Safety
1080 operations and your dogs
Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is used across New Zealand to control possums, rabbits, deer and predators. It is lethal to dogs and to people, and an animal that ate bait and survived carries it in its meat. If an area is signposted, hunt somewhere else.
Our copy of DOC and OSPRI records, refreshed every six hours — never the authority. Where our map and the signs on the ground disagree, believe the signs.
Our map covers DOC operations only — regional councils, OSPRI and landowners lay poison too, and none of that shows here. On private land, ask the owner directly: they know what has been laid on their place and usually next door, and it is a question that marks you out as someone worth having back. On public land, read the signs at every entrance.
Every recorded operation
The national record, newest first — not limited to the area in view above. Confirm anything that matters at DOC pesticide summaries and OSPRI aerial operations.
| Area | Method | Start | Finish | Caution period | Status |
|---|
Who to check with
Seasons, permits, firearms rules and area closures differ by region and by land status, and they change. We don’t publish those — a stale copy of a rule is worse than none. We do map the land itself: boundaries, public conservation land and unformed legal roads. So find the country here, and check the rules with whoever sets them:
And whatever the rules say
Nobody regulates this part, so nobody else will tell you. It is what experienced hunters do without thinking about it.
- Identify your target beyond all doubtNot the shape, not the colour, not the sound, not the movement — the animal. Most people killed hunting in New Zealand are shot by another hunter who was sure. If you are talking yourself into it, that is the answer.
- Assume you are spending the night outOn every trip, including the two-hour one. Carry a survival bag, a warm layer that works wet, food you do not intend to eat and a head torch with spare batteries. People are late constantly and it only matters when they are not carrying this.
- Assume you are getting wetRain, river, or sweat — one of the three, every time. Wool or synthetic next to the skin and never cotton, which stops insulating the moment it is damp and then takes your heat. Keep one dry layer sealed in a bag and do not touch it until you need it.
- Carry a knife, and a way to make fireThe knife is for the animal, and for cutting yourself free of something, and for making a shelter. Fire is what turns a bad night into an uncomfortable one. Both live on you, not in the pack you might put down.
- Carry a PLBThere is no cell coverage where you are going. A personal locator beacon is the difference between a search and a rescue, they can be hired cheaply, and it is the single most useful thing in the pack. Take it out of the pack lid and put it on you.
- If you are unsure about the river, do not cross itDrowning is the other thing that kills hunters here. A river that is up will still be up in the morning, and it comes down faster than you think. Waiting is almost always available; crossing is not always survivable.
- Tell someone, and be honest about the timeNot the time you hope to be out — the time after which something has gone wrong. Then mark yourself back, because a search that starts for somebody sitting in the pub is a search that will not be taken seriously next time.
The firearms rules themselves are in the Firearms Safety Code , and Mountain Safety Council teach the bush side properly. Both are worth an evening before your first trip somewhere new.