DETERIORATING?

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 796, 20 April 1910, Page 3

DETERIORATING?

THE WAIRARAPA DEER HERDS. ENGLISH STALKEK'S VIEWS. Though, there have been various statements in the press recently to the eflW that the deer-stalking sraison in the North Island has been an excellent one, some local stalkers of experience hold that such is not the case, and that, on the contrary, the Wairarapa herd has been rapidly deteriorating during tha past four or five years, with the result that this year very few heads worth shooting have been secured. These facts are confirmed by an experienced sportsman from England, Mr. E. N. Senior, whom the representative of the Christchurch 'Tress", has just interviewed on the subject. Mr. Senior, who has stalked for many years in Scotland, has also had previous experience of New Zealand stalking; both in the South and in the North Islands. This year he has returned to New Zealand for the stalking, and his views, ! after an absence of four years, are worth putting on record.

In company with Mrs. Senior—who is as keen and enthusiastic a stalker as her husband—he has just returned from the deer country on the East Coast beyond Martinborough, and though he was camped in a good' locality—on the Cape River, near the Government Eeserve—he has come, back a disappointed man. He was out for sevtn days,. and saw a great number of small stags and very many hinds, ; but during the whole time ho never saw one. stag, that he really cared to shoot.. On one occasion, leaving their .rifles behind them, tho . party made an excursion into the Government, reserve, with a view .to seeing what the stags there were like. They tramped from six in the 'morning till six p.m., and covered a largo area, but they saw only one stag with a good head. It was a fair "Eoyal. They saw a very large number-.of small stags and many hinds, also a few malformed. head 6. During the whole day Mr. Senior did not see one stag that he would care to havo shot. He also found the headless body of one stag that had actually been shot a day or two previously in the Govern-1 ment reserve. ,' ■■'

From' all he conld gather, he is convinced that the Government sanctuary'is regularly poached. The day before he got into camp there had been eight shots heaTd in the reserve. Taking it all round/ Mr. Senior' saw just about as many stags and hinds as he saw four years ago, but. whereas on thai occasion he could have shot at, least twelve stags vrith good heads, on this occasion, as already stated, he could not have secured one good head.'. As a matter of fact, he only troubled to bring down one stags' fairly good ten-pointer. He attributes the present.condition.of things to poaching, and the fact that the. old hinds and the weedy stags are "not shot out, but are allowed to perpetuate their species. Nearly all the good heads are shot out by poachers, or by people with a rifle and a license, who are not sportsmen, but simply bag the good heads for sale. These people, it is well known, mark down the good stags, shoot them, then secure .the .head and "plant" it, until they have an opportunity -of getting it away unseen. ;••■..'•.'

The only remedy for this kind of illicit sport, in Mr.''Senior's-opinion, is fco put iip tho license fee to £o, and to liave a strict supervision of the. Government sanctuary. At present there is no supervision at 'all, and the "sanctuary" is quite, a misnomer.. To show that there' was a; trade being in stags' heads, Mr. and Mrs. Senior pointed to an advertisement in a recent' copy of the London'"Daily Mail," in which it was stated that Maori curios and stags' heads were for sale at a certain place. The : country.-over.which,tho Wairarapa herd roams is, Mr.. Senior says, the finest deer country he has ever seen, and there was ; no\ reason why, with proper supervision and ■ oulling, .the. stags should,. not . grow big heads.. , There was good grass ,all the year round; the climate was'not rigorous, and there was excellent' shelter. Under present conditions the herd mu6t" continue to-deteriorate,' arid the time and money spent by the stalker who comes from abroad, hoping to get three or four good heads is so much timo and-money wasted. Reverting to the question, of' poaching and the illicit trade in stags' heads,-' Mr. Senior pointed'out that the increase of the .license fee to would provide further revenue that would enable better supervision tc ho made against poaching. In addition, those taking part in the sale of heads—both seller and buyer—should be heavily fined for breaches 'if the law. , Unless the matter' is taken in hand—and taken in hand soon and seriously—the reputation that New Zealand has so justly earned throughout the world for its wonderful deerstalking will be altogether a thing of the past, and wealthy sportsmen from abroad will give the Dominion the "go-by" in favour of, other countries such as Canada 1 and Africa. Mr. Senior is a man who evidently knows what he is talking about,' and it is to be hoped that the authorities Trill pay some heed to his words ere it be too late.