Beneath the Mountain Mist By Max Curtis. 1996, FIRST EDITION. SCARCE.

Beneath the Mountain Mist By Max Curtis.

Publisher: The Halcyon Press, Auckland, 1996, FIRST EDITION. SCARCE.

Softback, a little edge and shelf wear, light vertical crease to front cover and first few pages, minor marks, otherwise very good with no inscriptions.

Beneath the Mountain Mist: Tales of Red Deer, Thar and Chamois in New Zealand is the second autobiography written by Max Curtis. In this book Max reminisces mainly about his stalking trips to Westland, South Island with the aim of shooting trophy red deer stags. A keen member of the Nelson Branch of New Zealand Deerstalkers Association (NZDA) he heard first-hand accounts of where to find big heads from stalking greats the likes of Newton and Alex McConochie, Jack and Charlie Shuttleworth, Bert Spiers, Don Cummings, Temple Sutherland, Norm Livingstone and Gordon Atkinson. He soon learned that these sportsman shot their famous heads on the advancing fringes of the main herds as they populated new valleys and catchments. The reason was simple these animals had access to a high quality food source which translated to antler growth. Armed with this knowledge, Max decided to focus on the Rakaia herd of Stoke Park origin, possibly because his fellow stalkers had more intimate knowledge of that herd as opposed to the Otago herd of Scottish origin found around Wanaka and South Westland. In addition, Max had spent some of his deer culling days hunting the region where the Rakaia herd could be found you can read about this in his first book Beyond the River s Bend (1991). Max headed south from his home in Nelson to spend two weeks hunting the roar during March and April. Each chapter retells one roar trip, starting in 1960 and finishing with his last major expedition in 1973. It all ceased in 73 because that was the year heli hunting finally decimated deer populations, especially stags which preferred the habitat of tussock covered mountain tops. 173 pages with photos.

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