FISHERMAN BAGS RECORD STAG

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33514, 20 April 1974, Page 16

FISHERMAN BAGS RECORD STAG

A Dunedin man’s fishing trip in the Clinton Valley, at the head of Lake Te Anau, did not result in any fish. But it did produce a deer head with huge antlers that have , set a New Zealand record for the most points. The antlers from the 4001 b; red stag that Mr P. J. • ?

Deaker, of Dunedin, shoti on Monday measure 47in j by 40in. Its 40 points! easily beat the New Zea- I land record, which was! 27 points. However, the head is far | short of a world record,; which is held by a Polish | head believed to have; about 70 points. jMr Deaker went up to Te;

I Anau to visit three of his I sons, who live there. Two 1 of them work for a i venison recovery comI pany. They dropped him off to do some i threadline fishing while they flew .on by heliI copter to shoot deer from the air. I They returned in 10 minutes, and told him they had 1

spotted the huge beast in the bush, but could not I shoot it from the air. His sons handed Mr Deakei a rifle, and half an hour’s tracking and one shot saw him with the record deer.

“He wasn’t roaring as 1 tracked him. He just gave a couple of grunts,” said Mr Deaker, who shot the stag fr<sm about 30 yards. Later he • said he was surprised by it all. "After all, I only went for a poke about.” The photograph shows Mr Deaker’s son, Sid, holding the antlers. Although the rack seems to, show signs of palmation i —a characteristic of I moose and fallow deer—l several experienced deerstalkers have seen the antlers, and say the head is not a freak. Palmation in the antlers is common in older red deer, and this one may have been about 10 years old. Antler points are counted by placing a ring over them. If the point does not hold the ring, it is not counted.