kiwi
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a few pic's from the nz bird season 2007just a few pics from my p/bucket with my pups and sika who was 14mths old this pass season....
sweep at 4 months showing off his bird skills
'you shoot it i'll fetch it dad'
sika on the long haul, australian black swan
she ended up with a few on a swan cull 
nz paradise duck
first pheasant
scruff and a mate waiting for the ducks
sika waiting for the ducks
sweep the show off
mallard
evening flight
backing up
geese
learning the ropes from sika
roosters in the rain
a wet bum but a limit bag of three
waiting for the ducks.....again
a hare for the pup
sika on point
another paradise duck
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BenB
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FANTASTIC FANTASTIC FANTASTIC!!!
Brilliant to see such a good mix of pics with the dogs working different game. Strengthens my resolve to get my hairy mutt sorted and versatile.
Thanks for posting those.
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windem bang
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I enjoyed those pics. You shoot swans in N.Z. , I didn't know that. In Britain swans are supposed to be the Queens birds, I wish she would do her duty and hurry up to eat a few more of them! There are far too many where I live and they are a damn pest when I'm fishing!
Keep the pics coming - I do like to look at the dogs too!
Bill T.
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DesO'Neile
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Looks very like Ireland. What all game birds are on your quarry list? Pheasants we have seen, partridge & quail?
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sako75
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Great pictures Kiwi !!!
You are obviously mad keen on your dogs and shooting - nice one !!
More photos please...............
Barry.
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guy
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keep those pics coming !!
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Helen S
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Brilliant pics Kiwi.
Can you explain the seasons for me - being a non shooter myself and relatively new to the country it seems quite complicated.
Helen S
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kiwi
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a quick run down on hunting here.
the bird season starts first weekend in may, runs for 2 months for ducks.
upland and geese run on for another 2 months in our area.
in other regions the ducks run for up to four months and the geese are all year round due to the high numbers, helicopters are used to cull them if they get too overpopulated.
bag limits in our region are 10 ducks a day,three pheasant,20 geese,15 paradise shelduck, the duck limit can be made up of mallard,grey or shoveller, and one swan per day.
other regions have much higher daily limits including unlimited geese and quail and 10 swan for instance.
a season lisence cost about 90 bucks,{30pound} and covers the whole country so you can have plenty of hunting if you are prepared to travel around, the south island carries plenty of quail and the top half of the north island is good for pheasant with a few partridge cali and bobwhite quail....our fish and game dept have thousands of acres of wetlands set aside for duckshooter/upland all free, the department of conservation also allow bird shooting on most lakes and swamps,a free permit is all you need...
birds that can be hunted in season are.
mallard,grey,shoveller,paradise duck,swan,pukeko a tye of rail, geese,chukor,cali,brown,bobwhite quail,partridge and pheasant.
we also have special seasons for paradise,swan and canada geese at certain times of the closed season.
it is also illegal to sell hunting rights or charge for access over here, the hunting belongs to the whole of the country not the landowner, the same with the trout fishing.
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Helen S
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Thanks for that - much clearer now!
Do you reckon I should have a license/permit to take my dog on DOC or F&G land for training purposes?
Helen S
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kiwi
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only if you are taking a gun helen. doc land may require a permit and avian avoidence cert, for the kiwi.....not good for a birddog 
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Helen S
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Oh god - heaven forbid....
I think and hope that any DOC land around here with Kiwis on would be well publicisedl
Helen S
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DesO'Neile
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Cali = ?
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kiwi
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these things. californian quail.
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DesO'Neile
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An introduced species I presume, you being nearer Rotrua than California.
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Helen
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Great photos!
Helen
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windem bang
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The opportunities for hunting a dog and shooting sound terrific - think I'll move house!
Bill T.
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BritAnnie
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I'm a bit confused here.   If there is so much hunting available in NZ why are the FT's held on ground with no game on and dead pigeons used? I'm told that the dogs are all run on teh same peice of ground with caged or dead birds used. HAve I got that wrong?
BritAnnie
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Helen S
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Good question Annie. 
I know that not all FTs use captive birds, I guess that it's just what land is available in the locality, remember there is very little in the way of "farmed" shoots here so birds have to be really hunted out plus you cannot prevent a piece of public land from being hunted just because you're running a Field Trial there next day. Because the New Zealand bush can be so impenetrable it wouldn't really lend itself to trialling and farmland around here is pretty intensively grazed. Down south and up north where there is more wild open country would lend itself much better to running pointers and HPRs.
Maybe MC can shed more light?
Helen S
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kiwi
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we don't have the human population in nz to provide the type of conditions that large numbers of birds can survive in, introduced predators and 1080 poison keep the wild birds to a level where you have to do a wee bit of walking at times, finding a farm with enough wild birds to trial 30 odd dogs is hard unless you can get access to one of the english type shoots that are popping up everywhere, a few gundog clubs do have a few days on them.
pigeons are far easier to set up in a few paddocks and a pond.
i don't ft, as i have enough land to shoot over and release a few birds.
i am planning on attending a few ft days to have a look around. there is plenty of hunting here but the ft scene is not that big only small groups considering the size of the country.
having so much fishing and biggame hunting is one reason i guess there is only so much you can do in ya weekend.
