Ethics

• All members must carry signed membership cards for presentation when required. Our badge is not proof of being financial.
• No member to hunt or stalk on property without permission of the owner or occupier on each and every occasion.
• No member to carry a bow in D.O.C. lands, National Parks, or any other reserves without a permit from the appropriate authority.
• All members to see that camp fires are properly extinguished, and are to observe the greatest caution against starting of grass or scrub fires.
• All huts and their contents, including cooking utensils, must be left in a clean and orderly condition: a plentiful supply of firewood to be left for the next occupier. On leaving, perishable food to be burned or buried, and not left to encourage vermin. Any supplies found in huts must not be used.
• Care must be taken not to disturb stock. Members are requested to assist stock in distress. In serious cases the property owner or occupier must be notified.
• Members should become familiar with boundaries, thus avoiding trespassing on other properties where consent has not been obtained.
• All gates are to be left as found; that is whether open or shut.
• In desire to be sportsmen all members shall, as far as humanly possible, endeavor always to obtain a quick, clean kill, and with this object in view should refrain from using unsuitable equipment, which is in most cases the cause of undue suffering to wounded animals.
• Any animal, which is wounded, must be hunted down and killed. All bowhunters in the immediate locality must cease their operations to concentrate on the wounded animal. Only after sincere and unavailing efforts have been made to trace the animal may the chase be abandoned.
• In the event of more than one bowhunter shooting the animal the first arrow to strike shall decide the claim.
• All members must abide the judicial laws of New Zealand, as they apply to bowhunting.
• Members shall agree to abide by the aims and objects, ethics and rules of the society and any further rules of amendments that may be deemed necessary by the society
• It is not the intention to list a host of musts and must not’s, to lay down a series of hard and fast rules to govern this form of archery, but rather encourage our members to be sportsman. It is felt that any rule or law governing hunting that cannot be enforced is weak and irritating.
• Good hunting manners, a sense of responsibility, pride of membership and love of the outdoors is of greater value than a book full of rules. In this society the onus is on the member to be sportsman.

Rules – Fair chase big game animals

• Game must not be restricted in any way that gives the bowhunter an unfair advantage (e.g. water, mud, snow, traps, snares, fences or yards). This includes Hunting Ranches or Safari Parks where game is restricted.
• Game must not be taken with the use of a powered vehicle for herding or driving or directing.
• Game must not be shot with the use of Night Vision optics, Thermal Imaging equipment or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Drones)
• The use of poison, exploding arrow heads, tranquillisers or the direct assistance of firearms is prohibited.
• Young animals still reliant on their mother are not to be taken.
• Game must not be taken under any other condition considered by the committee as un sportsmanlike.
• No member to carry a bow in D.O.C. lands or National Parks, or any reserve without a permit from the appropriate authority.
• Code of Ethics and game award rules apply at all times.
• Game must not be shot with the use of projected artificial light, such as a spotlight or vehicle headlamps.
• Game must not be shot from a powered vehicle or boat or aircraft.
• Game must not be protected, nor held in Game Reserves, Sanctuaries or Deer farms.
• Hunting with dogs is prohibited. However a dog may be used to find a lost animal and if found dead the animal can be claimed.

Rules – Fair chase big game fish

• Fish can not be restricted by nets or traps either natural or man made.
• Fish may be gaffed or drowned to effect its landing or dispatch.
• Fish must be unprotected by law and in legal waters.
• Fish must not be taken with the assistance of explosives, power heads, firearms or harpoons.
• Arrows must not exceed one metre in total shaft length.
• Fish must not be shot with the use of projected artificial light.
• Witnesses must witness weighing of fish plus verify measurements as in diagrams on the claim form and must be satisfied that tapes and scales used are accurate. Also check that equipment and method used is consistent in every respect to the specifications on the claim form.
• Fish must not be taken under any other condition considered by the Committee as un sportsmanlike.
• N.Z. fisheries regulations apply at all times see Recreational Fishing Rules
• Code of Ethics and Game award rules apply at all times.

Rules – Fair chase small game

• Game must not be restricted in any way that gives the bowhunter an unfair advantage (e.g. water, mud, snow, traps, snares, fences or yards). This includes Hunting Ranches or Safari Parks where game is restricted.
• Game must not be taken with the use of a powered vehicle for herding or driving or directing.
• The use of poison, exploding arrow heads, tranquillisers or the direct assistance of firearms is prohibited.
• Young animals still reliant on their mother are not to be taken.
• Game must not be taken under any other condition considered by the committee as un sportsmanlike.
• No member to carry a bow on D.O.C administered lands or National Parks, or any reserve without a permit from the appropriate authority.
• Code of Ethics and game award rules apply at all times.