Innehållsförteckning för Edition 80 från Australian Hunter

A Land Rover Discovery 4 is far from the typical spotlighting rig, but that is what I drive everywhere, and at times I spotlight from it too. Spotlighting with a buddy or two has never posed a problem. But going out solo, or with my young children as observers, has always been a challenge. Consequently, I have missed plenty of opportunities at both small and large game while bringing the rifle into a position to shoot. About four years ago a Racken Rest at my local gunstore caught my attention. Unfortunately, the base of the device was 63cm long and as such would sit on the electric window and mirror controls in my Discovery, presenting an unnecessary and potentially expensive risk. While I toyed with the idea of shortening the…

Those of us in civilian life have little grasp of the intensity of military service and the lingering impact of that on the men and women who serve. While frontline combat roles carry an additional impact on those so engaged, there is no doubt that both combat and support personnel share the stresses and concerns of being deployed on active service in strange and hostile foreign lands, far from the support of family and friends. The military long ago realised that to function effectively on deployment they must forge a uniform, tight, introspective focus on the mission and maintaining battle readiness. Everybody on placement needs to keep busy, working towards the assignment’s goals. Sitting about, moping for home, is a counterproductive luxury that can sap the effectiveness of any unit.…

For the past two years South Australia has not had a quail season, the reason being the Environment Minister didn’t want to make a declaration with no abundance data. Hunters have been pulling their hair out at the fact the Minister wouldn’t declare a season for a species known to be highly abundant and with low hunting pressure (across SA stubble quail have roughly 70 million hectares of habitat they can call home). After discussions with the Environment Department throughout early and mid-2021 on the need to gather data for the Minister to reboot quail hunting in SA, it became clear to those involved that the Department was dragging its feet. It was as if the Minister’s own department didn’t feel extra data was needed and they were happy to…

Combine a penchant for Scandinavian knives with a desire to have a blade that is ‘just right’, and you will at some stage be on the search for a blacksmith. So, after going through my fair share of factory blades from the various Scandinavian producers, I found myself scouring the internet for someone who would be able to create a custom puukko-style knife. After talking to a couple of blacksmiths, I decided to ask Saku Honkilahti to make me a knife about a decade ago. Available pictures of his work looked impressive, he was pleasant to communicate with, does all parts of the knife in his own workshop and uses quality materials. And yes, that is all parts - even the leather sheaths that are custom-made for each knife are…

Contrary to the ‘politically correct’, but ‘totally incorrect’ doctrine of vocal vegans and animal liberation factions, even in these modern times, man as a species is still a hunter, as we have been for eons. The vast majority of us exhibit at least some of those hunter characteristics that come from deeply ingrained hunter instincts, which have been moulded over thousands of years of evolution. The truth is, that it has only been over the past 200 or so years that Western humans have not had to hunt to live, a mere blink in time. As we continue to evolve in our modern world, scientists agree that humans will still exhibit these hunting traits for at least the next 5000 years. That’s something for the vegans to reflect upon. These…

While most bushmen are loath to leave home without their trusty pocket folding knife, basic camping cutlery and edged tools are largely ignored by campers. A shame really, as we are gifted with more knives than ever, but the realities are that they are just a natural evolution of blade and handle styles that have evolved since the Stone Age. But every so often a ‘new’ knife stands out, something that manufacturers dream about because it means we buy it. Many hunters use their hunting knives as camp kitchen tools. During a hunt, an old mate removed a set of boar tusks with a rusty, blunt PUMA Skinner knife. Back at camp, while preparing tea, he was cutting up vegetables with the same blade. It was still covered in pig…

There was a time when I reckoned a Maglite flashlight was the bee’s knees when it came to torches. And in all fairness, perhaps it was, back in the day. However, both battery and light emitting diode (LED) technology have made big strides in recent years, as have interfaces. Who would have ever thought you would consider the interface a topic of discussion when talking about a flashlight? In past years, I had my preference for switch placement and I looked long and hard at battery life and availability, but that was about it. Only after doing some research for a battery powered light for a bicycle did I realise how much had changed. This was more than a decade ago, but things have progressed at lightning speed since then.…

