In Search of the Super Head

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 114, 17 May 1938, Page 8

In Search of the Super Head

MR. R. W. PRIEST’S DEERSTALKING EXPERIENCES In search of the super head, the aim of every true stalker, was the subject of an address by Mr. R. W. Priest before the Palmerston North Rotary Club yesterday. He briefly traced deerstalking in early history, going back to the time when chasing the red deer was an obsession with the Norman kings, who planted the New Forest for the sport. Rufus had lost his life While engaged in deer-stalking, while Queen Elizabeth had also been a devotee of the chase, as it is recorded she led a party that slaughtered 27 stags in one day, in addition to wounding and maiming others. The deer family, varying in size from the mouse deer, only a few Inches high, to the moose, which stood seven feet at the shoulder, included the red deer, which was found in Scotland, the moose an wapiti in Canada, the Virginian and mule deer in the United States of America, the axis in India, the sambur in India, Ceylon and Java, the sika or Japanese in China and Japan, and the fallow, introduced to England from Greece. Liberation in New Zealand All varieties, Mr. Priest said, were to be found in different parts of New Zealand, ranging from Rotorua to Stewart Island, although ninety years ago there were none at all.- The first two attempts at liberation, in Nelson, failed when the two hinds died and the two stags were left. The original Nelson herd was founded eleven years later with two stags and two hinds. Other deef were soon introduced to localities thought most suitable. In his own experience, the speakei continued, he had stalked five varieties of deer, the red, fallow, Japanese, Virginian and sambur. His first experience was with the red deer, which were the most numerous, and from the first he thought the sport second to none. He had killed many with antlers ranging up to 21 points, which was points less than the record. Nevertheless, he was still searching for the super head, which was the dream of every stalker. The largest known variety of deer, said Mr. Priest, was the Irish elk, which had been extinct 2000 years. Its antlers, five feet in length, measured eleven feet from tip to tip.

The sambur deer was found in the low country close to the coast and was slightly larger than the red deer, with six-pointer antlers. When cornered) the sambur would charge its aggressor, even if it appeared to be dying, so it must always be treated with great respect. When Mr. Priest decided to add a Japanese deer head to his collection four years ago, he stalked in the Kaimanawa range, where he found this specie to be a wily customer that took some finding in the birch bush. During ten days’ stalking he saw only on« stag (it was on Friday, April 13), which he followed for four hours before he had an opportunity for a shot, his only shot on the trip. Patience was a virtue and a necessity for every deer-stalker. The Kaimanawa range was abundant w r ith bird life, every specie of native bird being in evidence, so that the trip was interesting apart from »,hc stalking. At Stewart Island To stalk the Virginian deer Mr. Priest went to Stewart Island in April 1937. After eight days at Mason Bay, the party decided that was not the place for a good head. They shot a number, but not a mountable stag From Half Moon Bay they took o launch to the east coast of the island, where a farm near the shore had been abandoned. There Mr. Priest shot a freak stag which had no antlers. Fifteen days’ successful hunting was brought to a close at Chew Tobacco Bay. On the West Coast Mr. Priest had his first introduction to stalking the fallow deer on the Wanganui river. Most of his hunting of the red deer had been done in the I Tararuas and Westland. In 1936 Mr. Priest took part in a aeer-stalking expedition on tho west coast of the South Island. A party of five engaged a packman on the West Coast, but after 22 miles’ going it became too rough lor the pack horses and after the first day the packs had to be carried. Eighteen miles wero made the next day and the base camp struck, lu the morning they set out for the high tops, 2000 or 3000 feet above the camp, with enough food for two days, although three days were spent there. Tho high tops were bare except for tussock. Rations had to be reduced to a minimum, but having less weight to carry was an advantage in such rough country. Thirty or forty stags were shot, the best being a 15-pointer with heavy timber, which was shot eight miles from the base camp. The super head could not be found there. The party decided to pack themselves out, making 17 miles the first day and the remaining 11 next morning. Each pack weighed 97 pounds, and in addition, Mr. Priest said, he had to carry his 15pointer head 36 miles. Such was the value placed on the trophies of the sport.

If he had to go deer-stalking for u living, said Mr. Priest, he would not consider it for a moment. After his ten days in Westland he felt very fit, as a result of hard work and short rations. He had lost ten pounds in weight in as many days. The uninitiated might refer to deerstalking as a blood sport, concluded Mr. Priest, but making the kill was not the only idea behind an expedition. A* well as the experience there was the joy of being next to nature and in the bush with its bird life. The true stalker TFid not go out with the idea of making a kill, although that was the idea behind the whole business For physical fitness, health and selfreliance, essential qualities for good citizens, tfhe speaker recommended deerstalking for young men.