Fish & Game rangers attempt to access Peter Butler's dam and maimais (inset) on the opening morning of duck-shooting season. Photo / Supplied
Fish & Game rangers attempt to access Peter Butler's dam and maimais (inset) on the opening morning of duck-shooting season. Photo / Supplied
Fish & Game says it is liaising with police over a former mayor’s reaction to inspectors walking on his Waipawa farm, which he says ruined the experience of the opening day of duck shooting.
Fish & Game New Zealand chief executive Corina Jordan says it’s standard practice to visit private properties to do compliance checks, and the organisation takes any attempt to thwart that “extremely seriously”.
Peter Butler, a former mayor of Central Hawke’s Bay, has a 200-metre dam on his private property and opens the lake only for duck shooting on the opening weekend of the season.
Former Central Hawke's Bay Mayor Peter Butler. Photo / Warren Buckland
He claimed it was the third time in about 15 years that rangers had “ruined” the season’s opening-day shoot on his property.
Butler said he no longer shoots, but on Saturday he allowed 12 people on to several maimai around his dam, each of whom had paid $115 to Fish & Game for a licence.
He contacted Hawke’s Bay Today to say the experience had turned sour when two utes arrived at 8.25am on Saturday, carrying four men – two Fish & Game inspectors and two police officers.
The vehicles stopped within 75m of the dam, stopping the hunters from shooting, Butler said.
He claimed inspectors and police then threw “health and safety out the door” by walking across a paddock with bulls in it, towards the maimai.
“I don’t know what would happen if they’d been dealt to by the bull, whether it would be on our neck I’m not sure,” he said.
Jordan said while it’s sometimes necessary for rangers to cross paddocks, they’re trained to assess risks and, wherever possible, avoid areas with known hazards, such as livestock.
Butler said he “got real grumpy” and came down from his house to confront the inspectors and officers before they could reach the dam.
He claimed it would take inspectors more than two hours to check every bit of ammunition, gun, and maimai and effectively ruin one of the two days a year the dam is used.
“It’s like going to the races and someone standing in front of the horses for two hours so that you can’t race a horse,” he said.
“If they’ve got a job to do, they’ve got to find a better way of doing it because what they’re going to do is interrupt people shooting every bloody year.”
Butler said he felt a way around it might be for the rangers not to go out until after lunch, especially on opening day.
The dam and maimai on Peter Butler's property.
Jordan said Fish & Game had the legal authority to do compliance checks under the Wildlife Act.
“We are investigating ... and liaising with New Zealand Police.
“We take any refusal to allow rangers to carry out their duties extremely seriously.
“Opening weekend is the busiest time of the year, and an important opportunity to ensure everyone is hunting safely and legally, along with gathering data for game management purposes.
“Compliance checks are not about catching people out – they are about protecting the integrity of the season, promoting responsible hunting, and ensuring public and hunter safety.”
Jordan said rangers always aimed to take a constructive and respectful approach when interacting with hunters and landowners and, in most cases, people were co-operative and respectful.
A Fish & Game spokeswoman said rangers in Hawke’s Bay issued four non-compliance tickets to duck hunters over the opening weekend. Three were issued for use of a lead shot and one for not having a licence.
Jack Riddell is a multimedia journalist with Hawke’s Bay Today and has spent the past 15 years working in radio and media in Auckland, London, Berlin, and Napier. He reports on all stories relevant to residents of the region.
