Warwick's Corner

The 97 season has been and gone, leaving memories good and bad. The phone started prior to the season with questions from people all over New Zealand on how, where and why. Some of the questions are asked so often and my wife has heard the answers often enough that she reckons she could handle some of the calls herself. I'll try to answer some of those questions soon but first to last seasons memories.

In a half hour phone call one is expected to teach a novice hunter all there is to know about Sambar Deer and how to hunt them in the block he has drawn in the ballot. This guy has never seen a deer in the wild let alone shoot one. So it's one hell of a crash course on all the possibilities from sun up till sun down. Last thing I arranged was to meet up with him on the morning of his hunt to check up on how he was getting on and maybe point him in the right direction. Well we met at the arranged time, 10.30, and there was one happy hunter. He had seen plenty of sign and spooked a few but reckoned I had forgotten to tell him one thing, I hadn't told him that they barked. From only a few metres away this thing barked and almost scared the crap out of him. Maybe novice hunters should carry a spare pair of grundies.

Another I'll never forget was most probably one of the most rewarding events since being involved with the S.D.M.F. - One Saturday morning after cruising around catching up with the hunters in the different blocks we finally found the guy we were looking for. We had met this guy and his dad the previous year in a different forest. We gave them the best of advice we could but to no avail. Dad watched the good stag, we had put them onto, watching his son, who of course never saw it. This time could we do better. He hadn't seen a lot of sign and wasn't overly impressed with the block so we told him where a stag was holed up and how to approach it. After a good yarn we left them to it. Next morning I was woken by the phone. It was Ian who said "Your mate from Auckland has shot a big stag. I'll pick you up soon. We’re going over to pick up the samples and help them get it out". An hour and a half later we were face to face with one hell of a happy hunter. I guess I was pretty happy as well. Congratulations over, and we were off to check out the prize. What a cracker. While taking sample and photos, I had a guess at the size of the head and reckoned it would go close to 190 Douglas Score. It took an hour for the four of us to get it out and loaded up. It went 188 5/8 Douglas so I reckon my estimate in the field wasn't too bad. Yes, that's the reward of being involved with the S.D.M.F..

As for information on Sambar Deer, their habits, habitat, and methods of hunting, I can tell you that there has been little written in New Zealand. However I have come across an Australian book and believe there's a new one, also from Australia on the market. I'd like to get my hands on a copy. Stand up the man who's going to write a book on New Zealand Sambar. I've been asked to write such a book but I don't believe I'm qualified to do it. Somebody out there knows a hell of a lot more about Sambar than I do. Now a video, that sounds more like it. It could happen before a book as there are several guys out there putting together some very good footage. One of them has about fourteen hours of Sambar video. I for one would like to see it edited and put on the market. Sambar being both cunning and shy with the habitat they have adapted too making them very difficult to video. So if a video does hit the market you would have to appreciate the time, patience and skill of the person behind the camera.

Seeing there's very little literature and no video I'll try to shed a little light on the subject. I wish that a list of questions was before me so I could answer them one by one - Now that would end up a book. Number one point I would like to make:- They are not Red Deer. So red tactics are of no use at all. Already this year I have seen a total of 77 Red Deer and all but two of them were spotted while sitting on my backside. You won't find too many Sambar by sitting and watching. I find that you have to get in and hunt them because for most of the day they will be bedded down in the thick stuff. They will move about during the day, but only in fairly heavy cover, moving out to feed usually after dark. First up you must do your homework, locate your deer and figure out their movements. Find where they are feeding and where they are coming from to feed then you can work back to where they are likely to bed down or hide up during the day. You may be lucky and score one early at first light, moving back to cover. If not, it's back to the skill of the hunter. The wind is your best aid and I always say the stronger the better. Rather than hunt into the wind I hunt across it, slowly moving into it, so slow that one hundred metres in an hour sometimes can be too fast. Every step you take, study every nook and cranny before taking the next. One of the reasons I hunt so slowly is to eliminate noise. Noise and scent are your worst enemies. If they hear or smell you it's not very likely you'll see them first. If you're moving slowly and quietly enough you should be able to get very close but very intense concentration is required to see them before they see you. Over the last twelve months I have taken to using a pair of mini binoculars and now swear by them, even in thick cover I'm constantly using them.

To prove my method works I recently took a friend for a walk who had never seen a Sambar Deer before. A bit of a crash course on how to do it and we were off. It took half an hour before he saw his first two deer. Just a glimpse as they disappeared into cover. He was absolutely rapt but better things had yet to come. About an hour later he photographed a hind at about two metres. A great day out and we had seen eleven Sambar between us in only three hours and about five hundred metres of walking.

My message is if you think your hunting is slow and you're not getting the drop on them, slow down even more and get into the thickest cover about, if you can't see through it, look under it.

Good luck for the coming ballot and for the 98 season.