I’ve been pretty busy gathering up the years lately. It seems at times that most people I know are younger than me. Don’t get me wrong, I still have a couple of safes full of rifles that need to be fed and exercised. As for hunting, well you just have to work smarter rather than harder. The thing is, I realised the other day that I have a lot more to look back on than it appears I have going forward. Not only that, but there’s quite a few of us out there. I began hunting in the traditional way, that is with a .22 rifle. They used to call them ‘pea rifles’ for some reason I could never understand. But they were then and still are a heap of…

Whenever I climbed from my car outside Dave’s place, I always became excited. He was a taxidermist, working from home and was constantly busy. Although he lived in a Johannesburg suburb, his sterling workmanship brought back memories of when I was a young boy growing up in the South African city of Durban. After school, instead of burrowing into my homework I used to visit Ivy’s Curio Shop. Here I would walk around gazing at the beautiful skins, rugs and mounts that adorned the walls, floor and counters. I recall one time when Dave opened the door with a warm greeting and I followed him to the small round table in his kitchen. “Wait, first come and see the leopard,” he said. I caressed the full mount of a female…

Back in the day, I regarded bow-hunting deer as maybe bordering on impossible but still a hunting challenge I could not resist. True, in 1998 when I first carried a bow into the Brisbane Valley ranges, success seemed a long way away. Admittedly, I worked my butt off before taking that first red stag and now, after many years of bowhunting both red and fallow deer, I can confidently state that it’s not really much easier. But it can be done. All that aside, the tactics and strategies I’ve learned could well be of real value to deer hunters of all persuasions. The point is that if these tactics have seen me get within arrow range of deer, they surely must assist both bow and rifle hunters. Telling it as…

To a lot of people this cartridge is probably not on their radar. It was, after all, specifically designed for Africa. More specifically for the German settlers there, most of whom could not afford the expensive rifles carried by well-heeled sporting types who hunted big game in the earlier part of the 20th Century. It’s actually been touted as being the definitive African cartridge. German cartridge designer Otto Bock was a realist who knew the plight of the struggling farmers populating much of German East Africa in those days. He realised that there was a great need for a cartridge that would be able to anchor big game that many of these farmers shot for meat, or just to keep them away from the crops they were trying to tease…

What’s the one thing we always carry as campers, hunters, bushwalkers, bird-watchers or fishers? The answer for most is a set of car keys. But if you’ve left your vehicle in the carpark and find yourself ‘geographically embarrassed’ in the great outdoors, these keys are unlikely to be much use to you (unless you’re a MacGyver). At a time like this, you may find yourself instead scrabbling through your pockets and backpack to locate something else to help bring a rescue party to your aid. Depending on who you are, and what you do outside, what you have available will vary. Many people attach a small button LED torch to their key fob – as an emergency signal for help at night, to guide their way around camp – or…

My fascination with knives started at an early age - my father gave me a Swiss Army knife when I was still in primary school and it was my favourite possession for many years. It accompanied me on every Cub Scouts trip, camping holiday and fishing venture. However, a lesson learned the hard way was about the need for lockback knives when pushing the blade into something. As years passed and with more experiences of fishing and hunting, the importance of having sharp blades grew. It is easy to become slightly obsessed with keeping knives as sharp as possible at all times. For many years I persisted with an oilstone, which did the job okay. But it relies on good hand-eye coordination (perhaps not everybody’s strong point) to ensure consistent…

It was build-up weather in the Top End. Another scorcher of a day with no chance of rain and even the wind felt like it could blister paint, it was that hot. So short walks and long drives were the order of the day. My face was already two shades redder than the Honda and I hadn’t even done anything. We had just rolled the Honda Pioneer 700 to a stop, near a narrow, shaded expanse of water when a large set of pointy ears caught our attention. It looked like a big wingnut and if the ears weren’t impressive enough, the boar attached to them having a midday nap was an absolute ripper. A quick whisper and a nod towards the rifle, started round one. Three minutes later, the…

Over the past decade I have devoted considerable effort into hunting wild dogs. In the northern tropics, wild dogs are increasing in numbers and take a heavy toll on livestock and native fauna. When I was first targeting wild dogs, I gathered a valuable starter’s kit of recommendations and guidance from my old friend Robbie, a full-time professional dogger. Since then, I have built on that knowledge, as a recent successful wild dog hunt demonstrates. A local grazier called to say he was missing a few calves and his breeding herd was gathered into the topmost part of the paddock. He had not seen any wild dogs, but the evidence pointed to their unwelcome presence. My hunting buddy, Peter, and I have taken numerous wild dogs from this property and…

