I was wondering if animals were still hunted for bounty in Australia, and New Zealand? I remember hearing that the goverment sometimes payes for kangooroes(?) in Australia, and deer, sheep, and pigs in New Zealand.

I this true? And is some animals still beeing hunted for money in these to countries?

I read my own post, and its a bit unclear what I was trying to ask.

I know that some years ago, there were bountys on some animals in both countries. I was wondering if there still is? And perhaps on what types of animals?

In Australia, you have the kangooro?
What can you hunt in New Zealand, except sheep, witch I heard was fair game, all year round.

Does anybody know something about this?

I know they have kangroo shooters in OZ,i think of the guys that posts here does it for a job and will be able to help.Here in New Zealand we do not have a bounty on any animals,you can get a job has a culler shooting mainly goats.We have 7 different types of deer,thar,chamois,pigs,goats,wild cattle and sheep and lots of bird shooting

Hello Nortman
Unless you are a vermin control officer for the government or set up a private vermin control contract with private property your options are fairly limited (in Aus).

There are professional kangaroo shooters on this forum. I am sure DK will set you straight on this subject.


As for bountys. About two or so years back the victorian government put a $10 bounty on a fox scalp. This dramatically reduced fox numbers in my area and well into SA. However it was cancelled because the scientists wanted money put back in their research into biological control and their was a real adversion to the perception of red neck farmers as a solution.
IMHO if this had gone on for four or so years a dramatic reduction in fox recruitment would have been noticed.

As for the fur trade. It is still operational but I think the average was only $13 this season. Last time I tried to make a go of this I ended working for about $8hr when factoring in costs and time of shooting skinning and pegging out foxes.

Hope this helps
robe

quote:

I know that some years ago, there were bountys on some animals in both countries. I was wondering if there still is? And perhaps on what types of animals?

G'day I hope to be able to shed some light on your question! I'm a Pro shooter by trade!Yes we do shoot Roos for human consumption in Auz & Camels are destroied for the same market .Foxes are taken for their skins but the prices were right down this year (but up a LITTLE ON PREV YEARS) Dingos (wild dogs) have bounties on them I'm not sure what the Gov is paying at the moment but Farmers pay between 60 to $150.00 depending on the area & likely hood of finding dogs on their land! I have just finnished a contract for Dogging that netted me $80.00 a scalp (& was quite rewarding pay wise )

There used to be a bounty on dingo and wild dog scalps some years ago in Qld. Those were only rumors I had no chance to check out. Basically, there is no Gov bounties any longer on the feral species in Australia. There was also a bounty on feral pig ears and snouts, but it was in the distant past, sometimes in 50', 60'. Today you will have to be accredited and licensed pro shooter harvesting kangaroos or foxes for a pet food and a fur trade, but those are purely commercial harvesting operations and any income coming from such actions will not be be Gov bounties. From what I know, chances of getting any Gov bounty on shooting ferals in Australia by an occasional overseas visiting hunter are next to none.

Les Kosek
Terra Incognita Guides, Australia

quote:

Australia. There was also a bounty on feral pig ears and snouts, but it was in the distant pas

As a matter of intrest! It used to be a trick to get dried apricots & punch two holes in them with a pencil & add them to a bag of Snouts to make up numbers as when you handed them in the snouts stank to high heavin & the inspectors were more interested in getting rid of the damn things than really having a good look at them ! Ah money for Jam

WA used to have a dingo bounty in 1983 I believe.

What about New Zealand then?

Deer used to be varmints.. same as sheeps. I have heard about students paying some of their education by hunting in their past time!

quote:

Originally posted by TOP_PREDATOR:
Here in New Zealand we do not have a bounty on any animals,you can get a job has a culler shooting mainly goats.

Nortman

Maybe you could tell us where you are from.

Im from Norway. Short answer.

I was one of those students. Yes it did get me a commerce degree. Now that's an era passed. Good money at times, but damn hard work.
Lugging out whole carcasses (Including heart,lungs & Liver) I could average one deer a day ground hunting, occasionally get lucky with an easy carry and do two or more. (Most was 5 in one day, and 11 over 3 days.)
In the 80's top price was $3.20 a kilo for head/neck shot.) Average weight was 50 kilo. So work it out.
Also did quite a bit of ground hunting for choppers doing venison recovery.
Hard to sell venison now, very few buyers and most have such high quality requirements that it precludes ground hunters. Most of the wild venison is now taken by choppers. This year one of our local abbortoirs fulfilled an order of 6,000 wild carcasses, all shot by choppers in West Otago, South Westland and Fiordland. Some of the carcasses were 150 KG + (Wapiti???)
Anyway a lot of Deer Farmers got quite pissed off, as they couldn't sell their farm deer, and yet the wild stuff was getting processed.

Possum hunting is back in the money in NZ.
Plucked fur fetching $75 a kilo, cash in the pocket. (It takes a dozen or so possums to get a kilo.) Not too hard to shoot 30 or so a night.

Only other paid hunters are D.O.C. cullers and hunting guides.

Still the odd Rabbiter paid by large farms.

etter to get a high paid job and enjoy your hunting in your free time huh!!

Ok. So hunting for a living is out of the question. I was wondering about hunting in general in New Zealand, and Australia then. Do you have to apply for a hunting license to hunt? Or is it just to find public land and hunt? As long as you follow the season?

PETA alert!

you only need a license for game birds in New Zealand,big and small game have no seasons and can be hunted on public land you should get a permit from DOC which is free i never do

That sounds nice.. maybe I should take my summer holidays down there

What would be the ideeal caliber to use in New Zealand?

Would need to be a good enough on the biggest animals. And what bullet weight would you suggest?

Tricky question - I do most of my hunting with a .243, but also use a 6.5x55 and a 30/06. I'd guess a .308 with 150-165gr would cover almost all hunting conditions (perhaps not Thar hunting, and I'm starting to read of more people taking Sika at 400 yards).

Bruce

I think what you would use would depend on where you were hunting .

Bush hunting requires a shorter range performer than alpine hunting , but having said that the 7mm-08 is pretty popular , along with the 243 , 308 , 6.5 x 55 , you name it .

If I was to stick to two calibres I would probably go for 6.5 x 55 and 7mm Rem Mag to cover the field.

Now watch my choices get blown to pieces by everyone else....

There is a huge range of game to be hunted down here. From sparrows and starlings up to buffalo and wild cattle. One rifle isnt going to be able to cover it all. If you pick a larger calibre it will be too big for some game. If you pick a lower calibre it will be too small for some game.
A 243 or similar will comfortably take all the lower stuff while something in the 270, 7mm, 30 or larger will do most other stuff.