DEER STALKING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13894, 4 May 1907, Page 5

DEER STALKING.

IN THE DINGLE AND HUNTER VALLEY. DETERIORATION OF TIIE HERDS. (By 11. Frank Wallace, F.Z.S.) From the Liverpool docks to Wellington 1 is a far cry, but- the wanderer from tho Old Country will find perhaps in Now Zealand moro to make him feel at home than in any other part of tho globe. The Misses Dare, Marie Studholme, and Gabriellc Ray show him the same generous dental display from every third shop window ho passes as they do in the stroets of London themselves; the very names of tho streets and towns, if he be one of the fortunate minority hailing from the north of the Tweed, bring back to him the eocnes with which ho is most familiar; the accent of many of-those whom he meets falls on his ear with an insistence the moro pleasing from the fact that he last- heard jt so many thousands of miles away; whilst if he be a deer-stalker lie may find without much difficulty many another addicted to his favourite pursuit and well read in the classics of a sport which hsus". no equal'. " I am averse, as a general rule, to a criticism by casual strangers of facts on which they consider themselves oompetent to pass an opinion in those countries whither chance brings them; for, in tho first place, it is _ very naturally apt to create some irritation and resentment amongst those who would otherwise groet them as friends; and in the second it is extremely likely—in fact, highly probable —that the mattors under discussion aro comprehended a good 'leal moro clearly by those who have them constantly under observation than by the globe-trotting tourist.

Such being my views, you will ask why I venture to criticise somewhat severely a state of things on which many in this island are much better qualified to give on opinion. For one thing, I come from the original home of the red deer, or, rather, from the original home of the red doer which aje now so firmly established in North Otago; for another, I have lived amongst deer all my life—at anyrate, since I was big enough to hold a rifle,—and havo devoted a good deal of my leisure both on tho bill and in tho library to a study of their habits and tho conditions under which they live. It is almost impossible) when speaking of doer-stalking in New Zealand to avoid a comparison between the sport here and in Scotland. It is this fact, perhaps, which makes tho sport, so peculiarly fascinating to anyone \vhos« experience has been gained in the latter country. My remarks m this article, I wish it to be "clearly understood, aro intended to apply only to that part of the country of which I have personal experience—namely, that part of the Dingle Valley known as Craddock's Chimneys, and that portion of the Hunter Valley which can bo stalked from the Green Bush.

In the first-named district the fact which impressed inc most was the enormous number of one-homed stags, malformed heads, and other "rubbish" which I daily encountered whilst stalking. Now, Ido not profess to have more than a hearsay acquaintance with tho majority of the liest deer forests in Scotland, though I havo stalked in a good many localities thero during the past 10 years, but never, even in small outlying forests, on anything _ liko tile same area of ground have I seen in a whole season's 6talking so much trash as was to lie met with in ono day on tho Devil's Block. I tried to keep a careful record of all tho stags I saw, and though I may have omitted a few and counted the same stag twice in some instances, ■as a wholo 7ny observations are fnirlv accurate. I went into camp on April 1 and stalked the Devil's Block for exactly a fortnight. During that time I saw 61 stags, 10 of them being young fix-pointers. Of the remaining 51, 33 6tags might bo callcd normal, 10 wore pronounced raalforms, one was a switch, whilst tho remaining seven had but one born apicce. Of the 33 stags I have callcd normal, 13 wcro probably old stags going back, and four carried heads of seven points. This brings our total down to 16 good 9tags, and of this number I consider three were shootable beasts. One was a royal, which I missed; the other two—.l big nine-pointer and a twelve-pointer —tho gols being on my side, plus a good stalker, I managed to secure. My friend Mr Tate saw in ono oorrie five stags having only one horn apiece, all of them with hinds varying in numl>er from throe to ten. Mr Arthur Hawley, who was stalking on the next 1 K*a.t, also saw a large number of malforms, including one which, unsatisfied with his present status in the animal kingdom, was endeavouring _to qualify as a unicorn, and another which, like a stag I saw, had a growth of bone 12 or 15 inches in length extending down one side of its face. Needless to say these animals were in very poor condition. The outlook is not a bright one. Here we have the numl>ers of rotten stags actually equalling, even if ihev do not preponderate over, the number'of animals with a normal development of horn. The reasons for this, I agree in thinking with a gentleman whose knowledge of deer is probably unequalled in the island, to be duo to inbreeding. Look at tho circumstances. A very lar"e proportion of theso malformed and one-horned stags wore in possession of hinds, and from the fact that I saw a good many quite young stass, spikcrs, and three-year-old beasts with one horn, it might, lie inferred that many animals never have a chance of growing a good head. A well-known writer on Ibis subject once remarked that it was not every stag who was born, to the purple, and I agree with him; but on tho beat of which I am speaking there should ho manv more promising "oun? stags than are apparent. Tho proportion also of hinds to stags is too great, and manv of the hinds I saw were useless for breeding purposes.

