being sabotaged and eventually the RNZAF stepped in to try and sort it out - to no avail.But things were about to change dramatically again in the industry. The hunters had become so efficient they were in danger of shooting themselves out of a job. As deer numbers diminished it became uneconomic to keep flying and the end was in sight.In desperation the industry tried their hand at live capture to set up deer farms. It was highly risky work at first. Leaping on running deer from a helicopter - known as bulldogging -  or firing tranquiliser darts into animals. Each approach had its own problems of having to be so close to the animals - and the ground.What saved the day was the invention of net guns. The first were very crude and took a terrible toll on the shooters with their savage recoil. Many a net was fired into the rotors or snagged on helicopter skids or tangled in bushes and crashes increased. Eventually more sophisticated guns were developed that the pilot could fire remotely.Because of tax breaks for investors, the so-called "Queen Street farmers" got into the game, and the demand for live deer skyrocketed. The price of a hind rose from three or four hundred dollars to three, four and even five thousand dollars a beast. On a good run, pilot and shooter could make $10,000 before breakfast - unheard of money for the times.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Shooting from choppers is a game changer but teams are learning from scratch, working at break-neck pace in such dangerous terrain that an accident is always on the cards.Shooting deer from choppers may be a game changer but everyone is learning from scratch. Working in such dangerous terrain, an accident is always on the cards. As shooter Jeff Carter puts it, "there were no margins for error."Pioneering pilot Tim Wallis crashes his first chopper within ten days of getting it. A series of accidents and fatalities follow, rocking the industry.Each man reacts differently but almost everyone smokes. Veteran shooter Pete Campbell recalls the stress of flying "in one of those damn machines.""I'd probably go through about two pack of cigarettes. I dunno, it was just the height that scared you and this was the safest time in the whole lot."Many shooters drink every night after work, probably to calm the nerves and avoid dealing with the stress of this dangerous work. But families suffer as a result and alcohol becomes a major factor in fractured marriages.The consolation (and the lure) is big bucks. The men are earning huge money for the time and spending it on new cars, land and or fancy furniture for the missus. A few wise ones save their money.But the money doesn't compensate wives and families for the long periods when they're left alone wondering, as the accidents mount, if they'll see their husbands again. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Suddenly everyone wants to be a culler but who will make the cut?Suddenly everyone wants to be a culler but who will make the cut? Books about culling start to attract all sorts of men to the job. But while some are experienced shooters, others are bank clerks or shop managers with no experience in the bush.Applicants from all over New Zealand try out for a rigorous and no nonsense six week course in Marlborough run by the NZ Forest Service . The primary training camp, called Dip Flat, covers key bush skills but also puts them through their paces.They tackle river crossings, firearms safety, camp cooking and a ruthless assessment of their physical fitness for the job. Then there's the infamous "gut buster " - a gruelling 1500 metre climb up to the snowline which weeds out the unfit pretty quickly.Around the same time, the overseas venison market is booming and private hunters can now make good money shooting. Previously treated as a pest, deer become very valuable and hunters take to the hills in their droves to retrieve deer anyway they can.Soon, very basic airstrips are being hacked out with pick and shovel in the mountains and alongside (or in) river beds. Small planes like Austens and Piper Cubs can land and take off without crashing and deer are stockpiled and flown out six or eight at a time.This is the first venison gold rush and serious money can be made and lost.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

Red deer run rampant across the high country in New Zealand, causing extensive environmental damage. A 50-year effort to control the invasive animal gets underway.By the 1930's the deer population in New Zealand was out of control and causing serious environmental damage through grazing, severe soil erosion and slips from the thousands of hooves ripping up the ground. Even today you can find deer trails several feet deep crossing major passes.The Department of Internal Affairs creates an ambitious program to drastically reduce the deer population, run by World War I veteran Captain George Yerex, aka "The Skipper". The programme hires men, mostly experienced shooters, as cullers. Their job is simple; to kill as many deer as possible, leaving the bodies where they fall and cutting off the tails as proof of kill.There are no huts. Cullers stay in tent camps or rock bivouacs, spending up to nine months at a time in the field, often without seeing another person.This is some of the toughest, most remote country in New Zealand. The men are working above the bush line in snow and ice, fording dangerous rivers and negotiating ravines. With no radio communications, they have to be totally self-sufficient.The job attracts a mixture of applicants. Some are experienced bushmen but others are enthusiastic teenagers and overseas immigrants with no idea of New Zealand's harsh, mountain conditions. All of them are thrown in at the deep end with very mixed results.Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details