Sometimes deer hunters are lucky, with the result being an embarrassment of venison descending upon our households. The increasing numbers of deer all over the country are contributing to this ‘good-quality problem’. After bagging a young sambar stag in alpine Victoria, hot on the heels of despatching five young fallow in Tasmania, I had the freezer choc-a-bloc. What to do? Having claimed to my wife Di for years that the main justification for my hunting was to provide food for the family, I badly needed to see the freezer space emptying as quickly as it had been filled. From a practical as well as from a political standpoint, I had to find more avenues for using-up my stock of frozen venison. Venison might be lean and tasty, but the recipes…

Whether you like walking around hunting varmints or shooting them from a distance using a rest or bipod, there’s quite a selection of cartridges, both factory and wildcat rounds, to do the job. Due to the volume of shooting varmint hunters usually do compared to pursuers of big game, sometimes factors such as availability of good quality brass if you’re a reloader, or obtainability and cost of rimfire and factory loaded centrefire ammunition will determine what cartridge is most suitable for your needs. Rimfires My first rimfire was an Anschutz .22 Magnum. For a new shooter this is a top choice because the .22 Magnum is good on foxes, cats and devastating on rabbits. The Anschutz was accurate but I would have preferred a five-round clip rather than four with…

Once every so often, you come across a knife you just have to try. For me, having spent most of my childhood in Europe, something with the Victorinox name on it has an irrational draw. The quintessential pocket knives they produce are known to almost every boy with an interest in knives. Yet for me, even as a kid, the appeal of their pocket knives quickly waned once I took one into the bush. Refined and noteworthy in an urban environment, it was simply not made for the sort of use a knife sees when out hunting. However, with a name like the Hunter Pro M Alox and a description of it being ‘perfect for everyday adventures in the great outdoors or the city’, Victorinox sounded like it was onto…

Weatherby Vanguards have been a best-selling rifle in Australia since they were introduced. The latest version to cross our shores is sure to build on that popularity. This is the Kakadu model, a Weatherby with a distinct Aussie flavour. TSA Outdoors are Australian distributors for Weatherby and they provided Australian Hunter with a new Kakadu rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor for testing, along with a selection of Fiocchi ammunition. Rifle Without scope, fittings, ammo or sling, the Weatherby Kakadu weighs 3.23kg and is 1120mm in length. This barrel is a fluted, slimline sporter profile and the stock is synthetic. The stock features an earthy green two-tone camo pattern, and the metalwork is all Cerakoted in what looks like a desert tan. The floorplate includes a distinctive Southern Cross surrounding the Weatherby…

My hunting buddy Peter and I devote a fair bit of time into hunting the wild dogs in our area. These dogs wreak havoc on farm livestock and native fauna alike. Not content with eating carrion, or their own kills, they regularly go on slaughter sprees to slay and maim anything they can catch. That includes a lot of cows, calves, pademelons, wallabies, tree-kangaroos and cassowary chicks. In trying to catch up with and deal with these predators we make extensive use of trail cameras. These are a wonderful asset for determining just what predators are about and when they are raiding the farms and wildlife refuges. However, the trail camera video and images are often frustrating as well, in that they show the most troublesome alpha dogs and large…

I try to be a minimalist and not carry too much kit when out hunting. So, I am constantly refining and altering what I lug when on foot. What I cart depends on the location and the game. At the barest minimum, for a short-notice mission, I will involve only my rifle and a few rounds of ammo. However, normally I try to include a bit of kit. Rather than convey everything I might need, I pack what is specific to my essentials on the day. To do this successfully requires a degree of organisation. Being able to hunt within a few minutes’ drive of my home led me to becoming a little complacent and I started to bring less and less with me. Then, in the space of a…

The question of group size and the number of shots that are used to shoot any group opens up veritable minefields of opinion, folklore and plain misinformation. Everyone has a correct evaluation. Group size really came under pressure following the formation of the Benchrest Association in the USA on a formal basis in 1947. Some of the shooters of the day simply refused to accept convention and set out to improve rifle accuracy. When you look at today’s groups, I think it is fair to suggest they have succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Along the way they have forced rifle manufacturers to lift their standards. Exactly just when Minute of Angle (MOA) became the holy grail of rifle shooters I am unable to say, but after many years it has…