MARLBOROUGH DEER

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 99, 28 April 1928, Page 28

MARLBOROUGH DEER

MY FIEST TROPHY STALKING IN THE RAGLAN (By "Old Stalker.") The red deer of Marlborough arc 'descendants of the herd originally established in Nplson. It was founded from one stag and two hinds presented by Lord Pctro which came from his park in Esses. The date of their arrival was : February, 18G1, and these three deer would appear to be the first over imported into Now Zealand. ' The herd increased enormously, aiid its progeny are now found in the surrounding districts of Canterbury and Westland, as well as Marlborough. Of all the New Zealand herds it .has been the m6st neglected, and the antlers, originally having been of irregular shape and slight spread, have deteriorated to such an extent as to be no longer worth securing as a trophy. The bulk of them arc now malformed with the bay tine missing.. Since the season of 1924 the protection has been lifted, and the animals are now shot in scores and hundreds all the year round. Having tried my luck with big game in many parts of the world, I was keen when I first came to New Zealand many years ago to make my acquaintance with deer-stalking in the Dominion. Marlborough is where I was introduced to my first doer in New Zealand, and I still have vivid recollections of two pleasant holidays spent in the upper reaches.of tho Wairau River, wandering on the mountain slopes and in the birch forests of those parts. I had a friend thero who owned some thousands of acres on the Raglan Range, and it ■was thrpugh his kind invitation and under his tuition that I incurred tho stalking fever which, once taken, is •warranted never to leavo your system. Of this huge block of country only about 7000 acres are of use for sheep grazing, this area being tho western slopes of tho Raglan Range with the Wairau River flowing in the valley below. The main ridge of tho Raglan mountains averages in height about 4000 ft, and over the barren tops, to tho eastward, tho country is of the roughest. la the winter months it is subject to frequent snowstorms, and ia then quito useless for pasturing sheep. For red deer and goats, however, this difficult country is a sanctuary, for it is far from the haunts of man, aifd snowstorms havo no ill-effects on theso hardy animals. There is plenty of virgin forest in tho* gullies, where they can take shelter at times of storm, and in tho basins and open valleys thero is an aniplo supply of tussock and other native plants. My first visit to the Raglan was at Easter time. Doer were then fairly numerous, and goats could bo counted by the score on the slopes from tho back door of the whare. Wo contented ourselves with half-day hunts, for my host was alone at that time and was busily engaged adding an additional room to his house, which then only contained one room. Tho next year, however, I ■was again a guest, and on this occasion, as there was a cowboy to leave in charge, my host and I were able to devote more tilno to the sport and to spend at least one night away from the house. Early in tho autumn morning wo left the wharo beforo the cow-boy was astir. Our packs consisted of our rifles, a camera, one blanket each, and what wo considered enough bread, butter, and tea for a two days' outing. I'or meat wo relied on what wo were to shoot, but this proved a mistake, for tho fresh stag venison wo found from experience was beyond our powers of mastication. !Ab the first soft groy light of dawn appeared wo were ascending a steep spur immediately'behind the whnre. Tho air was mild and pleasant for this early hour and tho timo of tho year, conditions which wo judged portended an early unpleasant change. A long steady tramp at last brought us to the main ridge. As we reached this we disturbed a mob of about sixty goats which, no doubt, had not long settled down to their early morning repast. They wero of all sizes and colours, but wo had little timo to examino them, for in a few moments they had disapxieared into their mountain fastnesses on the other ■ide. MY FIRST DEER. "While we sat and rested on the matted clumps of mountain daisy, the sun rose over tho distant tops and the scene was ■wild and enchanting, for range upon rango of rocky mountains lay before us to the eastward with their golden-tinted peaks. Wo followed the main ridge for miles, sidling round the higher tops, but by midday had seen no sign of deer in the valleys which strotched below us on either sido. Later in tho afternoon wo reached a point on the Tidgo overlooking the Nesbit Valley which, from tho first, had been our objective, and hero at length wo were rewarded by our first sight of deer life. As -we lay on the riilgo, right below us were five stags feeding, with their heads facing us, tho nearest being about 350 yards away. As thero was no possibility of stalking for a nearer shot we lay ■ there for a considerable timo hoping that tho deer would work towards us, but, as time was passing and oar hopes appeared unlikely to be realised, we decided to act at once. Each choosing a beast, at a given signal, we fired simultaneously. My friend's beast fell at the shot; mine, badly wounded, stood undecided what to do, ■while the other three turned and rushed away in Indian file out of sight round a bluff to our left. I rushed down towards the beast I had wounded and dispatched it with another shot, while my companion in the meantime had hurried to a position on top of tho bluff from ■where, by excellent shooting, he bowled over two of tho other stags as they were rushing along the deer track, tho only possible one leading to tho Nesbit creek below. All the beasts had small antlers, the bay tino being absent in each case and, as we knew their deficiencies before shooting them,_ we felt no disappointment at not obtaining a trophy worth preserving. CHILLED TO THE MARROW. By tho time we had cut oil.somo veni«on. steaks, and reclaimed our packs, tho evening shadows were stretching up the valley, so we made haste down hill following tho deer track into the Nesbit, which here is a .mountain torrent. On its banks, under the shelter of some birch trees, we lit a fire and cooked somo pieces of venison on tho end of eticks. Whilo engrossed in our tea in tho dusk of evening a lino billy-goat came walking up the creek bed. and stood for a short timo gazing curiously at us.. As tho night advanced tho wind increased in force and, blowing down the valley in gusts, made conditions anything but comfortable. That night we spent one of the coldest we had ever, experienced. We shared our blankets, one to lie on and one to cover us up, and though wo kept tho ilro going, tho cold wind off the mountain tops nearly fr,oze us. After a night of fitful dozes, we were truly thankful when day dawned and we were ablo to exercise our stiff joints in our return to the homestead.