Taking the Plunge

Native birds were most certainly a highly sought after source of protein for Maori and early euro explorers. Weka, kakapo,titi and pukeko the most highly prized. Kiwi the least favourite. I've eaten all the bush foods. Mamaku pith. Aruhe (bracken root) certain fiddle feeds, Tawa berries and seeds. I can tell you there's a reason they're no longer part of the Maori diet. Karengo is nice, and the introduced watercress is a big favourite. I personally think base yourself in a hut or a well positioned bush camp and stock up on as much shop bought supplies as possible. Just supplement with bush Kai if you have too. I love bush venison and pig. But most can't stomach it to be honest. It's too strong for the stomach. I'll eat pukeko and kereru if I'm dieing. But it's illegal. Eel smoked over Manuka I love. Boil up some fresh watercress and that's a really good bush feed. That's why I feel the Aorangi is a good place. Like praceys old camp site upstream from pararaki hut. Plenty of eels, pigs deer and goat. A couple of hours and your at the coast with tons of Paua, koura and hapuku and Marengo. The is a lot of watercress bordering the farm land too. It's a good place to spend a season possuming. If your that way inclined.

a forest park or any other public land is not the place to encourage would be survivalists or whatever to setup temporary/permanent huts. DOC will dismantle it I lived in Les Pracys camp when he was doing his possum surveys, haven't seen it for years. If its still standing, then its probably historic. Not the place to encourage this idea

He is almost one hundred percent not going to go ahead with this venture. Les pracys camp is no longer. It's a fantastic place to set up a tent site. Many people still spend very long stints in huts possuming it's a very common practice. I have no problem encouraging it. Do you remember what the nzfs huts were originally built for? I can think of no better a practice to encourage than pest control. It's a noble cause. Of course I discourage guys mooching around in the conservation estate. But to be honest people who make these types of posts never go ahead with their fantasies in the first place. They have no bush experience or knowledge and usually negligible fitness.

@gaiters. I doubt he will do it, also. although theres a few that try it, and end up writing a book, (a woman recently promoted what she'd done) The old NZFS huts were setup for accommodating the deer culling operations. I used them for that, in the 1960s. I have no objection to possumers using them, long as their skins/drying setup are well away from huts. I've seen many huts 'taken over' by these guys. Because of the debris left behind, I dislike the setting up of semi permanent camps, many are just rubbish pits. some hunters seem to like doing it, maybe its some sort of 'men shed' type thing. Even in areas good doc huts are availiable

"I can think of no better a practice to encourage than pest control. It's a noble cause." As long as it's useful pest control, and preferably in coordination with whatever else is happening nearby. There are a few crazies out there with weird ideas. Re the legal stuff, can someone comment on what permits DOC requires people to have for trapping on conservation land? I see it's necessary to have a permit for possum trapping, but cannot see anything about control of other pests like mustelids, rats, hedgehogs and whatever. http://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/things-to-do/hunting/permits-and-licences/hunting-permit/#possum

a permit is needed to 'trap', 'shoot' , 'poison', so guess rats etc apply to this to

If you are living on them you would want to know about 1080 drops in your area before they happen

It goes without saying that if you were planning on spending a season in the bush trapping you would liaise closely with the local doc. Gaining permits, working closely with them. They will often get you to help running stoat lines etc while you still run your own lines for possums. Killing two pests with one stone so to speak. There is always knockers and negative nannies moaning about this and that. Seriously we should be doing what ever we can to allow good keen men to get in there and help wipe these pests out. They make a mess, they need permits, they take up huts etc etc, seriously guys your attitudes are a little contradictory to your pasts and view points on conservation. It is literally exactly the same situation as the fellas from the deer culler age. Just a different pest.

@gaiters. pjy69 hasn't indicated he is intending to do pest control at all. basically, live off the land. he also wants to build his own hut. on conservation land, its illegal. and shouldn't be encouraged, theres more than enough mess left from these so called huts as it is. I said I had no problem with using doc huts for possuming, provided the site/hut isn't made a mess of, taken over. Its a real problem in many places - or used to be when skin hunting was at its peak. particularly 'taking over ' huts. regardless of what good theyre doing in pest control. so his only option is private land, if he wants his own hut.

I think the topic has strayed from the original poster and I was commenting more on the last half dozen or so posts. It just seems interesting to see some of the viewpoints coming out. When you were culling for the nzfs. Did you consider yourself as having taken over a hut. Or did you see it as your right? And when you were in there. Would you have taken offence at someone questioning your rights to the hut as your base or the mess you were making while you were in there busting your ass off? I was too young to work for the nzfs. But my godfather and another uncle did, in the ruahine, tararua, Urewera, Richmond and Fiordland. So I feel the huts were built almost solely for pest control, with the added benefit of being used as accomodation for recreational users. So I'm all for them being taken over by cullers whether that be deer, goats, possum or stoat. As far as pjy69 I consider these kind of posters as pests in themselves. In saying that I consider the work you have personally done as a culler and a protector of the nzfs huts in the tararua as something close to deserving a knighthood. So I will now back out of the discussion having said my piece. No offence meant.