128 STALKS ABROAD 



Needless to say, these animals were in very poor 

 condition. 



The outlook is not a bright one. Here we have 

 the numbers of rotten stags actually equalling, even if 

 they do not preponderate over, the number of animals 

 with a normal development of horn. The reasons for 

 this, I am convinced, are, firstly poor stock (par- 

 ticularly hinds) ; secondly, too large a number of deer 

 for the ground ; and last, but not least, lack of a 

 proper system of management. There is no reason, 

 at present, why the New Zealand authorities should 

 sacrifice quality to quantity. Only four stags are 

 allowed to be killed on each licence, and I do not 

 suppose that the numbers of deer killed on these 

 licences, legitimately, reaches two hundred. 



A very large proportion of these malformed and 

 one-horned stags were in possession of hinds, and from 

 the fact that I saw a good many quite young stags, 

 spikers, and three-year-old beasts with one horn, 

 it might be inferred that many animals never have 

 a chance of growing a good head. A well-known 

 writer on this subject once remarked that it was 

 not every stag who was born to the purple, and I 

 agree with him. Perhaps one stag in fifty if let alone 

 would attain to the dignity of a royal, but on the beat 

 of which I am speaking there should be many more 

 promising young stags than are apparent. The pro- 

 portion also of hinds to stags is too great, and many 

 of the hinds I saw were useless for breeding purposes. 



In the Hunter Valley I found the deer in a much 



