Back
Hunter-Led Game Management
Game animals on conservation land are managed by DOC, an agency whose legislation still starts from controlling or exterminating them. The Game Animal Council was meant to give hunters a meaningful role, but it can advise while DOC keeps the authority.
That model treats hunters as another group to consult instead of trusting the people who understand the herds and spend time in the country where they live.
ACT would put responsibility in the hands of the Game Animal Council. Game animals would be managed sustainably within conservation limits, with proper recognition for the value that healthy herds bring to hunters and regional communities.
ACT will:
Transfer responsibility for managing game animals on conservation land from DOC to the Game Animal Council.
Fully fund the Council to carry out its current and proposed responsibilities.
Recognise game-animal and game-bird species in relevant legislation as valued natural resources to be sustainably managed.
Designate New Zealand’s most valued game herds as Herds of Special Interest, beginning with Stewart Island whitetail deer.
In our team's words:
ACT Deputy Leader Nicole McKee says:
“Hunters have spent generations in the backcountry. They know the animals and the country because they are there every weekend, but Wellington still asks for their views after the real decisions have been made. Hunters should be helping to make those decisions from the start.
“The Game Animal Council was supposed to give hunters a genuine say. Instead, it was left advising DOC while DOC kept control. ACT would transfer game-animal management on conservation land to the Council and fund it properly to do the job.
“The law still begins from the idea that introduced game animals should be exterminated wherever possible. That makes no sense for valued herds that can be sustainably managed. ACT would recognise game animals and game birds as natural resources and use Herds of Special Interest to protect the best herds, starting with Stewart Island whitetail.”
ACT Conservation spokesperson Cameron Luxton says:
“Healthy herds need proper targets and the surrounding environment needs protection. Hunters understand both sides of that equation. DOC would keep its wider conservation role, but the people who know the resource would make the game-management decisions.
“Hunters were promised a seat at the table and got another advisory role. They have earned real responsibility. The Game Animal Council should be judged on the results it delivers, not kept at arm’s length by the bureaucracy.”