Interview: New National Life Members Part 1

Hunting and Wildlife Magazine - Issue 226 - Spring 2024

New NZDA National Life Members (L-R) Dulcie Riley, John Riley, Mark Sarjeant and John Wills. 

At the 2024 National Conference, six long-serving members were elected as life members of the NZDA in recognition of their selfless dedication and commitment to tasks that are important to the NZDA: 

• John Riley and Dulcie Riley, Hutt Valley Branch, for services to NZDA records, AHT records, and New Zealand's hunting history, literature and curation. 

• Mark Sarjeant, Waikato Branch, for services to Douglas Scoring and National Judging, including Competition Director and DS Custodian. 

• John Wills, Waikato Branch, for services to Douglas Scoring and National Judging as Chief Judge. 

• Malcolm Perry, Rotorua Branch, for services to competitive shooting. 

• Allan Jackson, Taupo Branch, for services to Sika Deer Research and promotion of the Sika Herd and Conservation. 

This issue features a short Q&A with three of the new honourees. 

John Riley – Hutt Valley Branch

Age: 82 

Can you please tell us a little about your background and how you first became involved with the NZDA?  

I started in the Boy Scouts and moved to tramping clubs, where I started to see deer and thought it would be a good idea to be able to shoot them. My father was a hunter in England, so I joined the deerstalkers. I then became a tramper, carrying a rifle for two years until I was taken in hand by Andy Gurney, who took me into the Tararuas. We got up onto the tops, and then he said, “Just sit down and look,” and while we glassed in amongst all the tussocks and flax, we saw seven deer that, if I’d have been by myself, would have left down in the gully, so I ended up shooting my first deer. Since then, I’ve had a fairly successful hunting career, but now I’m too old, so I’ve turned my life into looking after the Deerstalkers National Heritage Trust Library. 

What year did you join NZDA?

It would have been 1960. I was a foundation member of the Upper Hutt Branch, now called the Hutt Valley Branch. I’ve been a member for 60 years, serving on the committee and as secretary. 

What sparked your passion for hunting?  

I’ve always had a passion for the outdoors, and I enjoy going out into the bush, even if I don’t shoot anything or see anything. Just being out in the bush is so fantastic. It’s there to be enjoyed, but as I said, my legs aren’t what they used to be.  

What is your most memorable hunting moment? 

Any day on the West Coast on a sunny day is so remarkable that it’s sometimes hard to explain unless you are there. On the other hand, a rainy day on the (Wet) Coast is pretty terrible. 

When you think of hunters as conservationists, how important is our role in preserving natural wildlife?  

Many deerstalkers, including myself, look after predatory traplines. So, although we are hunters, we are also conservationists at heart. 

Are there any initiatives you’ve been directly involved with over the years around conservation? 

Setting up traplines. I’m a member of a local reserve where I have a trapline of about 40 DOC200s, which I maintained until the beginning of this year when I suffered a heart attack. I’m now starting to get back onto my feet and start looking after my traplines again. I also have another trapline behind my house, on another reserve with another 15 traps up there, which keeps me busy once a week. 

How important is the sense of community and camaraderie in the NZDA? Friend groups, etc., that you’ve developed as part of being an NZDA member. 

Some of the friends I’ve made in hunting circles have lasted all these years, and I believe it’s because we share a similar interest in being outdoors and enjoying nature. 

What advice would you give to someone new to hunting and considering joining the NZDA? 

Get out there, enjoy the outdoors, and make good friends. They will last all your life and support you. 

Regarding NZDA in the future, what would you love to see us become, do differently, grow, etc? 

I would love for us to become managers of wild, big game animals and the outdoors because it seems that no one else is capable or willing to do that. 

Dulcie Riley – Hutt Valley Branch

Age: 90

What year did you join NZDA?

1969 

Can you please tell us a little about your background and how you first became involved with the NZDA? 

I took a job with Telecom in 1969, and I saw this man walking across the yard and thought, “Hmm, I know his father.” Sure enough, it was John Reilly. Eventually, we got together and married in 1971, and he introduced me to hunting; we have been hunting together ever since. 

What’s been a standout experience you’ve had while hunting? 

On my first big hunt to the Wanganui River down south, where I got my first chamois, my brand-new pack broke. Shoelaces came in very handy!

What sparked your passion for hunting? 

I never had any interest in hunting. After about six months of working with John, he asked me one day, “How would you like to go for a hunt?” I thought that sounded intriguing. So, away we went. We never got anything then, but it was an experience, and I thought I could do this. At that stage, I didn’t know any other women who were hunting. I’ve since found out that there were a few, but at that stage, I didn't know of any. It suited me to go hunting, and that was it.

What is your most memorable hunt? 

That would be when we went down South to the Greenstone. There were four of us together, and lying in the tent in the morning, as everyone will know, nature calls. Off I go on my own, and as I looked out, I thought, bloody hell, there's 1, 2, 3, 4 deer out there! So, I rushed back in a panic, “Quick, quick, pass me my rifle”, to which John asked, “Do you want me to come with you?”.“No, this one’s mine!”,was my reply. So, I crossed the creek, back through the bush, and sat there waiting for the buck following his does into the area. I had plenty of time to sit down and steady myself, and that was it. I got him! A nice fallow buck. 

When you think of hunters as conservationists, how important is our role in preserving natural wildlife? 

It’s very important when you look at the bush in some areas and see what devastation can be caused by not effectively controlling animal numbers.  

