Back-country legends tell tales of fortunes made and friends lost. Hear from a rich cast of back country characters who fought NZ's battle with Red Deer.... sometimes by hanging out of helicopters.
Deer Wars
Claim This Podcastby RNZ
5.0(5 reviews)
11 episodes
Updated Daily
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Podcast Overview
Back-country legends tell tales of fortunes made and friends lost. Hear from a rich cast of back country characters who fought NZ's battle with Red Deer.... sometimes by hanging out of helicopters.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
10/5/2023
1 verified contact email on file for Deer Wars
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Recent Episodes
October 21, 2025
What to Listen to Next: Search & Rescue NZ
<p>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 operations of the 1960s to today's highly managed efforts. They all have one thing in common – something went wrong and someone needed help.</p><p>Listen to the first episode of Search & Rescue NZ, Between Heaven and Earth, and hear the rest of the series in your favourite podcast app.</p><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/search-and-rescue-nz">Search & Rescue NZ on RNZ Podcasts</a></p><p>Content warning: this series contains graphic descriptions of rescues and fatalities, as well as some strong language. If unsettling personal stories affect you, please take care while listening.</p><p>Thanks to the <a href="https://www.landsar.org.nz/">LandSAR</a> volunteers who shared their stories.</p><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/deer-wars?share=6abe6a22-4127-4559-abe8-ecc726ddb33a">Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details</a></p>
November 16, 2023
Don't Dream. It's Over.
<p>The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it. But the reality for those involved was very different. </p><p>The era of live deer capture had an aura of glamour to it, much as ground hunting and aerial venison hunting had previously.</p><p>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.</p><p>"And I lay there and I thought, 'oh god, I've smashed my bloody machine'. And I thought, 'I'll just lie here for a bit and then I'll get up' and I went to get up. And there's no one at home to get up. I just couldn't move. And I thought, 'oh, god, I've broken my back'."</p><p>But the industry itself was about to crash in the most dramatic way when on the 26th of July 1995, then Finance Minister Roger Douglas introduced a standard deer price and a reversal of tax write offs to take effect immediately. The bill had an immediate and catastrophic impact on deer farmers and those holding onto deer while building up a herd for the future. Predictably, the Queen Street farmers vanished overnight and their money with them.</p><p>Some heavily indebted deer farms went into bankruptcy. Many people like Harvey Hutton were ruined overnight, losing both land and house. Even today those who were caught out are bitter about the way the legislation was brought in with no consultation or the chance to prepare.</p><p>Today deer farming in New Zealand is a $300 million industry, the largest in the world. Some 2,000 farms hold 800,000 deer, all of it built on the back of these pioneers.</p><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/deer-wars?share=elf_audio_2018906416">Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details</a></p>
November 14, 2023
Getting Away With It
<p>The success of live capture and the skyrocketing prices inevitably encourage poaching.</p><p>The success of live capture and the skyrocketing prices in the mid 70's (up to $4-5,000 per animal) inevitably encourage poaching.</p><p>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."</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Crashes and deaths were all too frequent and as usual the women at home had to deal with the consequences.</p><p> </p><p><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/podcast/deer-wars?share=elf_audio_2018906415">Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details</a></p>
11 total episodes available
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Frequently asked questions
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- What is Deer Wars?
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This podcast updates daily.
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This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
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Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.
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