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.

September 2010

Coming Events
September 2010
6th Committee Meeting, 7.30 pm, Dey St Clubrooms.
16th Social Night, 7.30 pm, Dey St Clubrooms
19th Taupo branch Cock-O-Roost shoot.
24th – 26th Organised Hunt, Piropiro flats.

October 2010
4th Committee Meeting, 7.30pm, Dey St Clubrooms.

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.

A note from the editor:
Hi all. I hope this newsletter finds you all well and looking forward to the spring hunting which is just around the corner now. This month we have planned a cracker social night and organised hunt, so come along to both and enjoy what the club has to offer.
Also I am on the lookout again for any stories or photos to put in the newsletter; they can be emailed to wagon@wave.co.nz

Swimming stag surprises fishermen

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.

2010 National Competition results
Waikato Branch.

Congratulations to the following Waikato members who achieved placings in the NZDA national competition.

Trevor Dobbs 3rd ‘Mel Larritt Trophy’ for Red Deer D.S. 329
Dion Patterson 1st ‘Cliff Marshall Memorial Trophy’ for Sika Deer D.S 160 3/8
Rusty Bird 1st ‘Dillon Shield’ for Drawn pig tusks D.S. 26 ¾
Blake Clinch 2nd ‘Poverty Bay Branch Trophy’ for best game animal by a junior D.S. 313.85
1st ‘Veronese Cup’ for best horned species by a junior D.S 313.85
Mark Sarjeant ‘Norman Douglas Memorial Trophy’ for promotion of the Douglas Score system.
Debbie Hartstone 1st ‘W H Robinson trophy’ for insect photography
James Alford 3rd ‘Gore & Districts branch trophy’ for human interest photography.

The Waikato Branch also scored 2nd place in the AHT (Antler, Horn, Tusk) completion with a total
score of 918.2, we were just beaten to the top spot by North Otago who scored 921.