HUNTING THE WAPITI.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 94, 22 April 1926, Page 11

HUNTING THE WAPITI.

A-FOLLOWING THE MOOSE. VISITOR'S INVESTIGATIONS. DISTINCT TRACES IN SOUTH. . • ..' ' i Returning to Auckland Tuesday night i from the South Island, where he has i seen carrying out investigations in the waipiti and moose country, Mr. T-. R. Hub-back, the noted big-game hunter From the Federal Malay States, who irrived in New Zealand at the end .or lanuary last, reported that he was ! satisfied from his observations that the animals existed in the areas' in which . he hunted. At the same time, he expressed considerable disappointment at . not having "bagged" either a wapiti or a. moose, this being due to unfortunate sircumstanees over which he had no sontrol. Mr. Hubback was commissioned by his friend, Dr. Nelson, of the American | Bureau of Biological Survey, to get j what details he could regarding the ex- j istence of 'the wapiti and moose in the Dominion, the Bureau being very j anxious to obtain information on the ! subject. His report will be along the lines of one which he will submit to the : Southland Acclimatisation Society before he leaves by the Niagara next week, en route to Singapore. A copy of the report will also be sent to the Minister of Internal Affairs. Start from Riverton. j Outlining his trip to a "Star" representative, Mr. Hubback said that a 10 h.p. launch, the Wairuna, was hired, through the Marine Department, from Mr. Norman Veer, of Riverton, who supplied the boat (which,- had passable accommodation and proved quite suitable for the trip), the crew of three, all provisions and stores, and petrol, for one month, at a cost of £150. With ; three companions. Mr. Hubback left I Riverton on March 19, after being de- ! layed for four days by bad weather. \ The objective" was the head of George Sound, about 150 miles from Riverton, but, owing to the unsatisfactory wea- , ther, it was six days before this point , was reached. The party put into Pre- j servation Inlet and then into Chalky | Inlet, while the conditions made it im- I possible to journey up the **oast. It was found that red deer had penetrated as far as both the inlets. In George Sound. "When I got to George Sound, I met Mr. Leslie MurrAll, who had a party of hunters on Block 2," said Mr. Hubback. "I should like to record my thank 9 for the very valuable information he gave mc. I was quite ignorant of the district, but Mr. Murrall gave mc information about, and a sketch-map of, the route from George Sound to Calswell Sound. This information enabled mc .to get into really good hunting country. I also met Mr. Herrick, who was third rifle on our block—No. 1. It was arranged that he should hunt towards the north and that we would-go towards the Caswell Sound. I went with Mr. Walter Scott, who came down from Rotorua to join the party. He accompanied mc from George Sound across to the Ethne River and down that ,tb . Lake Marc!' .it, where we were able to I make use of a boat kindly placed at our j disposal by Mr. Murrall. The trail from George ound -to thei.\ Ethne was, I believe, cut out two" years ago by Mr. | Herricfe. From where it meets thei -Ethne, down to . Lake Marchant, there j is a well defined trail;, due partly to the ' activities of wapiti and. partly to the | work of Mr. Murrall. Roughly speaking, j the distance from George Sound to the I lake is about 10 miles. From Lake Marchant to the head of Carswell Sound is about three miles, along a trail cut' by Mr. Murrall a few years ago. j Traces Found. ' "The whole way from the head of' George Sound to the head of Carswell Sound we' found traces of wapiti, not always fresh, of course, but undoubtedly proof that the animals frequented the country. At Lake Marchant we found a considerable flat area, which, close to the lake, was covered with a very fine spear-like grass. In places this had been eaten right to the ground by wapiti. A very large bull, accompanied by a hind and a calf, had taken up its abode on the flat, and it was an unfortunate combination of events outside my control that contributed to my failure to put him in the bag. There were many other traces of good wapiti in the country we traversed, and with only a little more luck and a little better hunting, trophies would have been obtained." A Big Moose. The party left Carswell Sound on the! return journey on April 11. With good weather, Dusky Sound was reached on April 13. Mr. Hubback went up to Supper Cove with Mr. Scott, to see if he could find any traces of.moose. He discovered that an old trail which started from the Cove and proceeded in an easterly direction, had been used extensively by wild game: Old traces of , moose and fresh traces of red deer were j found, and, while proceeding along the • trail, comparatively fresh tracks were seen of two moose. The tracks .were those of a big bull and a slightly smaller animal, which might have been a bull, but was probably a cow. The bull had been rubbing his antlers on a tree alongside the track, and had adopted the methods characteristic of the moose, of rubbing them on the bole of the tree, close to the ground. He had also scraped bark and moss on the same tree, at a height of over eight feet above the ground. These indications satisfied Mr. Hubback that there was undoubtedly a big moose in the vicinity of Spppe'r Cove. The animal's tracks measured 7£ inches long by 4£ inches wide. The general indications showed that moose were in the district frequently, and in Mr. Hubback's opinion, there would be no great difficulty in obtaining reliable information regarding their distribution in the vicinity of the Cove, if an investigation was undertaken during the summer months by two or three reliable stalkers. ~ Asked about the country, Mr. Hubback said that it was not great hunting land on account of the extreme difficulty of transport, the difficulty of stalking in wet moss-covered "jungle" and the lack of • facilities for making a really good track out of ii. "One thing I am going to recommend to the Southland Acclimatisation Society." concluded Mr. Hubb* ek,' ' "ia that rainbow trout he put int_ the streams, there. The !!£___*.. liver ft a perfect stream for this -purpose, and all the streams at the head of tho Sounds should have'fish: put in them. In this way, the place would, be made so much more attractive for sportsmen."