Australian Brushtailed Opossum

[Coote 5]

The pistol suggestion is one that I very much like...not so much because it would be my possum killing method of choice...just because I would love to own a pistol. But alas...pistols are one thing that the common man cannot own here. I drool over the handgun pictures in catalogues, but my desires in this direction are unlikely to be fulfilled.

 

We're allowed to possess and use all sorts of long firearms though provided that we hold a firearms licence. The government is just anti pistols and military-type semi-automatic or automatic weapons. But we have all sorts of models and calibres at our disposal. A lot of my hunting has been done with a good old .303 British Lee Enfield service rifle. This was the most common large calibre used a while ago, now we have all sorts of stuff. I have an acquaintance who uses a .223 to shoot possums by lamplight. I understand that it has adequate power for the job.

 

Quad bikes are in wide use over here. I use my brother's one a bit when I am staying on d'Urville Island in the Marlborough Sounds. It gets used for all sorts of jobs...except possum trapping, because there are no possums on this Island. There are quite a few pigs though.

 

There are still some areas where possums live where you could not even get a quad to. I guess modern trappers might get helicopter help in these areas if they had a lot of supplies to move.

 

A trapping holiday in New Zealand eh? Now there's an idea for a tourist operation. Forget wine-tasting, sight-seeing, bungy-jumping etc... come to NZ to snare a possum and bash its brains out with a heavy stick. I can visualize the posters. I must write to the Tourism Department and outline my idea for a worldwide television advertising campaign. I wonder if Britney Spears could be contracted.

 

But seriously though...if you do want to do something like this, stay in touch. I don't personally have accomodation at my disposal, but I would be happy to help make sure that you got a fair deal. And yep, why not try to bag a pig while you are here.

 

I live close to a small city. Yet I can hunt possums, rabbits and hares withing walking distance of my home. Not everybody can because the land is private, but I have had a relationship with the neighboring farming family for maybe 35 years and I am careful not to overdo my welcome. I have seen the odd pig in the area, and in fact I snared one and shot two over the last 2 or three years. I know that pigs were causing a problem on the neighbours farm last year, but I have only just heard that they got 40 pigs on the farm last year.

 

People can get permits to hunt bigger game with centrefire rifles on public land... generally with no problem at all. But interestingly it seems difficult to get permission to take shotguns and rimfires on to public land... I think the powers that be are concerned that native birds will be shot. It might be difficult to get permission for a "stranger" to hunt small game by any method... but I could try to help if you are hell-bent on the idea.

 

But it sounds like you guys have plenty to trap over there...why spend a bezillion dollars to catch a few smelly possums?

 

Best wishes to all.... Coote.

[midnight 657]

thanks coote i might take you up on the offer one day.

 

i would love to explore nz the wilder parts most. and hunting is somthing we should all do every where we can .

 

i dont get chance to kill pigs ever well not since i was a butcher anyway.

 

id like to do some fishing over your way to as i know its some of the best in the world.

 

also i like the look of mowery women if thats spelt right lol

 

all the best

[Coote 5]

Yep Midnight, some of those mowery women are quite cute I have to say. Mind you, I am interested in music and I have just been sent the DVD called "Celtic Woman"... and I note that you have some fine looking ladies over your way as well...they've got nice accents too. In case you're interested, the traditional spelling is "Maori"

 

Isn't it great being heterosexual !!

 

NZ is a fairly good place to fish and hunt. I do a bit of sea fishing, but have never done any serious fresh water fishing. The main freshwater "game" species are brown trout, rainbow trout.... and there are a few salmon in one or two rivers. Carp and possibly one or two other species have been introduced in odd places, but they aren't common. The main reason I haven't bothered fishing in the rivers and lakes for trout is that you have to buy a licence. I do catch the odd eel though(which doesn't require a licence).

