The Fiordland hunters

Press, 18 March 1989, Page 27

The Fiordland hunters

The Eye of the Hunter. By John A. Anderson. Heinemann/Reed, 1988. 230 pp. Illustrations. $34.95. (Reviewed by Kevin J. Whitelaw) No region displays New Zealand’s wilderness more significantly than Fiordland. Within this area resides the only herd of feral wapiti or elk in the southern hemisphere. Liberated in 1905 these magnificent animals established themselves in country of austere solitude and rugged makeup.

Since 1923 rifle sportsmen have stalked the wapiti domain in an effort to obtain antlered trophies, the pinnacle of success for stalkers. Few hunters have experienced the rigours and rewards of hunting this area more than the author. John Anderson shares such adventures in “The Eye of the Hunter.” Readers will enjoy the exciting memoirs of expeditions back in the 1950 s and 19605. Immediately apparent is the writer’s respect for the game animal and the country it inhabits. The chapters provide excellent information on locations, wildlife and fauna, as well as instructive details on bushcraft and back-country survival.

John Anderson remains an advocate of the preservation of this unique herd of deer. Surveys of game and country are recorded in the spectacular Worsley River and Luger Burn valleys. Red deer infiltrated the domain of wapiti and the author provides clear accounts of why and when. Readers will learn of personal efforts directed to herd reduction and culling trips to prevent increased breeding of red deer with wapiti. The text is supported by photographs covering these halcyon days in Fiordland. Many photographs depicting wild game and birds are excellent. The record of “grassed” trophies is stunning and shows a stalking period which may now be merely a memory. If there is any criticism, it is of the reproduction of the photographs; improved clarity would have made a good book better. “The Eye of the Hunter” is a tribute to all those stalkers who have struggled to bring a rack of antlers out from the wild Fiordland bush. For those with that ambition ahead of them, this book is an inspiration.