Updates from the Southern Lakes Branch 

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June 2023 Newsletter 

JUNE 29

Next Meeting

Agenda for the next club night

6.30pm Doors and bar opens

7.40pm Presentation from DOC on the Takahe Release in the Greenstone Valley

8.30pm Beer and drinks refills

8.45pm Meeting & agenda covered

9.30pm End of meeting

followed by Drinks and Social Catch up

CLUB MEETING VENUE
Arrowtown Bowling Club, 6 Hertford Street,
(Next to Arrowtown Firestation) 

Takahē are returning to the Greenstone Valley

Photo credit: Lydia Uddstrom

Guest Speaker at the meeting on Thursday

DOC’s Takahē Recovery and local Rangers are coming to talk about their first step in the plan to return takahē to the Greenstone Valley.

It's an awesome opportunity to share knowledge and conservation values in an area we are familiar with .

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National Conference Competitions

Conference is the time where the annual competitions are judged. The winners of the club photo competitions will be automatically entered as well as a few of the winners from the club scoring night.

However there are many other categories in the national competition. You have to be in it to win it so winners get their name engraved on a trophy and an entry into the history books! Pretty cool stuff!

Not only antler, horn and tusk entries but there are 'photographic essays shown in 6 pics', stories, poems, junior entries etc  

If you want to enter, just download the form from the link below and contact Sharon to arrange to sign it (We can do that via email easily )

We have a number of people going to conference so if you would like your antlers entered and delivered, Please get in touch

CLOSING DATE is July 7th 2023 so not long to get sorted

Club Trip to Te Anau show

Friday 30th June - Sunday 2nd July 2023

At the last meeting we discussed organising a club trip to Te Anau to visit this show. 

We are looking to help members connect with others to share rides and or accommodation and make a weekend of it.

Check out the website for more details  

Guest speakers, seminars, hunting comp, good food and beer! It’s all there.

The Trade Fair will feature a wide variety of exhibitors showcasing the latest gear and equipment, including hunting rifles, bows, and accessories, as well as outdoor clothing and footwear. Visitors will have the opportunity to talk to experts in the field, learn about new products, and compare different brands.

For those interested in hunting, there will be demonstrations and seminars on a range of topics, including conservation, survival skills, animal tracking, and ethical hunting practices.

National Goat Competition Starts Soon

Image above is taken from a past club goat shoot on Coronet Peak 

About the competition

The national wild goat hunting competition will be officially launched at the 
NZDA Conference on the 21st July and released to the public and media on Monday 23rd July. Throughout the duration of the competition, you can expect to see and hear adverts across radio, TVNZ-on demand ads, across social media, major hunting magazines (NZ Hunter, Hunting & Fishing catalogue, NZ Outdoor) and more.

There are some awesome prizes up for grabs with the prize pool exceeding $40,000 – including the chance to win a filmed wild goat hunt with the NZ Hunter crew, a Traegar Ironwood series grill, Hunting & Fishing gear and vouchers, a full Tatonka Modulus pack set-up, Huntech vouchers and more! 

The competition webpage is not live yet and it is not to be shared wider than NZDA however to help our Southern Lakes Members so that we are in with a chance, we are going to organise a club goat trip every month from August.

To enter the competition you will need to collect the tails and bring them to a meeting to get them verified. There is no date of kill required so quite easy to collect and enter. Stick them in the freezer till the meeting or alternative collection and verification meeting.

There will are also some local prize categories:-

NZDA Local Prize Categories:

1. Highest scoring goat head

2. Most goat tails

3. Junior Specific (under 18 years of age)

3.a. Highest scoring head by a junior

3.b. Most tails by a junior

4. NZDA member specific

4.a Highest scoring head by an NZDA member

4.b. Most tails by an NZDA member

Club Goat Shoots 

Dates still to be firmed up but to coincide with the competition, we are planning a number of club trips including

• Coronet Peak Station
• Mt Creighton hunting blocks
• Nevis Station
• Mt Dewar Station

Hunting and Wildlife Magazine

You can order your
printed copy of NZDA
Hunting & Wildlife Magazine
and have it delivered to your
home address

www.nzda.shop

$12.95 per issue + postage

Back issues of the magazine are also available for purchase.

Don't forget to send in your hunting images & stories. Vouchers received for articles published

Complying with the Firearms Registry

The new Firearms Registry goes live on 24 June and no matter whether you support the policy or not, all firearms users will need to comply with its requirements. Information on when you need to register your arms items, what you must record in the Registry and what it means for both users and dealers is available here.

What Triggers an Obligation to Register your Firearms?

• When you apply for a licence or endorsement
• If you notify police of a change in your licence holder information
• When you buy or receive an arms item
• When you sell or supply an arms item
• When you import an arms item
• When you export an arms item
• When you manufacture an arms item
• If you modify a prohibited firearm to a non-prohibited firearm
• If you notify Police of a loss or theft of an arms item
• If you destroy an arms item
• If you’re subject to any compliance or enforcement action under the Arms Act
• When you purchase ammunition – from 24 June 2025
• If no activating circumstance occurs before 24 June 2028, you must register all your firearms and arms items by 31 August 2028.

If any of the activating circumstances occur before the 24th of June 2023, they will not trigger registration. This means you have a few days left of the current 'unregistered' system.

If you purchase ammo between now and the 24th of June 2025, it will not trigger registration.

Need help?
Sharon attended an online briefing with the Firearms Safety Authority, and it seems you will need to get verified to get registered for the website, either using a Real me log in or using other secondary validations. We can discuss the process more at the next meeting in August after it has gone live and maybe go through the registration process in the meeting to help anyone that is not IT savy or wants help in how to do it. 