Tho district of which I speak is, tw no doubfc manv of vow readers are well aware, thickly covered with bti.-h. Tho soa-son was late, and no doubt all the beet staffs were still lurk in? in the thickets, where they felt themselves safe—indeed, both the stasra I killed were in the bush, and durin? the whole fortnight I never caw a deocnt stair, Jok yircls fymuts

nearest outskirts. Early morning and late evening wore the only periods at which thev showed in the open, thoufrh their roaring could ba heard continually. If ever a roar was board away up 011 the hillside the glass invariably revealed some wretched monstrosity who had developed his voice at the expense of his .headindeed, most of the stags were regular Oai i:-o=, and would have been no disgrace in point of voice, capacity to a travelling menagerie of lions. Wo would sit of an evening on the ridge watching the bush below, from which emanated roars which, it could only proceed from some enormous roval. Presently the customary advance guard of Hinds would sally forth. Great suspense and more roars. Timid advance of the hinds: more roar 3 and increase of tension. Hinds still more forward: roups getting closer. Out come (Mir glasses; exeitemcnt at fever-heat,. A big bulk looms suddenly up out of the shadows, There he is at last: up go our glasses. D n! another beastly malform, or perhaps a 6inall 10-pointer, That was the sort of thing that happened day after day, and as I just now remarked, the only chance of getting the big brutes was to go right into the bush. That is a kind of stalking I do not car© for, and we accordingly moved our camp into the Hunter Yallev. ■

Before going any further, I should like to make a few femarks on tho remedy for this state of affairs. Tho first thing to bo 'done is to get rid of the rubbish. Al! these malforms, one-horned stags, old hinds, and othor trash should be remorselessly destroyed. lam not aware what steps, if any, tho authorities are prepared to take in the matter; but unless something is done very quiokly there will not bo a stag fit to shoot' in that particular district in threo years' time. No doubt tho best plan would bo to pay competent stalkers so muoh per head for every rotten beast destroyed. This might be a somewhat difficult matter to arrange, but suroly fov tbooe who take' as much interest in their deer as do the stalkers of New Zealand, a not unsurmountablo one. I should also bo inclined to allow competent stalkers—that, is, thoso who havo stalked •before and know a flood stag from a bad one—to kill any malforms they hap-pon to come across. -Tho guides shotdd be mado responsible for these extra animals killed, and unless such persons arc ablo to distinguish a good stag from a bad they have no right to be guiding. The objection to this plan in, of course, that unreliable and unscrupulous persons would tako advantago of it jto kill more than their licenso allows; but unless such men wore more butchors, who simply slaughter for tho sake of killing, such a courso would do them no good, as thev could only take four heads arway with them, provided that tho stalking-' regulations arc in the hands of practical men. However, that is a dotail.

Having: got rid of all tho rubbish, tho best thin/? to do would bo to close down certain blocks, for, say, a couple of yeaTs, in order to give the young healthy stock time to develop. It might conceivably bo an unpopular measure at the time, but it would pay in the long run, and improve the breed of deer in those districts. The great thing, however, is to get rid of the rubbish. Thore is 110 need to create an artificial sanctuary, as the large amount of bush provides good winter shelter for the deer, and a refugo which they can always seek in time of trouble.

In the Hunter Valloy I found the deer in a much moro favourable condition. To start with, the area of ground has to provide for a much smaller stock, and I fancy that the feed is better. I stalked thero for four days, and during that timo saw 40 stags. They included one inalform, two one-horned stags (eight-pointers), four seven-pointers, and three six-pointers. This leaves 30 normal stags, of which two were myals (father on the 6mall side), one was. a Rood 14-pointer, and tltere were certainly five nice 10-pointors, which would develop into really good stags in a few years under normal conditions. I have seldom seen a finer-looking lot of deer than in this district, more especially when the fact must be taken into consideration that all tho ground liacl already been stalked over before.

That is all I have to say on the subject; but unless the authorities tako the matter in hand very soon tho stalking in tho district I have montioned will bo worth literally nothing before very many years have passed.