DEERSTALKING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14927, 1 September 1910, Page 8

DEERSTALKING.

. Sib,—'Tho Council of the Otago Aoclima-1 tisabon Society #oems to have a remarkable penchant for doing the wrong tiling when rS comes Jo Scaling with its red deer hern 1 note that it :s going to recommend t.liat nn n€xt s s33oh open on April 10. WJiat now fa/j has it now got into its head? j-liis matter of tho date of the op&ning of the season *ai fully threshed out two y*»re ago, and now it has corao up again to irritate a-nrl annoy stalkers. The. arguments brought, forward on that occasion arc now considerably strengthened by tho change in circumstances that has oocurred since thoii. Two years ago the whole of the society's ground ivas tat cm into consideration; to-day one-tiurd of it may be eliminated from tho argument, as it is now useless for stalking. Prior to this last season the society had' their ground, exclusive of the Maiarora country, mapped into 25 blocks, making provision for en average of two stalkers to each Mook. Prom block I to block VIII, inclusive, embracing all the country east of laJco Hawea, and 1 from the Lindis to block IX (Cotter's. Clearing), the deer may now bo considered as useless, and from this ground little or no revenue can be expected. ■This leaves 17 blccks, of whicii there aro i several m tho Upper Hunter and' on tho j western sido of that valley, that ca.il ho stalked only by men who are special!'/ fitted to tackle such difficult country. Supposing tho whole of these camps are fully occupied, and including the Makarora, there is room for not quite 40_staJkers. Last lieasojL "'ere were only 27 licenses taken out, as against VI the year before, and I doubt very iniich if there will, be more than 25 to 50 this coming season, unices arrangements can bo made for second parties to follow tJiosc who go out for tho first 10 or M days, of April on. tho more accessible : grounds. Under tho society's proposal to I open t-lra season on April 10, the second parties will have to do most of their shooting in_ May, as they mil require, a, little mora time when the rut is over to fill their licenses. How many stalkers are govog to tackle the Hunter and • Makarora after othas have been over tho .ground? The roaring has practically ceased, and. tllo snow ■has driven the deer down into.the.jbush. I_suppose the council must have' adopted Mr Telford's erroneous idea that,'wo. shoot royals at three and a-half years old before they have had an opportunity to serve hinds! I venture to say that what some people usually describe as " the best stags" arc old enough to bo serving not only their own daughters, but their 'granddaughters ps well, for a stag, unless driven off by another, or shot, will take up with a herd of hinds in the same locality year after year. To slioot him in the rutting season' dees not do an atom of harm, because ho has had tinio to leave plenty of sons behind him to- taJce his place. Unfortunately these young stags frequently do not get a fair chance, as they may be driven off by an older stag whose head does not tempt a etalloer, andl until the last season or two it has been nobody's business to get rid of these inferior animals. However, I don't think thare is tho least prospect of the Government agreeing to alter tho jlato of;the opening of the stalking season, particularly aa it will affect the visiting stalkers, who generally. Liko to leave the Dominion as early in April as possible. For instance, Captain P rouse, of H.M.S. Powerful, has signified his intention of coming over again from Sydney this next season, and lie, writes me that he is rfcturning to England in April. Tho later opening, date will probably not suit 'him, and 'the society will lose his license fee and the, Dominion j tho money he would spend on such. a trip. I thought that when the society,appointed a deer committee we w'oiild '.see things better managed, but if this recommendation is the 1 result of their united wisdom I am afraid that stalkers will fc'o no, bettor off than they were before. ' The attempt to njako hard and fast rules regarding the allotting of camps is sure to meet with a lot of disapproval, for the ground, under a clause in the present grazing loases, is open to any stalker who takes out a license either through the. society or direct from the Post' Office, Dunedin, without reference to _ tho society at all. Oliargiiig an application fee of £3 looks as though tho society was going to cater for the moneyed' men only, and even then it cannot, guarantee that a stalker or party can get tho camp applied for. It is open to any one, who is not particular about "jumping " a camp which he knows_ has bec>n arranged for '(as was our experience in the Dingle in 1904), to get up his tent on the ground first; The only ' satisfactory arrangement, and one that has worked well for years past in the Dingle and on tho Waitaki Moiety's ground, is bv mutual agreement between, stalkers. Tins could easily ■be effected by the scoiety's ranger in tho Hunter, and with a little tact, instead of the society trying to make hard and fast rules, which by the way it has neither tho power to make nor to enforce. The society has no control whatever over deer etallkers beyond seeing that they _ carry out the law in regard to the shooting of dear.—l am, etc.,

E. HakdcastliE. Christchuvcli, 'August 29.