Last weekend was the annual Sika Show and as usual five of us made our way to Taupo to help out with measuring duties. Entries were up this year and the pressure was on the measuring teams to get it all done in time, with entries closing off at 3:00 pm on the Saturday, we eventually got all the heads measured by about 5:00 pm. The stand outs this year were the large number of high scoring red heads, and of course the focus of the show being sika, with the top head scoring just over 205 DS. Managed to sneak away for half an hour for a quick look at the exhibitions and displays, but unfortunately didn't have the time to really check things out properly.

Good news this week, as a result of recommendations from last years Game Animal Panel and with the support of Peter Dunne from the United Future party with the announcement of the establishment of a new Big Game Hunting Council (BGHC) and the Wild Animal Control Advisory Committee (WACAC). The BGHC will represent and advocate for all hunting sector interests including both recreational and commercial hunting interests to promote hunting generally, while the WACAC will focus on improving hunters' recreational experience and their contribution to conservation by advising the Minister and DoC on best practice from around the country.

Its pretty hard at the moment trying to get back into this work mode, after enjoying all that fine weather, spending time relaxing, and doing a spot of fishing. Did a couple of trips out from Whakatane chasing the elusive yellow fin tuna, but only managed to pick up a dozen or so Albacore tuna. Still, they cooked up a treat on the Bar-B-Q and in the smoker.

I suspect many of you have spent some time in the bush chasing venison and trout, and look forward to hearing and reading stories about your success.

During this holiday period it is very easy to forget about the politics and on going issues associated with our sport, such as the 1080 drops, Environment Waikato strategies, etc etc, but now that the new year has started and the branch / committee begins its work for this year, these on-going issues will again receive the focus that they require.

I'm a bit gutted that we have missed out on a Wapiti block for this year, as I was looking forward to checking out the magnificent country and also giving my new raincoat a bit of a work out. Guess I'll have to spend time chasing the reds and my favourite deer, the cunning sika.

Hot Barrels and Tight Lines.

Regards,

Firstly, many thanks to all those who took the time to read the discussion document and complete the questionnaire produced by the "Ministerial Consultation Panel" regarding the future status of our game animals. At this stage its going to be a waiting game as the panel processes all the submissions and completed questionnaires and presents their summary documentation to the Minister. So hopefully sometime early next year we will see some announcements and correspondence form the panel regarding this process.

The recent social night presentation by the Graf Brothers of their dvd a "Shadow of Doubt" certainly was an eye opener with regard to the indiscriminate application of aerial 1080 and its resulting by-kill on non target animals and birds. Certainly a strong case to use deer repellent. The recent ERMA announcements with regard to the continued use of 1080 certainly did very little to improve this situation and in fact will result in an accelerated use of 1080.

The Sambar ballot hunting period is now well under way and with a number of members lucky enough to have scored a ballot, expect to see some "stories" appearing in the newsletter and hopefully some top Sambar trophies being taken.

We welcome applications for New Membership of our Waikato Branch. For application forms for new members or for sub renewals, you can download the forms on the membership page.

The Taupo Sika Competition was well attended this year, with a number of branch members assisting with measuring, and as usual the standard was again high this year particularly with a number of outstanding Sambar heads being entered. and yes I did buy a new rain coat, for preparation for a trip down south next year to South Westland or should that be South Wetland. Congratulations to those members who were lucky enough to "win" a ballot for this years sambar hunt. No doubt there will be some stories to tell and articles to be written for the newsletter.

A meeting/roadshow was held at the clubrooms on Saturday,October 13th, attended by members from several branches, where Graeme Steans gave a presentation on the "Ministerial Consultation Panel" , covering the recently released discussion document and questionnaire. Without starting to sound like bit of a "nag", I urge you all to read this discussion document and complete the questionnaire, as this is probably our best opportunity to push our concerns/opinions directly with the Minister of Conservation. Also get as many of your mates and other hunters to complete the questionnaire and really get the message out there.

Starting to plan the spring hunts and hopefully should be heading bush late November for some meat and test out the new rain coat.