The Game Animal Council has a major research project underway to gather information about deer, pig, chamois and tahr hunting in New Zealand. The last time this kind of research was done was in 2011-2012. That information has been invaluable to the understanding of the NZ hunting sector, hunter participation and the recreational harvest. However, much has changed over the last decade or so and it is important for the effective administration and management of hunting and game animals that the GAC and other key stakeholders have access to up-to-date data on the sector.
The 2011-2012 study is available here.
The new research will provide the GAC and other key stakeholders important information on key aspects of hunting in New Zealand, such as the number of hunters by species hunted and by demographic groups, how they hunt, why they hunt, overall harvest rates and hunter participation in conservation initiatives.
How hunters are contributing
There are two parts to this research that hunters have participated in. The first is a short one-off survey where they were asked some basic questions about them and their hunting. For the second part they were invited to undertake monthly surveys to provide more detail about the hunts they undertook in the previous month.
Participation in all surveys associated with this project was anonymous. Hunters will never be asked their name, favourite hunting spots or any other information that may identify where they hunt.
Surveys have now closed, and data is being processed.