I recently went to the Dinsdale pub to view the entries for the Dinsdale Hunting Club's hunting competition and from the line up of deer and pigs; hunting within the greater Hamilton/Waikato area is definitely alive and kicking. A large amount of money was raised for charity as a result of this competition, so all credit to them for organising a very successful event.

The NZDA National Conference was held early July and five of us from the branch headed down to Palmerston North to fulfill both AHT Competition and branch delegate duties. The theme for conference this year was based around the Sambar deer and there was certainly some impressive heads on display. A couple of things that came out of conference was that investment money of approx $18,000 lost as part of an investment made in a failed company was generously covered by Mark Dunajtschik. Once the offer from Mark was tabled and accepted, it put paid to any pre conference "bickering" that had been doing the rounds. Also laid bare at the start of conference was again some of the "crap" that had been circulated to branches, which fortunately got sorted early and everyone then settled down to conference business.

Another plus to come out of conference was the announcement from Stoney Creek of their new association with the HUNT's course. Part of this is the promotion of the HUNT's course through Stoney Creek's outlets/web site/trade displays etc. Also announced was that each successful HUNT's course graduate will receive Stoney Creek products and a voucher.

This year's AGM has been and gone, again with a small number of branch members attending. All the previous committee members have signed on for another year with a couple of new faces joining us on the committee, so I would like to officially welcome them onto the committee and personally thank them for volunteering.

Measuring night this year was hugely successful with a very high number of entries in both the AHT and Photographic sections. It was pleasing to see a high number of entries from junior members and also from "graduates" of the HUNT's courses. Its good to see these juniors and HUNT's graduates getting out there and amongst them, so by all accounts running the HUNT's course is certainly been very beneficial to both the branch and the graduates.

July is the NZDA conference month, which this year is being held at Palmerston North, so the committee will be kept busy sorting out all the correspondence and other matters relating to conference. Again the branch will be well represented at the National AHT competition level with a number of members attending as competition officials and measurers.

Also coming up in July is our annual prize giving / pot luck dinner so keep an eye out on the newsletter for details.

August 2010

Monthly Publication of the New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (Waikato Branch) Inc.

WAIKATO DEERSTALKER is published by: NZ Deerstalkers Assn.(Waikato Branch) Inc. PO Box 4065 Hamilton. Posted or emailed to members every month (except January). Opinions expressed in the Newsletter are not necessarily endorsed by the Branch, its Executive Committee or the National Association.
Coming Events
August 2010
13th – 15th Club hunt to Galatea.
26th Social Night, 7.30 pm, Dey St Clubrooms.
September 2010
6th Committee Meeting, 7.30 pm, Dey St Clubrooms.

A note from the editor:

Hi all, the months seem to be really flying by now. Here we are already in August with only a couple months to wait till the spring starts warming the valleys and making the grass stick its head up.
Last month I was lucky enough to be invited to Woodhill on a ballot and although I didn’t squeeze off a shot the other two guys both did and we bought home a deer and a pig. For Carl it was his first deer which made it that bit better. Hopefully there will be a story all about it in a following newsletter.
On another positive note, our branch was well represented in the NZDA competition at a national level, with plenty of silverware coming back to the region. Once again the Waikato team proved our strength against the rest of the country.

Conference this year has been and gone and unfortunately I was unable to attend, but the Branch was again well represented by our delegate Keith Matthews and also in the running of the AHT competitions with our resident national judges and manager. From all accounts conference ran smoothly and actually finished ahead of schedule, which is something that does not happen very often. The branch's entries into the AHT, photographic and literary sections did extremely well, so will have more on the results later.

Spent an enjoyable day recently helping install bait stations with the operators doing the poisoning operations in the Te Tapui reserve, so all thanks to Bill and Luke for letting me tag along. I intend to hopefully spend another couple of days in the reserves helping them do their work. With all the noise we were making I did actually get to see a doe standing 20 metres away and also heard a number of deer walking about. I am very disappointed, that at this stage, that besides myself, only one other person has actually made an effort to go along and help. They are very keen to get some help with pre feeding, installing bait stations etc and by offering our help will portray our willingness in managing and ensuring the survival of the fallow herd in the reserves. The information with regard to what you need to do to volunteer has been made available in flyers, at social nights, the news letter and via e-mail, so there is no excuse that you have not been informed.

from the 61st National Conference held at Oamaru, July, 2009.

National Antler, Horn and Tusk (AHT)

A11 Dillon shield – Drawn Pig Tusks
1st= Tim Flower Waikato Raglan 28
A16 Z Veronese Cup – Best Antlered Species Taken by a Junior
1st Marc Clinch Waikato Sika Mount Cameron 163
3rd Blake Clinch Waikato Fallow Woodhill 194 ¾
A17 E Veronese Cup – Best Horned Species taken by a Junior
3rd Blake Clinch Waikato Chamois Whataroa 25 ¾

A19 Norman Douglas Trophy - Best Branch Entry – consisting of one set of Antlers,
Horns and Tusks.
3rd Waikato Drawn Tusk 28 288.23
Fallow 194 ¾ 296.35
Chamois 25 ¾ 310.77 Total 895.35
(Note: All Junior Entries)