Getting Away With It

The success of live capture and the skyrocketing prices inevitably encourage poaching.

The success of live capture and the skyrocketing prices in the mid 70's (up to $4-5,000 per animal) inevitably encourage poaching.

Opotiki-based Milton Kuri sums it up well; "I used to wake up in the morning and open your arms up wide and whatever was out in front of you was all yours, and that's how you looked at it."

Poaching was widespread and indiscriminate. Deer were poached off paddocks or the bush edge on farmers properties. Choppers were shot at by enraged farmers and others who resented the unrelenting poaching. Civil Aviation tried to prosecute crews and did catch a few but the poachers were so mobile it was an uphill battle.

By now many of the older pilots and shooters had either retired or gone elsewhere and the lure of big money (and the perceived glamour) saw a flood of new and inexperienced pilots coming into the industry to try their hands.

Once again it was learning on the job and only the best could manage the demands of live capture, flying fast into tight gullies or dodging trees while chasing a deer through the forest.

Crashes and deaths were all too frequent and as usual the women at home had to deal with the consequences.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details