ExcessExpress Quote:
Back on topic, once you accept taking a ride into a hunting area rather than walking in, the jump to spotting from the air and being dropped off for a shot is a short one. The Alaska rule seems like a sensible solution and may well become a broader recommendation in the ethics of hunting. Personally, even when driving, I try to arrive in time to make camp and sleep, but perhaps I'm just a wuss.....

Umm mate, I don't think you are correct at all, have you been Tahr hunting? If you have seen Westland you would know that to get to some of the Tahr locations its at times a week's walk into say Zora block in the Landsborough. There is no slippery slope when using a drop off helicopter, to get to a location, and you will see heaps of animals on the way in, none of which I would have EVER thought to shoot from the helicopter nor herd like the fat Heli-hunters.

Getting onta a chopper and having it dump you and your gear in the wilderness and buzzing off not to be seen for days is wilderness hunting as you still have to find the animals, walk to get them and recover them back to your base camp. This does not include sometimes having to wait out storms and gather all your own water. The other thing to remember is this, on the west coast periods of really good weather do not last long at all and you need to make the most of it when you can, using the Alaskan strategy may not work in NZ due to the weather difficulties.

Heli hunting IS NOT hunting at all, it revolves around fat pricks with too much money, no morals or ethics and no respect for the animals ethical hunting can still involve a helicopter, it is used like you use your 4x4 to get to where you hunt, from there its Shanks Poney all the way.