TEE LAKE HAWEA DEER FOREST.

Otago Witness, Issue 2511, 30 April 1902, Page 53

TEE LAKE HAWEA DEER FOREST.

AN INTERESTING REPORT. At Friday's meeting of the Otago Acclimatisation Society Mr Charles Turnbull was accorded a vote of thanks for an interesting report on the deer herd in the Morven Hills. The report was us follows: — I now beg to convey to you my impression of the state of the deer forest at Lake Hawea during my late visit, and have to report as follows : — . Feed.— l am glad to say that in this respect there is a considerable improvement on the state of things existing five or six years ago ; at that time my impression was that the rabbits had practically ruined the country, but on this occasion I found the ground grassier than I had seen it before. This applies to the Timaru, Dingle, and the country known as the Devil's Block. Mount Jones is also very gras«y, and looking remarkably well. I found rabbits rather more in evidence there than on the other blocks mentioned, although much decreased to what they were five years ago. In the matter of" feed, therefore, the country is in a magnificent state, and capable of holding much more stock than is at present on it. Deer.— As regards these, I find that they are in beautiful condition, ond very numerous; the bulk of the hind>- are still on the Timaru country— that is, they are to be seen in larger herds, and the herds are more frequent;— they are, however, fairly thick everywhere, and in sufficient numbers for us to assume that in a very few years they will spread out and cover a very much larger" area of country than at present. Even now they cover a very much larger scope of country than they did five or six years ago: where solitary stags were to be seen then, cay, on the Makarora, hincU ara now to be found with them, no it is no stretch of imagination to say that in another 10 years or so good shooting will be obtainable over all the Haast Pass country leading to the West Coast. At present the beet stags are to be found well up the Hunter River and on the Makarora side of that river. This is owing to the fact no doubt that there has been practically no shooting there, and the young stags driven away years ago by the older ones lower down have had time to grow up and develop good heads. However, there is a good proportion of good heads all over the Dingle country, but they take a lot of getting owing to their developing more or less nocturnal habits as they get older, consequently it is hard to get at them, as they feed all night and in the very early morning, and to get them one has to be on their tiacks very early. Track-. — The-e are in very pood order The main track round Roiky Point is very much improved, pack horse being able to go round with fair --ized pack-, without th( trouble of unloading at the worst place ; the one going ur> the Manuka Spur and towards tho head waters of the Timaru is a very good piece of work, but wants a good few water tables here and there, at. it has a tendency to be gutted out by the heavy rains in places whrre it is Bteepeft. This track should be continued right into the Timaru Creek at its head, and would not cost more probably than about £25. Ihis would be a great improvement and much to the advantage of the fore-t The money that has been spent on the tracks up the Dingle is to a certain extent waited, as vrhen T was there pack horses could not get up further than halfway owing; to one part being damaged by the flood* ; an expenditure of about £10 would, however, put this right, as tho trouble arises from a rock which requires blasting, and which when done would make this, part always negotiable except in flood time. Another track I should like to sec cleared ib one which would probably not cost more than about £10, and would be through the bush up what i» known as the Devil's Nose, leading to the Devil's Block. This when done would be very convenient for sportsmen, ax it is a long tramp home to what is known as the middle camp, on the Dingle, whicli is halfway up the river. General Remarks. — It is difficult to compare the forest now with what it was. say, 12 years ago, as up to that time comparatively few sportsmen used to go out ; the i country over which we stalked then — the Timaru and Morven Hills aide of the Timaju — was ideal stalking country, to which the deer of that time wore almo B t completely confined. Owing to being very little disturbed they had not tprcad much, a=> they shortly afterwards began to do. the result being that the stalkintr of those daya was in many respects superior to anything to be obtained now; in fact, it is. hard to realise that anything could have been bot ter, as the country was ideal stalking country, and almost every gully and ba<-in held a stag with his hinds, and it vvao comparatively ea&y to get over, although rough enough to make it interesting. Nowadays good heads are as numerous as evc-r they were, the only difference being that they frequent country which is not so accec'ible ; they take more to the bubh, and are alto gether harder to get. In a general way,

