Under ‘Deerskin Blankets

Evening Star, Issue 23725, 5 November 1940, Page 11

Under ‘Deerskin Blankets

Two hundred thousand—a fifth of a million—deer. That is the gigantic bag which the Government deer parties have scored since operations commenced in 1930. The figure was 170,561 in the department report issued in 1939. As the annual killings in recent years have been 30,000 odd, the 1940 season, which closed in May, must have brought the total past the above round figure. ■ Each year the number of men employed in deer destruction has grown and the organisation improved. The report referring to the 1939 operations shows that 30,372 deer and 3,878 thar, goats, and chamois were killed. All imported wild animals which inhabit the high country come within the sphere of the killers’ activity. The expense of the operations is largely defrayed by the value of the skins which the hunters bring in; in 1939, for instance, they numbered 12,230, worth approximately £6,000. The large numbers given above ; do not represent the full tally of deer killed in the Dominion. Each year private hunters send 6,000 skins into Government stores for payment of dapnus, as numbers of wounded deer diS 'undiscovered, their tails or skins do not swell the tally. These are statistics, but what of the human side of the activity? How do the hunters live and under what conditions do they pursue their quarry ? I was privileged to accompany a pair of these Government on a day’s expedition—at least it was intended to be a day’s expedition, _ but the hunter is never sure, when he is in strange country, whether ho will be able to reach his camp at nightfall. Sometimes, though unprepared, he has to spend the night on the mountains. As luck had it, that is just what happened this day, giving me a taste of the arduous work these men make light of. The hunters’ camp was at the junction of a North Canterbury river and one of its tributaries. After a hearty breakfast we three—Les, the older hunter, George, the younger, and the writer—proceeded up this tributary, intending to hunt the basin at its head. The country was new to the men, as they had established _ their base camp only a few days previously, and had merely shot on the main river flats before my visit. We had not gone far before Les had a snapshot, through the trees, at' a deer which he wounded, but which made off strongly. We followed the blood tracks for nearly an hour, through thick bush, on a steep slope, before we came up with and despatched the wounded beast. Skinning the carcass and returning to the stream again, occupied the best Dart of another hour. We were to regret this delay later. ROUGH COUNTRY As we proceeded towards the head of the stream the going got rougher and rougher. The shingle over which we had tramped lower down became stones, then larger stones, and finally huge boulders, between which the stream fairly roared on its steep descent. Often we had to enter the water, as the banks became impassable. Sometimes we found a deer track round a short gorge, but such trades always

returned to the stream. This, Les explained, was unusual, as the deer generally find a path through the bush to dodge such difficult tracks as the stream was proving to be. _ Later we would find out why they did so, but in the meantime we toiled over boulders 10ft high or crossed the_ boiling torrent almost up to our waists in icy water. The boulders were very slippery; the spray from the rushing stream had encouraged a growth of moss and slime, which afforded only insecure footing, even to our clinker-studded boots. In one place this was so bad that Les exclaimed, “ I wouldn’t care to come down hero in the dark with a packful of skins; a chap would probably break a leg.” This difficult travelling slowed us down, so that we did not reach the open basin above the bush till well after noon. We scanned the visible country for deer without result, and pushed on along a good deer track some height above the stream; As we abruptly turned a corner a stag stood at gaze below in the creek bed, offering an easy shot, which the hunters left for their visitor. Their consideration was rewarded, and we dropped down to skin the carcass. While George attended to this task Les and I collected scrub—we were too high for bush—to boil the billy. Lunch disposed of, we pressed on, climbing steadily to the basin we expected to find at the very head of the stream; beyond a waterfall which was the last portion of its bed visible from below. Sure enough, the sight of a circular basin with_ steep snowgrass slopes rising about it to a height of I,oooft rewarded us after a stiff climb round the falls. The stream here had its source in a chain of small tarns. On the left-hand slopes we descried four deer several hundred feet up; the right-hand slopes were not visible from where we lay. Les suggested that I should cross to the left-hand slope and,

