WHERE’S THE EVIDENCE?

Sambar hunting, like fishing and many other activities, is full of myths and sound-good theories that often do not stand up to scrutiny. If it sounds good and reasonable it quickly becomes folk law to be questioned at your peril. As an example, when I was a lad it was a common belief that the number of points on a stag’s antlers showed how old he was. The species of deer was not even a consideration. We now know this is incorrect. Why? Because of evidence and knowledge based on fact. Fact: mature sambar, rusa, chital and hog deer stags usually have six-point antlers (three each side). Fact: Mature red deer stags have a varying number of points, for example eight, 10, 11, 12, 14, and up to 20 or more and they are often not an even number per side. Red deer stags normally have a pair of spikes as their first set of antlers. However, some stags grow multiple point antlers first up. Although the antlers are small and short in length multiple points on a red deer’s first set of antlers are not uncommon. Some stags never grow a set of spikes and other stags never achieving a twelve-point head. In all cases the knowledge and truth has been derived through direct observation from deer of known age.

As our knowledge increases about deer based on direct observation and shared accumulated knowledge we are able to draw rational and correct conclusions or debunk what is incorrect. But there is always the danger of believing and promoting a sound-good theory that eventually develops into a myth with little evidence to support it.

I know through personal experience it is easy to make a statement about deer and deer hunting and the test I apply to myself is ‘Where’s the evidence?’ and I ask myself to prove it. I ask myself this question; ‘How do I know?’ My approach is to look for evidence (otherwise I am just fooling myself). As an example, many experienced deer hunters can easily recognise a deer bed with what looks like little more than a casual glance. But the truly experienced hunter can produce the evidence and show the difference between deer, wallaby, wombat and kangaroo beds through sign analysis. When a sambar lays down they usually shed hair. Sambar hair is different to wallaby, kangaroo, wombat, dog or cattle. The hair, along with other sign such as tracks and knee imprints becomes evidence. There should always be facts to support the conclusion. Otherwise it is just a sound good theory that may or may not be correct.

One of the easiest and increasingly popular methods of collecting factual information is the use of trail cameras. They offer unbiased 24-hour 365-day all-weather opportunities to gather information about deer. But there is a risk with these cameras because their location is often influenced by our bias. The general bias with sambar is selecting wallows with the primary objective of finding the big stag. There is nothing wrong with this, but trail cameras offer so much more as they are an opportunity to collect data on sambar and other deer and to develop an understanding of their relationship to the habitat. There is so much more to learn about the deer than just finding a big stag or what time of day the deer pop through the fence. The trail camera’s strength is collecting evidence; their main weakness is how we interpret what they collect.

I am not in the habit of moving my prime camera. For over four years it has been on the same tree. It has watched the seasons come and go and the interactions of the deer and other wildlife along with the changing vegetation throughout the seasons. I have learnt much about the importance of an insignificant deer scrape rarely visited by sambar and the need to not draw quick conclusions. I soon learnt it was not an insignificant scrape. Often in the case of sambar the term rutting scrape is only partially correct. This scrape is utilised all year and not just during the rutting or mating period by mature stags. In the case of sambar, scrapes appear to have a high social function being strategically placed and visited by all deer including juveniles; they are not the sole domain of a mature stag. Because of what this camera has recorded I have modified previous convictions and theories due to new evidence. My regret is that I do not have more cameras to blanket the general area and collect a more complete picture of what is going on; the information I am collecting is only part of the picture for the area. However, this one trail camera has significantly influenced my understanding of sambar and how I hunt.

Radio or GPS tracking allows us to track the movements of a deer and trail cameras allow us to observe the activities of deer, they both collect evidence. Combine the two, what a great learning opportunity? I wish I had the money, the youth and the time to do such an investigation. But there is also a risk of misinterpreting the data especially when too small a database is examined. The same applies to hunting, the larger the number of experiences the more valid the hunter’s conclusions.

Global positioning systems (GPS) and cameras with GPS tagging and time and date recording are another source of data or evidence. Many hunters are using them to collate deer activity and log information about deer by plotting such things as the location of wallows and scrapes. This then has the potential to evaluate the significance of their location relative to time and date. This can then be tied into deer density and movements. There is an enormous amount of recorded factual information held by hunters in the form of diaries and photographs that will go to the grave with them. What a tragedy that it could be lost. (That is a hint, possible research project?)

While on the subject of data and evidence as a basis for drawing correct conclusions, there is another area that the hunter should never underestimate. While science, data, graphs and pie charts are all well and good, hunting is much more. Hunting is a basic activity that is driven by knowledge and instinct that is the soul of the hunter. Instinct is not the product of conscious data collection and analyses, instinct is why and how we hunt. All the accumulated data and knowledge that we hold in our brain is ticking away in our subconscious and it influences the way we hunt.

Reference books are often accepted as correct but as our knowledge increases we start to notice some reference works can and do have errors. One accepted and acclaimed reference book I have in my library has a significant error regarding antler type. The antler illustrations for red, sambar and hog deer are wrong with only one out of four species being correct (it was not the work of a deer person). It is a good idea when searching for information to learn from accredited publications and always cross reference. On that subject, be careful when researching on the net. It goes without saying; the quality of information varies remarkably from excellent but at times, in my opinion, it can be utterly ridiculous.

In regards to deer hunting, unfortunately over time, some advertising statements have become accepted as fact when they are little more than well-crafted advertising that has made its way into hunting mythology. There are however some outdoor hunting and shooting writers who push against the wave of popular myths. The unfortunate aspect of this is that because their work is outside the normal accepted conventions it is sometimes dismissed as wrong.

Hunting theories can be interesting and should never be discounted on face value but they require factual information to support them and if they are true they will stand up to scrutiny. Some hunter’s or academic’s opinions can at first glance seem a little off course or unconventional but when we look hard for evidence they can be very true. It pays to keep an open mind.

The basic theme for this article is look for supportive evidence. You are well advised to question what I have written and draw your own conclusions because I might be wrong or then again, I may be right. But in the end, hunting is about you and what you think and feel. The best knowledge we can collect is what we see with our own eyes. The best help we can get along the way is sound advice from experienced hunters who don’t expand other people’s theories but speak from personal well-founded experience.

Knowledge is the Sambar Hunter’s Edge.