Conference this year has been and gone and unfortunately I was unable to attend, but the Branch was again well represented by our delegate Keith Matthews and also in the running of the AHT competitions with our resident national judges and manager. From all accounts conference ran smoothly and actually finished ahead of schedule, which is something that does not happen very often. The branch's entries into the AHT, photographic and literary sections did extremely well, so will have more on the results later.

Spent an enjoyable day recently helping install bait stations with the operators doing the poisoning operations in the Te Tapui reserve, so all thanks to Bill and Luke for letting me tag along. I intend to hopefully spend another couple of days in the reserves helping them do their work. With all the noise we were making I did actually get to see a doe standing 20 metres away and also heard a number of deer walking about. I am very disappointed, that at this stage, that besides myself, only one other person has actually made an effort to go along and help. They are very keen to get some help with pre feeding, installing bait stations etc and by offering our help will portray our willingness in managing and ensuring the survival of the fallow herd in the reserves. The information with regard to what you need to do to volunteer has been made available in flyers, at social nights, the news letter and via e-mail, so there is no excuse that you have not been informed.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind you all that we will be looking for volunteers to help out with the poisoning operations in the Te Tapui reserve that is scheduled to start early/mid May. The contractor has asked for volunteer groups when required of approx six people at a time to help carry in bait stations etc and generally help out where we can. We have given our commitment to Environment Waikato to help out where we can, so if you are available and keen to help, please call me to let me know. Will let you all know whats happening as soon as we get the information around the contractors schedule and requirements with regard to when the volunteers are required and when the reserve will be closed to hunting.

Another couple of events coming up is the AGM on Monday the 4th May and Measuring Night on Thursday 28th May. I would like to see a better turn out for the AGM this year, where this is your opportunity to provide feed back, suggestions, etc etc. We are always looking for volunteers to help out at on the committee and if you cant make it and want to be involved give us a call and register your interest.

Measuring Night is always interesting as to what will actually turn up, as reports so far seem to indicate that things have been unusually quiet so far on the "stag" front, which could be attributed to the warm/mild weather we have had so far. Bring on the cold blasts. Last year we won the Norman Douglas Trophy for the best in antler, horn and tusk with an impressive aggregate score so retaining it for another year could be something to aim for. No pressure.

Hopefully you have all had a pleasant and relaxing time over the holiday period filling the freezer with venison and fish, and look forward to reading about these exploits in the newsletter.

For those of you who have not heard, I received word from Environment Waikato late last year that the proposed possum control operations in the Te Tapui reserve scheduled for later this year will be a "GROUND BASED" operation using 1080 in bait stations - so no aerial drops. That's certainly good news for us and I would like to thank all those who have supported us in our endeavors with regard to this proposed operation. I would also like to thank those people within the EW and DoC organisations that were sympathetic to our concerns with regard to the preservation of the fallow herd in the reserve. We will at some stage be having a meeting with EW to go over the planned dates/methods/closure period for the reserve so will let you know the details once this is finalised.

The branch has also sent a submission into DoC, with regard to the draft Waikato Conservation Management Strategy, which is in addition to one submitted by Dr Hugh Barr representing all NZDA members. If anyone is interested in viewing this submission I can forward/email them a copy.

This one's going to be short and sweet as I'm a bit occupied with issues at work at the moment.

Once again the "silly" season is coming up real quick, so a good time to sit back and relax and do a spot of hunting and fishing.

The other night the branch hosted the "Graf Boys", who gave a sneak preview of their up coming documentary on the indiscriminate effects of the use of aerially applied 1080 on all non-target species and at this stage it sounds like this will be a
hard hitting documentary. The night was also a fund raiser, with the door proceeds being donated to them, so was a bit disappointed when only about 18 members /
people actually turned up.

The HUNT's program is progressing along well and looks like being a full class, when the first course starts early next year.

So all the best for the festive season, enjoy the break and give the deer and fish a hurry up.

Hot barrel and Tight Lines.
John.

Firstly, I would like to thank all those people involved in getting the HUNT's program underway with ensuring all the proper paper work and appropriate training/certification has been achieved in preparation for our first proposed course early in 2009. With todays "Politically Correct" climate, the additional processes and procedures that need to be covered is quite daunting and all praise to the guys involved in the HUNT's course in getting through this "red tape".

This month's social night was held out at the new "Hunting & Fishing" store in Te Rapa, with about 30 members attending, who were given a presentation by Gary on the "history" of the store and after, everyone had time to browse and purchase at their leisure. We intend to make this at least an annual event and may look at having this at the start of the Roar and the Duck shooting seasons. So thanks to Gary for his hospitality and letting us wander around his shop.

The elections are coming up and there have been a number of recent developments that have enhanced our sport and resulted in more recognition of "Big Game Animals" as a managed resource, which perhaps could be attributed as a vote gathering exercise, but certainly a plus for us. There were a number of articles that have been written in the various hunting magazines on each parties views/stance on game management/1080 etc and are well worth reading as a lead up to the elections.