June National Board Reports

Dear Members,

As we near mid year, the days are colder and shorter, but I hope you are still managing to get out and stretch the legs. Winter hunting can be quite rewarding whether it be chasing red stags that have mobbed up in the tussock or sneaking around the bush looking for an animal keeping warm in a north facing creek head, to fill the freezer.

For me, my mid year is filled up with Rusa hunting and the Woodhill fallow ballot. The Woodhill ballot runs from the first weekend of June until the last weekend in September. The ballot area consists of nine blocks which take up to 3 hunters per day and sometimes one or two observers. This year so far we have seen some good success with a number of pigs coming out, some reasonably good bucks and plenty of nice healthy meat animals. Having  hunting this close to Auckland is a valuable resource for those in the area, this would not happen without our great team of volunteers that make their way up there each weekend on patrol. making sure the hunters are in and out safely and everything is right in the forest. I'm looking forward to another enjoyable and productive season at Woodhill.

As for the Rusa, I have run one group hunt for the Auckland branch at Galatea with some success - 3 or 4 animals were taken for the group in a weekend. It gave me a chance to have a good look around set up some game cameras and plan my rut hunting adventures. I've planned another 3 or 4 trips between now and the end of August chasing Rusa. Hopefully this year I'll get on to a reasonable sized stag, only time will tell!

Leading up to conference is always busy for the national office, so please be patient with our team if you're calling with questions about membership or anything else, the team are doing a great job and really keeping on top of things, the recent survey with 85% member satisfaction is outstanding. We also have an exciting Ute raffle coming up which you should see advertised very soon, make sure to buy a ticket and support the NZDA. Board members along with national office have been liaising with the Southland branch to ensure the upcoming conference is successful and our members and delegates enjoy their time in Invercargill.

This year we have a couple of board members stepping off the board. I'd like to acknowledge their efforts over the past few years.

Tim Taylor of the BoP branch has Contributed significantly to the board and a few really worthwhile projects. Including gathering gear for hunters in need after cyclone Gabrielle and taking it to the Hastings branch for distribution shortly afterwards. He has also had the portfolio for the CNISF foundation and has helped build a strong and lasting relationship. His contribution at board level has been valuable and I wish him all the best in the future.

Richard Wells has stepped onto our board for the past 2 years and has made a big impact, Richard has contributed sound advice and really got stuck in when it matters. Richard has been a valuable member of the HR committee as well as Standing up and chairing the access committee. Along with many other accomplishments, Richard has championed the research portfolio and assisted a number of people and organisations complete their research proposals to the board.

Craig Benbow is completing the 24/25 year as immediate past president, in 2019 Craig stepped into the role as president, a tough time for the association. He took charge at what was a daunting and risky time for the deerstalkers. The ship was steadied, and the association thrived, we now find ourselves in a strong position with exciting prospects ahead. Thank you Craig for your dedication to the in NZDA.

We've had a couple of great nominations for new board members and I look forward to working with these people. After conference and with the new board structure in place I look forward to continue to grow the association to benefit our members and the hunting and shooting public of New Zealand. My goal for the 25/26 year is another year of growth and prosperity for the NZDA, any members or branches please feel free to reach out and contact myself or the board if you'd like to verbalize your thoughts or contribute.

I’m looking forward to the conference, and look forward to catching up with the branches and their delegates. If we haven't met before please come and say hello.

Well here we are in the second half of the year! It's been a super busy six months for me in all aspects of my life, and conference is literally only days away now. I look forward to meeting some more of you in person and having a wee chat in the deep south.

The new bi-annual National Target Shooting Newsletter should be in everyone's inbox by now, I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward to receiving feedback in due course.

The new Shooting Committee has had the Terms of Reference ratified at our last Board meeting, and a call for nominations has been sent out to all Branch committees. If being involved with improving the sport of shooting within the association sounds like something that you could get behind, let your branch executive know.

Just the other day I received a phone call from Miss Alex at HQ, she was calling to inform me that even though the cut off for the National Shooting Competitions had not passed, that I had succeeded in one of my main goals for my first year on the Board. We have more than doubled the number of competitors entering the Wilkinson Shoot, and to date we have had two new branches have their first attempt. I'm super proud of this result and I want to thank those branches that participated in helping me achieve this. Hopefully next year with the new modernised target, we can raise the bar higher again.

Thats all I have for now, so as usual, keep your powder dry and Hot Barrels everyone!

My theme for my final Board Report is “Nothing’s a Given!”

Firstly, as I write this I am thinking about tomorrow when I get cataract surgery and whilst everyone says how great it is there is always a risk (which the surgeon labours on in pre-op meeting) that things might go wrong. My right eye is everything in hunting terms, so I have crossed fingers to breaking point. It also highlights those of us in advancing years (I’m in my 66th) and those who think they’re not but it’s creeping up on them, taking care of all the bits that matter, matters! While access to game animals on public land and the ability to use firearms to harvest them are the planks of recreational hunting, having a body, mind and sensory systems “fit for purpose” is our own responsibility. So, my advice is stay fit and “if in doubt, check it out” in terms of health matters, my cataract developed very rapidly and has affected my vision quite a lot.

This is my last report as a Board member and I wish to pass on best wishes to those presently nominated for North and South Island roles, and thanks to the Board, staff and all, for support and engagement over the past three years.

It was notable that there were more members keen but hadn’t passed the criteria of having previously being an Officer of a Branch. So, if you see yourself being a contributor to the cause at a national level in the future, get going at your Branch level and seek to be Vice President for example. I was encouraged to do this years ago and it was good advice.

Finally, one last call! I hope to remain with our National Access Committee for another year at least but a few more pairs of hands would help a bit. Access worries everybody (or at least should! because nothing’s a given, right?) so if you think you could support, even at a local and technical level, please get in touch.

Our Board

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NZDA National Board, photographed at the 76th Conference and AGM in July 2024.