Sika Show/Rod&Rifle Photographic Competition

Have you taken a great photo while out in the bush or on the water? Share it with Rod & Rifle

Enter the sika show/Rod&Rifle Photographic Competition and you’ll be in with a chance to win a great prize!

Scenic shots, photos of you and your family, landscape photos, close-ups of wildlife, birds, flora and fauna, action shots, they are all welcome. The only rules are that the photo must be taken in the New Zealand outdoors, and if the photo is of an animal it must be alive. Trophy shots are not eligible for entry in this competition.

The best images will be printed and on display at the Sika Show on 28th & 29th October 2023 at Mystery Creek, Hamilton. The winner and runner-ups will receive an amazing prize, thanks to Swarovski Optik and GlassArt NZ. Plus selected images will be printed in the annual Rod&Rifle calendar.

• Entry is FREE
• Competition open to anyone in residing in NZ
• Entries must be received before 30th September 2023

Greenstone and Caples Working bees coming up 

SAVE THE DATES

Caples Hut
We are needing to do some repairs and maintenance at the Upper Caples Hut so looking to do this at the start of October.

Work at the Caples needed:-

• Repaint inside and out
• Replace the fireplace (new one is on order)
• Cover the floor with chipboard as the lino is cracked and easier to floor over than replace
• Chop firewood

Tentative dates are for 5th - 8th October 

Mid Greenstone Working bee and Steele Creek Ballot

We are also scheduling a Greenstone working bee as Paul Gaboda is going to replace the front windows with double glazed units.

Ballot is available between 20th - 30th Sept 

Helicopter flights will also be subsidised for the Mid Greenstone
working bee 22nd - 24th Sept

NZDA Regional Meeting

There is a regional meeting on Sunday 25th June where branches discuss matters of the day and regional issues 

The venue is South Otago Branch club rooms in Balclutha, with a start time of 10 am, If anyone is keen to go along and represent our branch, let us know

Great reminder Pete!

E: pete.henderson@deerstalkers.org.nz

New regulations came into effect as of the 30th November, 2022 regarding safe transportation of firearms in your vehicle.

Gone are the days of just throwing the gun onto the back seat with the bolt in and a couple of packets of ammo and chucking a blanket over it.

Interestingly, when asked, a huge number of law-abiding firearms owners don’t know or realize these new regulations exist and here lies the potential problem.

Being ignorant of the rules is not an excuse. It is your responsibility to know the regulations for safe firearms vehicle transportation.

A while ago, I went out with a hunter that had his firearm bagged but not locked, bolt in the firearm, magazine loaded (but not in the firearm) and a packet of ammo in with the bag. How many rules did he break? To be fair he had just come back from being overseas for the last 18 months and was unaware of the new transport rules. But would the Police take such an understanding view? Possibly not, and as he had broken a number of rules they could just ask, ‘Are you a fit and proper person to own and use a firearm if you can’t follow the rules’, it is your responsibility to know and follow the new regulations.

The key transportation regulations that are non-negotiable:

1. All firearms must be concealed from view from outside the vehicle.

2. Firearms must be made inoperable by removing the bolt or another vital part or by fitting a trigger lock or storing in a locked case or carry bag.

3. Firearms must not be loaded with ammunition in the breach, barrel or chamber or magazine.

4. Ammunition must be concealed from view from outside the vehicle.

5. Ammunition must be stored separately from all firearms and be locked in the glove box or similar storage area where practicable. (in a cash box or metal lockable ammo box).

6. Food and toilet stops of up to 60 minutes are allowed if you have your vehicle nearby.

You have no excuse not knowing these regulations. Don’t get caught out and say ‘I didn’t know’ as that won’t cut it. If you get caught, the Police could make an example of you and next minute you’ve lost your firearms and licence.

The new rules aren’t too tough to follow. Lets not give the Police the opportunity to make an example of us.

Winners from the AGM - Antler, Horn & Tusk competition night

Trophies presented by Joint Vice President Katie Dugan

Blake Veitch - Junior

Saxon Cowan - Tahr

Sarah Veitch - Sheep

Dave Veitch - Tusks

Katie Dugan - Chamois

Katie Dugan - Goat

Katie Dugan - Red Deer

Kaylyn Pinney, Fallow, Ladies and Overall winner

Reminder to complete your Animal Harvesting Records

We collect information on animals harvested. Completion is not compulsary, but it helps prove to DOC how active our club has been and how much hunting contributes to the conservation efforts. 

Your information is collected by the club only and you details are kept private and hunting locations are not identified or shared

General Enquiries

   info@southernlakesnzda.org.nz

  021 942 328

PO Box 1648, Queenstown, 9348

Club Bank Account

ASB: 12-3405-0071329-00

Branch Committee and Contacts

Branch President
Andy Pearson       027 292 5492 

Vice President(s) Shared 
Katie Dugan     021 181 1569 
Alasdair Gay    021 034 4671

Secretary
Sharon Salmons      021 942328

Treasurer & Hut Bookings
Roger Slow      027 281 3571

Immediate Past President 
Jacques Olivier      027 680 0577

Memberships
Melissa Jager      027 392 3692

HUNTS training co-ordinators
Pete Henderson      0204 144 9272
Shaun Moloney      027 442 1605
Katie Dugan     021 181 1569
Melissa Jager      027 392 3692

Stoats Traps
Simon Brackstone      021 949 669
Liz Mathieson 
Jono Clarke

Advocacy (Hunter Access)
Dave Rider       021 969 350

Trophy Custodian
Alex Ritchie        021 0248 7086

Douglas Scorers
Katie Dugan
Shaun Moloney
Wayne Patterson
Phil Ballam
Callum King
Aaron Shaw

Social Media - join us..........

Alternatively connect with other members in the private facebook chat group