DEER MENACE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 135, 5 December 1930, Page 11

DEER MENACE

WHAT IS BEING DONE

.STEWART ISLAND SCHEME

Very complete is the campaign inaugurated by the Department of Internal Affairs to cope with the deer menace, and as an instance the Minister, the Hon. P. A. de la Perrelle, today gave an outline of the scheme mapped out for Stewart Island. He* referred to some criticism made in Auckland regarding certain features of tho campaign planned. Mr. Perrelle said that tho material ordered from England to deal with the Virginian deer on Stewart Island was not poison. It was a special class of gun and ammunition. "The use- of poison for doer destruction," remarked the Minister, never bce^i contemplated so far ■as the Department I administer is concerned. All that is necessary in regard to the ammunition supplied by the' Defence Department is to file the points of the bullets and a mushroom effect is obtained. This will be the practice as far as official parties are concerned. Private persons who were making a living from deer destruction were using military ammunition imported from England and by filing obtained satisfactory results. The humane aspect has not been lost sight of. Very definite instructions have been issued to hunters, including the killing of very young fawns which may bo with the hinds when shot.: "1 cannot agree with tho criticism passed that the destruction of does should bo the main object in view. I havo given instructions that all deer sighted are to be shot and this is the policy that will be carried out. This is a very different proposition from 'culling,' whore the good heads are left, but the money voted by Parliament is for deer destruction irrespective of whether they have good or deformed heads. The main idea is to reduce the damago deer arc causing. A deer with a malformed head will do as much damago as a 'royal' head. I do not think that in such a beautiful spot as Stewart Island anyone would be sorry to learn that the last deer had been destroyed. This is probably not possible, but every effort will be made in that direction." Mr. Perrelle added that the rifles to be used by official parties were .303 and that the guns to be used to deal with Virginian deer would be special 12 bore with ball ammunition. The shooting of tho latter will bo at close range as the Virginian deer nro bush dwellers and the method referred to was the only satisfactory one by which the deer could be killed.