Game Call Hunting in Tokachi in Pursuit of Yezo Deer
YAYOI ARIMOTO + NOZOMU ONODERA
ARTIST
YAYOI ARIMOTO + NOZOMU ONODERA
Game Call Hunting in Tokachi in Pursuit of Yezo Deer
UPDATE：2021.2.12
I arrived in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido in autumn. Upon learning that Onodera would go on a game call hunt in Tokachi together with local hunters and Maya Endo, who is also a hunter and Onodera’s disciple, I decided to follow and take pictures. The deer that inhabit Hokkaido are Yezo deer, a different type from the ones that Onodera usually hunts on the Oshika Peninsula. Their appearance as well as size are entirely different. Their meat qualities must also be different. Above all, I was surprised and overwhelmed by the difference in the scale of the land in Hokkaido. Whether it’s on flat land or in a valley, I couldn’t move around with the sense of scale that I had acquired on the Oshika Peninsula. What this means is that we have to reset our sense of scale if we are to hunt prey.
I could capture up-close Onodera hunting deer for three days. Usually, Onodera would immediately hit a vital spot of the deer he was going after, but there were several occasions in Tokachi where he missed his prey at the very end. Observing him, even I, as an amateur, strongly felt the importance of getting used to the hunting ground.
Whenever he missed the deer that could be sensed nearby, I found myself disappointed and feeling an unexpected emotional reaction. When the prey that I detect with my eye and ear manages to escape, I feel so frustrated that I’m not satisfied until it is caught. I wonder if this is how the psychology of animals function. It was very interesting to observe my own physical and psychological reactions during the course of the hunting activities.
After slowly entering a thicket of bamboo trees as tall as him, and taking up a position overlooking the sloping valley, Onodera blew a deer whistle. He imitated the sound of a stag call. After about fifteen minutes of holding his breath and waiting in the bush so as not to make a noise or stand out, Onodera held his gun for a moment. Although I had no idea of the deer’s whereabouts, a male deer was apparently approaching us very closely. The deer, however, noticed us before we did, instantly leaving the area with just a slight sound and a rustle of the bamboo leaves. We stuck around for a while, changing locations several times but couldn’t catch any deer.
The next day, Onodera blew a deer whistle a few times in the plains and in the mountains, but didn’t have any luck with encountering the big stag he was hunting. While it was also partly a question of the season, I thought that I must not forget that, even in Tokachi, it’s not Onodera’s style to catch as many deer as possible every day.
