A DEER STALK IN THE WAIRAMPA

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1749, 13 September 1905, Page 68

A DEER STALK IN THE WAIRAMPA

(By W. 0. Oliver.)

(Leaving Wellington by the morning team, Mr P., a congenial spirit of the genua Nimrod 1 , and the writer, reached; STeatherston by eleven o’clock, and in aa hour and a half from there by coach, we arrived! at Martinborough. This is the general starting place for stalkers, and! with its two hotels and several respectable boarding houses, affords convenient accommodation.

(Having arranged beforehand with those in charge of the livery stables to have a suitable vehicle and pair of horses in readiness, as soon as lunch was disposed of, and our impedimenta on board, we set out for the hunting ground. After some two hours drive the buggy had to he left and our belongings carried on horseback for a few miles 'further, to the spot where we had determined to camp. We had provided purselves with two tents—one for sleeping in and) the other to> do service as dming-noom, with a shelter for cooking purposes. Being old hands at camping arrangements, we had everything in ghape by .the time the shades of night had gathered around us.

(Next -mormng breakfast was over, and we were m the march sometime before

the break of day. As my companion wa# new to the ground, we determined togo together for~hhe d&y. By the time Sure had travelled a mile or more from' camp, we saw on the sky line, as the day was breaking, a stag crossing the range about a mile ahead of us. There Was just time to get the gl&te on him before he disappeared. The wind was favourable, and we lost no time in making up to- the spot. He was not there, Aor did we expect him to he; but his footprints were fairly visible, and gave A clue to where he might he found. Extreme caution is needed in either following a stag that is on the aruaroh, or in approaching one that is at rest, for there is the possibility of coming in sight of fresh) game, which if not seen in time would ;give the alarm to the one being stalked. Every new piece of ground coming in sight has to be narrowly scanned with the glass lest deer should be there. Many a stag is lost by neglecting this precaution. The stag due is after is often not so difficult of negotiation as the old hind that may be-doing duty either as scout or sentinel.

•We had not long followed the tracks of the stag when on turning a corner pf the ridge we saw him coming in our direction, not over four hundred yards away, and considerably down hill from ha. Mr P. wanted to fire at oncer It !Was his first chance and I had to restrain him for a nearer shot. The stag was soon within two hundred yards, which Would be his nearest point in passing below us. My friend now fired, and in the ’fraction of a second, as the stag did not fall, I followed; nor did he then, butokept on his way with added speed. We ran down to intercept him as he was making for the bush, which was near at hand. We managed to turn him back, where a second ball from my express dropped him stone dead in his tracks. We found that either of the first two shots would havebeen fatal in a short time. .Both were just behind the shoulder, but rather low. He was a nice jstag. in splendid condition, with a r&ry Symmetrical head of ten points. The ffumber of tines, or points, is not everything. There are some poor heads with hinny points—royal or over. And there are occasionally fine heads with few points. . There are five things that go tqt -determine the quality of a head. They, are these: Mass, length of antler, Bpan, or width between the horns, number of tines, and symmetry or harmony bf the whole. One season in the Waijrarapa the finest head that I saw only parried ten points; but then the mass, length, span, and symmetry, put others With the royal "dozen, or more, into; the shade. Most stalkers know that age does not by any means alone determine the number of points on the antlers, phere are stags that never have more than eight; and the vast majority have never more than ten, even if they live to hhie age of thirty or over. After gralloehing our quarry my friend shouldered about eighty pounds of venison for ■Q<un larder, while I too-k the head 1 and skin. We jvere back in camp early in the afternoon, fairly pleased vritihi our first day’s work. Next morning we started in quite an opposite direction, and were all day alternately either in hush or manuka scrub. In suoh country one’s success (depends almost entirely on the stag’s toiring. This day they were mute m our beat. It is a very exceptional thing to drop on a stag in the hush, firless he betrays his whereabouts by roaring. However catlike one may tread, his approach is almost invariably detected by dear that are silent. Well on in the afternoon, however, we picked up fresh tracks, and knew- that game Was near. At length I saw a stag looking sit ps from behind a large tree, with Ms antlers hid in the ' branches. As he was within range, arid a singie step would render hilm invisible an instantly! 6ous snapshot was all that was possible, so : I took it. Away he went, and 1 concluded that I had missed and would BiP6 no more or him. In a few minutes,

however, we saw him approaching us straight, Sub a good run, from an opposite direction. This was strange. A shot from, my friend’s rifle rolled him over, and the mystery was. out. My shot had wounded him 'in the head, only to thJe extent of making him stupid. |3ie third morning found us on. yet another route, and before going very far we were gladdened by splendid music about half a mile to our right. The roaring indicated that the vocalist was a fine stag. Our stalk was soon planned. The ground was very rough, the birch timber was fairly open, and we had little difficulty in getting comparatively near him—being separated from him only by a narrow spur. On reaching the top, where we made sure of seeing, and probably securing him, to our surprise there “was no stag there. A treacherous eddy in the wind had given him our scent, and he was gone like an artrow, and as silently, too. Their power of scent is wonderful. Wit.\ a fairly strong wind they will detect- a man a mile or two as:ay. The Indian fable, which tells how a hair falling from a hunter’s bead was smelt by a stag, heard by a wild boar, and seen by a bighorn indicates truly enough the marvellously acute sensibility possessed by some wild 1 animals. We were early back to camp that day; so after a rest I took a stroll out in the evening, and literally walked -on to a n'ioe stag^—securing him without any stalk. Hi© was sufficiently near camp to enable us to take home the vension—a thing that is very often an impossibility, owing to the roughness of the country where they are generally found.

