SAMBAR DEER

Waipa Post, Volume 41, Issue 3184, 5 August 1930, Page 5

SAMBAR DEER

A SPORTSMAN'S HOLIDAY.

STALKING IN THE -UREWERA . ;'v--, /COUNTRY*-'/:--«"/• ;-•"-■.

: One of the keenest sportsmen in, -". this; district—indeed in the whole pro-" >/; vince—is Mr J. G. 'JJolmes,^-of-. Te ' Awamutu, an : annually he makes /ay " pilgrimage ".into -the -little-known country .that is thei'habitat Of- rji&sr—r:: -% red, s'ambar; Japanese andeven fal- v low, being sought for in turn. Four years-ago. he made a trip/to - - Westland after ..-the 'red- deer . that haunt the'.virgin country on the snow line of the Southern Alps. Other trips have; ;bee~n made into the Rua- ; ■:. hines and/Kaimanawas, about midway between. Mt. Tongariro . and Napier. The latest venture was into the Urewera far from Rua's . . stronghold, Mangapohatu. Mr Holmes, ; who returned home last Saturday ,V night, had with him Mr Len Newton, - also of Te Awamutu, who- was ,a nov-. ice at deer-stalking, but a. most x en-' - thusiastic novice he proved tpvbe.,- ',-; They motored, through along the Rotorua - WaikaremoSifft* road: to the neighbourhood of Gala»'%\ ' tea, and in clear view of 'Mt. Tar'a- . j wera. Then they diverged into "the- -■-'.* deer country onthe flanks of the Haia- _ rau Range, intent .upon get-tirc; a shot . i or two at the sambar deerj there are two distinct va?leties. ir- J&QS..JP neighbourhood, u-iaiij v ■:■ i ' e" New .Caledonian"-'and Indian Mr Holmes had th« getting,four nice ■;■--. Js, tv/o o, e • •:; JjM .type. vThe.New • Vedonian ■-c sjdei'ed very f> - , ' iy '* the best- eve: country—hi. '.• Holme*. sjffyS specimens u ' ve Indian iypS tall be- -"" low those 3<3;'ur&{ y oih?-r stalkers I//*" in point o* feHiv. The/two-Indiai{s|||||| when first, '■^.;-MK? : HbT&es,"'S - were on the eil«-- ■ >; and appeared-to ha*- •■ •* fighting.-" •_ He % sat down at adl .ice oi five hundred yards, -.-trnd watched '.them from behind a small. clump of-sciuib. Then one/sauntered "the .lu3-'-/:'~/, den sportsman. ]>•;<> -.• Tiurri'-d peep showed him that-it; was;;the/d%--wiffi : -'-:" by no means as good a spread of antev.%* lers as its adverseyy. Holmes. .-*• knew that if the or. -oinir.~ slap, too"k- u ; fright he a shot at the other" following about 100 ynn% '-.ohlndjye'- - a decision quickly. The stag within a few chains,was turning to make" off into L the :/;.*; bush Mr Holmes fired, securing a *" with a bullet through"the.heart.: sln; a flash the second stag bounded ah'eadl ; and actually passed within about ten -'; feet of the hunter, who, from a sitting position, tried a snap shot./;He/,/S missed entirely, and scrambled to; his'r,;"g feet in time to send another bullet : _ - after the rapidly disappearing .stag, - He registered a hit, and the animal :■■; crashed, "shot through the.: spihaXcol-':i'M-umn./ This animal had'a very-good- 4 /£ heacl, as heads go; but it was not a champion one. However, after a shot. ? or two at red deer stags that also-fre-:# : 5? queht the locality, Mr Holmes and his -s; rt friend made tracks for their base camp / /"= and so home to-Te Awamutu, well pleased with the trip. { '.'■,.■■'- .-:,£§»-