Poacher becomes a target
A poacher has been convicted and ordered to pay $5000 after he was caught boasting on Facebook with a photo of a highly-prized trophy stag he had shot.
Napier man Wiremu Armitage, 30, was convicted of unlawful hunting after a short trial before Judge Tony Adeane in Napier District Court on Thursday.
An image of Armitage with the dead stag hanging in a shed appeared on Facebook in May or June last year.
The image was seen by staff at Ngamatea Station, located between Napier and Taihape, who recognised it as an 11-point Sika stag they had seen on the property and photographed on April 23.
Armitage was questioned by police and charged with unlawful hunting. He denied the charge.
On Thursday, Judge Adeane convicted him and ordered him to pay $5000 reparation as well as court costs and witness expenses.
The owner of Ngamatea Hunting and Fishing, Bruce Bates, said the slain animal had been ‘‘an unbelievably unusual stag’’.
‘‘It’s one of those ‘once-ina-lifetime’ stags, a ‘one-in-a-million’ stag. A normal Sika trophy has eight points. This had 11. You could pick it out anywhere,’’ he said.
‘‘It was just by chance we had taken a photo of it. Then it turns up on Facebook hanging dead in a shed,’’ Bates explained.
The stag’s value to his business was around $6500.
The animal was last seen alive in the middle of the 28,000 hectare station, about halfway between Taihape and Napier ‘‘well inside the confines of the station’’.
Poaching was a ‘‘huge issue’’ for landowners and others, Bates said.
‘‘They [poachers] are probably shooting as many trophy stags in a year as I am. The cost is probably $60,000 to $80,000 a year in poached stuff.’’
He was very happy with the outcome of the court case.
Bates said a law change in 2013 that saw the maximum penalty for unlawful hunting increase from a maximum $500 to a maximum $100,000 fine and one year in prison, was seeming to take effect.
‘‘It’s great to finally be seeing some decent sentences for this sort of thing. What Judge Adeane’s done is fantastic, it really is,’’ he said.
Senior Constable Pete Gimblett said Ngamatea was ‘‘one of a number of properties that has ongoing issues with this sort of activity’’.
‘‘Unlawful hunting is not only dangerous in posing risks to landowners and others, but also comes at great cost, and is of significant concern to those affected.
‘‘The penalty handed out by the court in this instance sends a strong signal that this kind of activity is not acceptable, and will not be tolerated,’’ Bates said.
When contacted by Stuff, Armitage said he would call back but did not.
‘‘It’s a ‘onein-a-million’ stag.’’ Bruce Bates, of Ngamatea Hunting and Fishing