the tararua rag - hvnzda.org.nz

The Tararua Rag Newsletter of the NZDA Hutt Valley branch

august 2015 NZDA Hutt Valley Branch, PO Box 40-226, Upper Hutt 5140

Website: http://www.hvnzda.org.nz

Next club meeting: 19th August at the Cossie Club Upper Hutt

The Show starts at 7.30pm This Month : Gear Night! Bring your favourite bit of hunting kit along! There are prize draws for those attending branch meetings. You will need to be present

to receive the prize. Prize iinclude vouchers, shirts and donated goods.

Memberships are due for Renewal Get Online NOW! For all membership enquiries please contact us at [email protected]

Patron Bob Badland President Neil McAlpine (021634841) [email protected] Vice President John Leith Secretary Gordon George (0272225714) [email protected] Membership/Web services Brad Wright Treasurer/Range keys Maurice Subritsky (045267722) Competition Coordinator Simon Gibson (045633277) Shooting Competition Coordinator Michael Guerin (0211283671) Hunts Course Coordinator Nick Carter

Range Manager Gerry Veugelaers [email protected] Club Hunting Gary Johnson (0274300658) Michael Mills (0273068357) [email protected] Personal Locator Beacon Coordinator Tristan Anson (021682285) Facebook Coordinators Jason McHenry Michael Mills [email protected] Newsletter Editor (This Month) Michael Mills Committee Greg Wos Ivan Morrison Patrick Kelly Ted Wellstood (021702503) Emmet McElhatton

Contents:

Presidents Report

Advocates Column

The Range Report

August Club Hunt Report

How to make Turkey Sausages!

Annual Prize Draw Breakdown

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DISCLAIMER: Opinions expressed in the Tararua Rag do not necessarily represent those of the branch, the committee or the editor. This newsletter provides a vehicle for the discussion of different points of view.

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President’s Report August 2015

Welcome from the Hutt Valley Branch NZDA committee to all new and renewing members. As of the 27th July we had 652 members in total, 525 non family members and 127 family members, (we are getting about 30 people a month joining at present, we’ve almost surpassed last year’s total) thanks to all and welcome back. Remember you only get out of your club what you put into it, be a member not a number, I hope you will all enjoy what the club has to offer you. The range key exchange continues to be the draw card to the meetings, though some grab the key and run. The door prize continues to be a popular event with as far as I remember a different person winning each time. So, you never know, turn up and stay for the meeting to see if you are the lucky one. Most club nights see between 50 to 60 members attending. This month’s club meeting is on the 19th at 7.30pm at the Cossie club in Upper Hutt, so I hope you turn up. Someone is issuing range keys from 7.00pm. Remember to drop $2 in the plate to assist with the cost of hiring the room at the Cossie club; it costs $100 per club night to hire. The last club meeting had Ivan showing some slides and DVD footage from hunting trips and at different locations he’s been. Thanks for doing that Ivan. This month’s meeting, Some the guys are going to bring along bit of their hunting gear that they find useful. Bring yours along too. Everyone who won trophies from last years Antler, Horn and Tusk Competition, can you please return your Trophies as soon as possible for this years prize giving coming up. The Wainui range looks to be all go with the hope of shooting being able to start around Christmas with a 100 metre and pistol range and then continuing by adding longer ranges as time and money allows. It looks like the longest range will be around 600 metres. There was a working bee at the range on the 1st August with a good turnout, I couldn’t attend, but was told that the guy’s got a lot done, thanks Wayne for the digger which made the job quicker and lightened the need for spade and rake work. Thanks to all those who took the time to turn up and share the load. The weekend of the 8th and 9th of August saw a club hunt take place and I’m told everyone had a great time although it was a little on the cool side, I think a bit of rain got thrown in for good luck. If there is anything you want the club to do, put forward your idea and help to make it happen. Now we have more guys helping out we have the ability to progress the wants we have talked about for a long time. Speak now and see it happen. Our 2015 Hutt Valley NZDA Hunter Training Course is happening again this year, all the information and a registration form (fill it out online) are on our website. There are 20 places available on the course so get in quick and secure a spot. I picked up the meat from the pigs I shoot and got one done as sausages, one as bacon and the other as chops. Its great sitting down to a dinner where you provided the meat and it also tastes a lot better I think. That’s it for this month, enjoy and remember to protect YOUR HUNTING / SHOOTING RIGHTS.