bigger ar.d more robust stags for some reason, having a tendency to get into the background. The Timaru and Morven Hills country, as far as I can see, though .^.ll of hinds, is not a good place for those desiring good sport. It has been too much shot over, I am afraid, and sorry to say that it is too convenient for poachers, the result being that the bulk of the hinds are held by \c\-y indifferent stags. Two years ago a leading sportsman irom Melbourne, who was over here, \va<= most pessimistic about the future of the fore=t, as he had had very little sport, and, comparing it with foimer years, thought it had gone off \ery much. That year the season opened on the 15th March, and this gentleman, going up at the u«ual time in April, had the bad luck to follow a party from Kurow, who had gone over Morven Hills and adjoining country befoic the season had properly matured (stags were not calling), and had simply startled the deer everywhere without doing any good to themselves and absolutely spoiling it for those to follow. Such, I think, was the cause of our friend's etricture3 on the forest in general. I may say that I think the society will be wise if they never try the experiment again of opening the season as early as the 15th March. I thirtk, however, it might safely be opened on or about the 25th or 26th March, as about this time the deer start calling up the Hunter and on the head waters of the Dingle, the former especially, from which pointa they move forward to the lake facets. When 1 left on the 12th April they were then beginning to go off the call, whicli makes the season a- very short one, lvhfn in a season like the present they started calling so early. Another thing, too. that might have, attention is that as the sport is now patronised by co many the time has come when, to prevent clashing, a boundary as between the Hawea and Longslip countries should be established, each side to be recognised as under the jurisdiction of either Mr BpII on the one side or Mr Hodgkinson on the other, as at present there is always a danger of sportsmen clashing — in fact, that happened this year, where two parties fell foul of each other. My idea in suggesing this is that the caretaker on each side would know where to send sportsmen without this fear : for instance, if all Mr Hodgkinson's beats were taken Tip he could pass applications on to Mr Bell, or vice versa. I think this matter is worthy of consideration, as it is a serious thing for a sportsman (tay from Melbourne) to be sent up the Dingle, and there fall foul of others from the other side, thereby losing three or four days, to say nothing of the discomfort of having in vain to wade the Dingle oboijt 45 times up and down. As regards the sport obtained this year, I am sure that there have never been so many good heads taken away before.. The Measra Studholme were particularly fortunate, they having got seven beautiful heads, and the worst of them was a very fair royal, which most sportsmen — and probably they themselves — would have bee« glad to call their best. In one day they got a 14- and an 18-pointer. Mr Leathern, a sportsman from Home, is getting good sport. The first week he got a magnificent 10-pointer and a royal, and I understand lie has since done well; I saw the 10-pointer, and I can say it is one of the best over fieeci. To my own knowledge it haa only been em-passed, and that very little, by a head got by Mr John Handyeide about 10 years ago, and which is looked ivpon as a curiosity and a magnificent specimen among his father's neighbours in Scotland. This does not look like a very great falling off in the quality of the deer. I myself did not get a really good head, although I spent considerable time in trying to get certaiu well-known good ones. I, however, got a fair royal, also a fair 10-pointer. and as I did not get any of the aforementioned good ones, satisfied myself by shooting two 8-pointers to make up my number. However, I had magnificent sport, and the weather was delightful, the only thing being that my visit was all too short. As I said before, the larger and better etag3 seem more or less nocturnal in their habits and hold their hinds in the busli. except at night and in the early morning. Up the Hunter, where they have not been much disturbed, they are to be got more out in the open ; consequently for some years to come that will be the place to get good heads, and next year I have «io doubt wo shall see a considenble rush of sportsmen to that neighbourhood. Summing up, my observations would lead to the following conclusions: — 1. Never since the advent of the rabbit baa the feed been to good all over the deer country as it is now. 2. The deer have lncreaFcd in numbers very mu^h during the past civ years 3. Good heads are as numerous as ever they weie befcro, but are harder to get, more especially in the vic.siity of bush. 4. The Manuka Spur track should bo continued into the Timaru. if po-^ible, at a tost of about £25 5. A small bhiff of rock half-way up thrDingle should be blasted away, to let pat khorse.s get vii and down at all times when liver not in flood; probable cost £8 or £10. 6 The track up what is known as tin"' Devil's Xoro. if deared, would be useful, as. thorp is always a danger of being Implied m the forest here at thii time of the year, foi if the unlucky sportsman dor-, not "tart negotiating the hush before 4 o'clo"k he in bound to have a night out. The cost of thi = would be about £10. I hope these few roinarkn may give the society a clearer insight into the state of this very important sporting district than they had befora I think that it will be one of the greatest doer-Btalking attractions of the world, and. being open to everybody who has the leisure and the constitution to stand the hard work (which, by the uay. will get the harder the farther back the deer go), will be an asset to this country the benefit of which it is hard to gauge at the present day. Fioh. — Fi»l> are said to be extremely plentiful in Hawea Lake and rome of its tnbu taries. I have no doubt this is true, a? I know they were ■very plentiful alxjut fi\e or six years ago. Ducks —Ducks of all kinds were extremely plentiful about the mouth of the Hunter Kivor, and, altupothci. tlii- locality for those who have tlic lei-me i» a veritable paradise.

The Goiv R' tailers' Association has resolved to requisition the Minister of Jutice to arrange sitting- of the District Court at Gore, and also to appoint a deputy official assignee in bankruptcy for Gore. It was also decided to ask tho Postal Department to revert to the old system of paying for telephone charges at the time they are infiuyx&d. instead, oi smarieilx as at jaseaftiit.