Executive summary: Over four nights we shot 271 peafowl, some goats, deer, hares, magpies, and a bunch of possums.
Andy contacted Feathergirl through the website culling page. We live in Whakatane/Tauranga so we had our mate, Dan from Himatangi, go and scout the Fordell and Mangamahu blocks for us. We made a plan and met up at Warrengate Road on the 18th of September.
I was the first one there and I knew we were sleeping in a wool shed the first night. So I got there and set up camp. I hung lots of strings for the birds we would shoot that night. After a while, I got a call from Blair asking where I was. Turns out I was set up in the neighbour's wool shed, doh! I hastily packed up and moved to the correct shed. The boys thought this was quite entertaining.
Puku, Dan and I went for a ride on the quad about an hour before dark to scout the area and spooked a couple of mobs of peacocks. We started at the back of the farm and worked our way back along the creek. The weather was not great. It was extremely windy with frequent rain showers. We found the first small mob of peafowl just after dark as we were aiming at a fallow deer. Luckily the shot Dan made did not spook them. Andy said we could take a couple of deer and that was an awesome gesture of good will. The boys went to recover the deer and I took out the mob of six peafowl.
We carried on from there using the thermal monocular to spot roosting birds. Quite a few of them landed down the steep banks of the creek and were not recoverable. One big peacock I shot using the Ruger 10/22 with a Pard thermal scope, flew across the creek and crashed up the other side. There happened to be another fallow deer standing there so Dan took our second deer we were allowed.
We eventually found our way to the other side to find the deer and the peacock right next to each other. Then I took 28 peafowl out of one tree right at the border of the deer fence. They were all hung up to be processed the next day.
Then Chris's quad would not start so we had to walk back to the shearing shed. We wound up with 43 peafowl shot for the night.
Meanwhile, Blair and Shane went to Karl's block down the road. They shot 45 peafowl. They lost quite a few to the creek too. The eels were opportunistic.
The next day Shane rescued Puku's quad and the boys brought the peafowl back to the shed for processing. It was a long day plucking and butchering for me. I carefully harvested the body plumage into bags for safe transport home. Note we do not waste any meat. All of the breast and thigh meat was bagged and put in the chiller with the deer. The boys took this time to scout other blocks. Blair and Shane secured two new blocks through Karl. Chris and Dan scouted Mangamahu again.
The original plan was to spend one night at Warrengate Road then head to Mangamahu. Since we did not finish the job, we decided to stay another night. It was super windy but we found the birds alright. We got another 31 but about a dozen flew away unharmed as they get really jumpy on windy nights. We had squally showers again.
Blair and Shane went back to Karl's and two new blocks belonging to Jarrem and Andrew. You can see the details in the blog for Kauangarua, Okirae and Kumuiti Roads.
It was another very busy day and I started at first light. It was a good thing the birds were under cover as it showered frequently. Then we had down pours, hail, thunder and lightening. Shane and Blair did the butchering this time and were were finished by about 2 PM. Andy's shower on the deck was amazing! Tiny black ticks frequent these birds and cause seriously itchy, pussy sores if given time to latch on. I cover myself with repellent and the shower washes that off and any clingy critters.
We made our way to the Mangamahu Community Hall where we would be sleeping for the next two nights. This was definitely a step up from the shearing shed in Fordell. We had a fridge, hot water, real toilets and a kitchen; it was luxurious. Chris and Dan opted to go stay in the shearer's quarters on the main farm at the end of Creek Road with instruction to cull deer and goats. Dan made the call since he did do the scouting. Those two would rather shoot deer anyway.
Shane, Blair and I went locally that night just up Creek Road. We shot a good number of peafowl but again, many were lost in the creek. We picked up a couple of sambar and Blair was a happy chappy.
So on Saturday the 21st, I was processing birds next to Creek Road and I had visits from Monty, Leon and Gail. Monty wanted to buy some peacock primary wing feathers to make arrows. I laughed and loaded him up when he came back by a few hours later. Monty said to go meet Terry and Monica up the road as I wanted to get a couple of goats to take home. Blair and Shane went to scout the farm across the river by the school after retrieving the sambar stag (in pieces).
Blair and I went for a drive that afternoon and met Terry and Monica. We wound up shooting some goats but they were all across the river. We picked up a couple of peacocks too. Then we met up with Chris and Dan and had a shower at the shearer's quarters. It was well-needed.
Turns out those two were not finding the numbers of deer and goats they were expecting...
So Saturday night, Blair, Shane and I went to the school block. We got a bunch of peafowl and I think we made a difference there. Then we went up to Terry's on Creek Road and picked up more peafowl and a couple of fallow deer. We left one on their gate as requested. Then we got another sambar on the way back at around 2 AM. That was a lot of meat!
So Sunday morning was a bit tense. Young Troy got in a fight with Mum and Dad and went missing. Mum was pretty upset so I got the boys to start a search. About an hour later he came out of hiding. Man that was a little scary and reminded me of times when my youngins wandered off. It all ended well and we thank everyone who got involved to help find him. The boys went with Blair and Shane to recover the last sambar then Blair showed the boys how to cut up a few peahens.
The other Blair came to visit and it was great meeting him. So we packed up about 15 big peacocks, the deer and the rest of our gear. I like to think we left the hall cleaner than we found it. That is our policy when provided a place to stay. We really love this lifestyle. We did some damage but we know there is more work to do in the future. So let everyone know, we want to come back. What a great community! We are humbled by how friendly and accommodating everyone was so thank you for a real good time.
Jill has been in touch since so we are making a plan to come back. The good thing about coming back to an area is that you know where the birds roost in the blocks you culled before. It makes for a good cleanup process for the stragglers that got away last time.
For me, it was awesome. I got home exhausted then I had a lot of work to do. Here we are the second of October and the last of the peacock pelts are ready for sale. Last Friday, we butchered deer. The fallow went into steaks and mince while most of the sambar went with the peafowl meat to the butcher. Sambar backstraps, eye fillets, false eye fillets, etc. make excellent schnitzel and that is what we did. Blair likes to just cut it thin, I like to pound mine out. So all of the bones and scraps not suitable for humans, went to feed working dogs. We did not waste a scrap. We now have ready 93 kg of chorizo sausages and 70 kg of salami mixing peafowl and venison. I said I would pay for it, yikes!
Thanks Andy for making contact and being so accommodating! We are all professional in our own right and we love a new adventure!
So there is the load of salami and sausage we collected 7 October. We will bring some down next trip and anyone can stop by for a sample.