Get out and do some hunting. Don’t forget the stories. Yep, I know that goes for me to. Don’t forget to take care when you are out hunting and REMEMBER to identify YOUR target before YOU pull the trigger, it’s too late afterwards. Get a mate to join a hunting or shooting club, numbers do count, try it, they may make some new friends and enjoy themselves.

Neil


ADVOCATES COLUMN

The WARO issue as I have noted in previous columns is warming up a little. The limited DOC review (of the review outcome for the Ruahines) is underway this week with meetings in Palmerston North (19th) and Upper Hutt (20th). DOC are hoping to restrict the meetings to club reps (3 to 5 people) when we meet at the Cosi club 7pm Thursday 20th.

DOC have set their unilaterally imposed terms of reference for the "consultation meetings" to be just area and time in the Ruahines. Area is a point we have discussed with them as the changes imposed recently to the former "Restricted Zone" in the Ruahines are about time available to WARO not area and we have urgently sought clarification as nothing in their selftitled "fact sheet" precludes using the meetings as the basis for attempting to open up the exclusion zones to WARO. I will load the fact and the associated FAQ sheets onto our website if you wish to see them. They represent DOC’s version of facts and we and the evidence we are now in possession of dispute many of the assertions in them. In the past week a large number of Official information requests seeking DOC’s evidence to justify the imposed changes have started to arrive, more are still coming. What they show is that there is no evidence to support DOC’s claim of increased numbers needing further WARO effort to counter. In fact it could be reasonably be argued that with the WARO excluded areas appearing to perform better than the combined WARORec hunter areas then excluding WARO altogether might produce a better outcome for both conservation and rec hunters. However none of this is any good if DOC continue to bluster on sustaining their myths and stance and ignoring reasoned argument as they have done to date. Hence at our last liaison group meeting (13th Aug) we resolved to appoint a Wellington law firm to pursue challenges to the WARO review. This has occurred and the first action as a consequence of that will arrive on DOC’s doorstep this week hopefully. Watch this space The WARO review process was fundamentally flawed, the justifications for change are either highly dubious or simply nonexistent, park management plan and CMS requirements were not adhered to. We are a significantly affected party and we were cut out of the process. So we will keep challenging in ever more effective manners right through to High Court action if needed, so keep writing and asking questions, it all helps focus them on making the issue go away. Thanks GG


THE RANGE

No unsuppressed firearms to be used BEFORE 08:00 any day of the week! Do not lend keys to non-members No rifles to be shot above .45 caliber Take away your rubbish

NOTE: For HVNZDA member’s casual use of the range, check the club website for bookings and possible availability but access is not guaranteed on any open day as contractors and repair/remedial work have the right of way. The range may also be closed with short or even no notice if there is forest related work required in the area adjacent to our range, this is in accordance with our lease and a sign will usually be erected on the gate stating that the range is closed in such instances. Working bee The working bee went very well with the major drainage work being completed. A big thank you to Wayne for doing the work and John Leith for running the day when I couldn’t make it. We will have another one towards the end of the year to construct bullet traps at 25, 50 and 75 yards. Rubbish: Good grief people! When will folk learn to take their rubbish home? The bins are constantly being choked with cardboard boxes and at the moment I have had to remove one bin for repair. Please have a thought for the next guys and keep it clean or else we will have to go with a skip bin and increased costs to all. The .270 bore The 270 bore (.277 diameter projectile) came into existence in 1935 as basically a necked down 30/06 and could be considered one of the first magnums of its day being somewhat overbore. Built around a 130 grain projectile, the .270 was never a popular target or varmint round but has been called “the rifleman’s cartridge” for as long as I can remember and was favorite hunting round for many years. My first ever center fire was a .270 Winchester and although I haven’t owned one for many years, I hold this round in high regard. Roy Weatherby did his usual and magnum-ised it as the .270 Weatherby magnum and Winchester made the .270 WSM in recent years but neither really don’t make the caliber any better than it was way back when. Because it was all I had, I used it for everything furred or feathered for many years, managing to clip the heads of many a rabbit with cast bullets until I could afford a .22. My ammunition was reloaded by hand with a Lee loader hand tool. Velocity was low but accuracy was great. I played around with that rifle for several years before moving on to other rounds but never found anything better. Today you also have the choice of a mini 270 in the guise of the 6.8 SPC designed for the AR15 platform and sending a 110 Vmax out at around 2600 fps. It too is a useful round making the poor Poodle gun into a viable hunting rifle for deer sized game. In the .270 Winchester, I used mostly 130 grain softpoints made by Norma and was never disappointed with either accurately or effectiveness. Todays, most bullet makers offer .277 projectiles but the most common being the 130 or 140 grain weight. The .270 kicks a lot more than the average .243 but recoil is more of a push than a belt to the shoulder. Maximum bullet weight is typically 150 grains and although some makers have gone a bit higher there is no need.


