Two Cromwell men, Kieran Bruce Wilson (25) and Blair Adam Allison (23), appeared in the Alexandra District Court on Thursday and admitted a charge of hunting wild deer on Matakanui Station without the permission of the landowner.
Wilson was convicted and discharged, and Allison was fined $250.
Wilson was also sentenced to 40 hours' community work for possessing a gun without holding a firearms licence.
They were the first prosecutions since an anti-poaching trespass scheme was launched in Central Otago in October.
"It is a timely reminder to others engaging in this type of criminal activity that their continued behaviour will not be tolerated by landowners or police," Detective Sergeant Liz Williams, of Alexandra, said yesterday.
Another hunter had also been served with a trespass notice, she said.
The initiative was launched in Central Otago through Alexandra police and was also adopted by Constable Paul Mander, of Omarama.
Under the scheme, property owners grant police the authority to issue trespass notices to people found on their land without permission.
The trespass notice includes not just that property, but lists all Central Otago and upper Waitaki properties in the initiative.
Since the launch, 29 farmers have delegated authority to the police. Most properties being large, the actual land mass from which prospective poachers were trespassed was substantial, Det Sgt Williams said.
"These landowners will be making formal complaints to police when they locate poachers on their property, and those people can expect to be prosecuted and their firearms licences revoked.
"In addition, they will be served a trespass notice from all of these farms, and face further action by police if those trespasses are breached."
Approached by the Otago Daily Times for comment on the initiative, Matakanui Station owner Andrew Paterson said he hoped the united front by landowners would deter poachers.
"The united front gives us another tactic up our sleeve. It's the old story with the poachers: a few people spoil it for the rest." The problems were caused by people who were on the property without permission.
"We've had incidents of people driving on to our property at night, leaving gates open, driving through paddocks during lambing, disrupting the stock, and driving over crops before we cut them, leaving wheel marks."
Mr Paterson was pleased with the prosecutions and hoped it was a sign the initiative was paying off. The more farmers who became involved, the more successful it would be, he said.
Det Sgt Williams said farmers in Cromwell, Alexandra, Omakau, Millers Flat, Roxburgh, Ranfurly, Omarama and Tarras had joined the scheme.
"The aim is to get as much coverage as possible so poachers can't just move from one property to another if they get trespassed."
Poaching was a big problem in Central Otago, she said.
"This is a big step towards getting these people [poachers] on the radar. Police can't be everywhere so we've invited the community to help us, be our eyes and ears, and identify our problem areas."
