Gordon Atkinson

John Mazey recalls:

Born in Westport in 1905 Gordon was the son of a bridge builder living in a location and at a time when recreation activities were often that of exploring and hunting in the local bush. From an early age a rifle was part of the men, starting with a .22 calibre used for small game hunting then later no doubt the famous .303 calibre used by our armed services during both world wars. For Gordon the rifle was initially a tool used regularly during the days and weeks when hunting for deer. In later years after appointment to the park, it became an essential tool used to reduce the increasing mobs of goats threatening the vegetation on the mountain. This threat to the park was far more serious than many people believed or accepted as the damage caused by an expanding goat population had serious consequences for the rich farmland surrounding the park.

His prowess as a deer hunter has been documented in a number of books written about the so-called 'golden era of hunting' when the aim was trophy heads. With many hunting trips into the headwaters of rivers such as the Whitcombe and Mikonui and further south in Fiordland, wet rugged bush and mountains were as familiar to him as a suburban street to the less adventurous. His greatest hunting achievement was a record 'trophy head' for a red deer in New Zealand.

Gordon served his time as a carpenter moving to By Nelson then in 1936 to Taranaki where his building experience led to the position of an inspector of scaffolding. At about this time his interest in the park became evident when he was appointed as an honorary ranger by the then Egmont National Park Board. So, by 1943 when appointed as the park ranger he already knew the park better than many local residents.