John Bissell, owner and director of Backblocks Environmental Management Ltd, has a deep-rooted passion for nature and a lifetime of experience in New Zealand's rugged landscapes. His love for the outdoors began at a young age, and it has shaped his career as a conservationist and environmental manager.
John specialises in pest and predator control and the protection of highly vulnerable threatened species. He is frequently called upon to advise on or resolve complex predation and incursion events, where one animal is in a large landscape and doesn’t want to be found or removed. Based in the Wairarapa, John travels widely throughout New Zealand on the job, doing the mahi and also training and mentoring others to do the same.
His work invariably takes him to remote and challenging terrain, making it essential to have reliable and versatile vehicles. This year, John added an UBCO 2X2 Adventure Bike into the mix. We caught up with him for a chat about how the bike is working for him and discovered that it has been a real game-changer.
Photo by Hyundai Country Calendar
John has found that his UBCO 2X2 has significantly improved his efficiency and effectiveness in the field. The bike's ability to cover ground more quickly but still quietly, allows him to maximise his time spent in tracked, but remote areas, where he hunts pests and predators to protect rare and endangered species.
John says, “One of the best things is going into open country at magic hour (one hour each side of dawn or dusk) when the animals are often out and active. On the UBCO, I can cover 10-20 times the distance compared to walking. I also use an InfiRay thermal finder to maximise the chance of picking up anything out there. With the tight time window, this really maximises my effectiveness – I guess you could call me a mix of old-school tricks alongside new-school tech."
The UBCO's quiet operation is another major advantage. John can now often approach animals without disturbing them, giving him a better chance of finding and removing them.
“When hunting predators, it’s ideal, because there is no noise pollution, or warnings ahead of me from the sound of my machine. It’s as quiet as walking, only a lot faster. The bike is also nimble with its low centre of gravity. It’s really stable and easy to ride and maneuver. Great for poking up and down ridges and spurs” says John.
“The bike is so quiet and efficient; it increases bang for buck in terms of the time and distance spent. Because it’s so light, it’s easy to load on and off the ute so I can take it anywhere. Sometimes I even leave it on the back of the ute to charge it overnight so I’m all good to go in the morning. It’s just so easy. It means I don’t have to tow a trailer everywhere too!”
The UBCO's electric motor not only reduces noise pollution, but also saves John money on fuel and servicing compared to his quad bike, making it a convenient and affordable option for his work.
John has been pleasantly surprised at the range efficiency too. The other day he travelled 4 hours over steep and undulating country and only used quarter of a charge.
For checking traps on farms, John takes the bike on the back of his ute to job sites. Then he boosts along farm tracks on his UBCO and can go off track to place the traps in the most productive spots. John says micro placement and location of traps makes a huge difference to their level of success. “You have to work around the predator, not them around you”.
When doing live capture trapping, he checks the traps daily for 5-8 days and also uses trail cameras alongside to test that he is getting them. “It’s not what you catch, but what you leave behind that counts” – wise words from John. “I often swap out SD cards and check what is on them daily, while I am checking the traps. If you want to be successful in this game, you need to make it personal. All I need to take on the UBCO for this is my hunting and trapping kit, plus some fresh bait and batteries and clean SD cards. It carries that easily”.
John reports he has noticed an increase in the number of animals he can remove. The quiet and stealthy bike maximises his chances of an encounter with the animals he is tracking and hunting. John will also be using his UBCO instead of his quad for shooting in forestry blocks this summer as there is no spark risk.
A man with a lot of stories, John recounts “The other day I was riding along with my indicator dog Sami out the front. The track sidled around through a bush block, and we ticked along quietly while Sami worked the thermals rising from the gully below. She stopped and told me there was a goat below us, so I stopped too. No noise and no warning for the goat. Too easy. On the UBCO you can ride in, park up, and sneak up. There are no gear changes so you can go slowly almost at walking pace if needed.
“It’s so quiet”. “When I started using the UBCO, I gave myself the odd surprise, when I suddenly came upon a close deer!” “Another time I rode along to within about 100 yards of a mob of wild goats and managed to get them all in one go! The farmer was stoked!”
John is so impressed with the UBCO that he has started using it more frequently than his quad. He believes that the bike's versatility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness make it an invaluable tool for conservationists looking for methods to increase their impact. “The key is to use the best tool for the job based on a range of factors. I am finding that I am grabbing the UBCO more and more.”
Learn more about John's work (and his UBCO) on Hyundai Country Calendar (episode 37 - aired 17th November 2024) or follow his socials: