Ian Bradley of Mataroa grew up in the Hihitahi Forest Sanctuary, north of Taihape, where a 1080 drop is imminent.
Mr Bradley possumed in the'70s in the Hihitahi and he is concerned for the kaka and other birds in the main bush.
Others have seen a flock of 14 kaka in the southern bush. Ashley Livingstone has seen native falcons on the northern edge of the Hihitahi.
"We need the birds for the bush to stay healthy," Mr Bradley said. "After the last drop it was like a ghost bush. It was creepy, 1080 does kill a lot of birds." After studying 1080, Mr Bradley has concluded it is not a healthy option.
"We need to protect the eco-systems."
He is also concerned, as are others, that streams in the Hihitahi flow through to the Hautapu River, which provides the drinking water for Taihape.
Mr Livingstone has been hunting in the Hihitahi for 25 years and said he was dead against 1080.
Six months after a drop, he had found stags with hard antlers and some in velvet that had died from eating the poisoned bait.
He said that for the past six years he had never heard a male possum in the bush or seen their sign.
The Taihape Deerstalkers Association (TDA) is concerned that there has been no advertisement in their local Taihape Times but one had appeared in other newspapers.
The group said they wrote to the Animal Health Board in February, and again in March, asking for additional information on what it based its residual trap catch figures, and how it calculated the increase in the possum population.
The board told the Chronicle the key to TB eradication was to keep possum numbers extremely low (around one or two possums per 10 hectares) to enable the disease to die out naturally.
"Once it is no longer present in possums, it will not persist in other wildlife. We do not target deer for bovine TB control purposes."
Larry Cummings, a possum sub-contractor who had been hunting since he was 15, said he had set 19 trap lines with 10 traps per line and over three good nights had caught 13 possums.
Farmer Allan Westerman's land adjoins the Hihitahi. He says he does not want to see 1080 thrown around when there is a better way to kill the possums.
Members of the TDA and local farmers who have hunted in this bush for decades say the Hihitahi is their pantry, and when their meat stocks are low they go into it for the deer. The Animal Health Board said monitoring indicated possum numbers in the Hihitahi Forest Sanctuary operational area were projected to be around twice the level required for effective bovine TB control.
The organisation said the operational area formed an important buffer to protect adjoining TB-free areas. The aim was to ensure that areas earmarked for eradication - south of the operation - did not become re-infected.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment (PCE) noted that 1080 is a highly effective biodegradable toxin that does not persist in water or soil and that it is unique in providing a triple hit of killing possums, stoats and rats (because of its secondary poisoning properties). This has major benefits for protecting native birds and plants. The PCE concluded New Zealand needed to use more, not less, 1080.