New Zealand Whitetail Hunting
Whitetail Deer
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Hunting whitetails in the high country. Sure is a different looking whitetail. Hunting whitetails in muley country. This is the first picture I've seen of a whitetail there.
Nice buck. I was not aware whitetails even existed there. Definitely a different type of whitetail hunt!
Definitely not your typical whitetail habitat. Shows how adaptive they are.
Looks really neat. But if went, I doubt it would be for whitetail.
Treestand hunting would surely be a challenge there, or at least hanging them. :)
That's a nice buck... That's cool seeing them in high country like that... Have always wondered about those whitetails down under, how many, how big etc., etc... If I remember reading right, only like a dozen or so was originally imported way back in the 1800s, and I think most were live trapped from the same area of one of the New England states, but don't quote me on that... I think it was a wealthy individual hunter who imported them for sport... Would have to research it again, but regardless don't imagine there a very diverse gene pool...
Zbone's Link
Found this: http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio13Tuat01-t1-body-d1.html
I've often wondered why other countries don't import whitetails. Seems like it would be good for tourism.
Deerslayer, per zbone's paper, introducing invasive species almost always results in bad consequences. In Australia, red stags, fallows, rusas, sambar, goats, hogs, Russian boars, etc.. are all introduced and considered nuisances. Hunt year round, no license, no limit, kill them all.
In NZ whitetails are considered a "mistake" and confined to a couple small isolated areas. Even if inside the popular fenced hunting areas they can get loose. We learned that the hard way here in N. CO with red stags that got out of some a-hole's hunting "preserve". Now we have confirmed red deer genes in the wild elk.
Red deer and elk are genetically almost the same animal
As I understood it, NZ exports a significant amount of 'deer' meat to specialty restaurants here and abroad. I didn't know there was a wild population.
NZ does export a significant amount of deer meat. It's red deer, not whitetail.
"Red deer and elk are genetically almost the same animal".
Almost, in that they can interbreed, just like brook trout (char) and brown trout true trout) can interbreed. Body size, antler size and configuration, rutting behavior, coloration are all distinctly different. That's why the CO CPW freaked out when they did DNA testing on a red deer/ elk cross killed many miles and one mountain range away from where the "escape" happened.
They export white tails too or did anyway.jaquomo I've bred elk and reds together and bred the f1 hinds to elk after 4generations we had them test pure elk.any inbreeding will eventually be bred out only showing DNA markers but will look and act elk.At one time they were the same species but when the continents split the geographical separation caused the two populations to evolve to their environment.Ive raised many thousands of them over the years both reds and elk ,Manitobans,Rosevelts and Rockies.
white tails inhabit most of stewart island around 30 plus hunting blocks available, plus a large open to all block.The whitetails there are not really in the american class of animal. that photo looks like whakatipu country and those animals suffer 1080 poisen drops and indescrinate hunting ie any time someone sees one it can be shot.Our game animals need protecting from some peoples attitudes.Reds are different they are almost pest.Cheers
I've also read one report mule deer were released on the S. Island a long time ago, but apparently never got established.
Too bad about all the 1080 use. Next they will be dropping it in the rivers to rid NZ of foreign invasive trout.
they already do, its just that trout can suck up a bit without effect.
Saw Shockey just killed a whitetail in NZ a few days ago.
There was moose on the South Island 15 yrs ago they claimed there was still small pockets of them I never seen any but there's plenty of places in the mountains for them.
When we were in NZ there were rivers in the north Island that were protected from fishing the Trout,on the South Island the kids were passing up huge trout to catch eels to eat and they referred to trout as trash fish.I was like billy bass every time someone walked by I said "take me to the river"lol