Hunting in New Zealand?

Shortly after arriving in New Zealand, I asked a few questions about how one would go about preparing to hunt here. Recently, I stopped at this store and asked a few more questions. Maybe you would like to know what I learned.  

 First of all, before you could buy a rifle, you would have to fill out the appropriate application that would go to the police. It would probably take six weeks or more to get approved.  The fee for a first time application is $126.50. (Additional fees would apply if you also wanted to buy a pistol.) Assuming your application was approved, an officer would then schedule a visit to your home for a personal interview and to see that your preparations to store the weapon(s) were properly completed. Once you were approved though, you could buy whatever sort of rifle(s) and ammo that you wanted, whenever you wanted. 

Part of that preparation I mentioned would be to purchase a gun safe and this gun safe would have to be bolted into place in your home. The police inspection would insure that it was properly installed.  Ammunition must be kept in a separate locked safe. 

One of the clerks at the store told me that there is no license needed to hunt deer year 'round on public land. Amazing. He said that in his opinion, the .308 was the most popular caliber with NZ hunters.  

(I found that permits are required to hunt in at least some areas. The clerk didn't mention them. Obviously, I don't know the whole story yet) 

I'm not at all interested in hunting in New Zealand. 40 years or so of hunting in Michigan have given me more than enough memories and I no longer feel the need for adventures of that sort. 

I did enjoy visiting this store however. It was full of all sorts of interesting things to look at. I didn't need any of them, but I wondered if either of my grandsons might need something, sometime?  You know, like a good survival wire saw, or a compass, or a collapsible cup and bowl, or some packs of freeze-dried apple pie. It's never too early to start planning for Christmas they say.  

                                                                        -djf