THE DEER OF NEW ZEALAND 
“ A stag and two hinds landed in February, 1861 ” (I quote again 
from my previous work) “ from Lord Petre’s park in Essex, were the 
progenitors of the Nelson herd, and were consequently the first deer 
to be imported into the colony. Of their descendants I cannot speak 
from personal experience. I saw some fifteen or twenty heads, and 
they were almost without exception narrow, ugly and unsymmetrical. 
The herd is now working inland, and I hear that some good stags have 
lately been killed, though they do not approach the Otago heads in 
length or span, or those from Wairarapa in weight.” 
The best heads come from the most heavily timbered country. The herd 
covers a stretch of country nearly 200 miles from north to south, consist- 
ing of varied terrain. The intending stalker should go to Nelson itself, 
where he will be able to secure all the information he requires. A £1 
licence entitles the holder to six stags or bucks. The season probably 
opens about the third week in February. 
THE OTAGO HERD. 
Now we come to the Otago herd. The two stags and five hinds presented 
to the Otago Acclimatization Society by the Earl of Dalhousie in 1870 
were liberated on the Morven Hills, and their descendants are the only 
deer in New Zealand which can claim pure Scottish descent. They pro- 
bably number about 10,000 at the present time, and are scattered over 
the mountain chains situated on the main ranges and extending from 
Lake Wanaka in Otago to Lake Ohau in Canterbury. The home of the 
red deer in North Otago comprises very rough open ground, with big 
“slides” and rocky tops rising above heavily timbered valleys and slopes 
of snow grass. Stalking in such country entails really hard work, and to 
fill his licence of four heads the sportsman has to work hard. The best 
stalking -ground is situated at the head of the Hunter Valley and in the 
adjoining Makarora Valley at the head of Lake Wanaka, and here the 
best heads have been killed during recent years. The herd appears to be 
working to the north-east via the Hopkins and Dobson Gorges towards 
Mount Cook. Deer are numerous in the Ahuriri Gorge. The ground is 
divided up into blocks, which are allotted to stalkers in order of priority 
of application. This system has apparently worked well. So far, though, there 
has been at least one instance of a block being “ jumped ” by the stalker 
on an adjoining block before the arrival of the rightful owner. The 
407 
