FIGHT WITH DEER

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 107, 19 April 1933, Page 7

FIGHT WITH DEER

WOUNDED BEAST ATTACKS STALKER. HAND SEVERELY GASHED. AUCKLAND, April 18. An unusual experience betel Mr J. Humphreys, of Gordontou, while lie was hunting Japanese deer in Kaimanawa Ranges. He was stalking a Japanese buck which was approaching in his direction. The only part of the deer’s body he could shoot at was the top of the shoulder. He fired, and the animal dropped. Mr Humphreys thought he had killed the animal. The shot however, had only temporarily paralysed it, for when he reached it the deer rose to its feet and attacked him. The hunter grasped the d«cr’ s antlers and a struggle between num and beast followed. He managed to press the deer’s head down and forced the antlers into the ground. He reached for his knife with the idea of stabbing the deer in the heart, but the animal again forced its head up. In the struggle Mr Humphreys received a severe gash across the palm of his right, hand. Eventually the stalker got the deer in a position which enabled him to inflict a mortal knife wound. Mr Humphrey’s companions were stalking on another ridge, and the fight was over before they came to the scene of the conflict. An examination showed that Mr Humphrey’s bullet had shattered the bones on the top of the animal’s shoulder.