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kiwi
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our game bird rules don't help in some area's. a few shooting type syndicates set up will increase the bird numbers in easier country with a predator control programme in place..there is plenty of clear gorse blackberry hills around suitable for higher bird numbers and awesome hunting but us kiwi's don't allow syndicate shoots as a rule, i can see the benefits but don't like seeing land locked up for private hunting.
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Victoria
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With the pointers and setters, we have both natural game and pigeon trials here. There is a Field Trial championship title for the pigeon trials (usually 2 live pigeons released (by the judge) from the trap once the dog is on point and shot over (with blanks) by the handler and a retrieve of a dead pigeon; and the title Field Champion which is gained by winning challenge points at natural game trials. The natural game trials (often braced dogs) can be very testing if the wildfowl are not present in adequate numbers. In the case of the braced trials, the honouring of the point is paramount, as you would expect.
Again with the P&S, we also have QC (Qualifying Certificate) trials where dogs are evaluated on quartering, steadyness to game, control etc on two trapped pigeons. They must gain 75 or more points to be considered for a QC. The QC title is a suffix to the dogs name and does not contribute points to a field or field trial champion title.
The kiwi safe programme devised by the Department of Constipation, oops, Conservation in this country results in the dog being tattooed with a number (should they pass!!); basically the practice involves acquainting the dog with the scent of the kiwi then walking the dog pass a dead bird and should they react as gundogs would, they get a zap; so the dog is put through the process again (and again) until they can pass by without reacting. The merits of the programme are, well to say the least, subject to much debate; it is a bit like the bureaucratic mumbo jumbo with the microchipping; it is not the dogs which need to be chipped that are chipped (legislation introduced to stop dangerous dogs attacking, maiming, killing people. How the blazes some nerd in the hallowed halls of legislation can figure that a lump of microchipping will stop a vicious dog from attacking and maiming a child, is utterly beyond me). Heeeho!
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Victoria
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Neat foto of the Californian Quail, Kiwi. This specie is also called Valley Quail in the USA. Des, you are right this is an introduced specie and was introduced into New Zealand in the late 1860's. What I find really interesting is that they became so numerous in the Nelson area (top of the South Island) that they were exported to England in the late 1880's.
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Helen S
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Thankyou for that Victoria - I have it all clearer in my mind now.
At the moment just the idea of participating in a trial is a bit daunting but achievable. I've not given a thought to what could happen if we ever get placed!!
Helen S
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breedlink
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Oz hogsHi Kiwi,
Enjoyed your pics with a mixed bag of game. In one property where I hunt for Stubble Quail (16,000ha) we regularly come on pigs. My GSP points them in patches of long grass in the otherwise short cover where we find the quail and when i see those hairs come up on his back I change over the quail shot to a solid slug or BB. When I send him in for the flush it can be exciting for a few moments. I don't let him run loose on pigs because I have invested too many hours and love him to much to risk him on some of those big tuskers.
Are you on the north or south Island?
Don
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kiwi
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north island don.
it's a risk what ever you do with your dogs in the feild,i'd be more worried about snakes than boars i wouldn't use my wires if i didn't think they could handle the risks, for me it's proof that the breed can still do what it was bred for in it's home country and only a small part of a true allrounder.
{robbed from another site}
it's images like this that show the true grit the germans bred into their versitile breeds....that dog has more than enough guts to play for the all blacks i reckon
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windem bang
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A superb photograph and that's not a word I use lightly!!!
Bill T.
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breedlink
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Risks in the fieldHad a great trip around Rotorua a year or so ago and loved the fact that I could see so many calies and pheasants as we travelled around.
Now my understanding was that like Ireland, there were NO snakes in NZ. Is this like the fox in Tasmania, a new phenomenon?
Interesting point you make about risks in the field.
I have worked my GSPs on quail in country with snakes most of my time in this country and though I have had quite a few encounters with snakes I don't rate it as a big risk. Whereas when I catch up with the hunters who hunt pigs and roos semi-professionally on that property they are always bemoaning that they have another dog to be sewn up by the vet. The biggest risk in the country that I hunt is a grass seed! One spear grass seed can cause major vet bills and kill a dog. We don't hunt big chunks of country until the seed has dropped.
Loved your GSP & European boar photo. Have attached another that I'm sure all readers will have seen previously, but always worth a view re courage and versatility,
Ciao,
Don
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windem bang
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Another great photo!!!! Are G.S.P.'s even dafter than the other breeds? I think it's a G.S.P. facing up that bear, my G.S.P. would probably try to get it to play with him!!! 
Bill T.
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