NZ HUNTER MAGAZINE How To
In its most basic definition, being a ‘professional hunter’(PH) means you are paid to hunt, but hunting has many faces both here and internationally, so there is no standardised form of the PH, and the role changes over time.
Here in New Zealand this job has taken many forms and continues to change to this day.
When our game populations were established in Men like Jim Muir are synonymous with the early guiding industry and the halcyon days of deer stalking in this country. The role of the PH in New Zealand soon changed from that of guide, to the predominant position of the infamous ‘deer culler’. From the 1930s through to the 1970s this role took many shapes, with some hunters being paid by the government to simply shoot-to-kill, some chasing the skin market, and others working on tail bounties. Later in this period the focus shifted towards filling chillers and freezers for the international meat market. My grandfathers worked in various forms of professional hunting during this time. and by the 1980s, helicopter hunting for the meat market became the standard form of ‘professional hunting’.