Perhaps because the .270 Winchester was never intended as anything other than a deer round is why it has been so successful over the years. Back in the 1960s, .270 Winchester rifles accounted for just about every head of game you can think of and was a popular choice for Kiwi deer cullers as well. It was favorite of the great Jack O’Connor, a US writer of the time, who touted it as an excellent long range sheep and antelope round, stretching his own one out across canyon and prairie long before “long range shooting” became all the rage. Today, modern powders and projectiles offer the shooter many options and there is even a match projectile or two out for this old girl. Hot barrels & full freezers Gerry. ([email protected])

Wayne Chapman

mob 0274 221 551

Magnum Imports NZ Limited

www.magnumimports.co.nz

Club Trip – Tauanui valley – 3 versions!

“Rongway” Roy:

Friday: After a walk to the hut in rain, we all settled in for an evening of swapping jokes, tall stories and gear tips in front of a roaring fire. Saturday: The following morning dawned quickly and saw Gary and me heading from the hut up the north side of the valley, scrambling through scrub, fern and supplejack. As we got higher, the sign improved and became much fresher with Gary pointing out likely places to look. Being relatively new to the sport, the things I had read and been told started to make sense.We approached a flatter area with sun shining through the open canopy and grass growing instead of punga’s. Gary had just said that this was a great place for deer, given its height above the river, better feed and flatter ground. Several steps later, two hinds burst from their hiding place from behind what looked like a single blade of grass, I hadn't seen them at all until they decided to bolt. Unfortunately a rushed snapshot missed them completely but at least I had finally seen a deer in the wild which was close enough to even consider a taking shot!


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About 10 minutes later we approached a similar flat area. Suddenly Gary froze, hissing through his teeth "shoot it, Roy, shoot it !". Desperately looking everywhere and seeing nothing, an apparently huge hind finally canted off from behind a tree that was in my line of sight. With nothing else seen or found for a while (except for a deluge of snow) we split up and I headed back to the hut for some warmth and dry clothes.

Roy stalking through an open Punga gut

Roy and Tristan heading upstream

Sunday: After a rain induced sleepin, we all headed up river then split up. Gary and Tristan heading one way and me heading another, once again going up the north side of the valley but on a different spur from the day before. After a longer than expected climb, I started to traverse down the ridge to pick up the next spur along which would lead me back to the hut, but after tripping over yet another fern and ending up face down in the snow, I somehow took a wrong turn. Instead of moving off the left side of the ridge I had turned around and was angling down the left side of a spur heading off the opposite side of the ridge. The GPS showed I was heading the wrong way but I convinced myself that I knew where I was going. After falling over a few more times I decided a hot coffee and some food were in order. After warming up a bit I reconsidered my situation and compared the map with the GPS, then compared this to what I could see. After taking a map bearing from where I thought I was to the hut and realising the GPS was actually correct, I set off in the correct direction to the hut which included a climb back up the spur that I had just descended. As the GPS/radio started to show lowbattery and time was getting on, I started to worry whether I would make it back before dark. Slipping, sliding and tripping on all manner of undergrowth didn't help. I startled something large and noisy that smashed away but it didn’t matter because


my focus was now all about returning safely back to the guys waiting at the hut. I made good progress back and finally walked up to the hut much sooner than I had expected. It was a great relief to see the rest of the group and get a hot cuppa in my belly before heading off for the final walk back to the car park. Conclusion: A great weekend, great fun and some solid lessons learnt; looking forward to the next trip away!

