In 1962 the New Zealand Forest Service published a 36-page booklet by Don Kiddie, “The Sika Deer in New Zealand”. It was the first information about Sika deer in New Zealand and based on hundreds of hours of observation and research from a skilled hunter. The booklet was for many years the only information about a relatively unknown breed of deer in New Zealand, which was gaining popularity with hunters as they presented a new challenge on the hunting scene. As a result he soon became known to every serious hunter in New Zealand. And the original booklet had to be reprinted several times.

From an early age Don was destined to become a hunter, his ability was honed from years of professional deer culling as well as his own recreational hunting. These skills allowed him to not only take the animals he sought but also to get close enough to take nearly all of the photographs in this book with out the use of modern telephoto lenses.

In this book he not only recounts his many years of professional hunting but also shares his observations of animal behaviour the effect animals have on the bush and the changing relationship between deer, the hunters and the environment.