Trap Maintenance - Working Bee - Steele Creek & Mid Greenstone Hut
This is another great chance for new or inexperienced members to come along and learn with experienced club members. The primary focus of this working bee is to do several trap monitoring rounds including 5-minute bird call counts, some minor hut maintenance and firewood chopping.
The Focus will be to complete the work required and if time, to then coordinate some fallow hunts.
This is a great chance to get to know fellow club members over a whisky/beer/wine or juice round the table at night.
These working bees are always a popular and fun event and give back to the community.
The club has the Steele Creek RHA Ballot as part of our management agreement with DOC so there is ample opportunity for hunting as well when the work is done.
No firearms licence?
You are more than welcome to come along too - these are perfect opportunities to learn more in a safe and professional environment in a relaxed learning setting.
Work planned
We plan to achieve the following during this working bee
- Replacing some rotten decking outside the Wardens quarters
- Replacing some of the front guttering
- Splitting firewood
- Checking/baiting the traps along the greenstone bush edge and Steele Creek valley
- Trap - (Leg hold) for possums - so skins and fur are available if you would like to make some money.
- Eat, drink and be merry.....and of course some hunting!
It is pretty casual and we aim to make it social and its a great place to de-stress by working hard in the backcountry :-).
Hunting opportunities
We have access to the RHA balloted spots available up Steele Creek during 20th - 30th September inclusive so if you are keen, we try our best to share these out among everyone helping out. So everyone gets a hunt in if they want one.
See here for hunting info
(We will sort the hunting permits on your behalf, but we do need your Firearms Licence and contact details in the registration)
Getting there
Ideally walking in is preferred however we can arrange to fly in and out.
The club subsidises the helicopter so it's $150 per adult each way and $50 per child (under 18) each way and $30 for gear one way if you want to walk.
We will co-ordinate flights if there is a minimum of 3 pax per flight. This will be refined closer to the time if we do not have enough pax per flight then sorry we will be walking. Flight dayes and time will be confirmed based on numbers so you may need to have some flexibility on times and maybe days to make this work.
Walking requires you to park at the Greenstone carpark and flying is from the Glenorchy airfield on the other side of the lake. Carpooling is encouraged especially if you want to walk one way and fly another. As above they leave from very different locations, and we can coordinate this closer to the time.
CLUB MEMBERSHIP
You must be a paid up current member of the NZDA to get this pricing prior to attending the event.
New members/guests are welcome however they will need to join up as member of the club to get this pricing. If not then the cost of Heli flights at full non discounted rate and a daily hut accommodation fee will apply and they will need to arrange their own general liability insurances prior to attending the event.
Helicopter timings
Suggestions of helicopters heading in/out:- NOTE these are not confirmed yet and will be based on those attending and what works best. CLEARLY DETAIL your intentions/availability in the registration form so we can see what can be arranged and works best for everyone
- Fri 20th Sept
- Wed 25th Sept AND/OR
- Thu 26th
- Mon 30th Sept
- please be clear on your registration if other days are more suitable as we can rearrange the flights to suit if needed.
What time does the heli fly?
Once we get closer to the time and have confirmed numbers we will email the times of the helicopters and further details. Again let us know if you are restricted on certain dates with work hours in your registration comments
What do I bring?
Your hunting gear, boots, hut shoe/slippers, gun security bits, food for you, clothes, towel, toiletries, sleeping bag/under sheet, working gloves, tools (will be advised closer to the time). A willingness to have fun, get involved and enjoy being in the bush with like-minded people.
If someone wants to come in and be camp cook who sorts the dinners/ lunches/breakfasts for the team while they work, that often works well too, and we could then co-ordinate a communal food menu as the kitchen is small. Let Dave know if you are keen
So book your annual leave with work and register to secure your place on what will be another very fun and rewarding trip.
There will be a teams meeting briefing session on the 17th Sept at 8pm to finalise transport and flight day details etc.
Full details and reminders about the online meeting will be emailed nearer the event
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