“Teaman” Rob:

I really enjoyed the adventure that was the HVNZDA club hunt! The weekend was spent with great company and a lot of laughs (some practical jokes that were expertly pulled off as well…just quietly – sorry “Minty” Michael). My highlights were things like having a smile on our faces even though we were due 10mm of cold rain but then copped a snow storm on top of that! Also getting within 10m of a red hind, only to stand on the one stick in the whole forest that made a sound which spooked it off. Friday: The group got along really well and used the first night in the hut to compare notes and jokes. So many great stories and gear to be talked about. The hut was well maintained and had plenty of room with 6 bunks, I became a little too attached to it knowing that I was fly camping the next night. Saturday: The fly camp was roughly an hour up the river and had plenty of room for Paul, Michael and I to setup our gear in the rain. After setting up, we got a hot cupper down before setting off for a hunt. Gary was kind enough to pay us a little visit that evening, and well that man can stalk! It was about 4m between us (Mike and I) when we caught a glimpse of him. Sunday: The next day’s hunt saw some snow and a little sun then some more rain. It was a dark but quick walk back to the trucks. I think the thought of fish and chips on the way home had us really keen to keep a good pace. That and Tristian going double time (I think he had his order preplanned). Conclusion: I learnt heaps and made a few new friends, overall I think this was a fantastic trip and look forward to seeing other stories from future hunts!”

Rob getting into the action

“Pullthru” Paul:

Friday: The trip began with a shitty weather forecast. On the drive there, I wondered to Roy what the criteria was for postponing. Neither of us knew. We were new. This was new. Roy noticed the Westpac Rescue Helicopter flying down the side of the range – a portent of doom?? I could feel my puff on the evening walk up to the hut given I’d been hiding in winter hibernation up to now. Gary reminded me of the HUNTS course river crossing lesson by ‘doing it with me’ when the river got a bit dodge. Once at the hut we rapidly got the fire lit, gear sorted, food ate, and started to share stories; hunting stories, dodgy stories, and of course gear stories; Roys LED light bulb, Gary’s cheap gardening hut boots, my postmortem scalpel hunting knife, Tristan’s rifle scope with its cool green triangle and Robs dehydrated towel that resembled an Oddfellow mint. Saturday: At first light me, Mike and Rob left the others at Tauanui hut as planned and headed up to our flycamp, crisscrossing our way up the bush clad river. We had a break in the weather long enough for us to set up our fly camp. Then it set in, with a crescendo of hail. It soon became evident that the puny 3 x 1.5m fly I had was an arse. Maybe good for an emergency overnighter, but insufficient width and headroom for comfortable camping in these conditions. We all hung out under Rob’s tarp while it rained. But set out for an afternoon hunt anyway.


Fly camp Drying off after a day in the rain and snow

Fly camp hero’s – Paul, Michael and Rob

Back at camp, there’s nothing better than a wellkept fire when it’s wet. I kept feeding the fire and learnt something new about practical thermodynamics. If you load the fire up with fresh wood wet with rain, and cover it with a solid layer of dried ferns wet with rain, then it really takes off and builds easily. It was like the ferns insulated the fire underneath from the rain and funnelled the oxygen through underneath. The ferns burned surprisingly slowly with a sweet smelling smoke. We converted the two entire dead trees into hot embers. There was nothing to do except use it to dry out clothes, stay warm, eat, and consume multiple brews harder rain finally drove us into our respective setups for the night.

Sunday: First thing, light rain, little wind time for a hunt. Up over the top of a big slip, lots of sign, but alas no deer. Heard another shot in the distance and hoped someone had scored (Mike had just missed a very close Stag in thick bush). After our hunt we returned back to camp at the planned time then headed back to the hut. Everyone was there except Roy. Fortunately, we were all using the club GPS units which included radios and established contact with Roy. Turned out he had gone further in than planned, so we settled in and waited a while for him to arrive. We all zoomed out of the hut happy to greet him when someone spotted him through the hut window. The best outcome. A quick brew, then we were back on track and out to the carpark under fading light.


Warming up over a roaring hut fire

Conclusion: An excellent trip with six guys who’d never spent time with each other before. None of us got animals, but we all had adventures, and we all had a story to tell. Half of us saw deer, others of us had to settle with coming across sign like deer tracks, pooh, prints, and wallows. This for me, and the news from others, was encouraging enough for a return visit. Every one learnt something new about themselves, and/or the area, and/or their gear. We all went up in ‘experience points’ – I’m sure even Gary too, who’s been doing it for ever! It doesn’t stop, and it doesn’t stop being fun and rewarding. I can only recommend that the club and its members take this as a kickstart to organising more club hunts!

Love the bush – Love Hunting!

Turkey Sausages By Emmet McElhatton

A good sausage is just about a complete meal add a hunk of good bread, a swipe of mustard, some onion and a beer and you’re there! The flipside is that there is scarcely a greater culinary abomination than a rubbish sausage no amount of sauce, cardboard bread or burnt onion can hide the fact that what you’re eating is right at the bottom of the food chain.

