FINE DEER HEADS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22406, 30 April 1936, Page 8

FINE DEER HEADS

SPOKT IN WESTLAND ONE EXCEPTIONAL TROPHY " BETTER THAN IN SCOTLAND " Although he encountered heavy rain for the three weeks he was deerstalking in South Westland, Captain A. HeberPercy, A.D.C., who returned to Christchurch this week, shot two very fine royals. One of them, with a 445. inches spread, was an excellent head and very even. It is considered to be the best taken for a long time. The other head had a spread of 39J inches. But red deer did not provide the only trophies which Captain HeberPercy brought back from his trip. After he had broken camp in South Westland he flew across to the Landsborough and then went by horseback to the Makarora. There he did a little fishing, catching three salmon. The Hermitage was the next place he called at, and although it was snowing he secured three very good thar heads the first day, and the following clay in the rain shot six chamois, bringing out the three best heads. The next day was fine and as he had the trophies he wanted he spent the day climbing some of the slopes of Mount Cook, and took photographs of tjie scenery. Thick Fog Encountered Owing to the rain the stags were not roaring, and Captain Heber-Percy heard only two challenging all the time he was at the camp, in from Okuru. There was no stalking through the bush, and the only deer he saw were either on the tops or on open spaces in the riverbeds. He estimated that he saw less than 30 deer all the time he was on the West Coast. All too frequently when he was out the fog would come do'.vn very thickly about midday and would fill the valleys, so that further stalking was impossible. When his time at the camp was up he trekk<£l out by horse to Okuru, where the aeroplane was waiting to take him to the Eandsborough. Another long trek followed by horse to the Makarora, where he spent part of a day salmon fishing. In this time he caught three salmon and had some good sport. Stalking in the Snow At the Hermitage, although for two out of the three days the bad weather continued, Captain Heber-Percy made up for his poor fortune on the West Coast. Snow fell shortly before his arrival and this brought the chamois and thar down from the very high country. Snow was still falling when he went out the first day, but this did not prevent him from securing three good specimens of thar. Sleet continued that evening, and when the following morning broke it was still raining. The rain did not quench his eagerness, and he wasted little time in going out after chamois. Six bucks fell to his rifle altogether, and he took back to tbs Hermitage the three best heads. He did not take the measurements of the heads very carefully, but he said he thought the best chamois was a little over 10 inches. Anything reaching double figures is considered something well out of the ordinary. Impressed with Sport Captain Heber-Percy said he was returning to the North island with a very high opinion of the sport obtainable in the South Island. The deerstalking there was far in advance of anything obtainable in Scotland at present, and it was a very long time since a head had been shot in Scotland which was anything like as good as the better of his two. All the trophies of his visit to the South Island will be sent home to England, where his father has established one of the finest private collections of trophies in the world. Captain HeberPercy himself has already added greatly to that collection as he took back to England some 72 trophies from his shooting expeditions in South Africa. When he left South Westland the packers were unable to get any of his gear out as the rivers were all in heavy tiood.