Just been told I will be staying in Dubai for at least another 28 days...then quarantine somewhere (probably Darwin) for two weeks. Lots of uncertainty at the moment and things change daily. Just have to relax and get on with it.

Bakes,
Yeah, as Shanks says, it's a "shit sandwich" right now. Roar hunting in NZ will be much of a non-event too with countywide "stay in place" orders.
Although Dubai is probably not the worst place to be I feel sorry for you and all Kiwi blokes being starved of the roar this year. My plan, as soon as restriction ease, is I'll be out the door and gone in a flash.

Trying to look on the bright side. There will be a lot of good stags not shot this year, that will be better next year.
another good bit of news on the NZ side is that evidently the WARO- helicopter deer recovery has shut down due to a collapse in prices for wild venison, with early prediction it maybe a couple of years.
Could be some great hunting next roar if those stags are not shot in velvet when they are particularly vulnerable.

Bakes:

Stuck over there you should
pester Saeed to get more shooting
time with that shoulder buster he
has.

Stay well everywhere,
George

George I've been out to Saeeds place a couple of times however at the moment we are locked on base. AND to make things worse he's teasing me by sending me photo's on Whatsapp about all the cool things he's working on.

Email distributed to DOC permit holders today, all access to DOC controlled areas is blocked, all DOC hunting permits cancelled including the roar block ballot permits and the tahr ballot block permits are currently under review these don't usually start until late April early May.
Can't even buy one of those laser bore sighters so I can at least 'shoot' some animals on TV

Eagle
Thanks for that update, although disappointing.
Have you received any word on the pending duck season ?

Bakes,

Every time I pulled into Dubai as a Navy port, I'd get some good hunting ephemaria shopping in. There were tons of book stores that had hunting books, including some really rare Euro printed titles I had never seen before.

Was really cool.

I actually haven't seen any book shops here. Not that it matters...locked on base at the moment

I have only been to two bases there. One near the Seamans Center and the one at Jebel Ali.

Maybe they were not bases, but they were armed to the teeth.

quote:

Originally posted by 30.06king:
Eagle
Thanks for that update, although disappointing.
Have you received any word on the pending duck season ?

Last info I had is what is still up on the website, see below. All in the hands of the Government now. Even if we get back to Level 3 where hunting was allowed there could well be travel restrictions on so if like me you usually travel out of your district for opening weekend, this may not be possible under a restricted Level 3.
From Fish and Game

Pegging day

Because pegging day (April 5) will occur when the country is at Covid-19 Alert Level 4, all pegs from the 2019 Game bird season will be valid for the 2020 season so long as the hunter has a valid 2020 game season licence. There is no need for hunters to travel to their maimai’s to stake their claim this year.

Game Bird Licence Cards

From Wednesday 25th March, no plastic licence cards or tags were being printed. Our suppler has advised they are now back up and running and these will be processed normally.

Refunds

If there is no opportunity for any game bird hunting during the 2020 game bird season because of the Covid-19 Alert Level, then all game bird licences purchased will be refunded. Hunting is currently permitted at Alert Level 3 and below, provided Government regulations are followed.

Im in contact with staff from F&G. They have been flat out preparing for different scenarios, But the limiting factor is what the Govt decides. Its basically a wait and see as to whow they react and what kind of season is implemented. Best case scenario is level two I think.
yesterday the police had a road block just off SH1 on the road to Waitomo and were stopping all cars with more than one person and telling them new govt order is one person per car.

That seems fair to me, Craig, unless the two come from the same household. To allow that distinction would of course bring out smart-asses who would pretend they did.

If things open up after 15th May, we should have a great winter hunt for Sika - for those that want to do it in the cold and wet conditions.

Spring hunt in November should be fantastic.