Deer Wars

Red deer run rampant across the high country in New Zealand, causing extensive environmental damage. A 50-year effort to control the invasive animal gets underway.

By the 1930's the deer population in New Zealand was out of control and causing serious environmental damage through grazing, severe soil erosion and slips from the thousands of hooves ripping up the ground. Even today you can find deer trails several feet deep cross...

The elimination strategy hasn't worked. In 20 years, the cullers have shot perhaps 10% of the deer. It's time to up the ante.

By the early fifties, it's become apparent that the deer elimination strategy isn't working. One report estimates that in 20 years the cullers have shot just 10% of the deer.

So, in 1956, the well-funded Forest Service takes over the deer control programme building a network of huts (the basis of tod...

The arrival of helicopters turns the culling business on its head. Hunters shoot deer from the air and with big money to be made, venison recovery will never be the same.

It's the early 1960s and helicopters have turned the culling business on its head. Aerial hunters are shooting 150 or more deer a day, chasing big profits but courting incredible dangers.

With low fuel prices and venison selling for a pound a pound, this is an ...

Shooting from choppers is a game changer but teams are learning from scratch, working at break-neck pace in such dangerous terrain that an accident is always on the cards.

Shooting deer from choppers may be a game changer but everyone is learning from scratch. Working in such dangerous terrain, an accident is always on the cards. As shooter Jeff Carter puts it, "there were no margins for error."

Pioneering pilot Tim Wallis ...

By the mid 70's things were about to change dramatically. The hunters had become so efficient they were shooting themselves out of a job.

From 1967 on, businessman Tim Wallis had exclusive hunting rights to all of Fiordland National Park and was taking out deer in their thousands.

Resentment from other operators at being excluded came to a head in 1973 in the so-called Helicopter Wars with constant poaching in the park. It went too f...

The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it. But the reality for those involved was very different.

The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it, much as ground hunting and aerial venison hunting had previously.

But the reality for those involved was much different. Families lost their fathers. Wives lost their husbands. Some such as pilot Dave Richardson carried lifelong injuries suffered in crashes.

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Host of the award winning podcast series Deer Wars, Paul Roy brings you his next series - Search & Rescue NZ. Head to the hills, scour the bush, and dive deep into the caves with a series that takes you behind the scenes of the rescues in New Zealand’s unforgiving outdoors. Go out with the volunteers who put themselves on the line to rescue complete strangers. Host Paul Roy looks at the evolution of rescues from the do-it-yourself ...