Over the time you’ve been a member of the NZDA, what are some of the biggest changes you’ve noticed? 

I’ve seen it change a lot. I remember attending my first meeting with John. We walked in, and it was all male; there was the sound of chattering voices as we walked in, and then suddenly, there was silence. Everybody turned around and went, "Look, there's a woman in here”. But I was lucky; they all accepted me, and that was it. 

Do you have any advice for younger women considering joining the NZDA or getting into hunting? 

Go to it; it’s a wonderful life. The first big trip I made on my own was when I went down to the Greenstone, and after climbing a hill on my own and sitting down, I thought to myself, "Ah, peace”. It was absolutely amazing how relaxed and peaceful I felt, and I think everyone should experience that.  

How important is the sense of community and camaraderie in the NZDA? Friend groups, etc., that you’ve developed as part of being an NZDA member. 

It’s been amazing really. As a female in an all-male group, I was just accepted, and that was it. I was expected to do my share just as I expected them to do theirs in the campsites and that sort of thing, so it’s been great. I would love to see more women get involved with hunting; I now know two or three others who do it and are very successful - the more, the merrier to even the balance. 

What advice would you give to new hunters getting into hunting for the first time? 

First and foremost, join a club and learn from the members before you do anything stupid, like going out on your own and getting lost and/or hurt. 

Regarding NZDA in the future, what would you like to see us become? 

I would like to see a membership increase and more knowledge given out to the everyday person that we’re not just mad hunters but dedicated people. 

Is there anything you’d like to say to our NZDA members and magazine readers? 

I’d like to thank all those I’ve met up with through the years, and I hope to continue in the same way. Friendship is very, very important. 

Malcolm Perry – Rotorua Branch

Age: 86 years old

Can you please tell us a little about your background and how you first became involved with the NZDA? 

I joined the Auckland Branch sometime before 1962; I can verify I was a member in 1962 as I have a copy of Issue 1 of the original Wildlife Magazine in A5 format, the forerunner to the current H&W magazine. I was encouraged to join by a chap who eventually became my regular hunting associate along with a group of two or three others. I grew up on a farm, and my father owned a BSA Sportsman 15 .22 rifle, with which, as a 13-year-old, I shot rabbits on our farm. My father was not a hunter, nor anybody else in our family; my interest in hunting did not eventuate till after I had done my stint in compulsory military training and tasted Centrefire rifles, .303, of course, shortly after finishing CMT. I purchased a commercial cut-down P14 .303 rifle, which I owned for many years until it was stolen. 

With this new rifle, too high-powered for rabbits, I started looking for larger game. Our farm at the time had originally been part of the safety zone behind the Ardmore Range and was 70 acres cut off that land on Hunua Rd from Papakura. On the reserve, there were thought to be a few goats, so this is where I first investigated. Shortly after this, I joined the local NRA Rifle Club that had a range not far from Clevedon and only out to 300 yards. At the first prize giving I went to, I was awarded several silver spoons for achievements. I had no idea until many years later that this sport was an international sport. However, it was as a member of this club I met the chap who encouraged me to join the Auckland Branch. 

As I have mentioned, this was the early 60s, and a member who owned furniture removal trucks would organise party hunts in the Taupo area. The destination was Clements Mill, which I learned 30-odd years later had apparently not long been opened up. After several of these trips, the guy who joined me and was quite experienced started taking me to other areas. I had an American station wagon with lots of room, and sometimes others would join us. It got that way; in the end, my friend would ring on a Monday or Tuesday, “What time are we leaving Friday?”. In those days, there was not much in the way of conservation thought about as it was toward the end of culling, and in reading some of Philip Holden's books, I am pretty sure we had followed in his footsteps in one area we hunted. All of my hunting was in the North Island; I never managed to venture South, and my success rate was not all that high. 

Although I was Involved in deerstalking originally, when I got married at 30 years old to a Rotorua girl and moved to Rotorua after spending four years at Galatea, I transferred from the Auckland Branch to the Rotorua Branch. When the family started arriving, I became more involved in range shooting, Search and Rescue (SAR) and the Mountain Safety Council (MSC). With the MSC I got involved with volunteer firearms instruction, and as the person who instructed us was not interested, I started up the fortnightly safety lectures, something I did, it turned out, for 43 years. 

When you think of hunters as conservationists, how important is our role in preserving natural wildlife? 

Although conservation and herd management are very much at the fore these days, when I joined, it was just getting some traction, firstly with the Wapiti. I remember a meeting at the Auckland club rooms around 1962 when John Henderson spoke at length about the subject of the Wapiti Herd, something I knew very little about at that stage. These days, branches are getting involved in pest trapping for the benefit of our blue duck populations, other pest trapping and the possibility of getting involved in Wallaby control in the Bay of Plenty/ Rotorua area. I personally have not had much direct involvement in conservation work, but I do not agree with those groups who hold the belief that the NZDA is not involved in conservation. 

What advice would you give someone new to hunting and considering joining the NZDA?  

To somebody thinking of joining, why should you? There are more reasons to do so than when I joined. A major one for some people is the public liability insurance. We have a quarterly glossy magazine; recently, your membership can get you discounts, and perhaps the prospect of joining like-minded people. I have gained many friends through my membership: North Island, South Island and even in Australia. Last but not least, you may be interested in helping in conservation efforts or just adding weight to the association's advocacy efforts to keep our firearms, access, hunting herds, etc. 

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