DEER STALKING.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12484, 21 April 1906, Page 5

DEER STALKING.

TO THE EDITOK OF '•-"•_. I__S." ! Sir, —I am very pleased to see that the above subject has drawn forth a letter from tho pen of co experienced a otalker as Mr E. Hardcastle, as well ».* from Dr. Moorhouse, and I trust the younger generation of stalkers will give their sincere and earnest thought to the matter contained in each. There is only one point on which 1 cannot agree with Mr Hardcastle, and that is on the question as to what _ a lair and sportsmanlike distance to shoot at a stag. Mr Hardcastle states that limiting the distance at which stags may be shot to 2i"o yards if rather less titan necessary with tlie modern low trajectory rifles, and in further au-cuseing the' (subject places the limit at 300 yards. He aUw admit-* that it is, possible, to do Iwid ehoating within that distance, though ho qualities this statement by adding that it is generally owing to some collateral circumstance, such as faulty position or neglecting to adjust the sight-*, etc., when euch bad shooting occurs. Now, sir, while 1 admit that very deadly shooting may be done with sucti a rifle at 3CO yards, 1 cannot shut my oven to the fact that very serious bungles may be perpetrated, and in tact aro often perpetrated with any rifle at that distance. And I would ask who i» the hiifforer:' Why, ot course, generally the unfortunate stag. The ground I have always taken up on this t-übject is this, that any distance which opens the door to (Mich possibilities to a reasonably gocd t-hot is not a fair and sportsmanlike distance to shoot at any animal, much less to Mitch a noble beast as a good stag. After all, a-s Mr Hardcastle admits, the sport lies in the f-talk, not in the shot. And for this rea.-wn I maintain that any man who cannot get to within 'it least 200 yank of his ■••■tag is, to say the least of it, a very indifferent stalker. For my own part," as I stated in a letter to the Timaru -Post" of the ,9th inst.. I consider 100 yatde a fair [ sporting distance, and 100 yards o long I shot, while 1 would put 200 yards as a distance at which a shot may be taken only under very exceptional circumstances. But of course this r-»q r.ros a. very great deal of tact, patience and skill on the part ~>t tho milker th.ingh I am quite certain that most of tho stalkers of 'ting cxpoi-i-Tico \till agree with mc that they have lieen amply repaid for their pains when they have made thus their rule. I know that in Scotland this is practically the rule, oven if an unwritten one, and I have yet to discover any part of Xew Zealand whore it might not equally apply. The conditions which exist when shooting ab wild deer arc totally different to those which obtain when sheeting at a target. At the latter you liave the distance measured accurately, be it 200, 300 or 500 yards, and you place your sight, accordingly before taking a shot. In deer-stalking, you have nothing but your eyes and experience to tell you the distance, and your calculation may Ih* right or it may be very far wrong. So that if you shoot at a stag, even with a modern low 'trajectory rifle, which you estimate to be 300 yards off, and the actual distance happens to be 400 or 500 yards, it follows that your shot drops low and you are infinitely more likely to smash a leg than to kill your stag. Now, on the other hand, if yon shoot at a r.tag which you l-eli-.-vn "to be 200 yards off, and the real distance happens to ho 300 yards, tho drop cf the bullet at that distance with Mich a rifle is not more than two or three inches, and you most probably hit your stag in tho heart all the fame. On the ground of humanity, therefore, this distance ha- much to commend it as tho sportsman's limit, and I am sure the veriest tyro will admit that it implies a much better stalk, and, of course, a much more certain shot. Moreover, every yard by which tho stalker can decreasetliis distance by careful and wellplanned stalking, will repay him immeasurably in tho keen sense of tho sport. On. ono point I am quite satisfied, from what I know of Mr Hardcastle, and that is that he has killed more «-ta_-.s at 100 yards than his modesty will allow him to admit, and all the more honour to him for his sporting instincts. Hut we are getting more and moro new stalkers here every year, and I would like to see him educate them in the art more in accordance with the lines which hold good in Scotland and other older countries, both on the grounds of humanity and true sport.— Yours, etc., QM) DEER . STALKER .

to tiik rniton op "the press." Sir.—l have had no experience of deerstalking out here but unless tho conditions are very different it. is to be hoped that all beginning deerstalkers will adopt the rule given by the late Lord Lovat, which is generally to I believe by sportsmen in Second, viz.. "Up to "eighty yards the deer's eve i.s to bo seen distinctly, at 100 yards tho shape of the eye is no longer risible but c.nlv a dark line; up to 130 yards tho oars are nlainly to bo seen •' at 200 yards they are well nigh invisible; therefore unless the ears aro distinct do t-ct fire. By far the majority of shots are taken lietween SO and " - 9 0 yards, but st-a-s are often stalked by good stalkers up to 70 or even 40 vardr. The real sport, as Mr Hardcastle sn\i=, in the stalk, and a °"Ood' sportsman will always rather risk losing a stuff; by stalking him till he can see the ears plainly than risk woniKlin.g him with a long shot As for half a dozen men "volleying at on" sta- one would fain hope for the credit of the colony that there is some mistako-Your*, HAgLAM