Next day we ,took separate routes, and I had not proceeded far when I noticed a stag and four hinds on a bit of flat country, where it was impossible to get within half a mile of them. While watching them with the glass, I saw another stag emerge from a patch of scrub, and make straight for the little herd. The stag in possession seemed to resent this, and with a sonorous challenge proceeded to meet the morning visitor. Both stags were good ten pointers, and well matched. I have seen as many as three hundred in a mob in the rutting season in the north of Scotland, having very lively times, but I had never witnessed a real upstanding fight. I saw it now. They rushed at each other, very much as bulls do, but without the preliminary circling^ound. It was not rush and bump, as in the case of tarns, hut just one rush and crash of antlers, distinctly heard half a mile away, as they became locked in furious strife. They did make the ground fly, as they thrust each other up and down, sometimes on their knees, but generally on their feet. I was not the only fascinated spectator. The hinds Were watching their lords with keen mtenest. After seven <?r eight minutes one began to show sigffs of failing energy, and finally, with a swift bound, escaped from the horns of his antagonist.

This fight was put into the shade by •one I subsequently saw in the Dingle, Otago. I had been watching a stag somO time with the glass, over 1 a mile, as the crow flies, across a deep gully. Ho had three hinds with him, lying down, having their afternoon’s rest. He Was a fine royal l , and kept up a. continual roaring, which was significant. It was not possible to 1 get them within range, unless they moved. Hoping to do this, I imitated the roar. Instantly they were on their feet, the hinds going one way andi the stag another. I followed him closely with the glass, and in a short time he was met by another stag ' that had been invisible—a fine eleven pointer. This explained the roaring. They were at it instantly, and a strange thing took place. The fight commenced on a very steep face of a ridge—steeper than the roof of a Gothic church, and they were both side on to the slope. It was a bad spot for a fight, and they both seemed to know it; and with brow to brow and antlers locked they commenced to march literally up hill until they reached level ground at the top. There they fought their Waterloo, going round and round, and up and down, in splendid form to the finish—victory falling to th£ lot of the eleven pointer. The last, act, and the critical one, N and sometimes the fatal one, is the escape bound of the vanquished. If by that bound the conquered does not get well clear, the horns of the victor will have done him serious injury in the ribs or flank. I had determined to visit a locality a considerable distance from camp, where I had heard a stag roaring on the previous day. During a former season I had spent several days endeavouring to secure a. splendid stag in this particular place. Indeed, I made a second trip that season to the Wairarapa in the hope of getting him, and for a few minutes I concluded I was going to do so. After miles of stalking I got close up to him, and rose to take my shot, to find that he was gone. An eddy in the wind had given him my scent. This day I was hoping to renew his acquaintance, and therefore wasted little time oven the pair that fought. On my l'ine of march I espied another fail' stag, and after a stalk that involved little loss of time got near enough to send him a message from my express. He did not drop on the spot, as I expected, but rounded a corner, giving signs that he was not going far. Being

eager to secure the imperial trophy, I left him for the time being and pressed’ on. Hours of careful search failed to disclose any trace of the big fellow that day. On my way hack I found the one I had fired at earlier in the day. He had not gone over a hundred yards before he dropped. The following day was our last, and I made up my mind to have another try for the big fellow. One fine big head 1 is worth a dozen average ones. I was in the neighbourhood of his haunts while it was yet early, but never a roar did I hear. Up this ridge and down that, through this gully and across many others; like a cat, all eye and ear, I went most; of the day, but in vain. On the way hack, turning a corner in the bush, I caught sight of the head and neck- of a decent stag, within range—the body being hid by a. large tree. From experience I “know the neck to be a fatal part, and so it proved to be in this case.

By evening our camp was struck, 'our week being up, and a vehicle in waiting to take n® back to MartinboroughNeedless to say we had enjoyed ourselves. Away from the ordinary drill and exacting duties of life; amid the glories of bush and mountain scenery, nature's own unrivalled' 'poetry; and with allr the purest, supple food, and plenty of phvsioal such a holiday is a fasting beatitude.

There are four red deer herds in the colony now open for shooting—those of Nelson, Wairarapa, Otago, and Hawke’s Bay. Hawke’s Blay was only thrown open last year, and it is reported that the heads are good. The Nelson herd, now spread over an immense area, is purely of Scots stock. Many of the stags carry fine heads, but characteristically they are narrow, or lacking in span. Some think this due to the bush, nature of the country where they roam. But this does not produce a like result in other herds in the country that live largely in bush. More probably the progenitors *of this herd were narrow, horned, and have transmitted their peculiarity. The Wairarapa herd is a cross between the Scots and German red dber, and the antlers are distinguished for massiveness, number of points, and span—space in relation to length. The Otago herd is the pure Soots red deer, and the stags’ antler* are remarkable for length, span, and symmetry. They have been secured up to 46 inches in length, and 41J in widtfoi. I shot a, royal in Otago two years ago with this span.