ADA

THE ADA ANTLERED TROPHY REGISTER

By Martin Auldist

Mar 4, 2024

The author and Arthur Bentley measuring a top fallow deer trophy taken by me in Tasmania in 1972. Photo by Contributed

LOOKING BACK ADA Life Member, Peter Stuart

A look back at past ADA activities and successes.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

A highlight of every hunter’s life is the shooting of their first deer, mainly if it is a male and has antlers; a cause for celebration with family and friends, a visit to a taxidermist, venison in the kitchen and inevitably, the question arises “How do the antlers of my stag/buck compare to those of deer taken by other hunters?” It’s a question that is probably as old as hunting itself and one that has resulted in the development of numerous judging methods around the world: the CIC in Europe, the Boone and Crockett in North America, and the Douglas Measuring System in New Zealand and Australia being just three such.

When the Australian Deer Association was formed in 1969, Arthur Bentley in Melbourne and Gordon Alford in Sydney were perhaps the only hunters in the country who took an interest in scoring trophy deer heads using the Douglas System and keeping a record of the measurements of the different species.

To formalise the measuring of trophies and the keeping of records, the ADA Antlered Trophy Register was then established, and I took on the role of developing and managing the Register on behalf of the Association. Norman Douglas, the originator of the Scoring System, was contacted, and he supported us during our early days of development up until he died in 1989.

In 1972, the ADA mounted an Exhibition of Trophy Antlers at the Melbourne Showgrounds, which generated a lot of interest among deer hunters and the general public and gave trophy assessment a boost with a considerable number of trophies measured and added to the listings.

It was decided that the objective of the Register would be to record the antler growth of wild deer so the future potential of our deer species could be gauged. Any trophy was eligible for entry if it was free roaming when taken and known to have grown its antlers in the wild. It should be emphasised that the Register was all about the deer and not to glorify the lucky hunter who took a high-scoring trophy.

A network of trophy measurers was established to provide a service to hunters across Australia. Early contributors were Arthur Bentley (Vic), Gordon Alford (NSW), Myron Cause and Bernie Mascord (Qld), Jack Clark (SA) and Kevin Rayner (Tas), who provided score sheets from trophies that they measured. Over the following years, the list of trained scorers increased dramatically, with Ted Wohlers appointed to oversee their training and management and to arbitrate points of contention. John Milton and Jamie Hinton maintained the many records.

When Australian Deer was first published in February 1976, the Register contained sufficient records to include a ‘Top 10’ for sambar and red, fallow and hog deer. This was later expanded to include chital and rusa when legal hunting opportunities on these species became available and expanded again to a ‘Top 50’ as the number of records in the Register grew. In recent years, an exceptional trophy has been featured in every issue of this magazine, with a photo of the head and the Douglas scorecard supported by observations on the trophy.

In 1981, a second Antlered Game Exhibition was held at the Melbourne Showgrounds, which featured trophy heads from all the eastern states. This event was a resounding success, with many more trophies added to the Register and with great support from the hunting community and the general public. The Australian Deer Research Foundation published a pictorial record of the event that showed both the number and range of trophies presented and the professional way the event was staged. This book, which is now long out of print, is a rare collector’s item.

The ADA’s Trophy Register received international recognition in 1989 when Australian deer trophies were included in Roland Ward Records Of Big Game - All Continents Edition.

A third Antlered Game Exhibition and dinner was held in 2015 at Lardner Park near Warragul, Victoria. This exhibition, undoubtedly the finest gathering of deer trophies ever assembled in Australia, showcased the very best of the six deer species in the wild in Australia. While the trophies were exceptional, the quality of the taxidermy by artisans from right around the country was also of the highest standard and a credit to the artists!

Come 2023, the ADA’s Antlered Trophy Register contains many thousands of records of the six species of deer that occur in Australia, a mighty catalogue of measurement cards and photographs that also document the dates that trophies were taken, their states of origin, the names of the lucky hunters and the names of the official scorers.

A trophy, free-roaming and taken under fair chase conditions, is a very personal thing. It is something that brings back memories and pride in the achievement. Whether a trophy meets the minimum requirements for entry in the Register or not does not lessen its value to the successful hunter. Entry in the Register allows other hunters and interested parties to both enjoy and gauge the quality of our deer populations over time.

If you would like to have a trophy that you have taken scored, contact a local ADA branch for a list of accredited Trophy Measurers in your locality. Information on the requirements for entry in the Register is published in this magazine, which is available free to all ADA members and for purchase at newsagents. For a trophy to be entered in the Register, you will be asked to provide a copy of the Douglas scorecard along with a photo of the head.

EDITOR’S NOTE

Among all of the doom and gloom about the future of firearms ownership, hunting and game management in Australia there have been quite a few successes – successes that all too often go unrecognised by the great majority of hunters. These successes were invariably due the hard work of largely unsung heroes donating their time in organisations like the Australian Deer Association, Field and Game Australia and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia.

By knowing the history of where we have come from and of past successes, we can take heart that we are not without a voice in the hunting and deer debate and are able to influence our futures.

This article, and others in the series, describe some of the good work that has been done in the past, those that have taken a major role in this and how these successes continue to deliver to the present time. Hopefully, these stories will also encourage younger hunters to join one of the major hunting organisations (naturally we suggest that that is the Australian Deer Association) and to step up and ‘give it a go’ to influence our collective futures.