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Old 17th Dec 2012, 22:16
  #22 (permalink)  
tartare
 
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: A better place.
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Ahhh - now there are some picture from the past.
The New Zealand deer wars of the 1970s...

See:

Deer Wars - Television | NZ On Screen

Two part doco - 18 mins each, but worth the watch for those of you in Northern Latitudes who may not be aware of the story.
Some legendary NZ rotary wing pilots featured; Bill Black, Tim Wallace etc. and also rare early footage of Hillers and 300s used for shooting.



From another site:

"At the peak of venison recovery in 1973, exports reached 3,500 tonnes from about 140,000 carcasses. At one stage there were 50 helicopters competing for deer in the southern South Island. Many adopted illegal and often dangerous tactics. Two RNZAF Iroquois helicopters were sent to the region to try to prevent poaching of deer from Fiordland and private properties..."

80 private pilots or hunters died in total.

...the tall tale was that certain D and C-model pilots could hear the RNZAF UH-1H's on their way, and were long gone by the time they arrived - 50 foot of blade slap versus 26 foot of LOACH rotor.
There's probably a feature film script in those stories somewhere...

Last edited by Senior Pilot; 17th Dec 2012 at 22:56. Reason: Added YouTube vid
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