TRACKING AND FINDING DEER IN NEW ZEALAND

BOOK REVIEW

Written by: Roger Lentle

Published by: Bateman Books. ISBN: 978-1-77689-053-8

Content: 128 pages, with 14 black and white Illustrations, 31 colour photos and 3 tables

Cover: Available in softcover/paperback

Price: $34.99

Available from: www.batemanbooks.co.nz/product

Reviewed by: Brian Boyle

One of the good things about deer hunting these days is the amount of educational material and courses out there for people who are just starting to deer hunt.

Roger Lentle has written another excellent book on hunting in New Zealand, and it’s worth a read, especially if you are new to deer hunting or haven’t hunted in NZ yet.

With over 50 years of experience, Roger Lentle’s medical and scientific training has enabled him to systemically evaluate the habits of deer and the traditional and modern methods used for tracking and finding them.

While this book is designed for the New Zealand deerstalker who wishes to increase their skill in tracking and finding deer in the wild, there is a lot of content that will readily translate to hunting deer in Australia, especially sambar hunting.

The book will help you to learn to read and distinguish hoof prints and how these print impressions change with weather conditions and the type of soil so you can estimate how long ago a print was made. Roger tells us how to recognise changes in the pattern of prints, indicating a change in speed and gait so you can estimate whether an animal is startled or calm.

The book also helps you understand how deer navigate the landscape between feeding and safe areas by assessing the positions of their tracks and common trails. You will learn how to read the signs that are left by feeding, mating and bedded (referred to as “couching” in the book) deer, how these change over time and how long ago they were made.

What I found particularly interesting is how to use modern aids such as infrared and image intensifiers to improve your hunting.

Explained in detail and accompanied by helpful illustrations Tracking and Finding Deer in New Zealand is a good read for new hunters and for those who may be planning a trip across to ditch to take advantage of the really high number of deer there at the moment.