Mike MacLeod and son Moses during a deer hunt, with the meat going to the Salvation Army to process for its foodbank.
Mike MacLeod and son Moses during a deer hunt, with the meat going to the Salvation Army to process for its foodbank.
A hunting trip for two Gisborne boys and their dad organised by a Tairāwhiti company has benefited those in need in the community.
Deer shot by Mike MacLeod and sons Moses, 11, and Tobias, 10, were donated to the Salvation Army for its foodbank.
Mike MacLeod and son Tobias help skin and cut up a deer, which is then donated to the Salvation Army.
The hunt was set upby outdoors clothing brand Kaiwhakangau through its Kai Connect kaupapa.
Founded by Lisa Daunton, with husband Rob “at the heart of its operation”, Kaiwhakangau is described as “more than clothing ... it’s a journey. And every sale helps put wild kai on the tables of vulnerable whānau across Tairāwhiti”.
The “wild kai” is provided through Kai Connect, a group of like-minded hunters who go out for a shoot and donate much of what they get to the community.
“The gift of meat carries more than nourishment,” Kaiwhakangau says on its website. “It carries mana, connection and the quiet message ‘you matter’.
Mike MacLeod, a local GP, two of his boys and another family hunted with the group up the coast recently.
“He’s a really kind-hearted, lovely guy,” Lisa Daunton said of MacLeod. “He’s got four kids, but he’s got two boys who are his eldest and whenever he hunts, he takes them. They put their little backpacks on and they walk [the] hills like adults.”
She said it was “cool to watch Dad always involve his kids and being really super-positive about his whole parenting ... it’s lovely to see a dad so hands-on”.
“We took them back to camp and these little boys learnt [how] to cut [deer] up, break them down.”
The hunters shot 20 deer that particular weekend.
For the boys, it was not just about pulling the trigger, Daunton said.
“That’s the easy part. Now you’ve got to get [it] down the hill, you’ve got to pull it up the hill, you’ve got to get it on a buggy, get the thing hanging up in a tree, then you’ve got to cut it up, so it was huge mahi for them.”
The deer were taken back to her house and hung in a chiller, which has enough room for 14 deer.
“I skin and bone everything out and put them into buckets, and then I go to the Salvos [Salvation Army].”
Busy mincing venison at the Salvation Army in Gisborne are Mere Kara (left), George Pyatt, Tania Pyatt and Ereti Te Maro. Photo / Anne-Marie de Bruin
This usually happens on Mondays, a week after hunting, and the meat is dropped off for volunteers to prepare.
The Village Butchery, for “a sniff of a cost”, does most of the processing for the Sallies but volunteers also do some of what Daunton described as “Magic Monday”.
“There’ll be a couple of volunteers and the cook, it just depends on who turns up on the day,” Daunton said. “They’ve got a huge commercial mincer there. They mince them, make sausages, steak it.”
The connection with the Salvation Army began during Cyclone Gabrielle.
“I rocked up to those guys when [Cyclone] Gabrielle was full noise and at that time we were co-ordinating a lot of meat around the district, and I said: ‘You guys want some venison?’
“We’ve gone from strength to strength and have a pretty cool relationship working with them and providing this beautiful, fresh, organic meat.”
A couple of weeks ago, Kai Connect provided 60 “packets” for the Salvation Army’s Christmas foodbank, she said.
The Gisborne Herald visited the Salvation Army while volunteers were busy putting venison through their mincer.
Salvation Army co-ordinator Mere Kara sang the praises of Kai Connect.
“It’s great, helpful for those in need,” she said.
Daunton said the venison community initiative also involved the House of Breakthrough church and Kai Connect team members recently collected nine deer shot in an Ernslaw One forestry company heli-shoot.
Since the Kai Connect kaupapa started in 2021, it has provided 17 tonnes of meat to the community.
Kai Connect hunters are always looking for more blocks on which to hunt. Contact Rob Daunton on 021 0893 0006.
