Currently the most exciting thing on my hunting radar is a course I have been doing on Game Animal Management, called NDA Deer Steward, run by the National Deer Association in the USA.
Founded in 1993, they have done some incredible work, mainly concerning Whitetail deer, and mostly based on amazing research, and the results show! I thought I knew a thing or two about deer after fifty plus years of hunting all over New Zealand but not so! I was amazed at how the insights gained have had a huge positive impact on hunting there. By comparison, we are only just beginning a similar journey thanks to people like Cam Speedy, Ken Tustin, Geoff Kerr, Graham Caughley and others. It has been so exciting looking at the possibilities here, for the key to a better future for hunters is not a return to an idealised past, but research, planning and management to put us in a key position to work collaboratively, and make good decisions on a win-win basis. Research is essential to help us create the future we want.
