ROD AND GUN Hunters' Dinner An Ancient Rite

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30602, 19 November 1964, Page 14

ROD AND GUN Hunters ' Dinner An Ancient Rite

(Specially written for "The Press” by

JAMES SIERS)

Attractively mounted heads of deer, wild boar, thar, chamois and goat gazed down in casual indifference at the revelry below, where Wellington deerstalkers sat eating venison, wild pork, trout and other more common food. A hunter’s annual dinner is an ancient rite, stretching through the centuries to the times of the Cro-Magnon man. Twenty-five thousand years ago they danced, sang and paid eloquent tribute with elaborate cave drawings to the beasts they hunted. Good hunting in those days meant immediate survival; scarcity of game meant a lingering death. Man has been a hunter much longer than he has been an agrarian and civilisation as such dates back a paltry 4000 to 5000 years. Was it an appropriate time at the dinner to reflect on hunting as it is known today? Are the people who kill game and catch fish for sport cruel? And do they kill to satisfy a pre-historic blood-lust? Being a hunter and fisherman, I’m perhaps not qualified to give an objective opinion. Instead, here’s my side of the argument. Know Their Quarry The men who hunt and fish are inevitably those who try to get to know and appreciate their game better. Out of selfish interest they develop a respect for their quarry, even to the extent of wanting to improve conditions for it. In turn, the demands made on man in hunting in New Zealand develop qualities which have been admired for centuries—fitness, self-reli-ance, an ability to cope in extreme conditions; often a wry sense of humour and an ability to accept life and death much as a grand hunt where the issue is not in doubt.

Because game has been plentiful here, hunting in the last 30 to 40 years has been considered a little infra dig, better left to the rude and rugged fellows who killed great numbers for the good of the country. Because of the lack of a constructive policy, these men did a good job. Given a favourable climate, plenty of protein-rich food, shelter and lack of predators, the great deer herds multiplied. At first they grew record-size antlers and later they degenerated in many places into inbred, stunted animals, racked with disease. This is the fate of all animals including men. Many Changes The situation is rapidly changing. Urban development in New Zealand and the population increase are making constantly greater demands on outdoor recreational facilities. Land development is limiting wild-life habitat. It should not be a long time before in the North Island the combined activities of commercial meat hunters and deerstalkers have drastically reduced wild game numbers. It may take longer in the south. The New Zealand Deerstalkers’ Association is a body which has grown out of the conviction that these wild animals are a valuable asset and that instead of following a policy to total destruction, man should learn to live with them to his best advantage. The association’s rapidly increasing membership is a reflection that this view is being accepted. For my part I hope that hunters throughout New Zealand may hold many more dinners in honour of the wild game which, through cunning and superior ability, has been able to survive with man through the centuries.