Net Gun Capture in South Africa
The New Zealanders invented the original net gun, as they needed an effective method to catch mainly Red Deer in rugged mountainous terrain. Although the New Zealanders became masters at net gun capture, in the beginning, it was a combination of fierce competition, lack of knowledge, inferior equipment, rugged flying conditions and lack of respect for safety, that caused many accidents leading to a high loss of life. Because of this, most people have associated net gun capture with being an extremely dangerous form of capture for both human and animal life. Net gun capture has come a long way since the New Zealanders pioneered it.
In North America 95% of their wildlife is caught by means of net gun capture in a variety of habitats from South Texas brush country at 100ft elevation to steep rugged mountainous terrain in Utah at 13500ft and very successfully with minimal mortalities. Although there are accidents associated to net gun capture these numbers are really low compared to the amount of net gun capture that takes place.
South Africa is seeing a boom in the game industry, many agricultural farmers and businessmen are getting into the breeding of game all over the country, on a large and small scale. New capture companies and capture pilots are entering the industry. New vendors are selling and supplying new and modern wildlife capture and breeding equipment. It is in these new times and beginnings along with a culmination of changes, namely new regulations by the veterinary council of the sale and use of scheduled drugs to veterinarians only, game breeders and capture companies looking for easier, faster and more economical ways of catching wildlife, that has led to net gun capture becoming more popular in South Africa recently. Net gun capture is probably one of the most dangerous forms of wildlife capture compared to Boma and Chemical Capture. Over the past two years South Africa has seen a fair number of net gunning related accidents, mainly due to inexperienced operators jumping in at the deep end. HOWEVER with the proper training and knowledge of all crew members, modern equipment, understanding and adhering to the basic fundamentals of SAFE gunning and piloting techniques, correct animal handling techniques, net gun capture can be a safe and very effective form of wildlife capture. It allows for the capture of animals that inhabit terrain, where darting or building bomas are not possible as well as catching animals that do not herd well and where darting is too slow
Those wanting to get into net gun capture understand that “HUMAN SAFETY COMES FIRST” followed by the utmost respect and welfare of the animals being caught. Start with researching what equipment is on the market. There are only a hand full of net gun manufactures, some producing old style net guns and others modern state of the art net guns. Understand the differences in available equipment. Cost plays a factor, but this should never compromise safety. Ideally you want a net gun that is safe, compact, light, quick and easy to use, with comfortable recoil. This will reduce gunner fatigue leading to safer net gunning.
The most reliable and modern net gun equipment is currently being produced in the USA. `’Wildlife Capture Equipment” has a net gun that meets all the characteristics listed above. It is well suited for use in the R22, R44, and H300. Other essential equipment to reduce stress is the use of blindfolds and hobbles. There are many other available equipment items such as helmets, mugger vests, radio harnesses, push to talks and headsets, that add to the efficiency and safety of net gun capture. In net gun capture the more the pilot and net gunner can work together the safer and more proficient they become. Trust and communication between the two is essential. Both pilot and gunner need a good knowledge of the basic required piloting and gunning techniques. Unlike darting where the helicopter flies the same speed as the animal, in net gunning the pilot needs to fly over and past the animal. It is a common mistake for the pilot to get too low, too close and creep up to slowly on the animal. This forces the gunner to shoot flat shots, which can be dangerous, especially when the helicopter banks to the side. Approach from higher and drop down on the animal, this will ensure the gunner will always shoot down and away from the blades. Some gunners have a tendency to shoot too soon. They shoot way out in front or to the side of the helicopter, again causing a flat shot, putting the net too close to the blades. Instead the gunner should wait until the animal is about 45 degrees below the helicopter. These are but just a few of the basic techniques.
A thorough understanding of net gun animal handling techniques is essential to low mortalities. In the USA most capture teams catch on average about 1400 animals in the four month capture season. In the western states most of the animals are caught in rugged mountainous terrain yet the mortalities are as low as 2-3 percent. Some of the techniques are: keeping chase times to a minimum, where possible avoid netting animals running downhill, reduce the speed of fast running animals by turning them uphill if possible or turn the herd and shoot when turning, shoot from higher up and from the side as the helicopter flies by. The ground crew should get to the animal as soon as possible, blindfold and hobble it, have water on hand if needed, use tranquilizers, anti-inflammatory and antibiotics. Again these are just some of the techniques. Net gun capture certainly has a place in South Africa, I personally have been catching animals from Steenbuck to Eland with great success. Many of our provinces such as the Free State, Northern Cape, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, and many other areas are well suited to net gun capture. In many cases the cost and time taken to net gun animals is a lot less expensive and faster than building a boma or conducting chemical capture. For those getting into net gun capture, it is important to understand that complacency, substandard equipment and cost cutting has no place in safe modern net gunning.