Written hy MATT. GRANT /Sr the *Evening Star *

HOW THE GOVERNMENT HUNTERS LIVE —A DAY WITH A SHOOTING PARTY

enough turpentine scrub to build a fire. Then night fell, and our thoughts turned to food. We found we had throe ship’s biscuits left from lunch, also wo had several livers and kidneys taken from pur kills. George had tea and sugar; it is a habit with him always to carry a good supply of ‘ billy ingredients.’ The liver, cut up into strips, we toasted on hot rooks beside the fire, and ate it with our shares of one and a-half biscuits, reserving the other one and a-half biscuits for breakfast. Then we made a triple bed. SLEEP m THE WILDS

We had plenty of deerskins, so after spreading some on the shingle wo pulled two skins each over us, and, in spite of the surroundings, fully clothed even to hats and boots, soon slept. During the night a light shower fell, but except for our heads, the deerskins protected us fairly well. I found that two stag skins were easily capable of defeating the chilly atmosphere at 5,000 ft, but I hadn’t thought of their weight. Each green stag skin weighed more than lolb, so that the rain making them even heavier, I had about 401 b weight on top of me, which crushed me so heavily against the earth that both upper and lower shoulders ached severely. Like Mark Twain, I felt that 1 should like to get out of bed—to have a rest.

As soon as dawn broke we were pleased to get up and cook breakfast. We had kidneys with liver, again toasted on hot stones, and one and a-half biscuits. Whether it was appetite engendered by the mountain air or whether it was the fact that there was no grease on the moat with this method of cooking, I have never tasted sweeter liver than we had that morn-

after gaining a shooting position for the four deer visible, hold my fire till they had reconnoitred on the right. If they fired I was to kill my four. By splitting the party in this way we hoped to shoot the basin more effectively in case there were, as was probable, further deer out of sight. I had not long reached a suitable shooting position when Les and George opened fire; evidently there were more deer there all right. I accounted for my four deer—but not, I confess, with only four shots—and dashed across to assist my companions, as their continuous firing showed they must be on to quite a herd. There had been, indeed, a herd of 15 deer. They had accounted for several, and were now picking them off one by one as they tried to make their escape up the steep face about 300yds off. We ceased fire when the three survivors had escaped to about 500yds, as the long range and a cross wind made the hitting of the moving targets impossible. SKINNING THE CARCASSES Several carcasses were lying 200 yards olf, where the herd was first surprised. We made a start skinning'’these. Although the hunters, from long practice, can skin the average deer in less than 10 minutes, we soon saw that by the time we had climbed to where the higher, scattered carcasses were lying and skinned them, darkness would bo on us. Either we should have to decamp, taking only the tails, or else we should have to spend the night where wo were, about 5,000 ft altitude, under the deerskins. Alter a council of war we decided on the latter, as the bonus the hunters would get for the 16 skins was worth consideration. Just on dusk, therefore, the skinning task was finished, and with laden packs wo set off downstream, looking for a camping place. We soon found a sheltered bay in a cliff, and by hurried work secured

ing. Les decided to try to get back to the camp through the bush rather than risk the slippery boulders of the creek, carrying 801 bor 901 bof skins. Accordingly, we picked up a deer track into the bush about the gorge. This track soon descended into the gorge, and a.s Les was determined to keep out of the creek, we soon found ourselves clawing our way through thick bush on very steep slopes. Bv this time, to make matters worse, it was raining steadily, and we could not find a deer track • even when we climbed heroically against the drag of the heavy packs. • . Lunch time found ns eyeing an ugly cleft in the rock which apparently ran right from the gorge to 5.000 ft, and which we could find no way to cross. I had wrapped up three slices of cooked liver after breakfast, so this formed our frugal meal while we rested and examined the situation. We were forced to descend to the creek after all.' The last of the descent was so steep that we had to drop onr packs over the edge into the creek bed and climb down the final 50ft by finger and too holds in the rocky wall of tlio

gorge. Wo were tired; at least Les and George said they were faint from lack of food, but I admitted I was just exhausted by scrambling hand over hand up and down the steep bush .slopes. As they were carrying considerably more than" I, their denials were not very convincing. We were still a long way from tho camp, with part of the gorge yet to bo traversed, so dusk was again falling as we stumbled over its welqome threshold and dumping our heavy loads at last.