 

With the exception of marine mammals and certain bats, I believe that all mammals in NZ are introduced, and most are regarded as pests. Generally speaking there are no licences required, no limit bags, and no closed seasons. We have wapiti, red deer, fallow deer and a few other species of deer in odd places. Red deer are the most common and the wapiti are limited to the far south of the South Island as far as I am aware. We also have pigs, goats, possums, hares, rabbits, ferrets, weasles, stoats, hedgehogs and a small patch of wallabies. I've never hunted wallabies.

 

Game birds are hunted too... we have ducks, paradise shelducks, Canadian geese, Californian quail.... and a few other birds like pheasants in isolated locations. I am not a bird hunter.... this hunting requires that a licence is purchased too.... and there is a specific season for most birds I believe.

 

A few weeks ago I walked into an area that I haven't hunted in for a while. Getting permission to hunt there is a bit difficult, so I decided to just take a camera. I thought that I might get a picture of a wild goat if I walked a long way back into the forest. I was surprised to come across this mob of wild goats on a firebreak long before I expected to see them:

 

[Kane 2]

Knew a bloke who would lamp them from his car and slip an English Bull terrier on them.

[midnight 657]

i would likwe to use heavey bull greyhounds on that lot.

 

im dead jelouse coote .

i live with a celt women we have a boy togeather , she can be a strange woman at times . but likes all feild sports . she can shoot , fish , is a good dog women and loves to coarse and lamp with them. he faverate is bull stuf tho she likes working stafs and has been known to slip them in to big stuf that bites back.

 

on the hole she is a crazy scotish bird tho lol

 

 

back to nz hunting . if you came acros goats like that here they would be some hippie small holders flock and would get you self in hot water.

[kiwi 4]

i have trapped possums since i was a kid, if you guys ever make it down under i'll take ya out on a trap line or poison line. cyanide is wicked stuff. shooting them and plucking the fur will give ya good money, about 85 bucks a kg, depending on the type of coons about 12 good size ones make up a kg. shooting a mob of goats like that here will be doing everyone a favor.

[pegandgun 51]

I wonder how much it would cost for a flight to N.Z and back,mind you i might not want to come back

[midnight 657]

lets get it booked mate im dieing to go ,even the misses has just read the hole thread and is keen . she says the only thing that worries her is dangerouse spiders and stuff like that , i said i dont think you guys have any but im not 100% sure . lol

[pegandgun 51]

Woah,Waoh Waoh.

Who the f**k mensioned women dude

[midnight 657]

not out traping lol she was thinking in the future mate maybe to live . after the lottery win lol

 

if it was a seriouse idea i would defo go fro a week or two just need time to save,

[pegandgun 51]

I am serious dude

[Coote 5]

We do have spiders here and there are about two species (out of the hundreds) reputed to have a venomous bite which can be unpleasant. However I don't really know of anybody who has ever had a serious problem with them. I would consider the common yellow wasp more of a nuisance. We don't have anything like the spiders they have in Australia, and I would consider it perfectly ok to walk barefoot anywhere, or to sit or sleep or camp in any patch of scrub without having to spare a thought for spiders or any other insect (except for bees or wasps). Insect repellent is sometimes necessary in some areas for sandflies and mosquitoes.

 

We don't have any snakes, and generally the only dangerous animals are ones that are cornered with no option but to attack you. But that is the same anywhere. No lions, tigers, wolves, buffalo, rhino or bears.

 

I was able to get $75 a kilo for possum fur last year, but this year I understand the company I sell to is only offering $70 a kilo. I reckon, around where I live, it might take about sixteen possums to give me a kilo of saleable fur. The company wants only fur that is 20mm long or more, so we generally don't pluck the bellies of the possums where the short fur is.

 

Its coming on to autumn down here. This means that the possum fur may be getting denser, and that soon the red deer will start to roar and the pigs may come down the hills and start to root up the pasture. But the days are getting shorter and colder... not ideal for a holiday.

 

If you were seriously considering coming down here, I would suggest that you do some careful planning and research. Ideally if somebody like Kiwi could have you to stay and take you out you would be fairly sure to be saving money and having some good experiences.

[pegandgun 51]

Thanks for that Coot