In the hunt

A hunter looks over Lake Hawea. Photos by Stephen Jaquiery.
A hunter looks over Lake Hawea. Photos by Stephen Jaquiery.
Richard Burdon.
Richard Burdon.
Glen Dene Station homestay overlooking Lake Hawea.
Glen Dene Station homestay overlooking Lake Hawea.

Richard Burdon likens running a trophy-hunting operation to farming as it involves so many different facets.

''You're in the entertainment business, you've got to know your ballistics, safety management plans, know your first aid,'' Mr Burdon says.

''You've got to know your New Zealand history, flora and fauna,'' professional hunting guide Gerald Telford adds, while South African operator Mike Birch chips in and quips: ''you've got to be a marriage counsellor''.

Glen Dene hosts between 60 and 70 paying hunters each season, most booked 12 to 24 months in advance. They shoot about 80 stags, but also tahr, chamois, rams, pigs and fallow deer.

A lot of planning goes into making a successful hunt, Mr Burdon says. From the first contact with a client, there can be up to 30 email and phone conversations before their arrival.

Mr Burdon likes picking up the clients, the interaction allowing him to gauge their personality and work out the best guide for them.

Most packages start at about $US5000 ($NZ5840), not including airfares, then vary depending on the requirements of the client. Photographic safaries are also offered.

''To make it all work, there is quite a lot of planning and marketing. This is the fun part of it at the other end of it,'' he says.

For many people, the cost of a hunting holiday is a substantial portion of their annual income.

It is on their ''bucket list'' and, often, a goal achieved later in life. That might mean the client finally has the money but not necessarily the fitness, which is something operators have to be mindful of, he says.

When it comes to being a good hunting guide, it is more important to be a ''people-person'' than a good hunter, Mr Telford says.

A good hunter might not necessarily make a good guide.

''It's all about the people, it's all about the journey,'' he says.

''It's 90% people, 10% hunting. You've got to have a few jokes,'' Mr Birch adds.

''You must remember somebody is coming to spend 10 days with you and it's the 10 days of his life, if he's been saving his whole life,'' he says.

Clients tend to open up and ''talk about everything'', in what proves to be a unique relationship, and the guide needs to be able to relate to them.

''You can spend millions on marketing but you can mess it up by treating a guy badly,'' Mr Birch says.

For Mr Telford, seeing the joy, relief and appreciation, after a successful hunt, and being able to share in that, is ''pretty cool''.

''I get a real buzz out of people and meeting interesting people. I've met some fantastic people,'' he says.

The long-time hunting enthusiast grew up on a South Otago sheep and beef farm, with a river down one boundary and the Blue Mountains not far away.

Hunting was in the blood and he was fly-fishing when he was 12 and ''hunting madly'' by the time he was 18.

He has been operating out of the Wanaka area since the late 1980s, having set up as a fishing guide and then getting into hunting guiding.

Generally, clients are not competing with New Zealand recreational hunters, he says.

On Glen Dene, a 2020ha strip of public conservation land in the middle of the property is set aside as a Department of Conservation hunting area, with permits obtained from Doc.

Mr Burdon and Mr Telford work with the Wanaka branch of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association and help train young hunters, with the Hunter National Training Scheme (Hunts) course including hunting on Glen Dene Station.

For four years, Mr Burdon has been involved with the annual SCI hunting convention in Las Vegas, a massive show at which thousands of hunting enthusiasts book hunts and shop for the latest guns and hunting equipment.

The most recent show, in February, was the first year that Glen Dene had a display and it was ''mind-blowing'' to see how widely spread the hunting-fishing recreational market was.

''I get amazed just by how big it is as an industry,'' Mr Burdon says.

There were two floors the size of a rugby field for the four-day show, and about $16 million of business was done.

About 35 New Zealand operators attended, most from the South Island.

One of the benefits is that clients come outside peak tourist time, as the season runs from about mid-February to August, Mr Burdon says.

The Burdon family breeds stags and buys some in, while a small percentage are wild.

Wild stags generally do not ''cut the mustard'' as being a big enough trophy, but there is ''something there for everyone'', Mr Burdon says.

For many, it is the thrill of the hunt that appeals, not the thrill of the kill, he says.

''There's nothing better than people having a good time and being able to show off our beautiful property. That's where we get a real buzz from it,'' he says.

His wife Sarah enjoys it as much as he does, while their children also love it, he says.

It is a real family affair, with Mr Burdon's parents, Jerry and Lesley, also involved.

The elder Burdons run a bed and breakfast business, often used by hunters, from their home on the shores of Lake Hawea.

''It's called supporting your son, I think,'' Lesley Burdon jokes.

Glen Dene, a breathtakingly beautiful spot, is an ideal property for such an operation, as it has farming, recreational and conservation values, Richard Burdon says.

''As a farm owner, what I'm trying to do is manage all those values so that we maintain it as a sustainable business operation,'' he says.

He works with the Department of Conservation to manage the ecological values, including doing vegetation management work.

The hunting operation has to be balanced with the farming operation and there is a safety system in place.

Guides have to check in and register for an area and farm workers always know what is happening on the property.

High standards must be maintained. Effort goes into making sure the trophies are properly taken care of - ''there's a whole industry in itself in the taxidermy'' - while as much of the game as possible is used.

There are a lot of other people who benefit from the operation, Mr Burdon citing the likes of accommodation providers.

They also use other fishing guides, work in with helicopter operators and also with several other nearby properties, which also have hunting operations.

''It's not just me, it requires a whole team. It's only as good as your guides and the people you've got around you,''Mr Burdon says.

If people are interested in the industry, there are many different ways they can enter it.

Their cleaner found them because she was ''mad keen'' on hunting and recently shot her own chamois.

Mr Burdon, who has hunted in Africa, Scotland and England and fished in the United States, has no shortage of invitations for overseas hunting trips.

The problem is finding the time to get away which, he acknowledges, is a good problem to have.

 

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