Hunters, avid in their passion of the outdoors, pass on their knowledge to peers and young people to continue our outdoor heritage. Lack of training can lead to accidents, unsuccessful hunts and poor game animal management outcomes. The NZ Game Animal Council (GAC) is constantly looking for opportunities to help hunters increase their knowledge and skills. Get in touch if you have ideas.
Better Hunting education
The GAC run Better Hunting, New Zealand’s free online hunter education platform. You’ll find comprehensive hunter training programmes, maps, tools, calendars, resources and more.
Hunter safety
Check out some advice to help you stay safe hunting in New Zealand. Find information about following the ‘5 P’s’ of preparation, food safety, getting roar fit and links to helpful hunter training.
Looking after our game animals
Being a hunter brings with it great reward, but also a high degree of responsibility – hunting safely, being properly trained and looking after our game animal herds and the precious habitats they live in. This programme is designed to help hunters make good game animal management decisions that will benefit both hunting and conservation.
NZ Red Stag Ageing Guide
With support from experts, we developed a simple guide to provide hunters with information on how to judge the age of red deer stags in the field and positively contribute to their management.
The roar, rut and bugle
From mid-March to the end of July, the roar, rut and bugle attracts many hunters into New Zealand’s back country to experience the ultimate animal interaction. We’ve put together some useful information to help plan a good roar, rut or bugle adventure.
Guidance for hunting in kea habitat
Kea are unique to New Zealand and are a fully protected, endangered species. See some actions you can take to minimise contact and conflict with kea and help kea research and monitoring.
Firearms Safety Code digital flipbook
View and listen to the digital audio flipbook version of the Firearm Safety Code, produced by the Firearms Safety Authority. The GAC is hosting the Code on our website for your convenience.