I was privileged to have worked for Charlie Whiting. My first stint as a hunter for the Forest Service was marked by the prevailing attitude of our field officers that we were useless hunters, unfit, hopeless around camp, not a patch on the good hunters that they were, couldn’t cook, nothing compared to the legendary hunters who they worked with and , really, very lucky to have a job. The job was great though, and mates I worked with are still lifelong mates.

Moving south, I called in to Rotorua where  Harry Vipond said if you worked in the Kaimais for that fellow you must be worth a try so he sent me to Wairoa to meet Charlie. It was a revelation that a field officer could be a really good bloke. He took me into the southern Urewera where I really enjoyed my hunting. There he gave me the first bit of advice which has stuck with me always. He said the good hunter is the bloke who knows the bush, the botany, the bird life, the geology, the hydrology, and the animals. Absolutely wanting to be a good hunter, I carried text books into the bush. I carried Lang and Blackwell into the Urewera,, the damp bending up all the pages. I couldn’t understand a word they had written. I had learned what I did know by taking one species a day and seeing how many I could find during that day. It was enough to impress the other hunters but it wasn’t till I found J T Salmon that I finally was able to learn properly.  These studies have given me a wider appreciation and enjoyment of the bush and mountain and , I believe, helped in my hunting success.

The next piece of advice from Charlie was when we were in Ruatahuna when he was sending me in with an airdrop into Hanamahi.  He said “ you know , Bill, the bloke who gets the most tails does the most work. Forget all this business of being a natural hunter, best vision, stalks like a shadow, super crafty at working out deer habits. It’s much simpler than that. The number of tails you get directly relates to how much work you’ve done.” 

I’ve found that these pearls of wisdom were spot on. Years later I was at a Deercullers reunion and discussing these points with Murray Potter , an old mate who had worked closely with Charlie for  years. Murray’s larconic comment was that Charlie was always quietly giving helpful hints.