Sausages are making a great culinary comeback as the many different quality varieties and flavours in our local supermarkets show. We’re also lucky that we have local butchers like the folk at Park Avenue Butchers in Lower Hutt who are championing quality small goods and charcuterie and also can take the meat we hunt and turn it into great salami and bangers.

Making a good sausage is both a skill and an art and I’ve long wanted to give it a try. My first step was to research the process. All I need say is that between YouTube and enthusiast websites I had no shortage of reading and video material to help me get started.

First up was to get some extra equipment. There are loads of sausagemaking gear options on the market, both electric and manual. After researching my options, I decided to go lowtech a get an old fashioned hand meat grinder with different sized grinding plates and a sausage stuffing attachment.


Now that I had the mechanics sorted it was time to source some casings. Through Trade Me I found a supplier of hog casings. With the purchase came a great download read on sausagemaking tips and recipes. The particular natural casings I chose came dried and salted and only needed a quick soak and flush to get ready for stuffing.

So I had the gear and the casings and a fair idea of what I was doing from my hours of ‘research’. Next job was the main feature – the filling. As it happened, I was in the Rangitikei visiting an old friend when a posse of Turkeys started strolling across his front paddock in a rather arrogant manner their cousins in Whangamomona had clearly let them know that some fool from HVNZDA was in town. Pop, pop, pop and I had three in the bag.

Once breasted and backlegged, I chopped up the meat, mixed it together to get the leg meat throughout the mix, and bunged it in my mate’s freezer. By the time I got home the next day the meat was just coming off the freeze – perfect for grinding!


The key points about sausage making I had learnt were:

The sausage will only be as good as the meat you put into it The fat to lean meat ratio should be a minimum 1:4 Top quality pig fat is best – lamb and beef fat can produce variable results Use high quality unadulterated salt (and lots of it) for seasoning/curing Keep flavours simple so the meat can speak for itself Grind the meat when cold, grind it more than once, but don’t overgrind Keep your grinder really cold, especially when grinding fat – this is easy with a manual grinder as you can just stick it in the chest freezer for ten minutes.

To my turkey meat I added about 20% pork belly fat, finely mashed garlic and freshly ground cumin. The end result looked great, cooked up well and tasted…not too bad. They had a bit of a ‘grainy’ texture which I suspect had something to do with my grinding method – needs work – but the flavour was good. Turkey would not be most folk’s first pick of a meat to sausage but it was the only game meat I had to hand (I was hoping for some Hare snarlers but that was not to be).

Sausagemaking is a great and ancient skill. Check out the great material on the web and give it a try.


Club annual Prize draw

Criteria: – applicable to financial club members. You must be financial prior to 31st March each year. All game animals must be public land free range. You must be present at the prize draw to collect the prize! The more involvement you have in the club, the more points you earn and increasing your chances of winning big!

15 points equals one Entry.

Attendance of our monthly Club Meeting 3 points

Early Membership renewal 3 points

Participation in working bees 5 points

Attendance of club shoots 5 points

Completion of previous years HTC course 10 points

HTC members success public land outcome since last yr 10 points

Active committee membership/association 15 points

Valid trophy entry into branch comps per entry 5 points

Public land game in financial year (MarchFeb) (Deer, Tahr, Cham, Pigs)

5 points

Club supported/approved entry to national comps 15 points

Presenting to club. 10 points

First 10 members to open their newsletter each member 2 points

Hunting stories suitable for publishing in the Newsletter 10 points

Running an approved club hunt or Advanced Hunter Training course 15 points

Each criteria generates points, some are more heavily weighted and the total generates entries at a rate of 15 point equals one entry into the prize draw, Plus additional prizes for highest number of points!

APD prizes

1st Place $1500.00 Helicopter Trip, or exchange for $1200.00 Hunting Shop Voucher 2nd Place $1000.00 Helicopter Trip or exchange for $750.00 Hunting Shop voucher 3rd Place $750.00 Helicopter Trip or exchange for $550.00 Hunting Shop voucher 4th Place $500.00 Helicopter Trip or exchange for $350 Hunting Shop voucher 5th Place $250.00 Hunting Shop voucher 610th Place Next Years Branch Membership (Senior or previous equivalent) 1120th Place Stoney Creek Bush Shirt Combos ( As seen in previous Newsletters)


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