Friday, 31 May 2013
Bow hunters feeding starving families
By Jenifer Dixon
Every year, members of the grassroots hunting organization Back Yard Bow Pro (BYBP) donate thousands of pounds of venison to local charity groups to help alleviate hunger in two North Carolina counties. It’s a popular program that organizers hope will spread across the nation to help hungry families.
This local non-profit group, founded in Weaverville, N.C., has come up with a formula that helps everybody. They help the hungry by donating fresh meat to charities. They help landowners by reducing the excess population of deer that destroy much of the locally grown organic produce. They help hunters by giving them not only a larger purpose to the hunt but by integrating their function into the community.
The concept was literally born in the back yard as Joe Lasher and Adam Ellwood of BYBP and Billy Stewart of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry discussed ways to help the community in their backyard.
“It takes a community to combat hunger through hunting,” said Lasher, the founder of BYBP.
Lasher talks of hunting and fishing as a heritage of the people of his area. And given that one out of four children and one out of four seniors are “food insecure,” meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from, the need is great. But simultaneously, the program helps people to understand the role of the hunter.
“The greatest goal is that we want to help our friends, our family and those less fortunate, because that is what the hunting heritage is all about,” says Lasher.
“Hunt to help” might be the motto of this organization, which has provided some 200K meals to the needy since 2000 and has grown in two-and-a-half years to more than 24 states. One of the intended consequences of this community outreach has been to create bonds in the community and have different elements of the community—hunters, landowners and hungry families—working together. It helps to recreate what was once a staple of American life: community self-sufficiency. It also stresses the importance of changing the negative concept that many have today of the hunter, not realizing that it has been hunters, fishermen and farmers who have traditionally kept communities alive.
Marcella Morgan of Big Ivy Community Center in Barnardsville, N.C. speaks glowingly of the program and how the venison is included in packages provided by the Christmas Angel Project and winds up in everything from spaghetti sauce to hamburger helper.
But that’s not all. The venison provided by BYBP has moved into the gourmet world as well. Chef Derek St. Germain, the regional director of BYBP, coordinates with local organic farms and cooks gourmet meals with what once was derisively called “freezer fodder.” The first attendees were hunters, but over the years non-hunting members of the community have been attending these community meals sponsored by BYBP.
Hunters in the program are certified. They submit to a criminal background check and agree to a code of ethics. They also agree to hand over a certain proportion of their hunt to charitable organizations.
It’s a win-win situation for all involved. Participants celebrate their heritage and enjoy the bounty of nature that surrounds us. And many more sit down to a nourishing, satisfying meal.
Jenifer Dixon is the author of The Holy Land Unveiled, has a B.A. cum laude in English literature and history from George Washington University and has worked for a number of media outlets and at several D.C. think tanks including the Institute for Public Accuracy and Women Strike for Peace.
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Maxtrax...getting yourself out of the mire
GETTING bogged in mud or sand or stuck on the wrong side of a gully can be an almost weekly occurrence for those of us who like to live close to the ground. I've always been a 'jack and pack' type of person. If my vehicle is stuck, I jack it up, pack underneath with rocks and wood and attempt to drive out. Sometimes I have had to repeat that a few times before I'm clear. (On one memorable night I spent from midnight until 5am working to move 10 metres and that was with help...).
Anyway all that might be about to change. Hand-On Hunting has been given a pair of Maxtrax to destroy.
So what are Maxtrax? Well this is how the story goes according to www.maxtrax.com.au
Brad McCarthy, author of Dirty Weekends "The Essential 4WD Guides", devised the idea for MAXTRAX in 2001 after a particularly stressful incident on a remote north Queensland beach where he almost lost his bogged vehicle to the incoming tide, despite being equipped with all of the traditional recovery equipment. Brad's passion for the Australian bush, exploration and adventure sent him out, often solo throughout Queensland, to research bush tracks and locations to feature in his guide books.
From his experiences, Brad recognized the need for a system that makes vehicle recovery and extraction a safe, simple, one-person task and eliminates the need for any outside assistance such as towing, snatching, or winching. MAXTRAX came from Brad's idea to develop a foolproof and fail-safe quality Australian made product to make extracting or recovering a stranded or bogged vehicle a safe, simple, quick and easy procedure. Due to Brad's experience, ingenuity and "hands-on" research, the idea of an alternative and innovative vehicle recovery device that was safe, simple, quick and easy to use eventually came to fruition in the form of MAXTRAX.
We tested several types and grades of super tough nylons to create a lightweight, yet durable product that provides superior performance with our focus on the key issues of strength, effectiveness, usability and aesthetics. MAXTRAX was trialled countless times using typical (and not so typical) bogging scenarios and after many late nights and product refinements, MAXTRAX was ready to launch onto the Australian 4WD accessories market in late 2005. Not long after, MAXTRAX won Australian 4WD Monthly Magazine's award for Best New Product under $500.
Since then MAXTRAX have been discovered by 4WD adventurers around the world as the safe, simple, quick and easy method of vehicle recovery. MAXTRAX are now widely available around Australia at most ARB, TJM, Opposite Lock, BCF, and Supercheap Auto stores as well as a number of independent retailers, and from stockists in over 30 countries including the USA, Chile, South Africa, Egypt, France, England, Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia and UAE, to name just a few. Our customers now include mining, energy and exploration companies, government agencies, 4WD trainers and tour operators, rural fire services, State Emergency Service branches, off road rally drivers and the United Nations.
In November 2010, the new MAXTRAX MKII won 2 Global Media Awards for Best New Product at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, NV, USA. Not a bad result for a 5-year-old 'little Aussie company' on its first visit to SEMA!
All well and good but you'd expect the company to say stuff like that wouldn't you... Ours will be taken out pig catching in some swampy mountain country this weekend for a trial. It's not that I don't believe the advertising. It's just that if there is a way to break gear and ruin reputations, I can find it. I am not an 'equipment person' so I tend to push things to their limits because my focus is on whatever I am hunting rather than the gear I am using to do it.
I've had the Maxtrax out of the box for a bit of a play already. They certainly look the goods and to tell the truth I can't wait until I feel the truck sink and the wheels start to spin.
How many times in your outdoor life can you imagine saying that?
Equipment supplied by
Inverell 4wd Centre 250 Byron Street Inverell, NSW 2360 (02) 6721 2516
Review to come
Low-key start for NSW duck hunters
29 May 2013
A new committee has been established to set annual quotas and conduct audits relating to bird hunting, while callers, decoys and retriever dogs are now not only legal but encouraged as best practice.
“The utilisation of any game birds harvested will also be actively promoted,” NSW Game Council chairman John Mumford said.
He described the new system as “a planned, evidence-based, best practice management program”.
“It’s just a more sensible way of doing things,” he said.
The Game Council is taking on more responsibility for game bird management in NSW, which was previously handled by the National Parks and Wildlife Service under the state’s duck mitigation program.
Traditional duck hunting was effectively banned under the Carr Government, but the passage of the Game and Feral Animal Control Further Amendment Act 2012 will re-introduce duck hunting under a system that puts limits on where, when and how many ducks can be hunted, but not in the usual form of open seasons.
Instead, in areas where the new Native Game Bird Management Committee considers populations need to be managed, licensed hunters will be allowed to shoot them.
“The application process has been streamlined through Game Council, which frees up resources to better help our farmers,” Mr Mumford said.
At least one ongoing hurdle remains for NSW hunters: opportunities to sit the compulsory waterfowl identification test (WIT) are currently limited. They are conducted by the Victorian government, the Victorian-based Field & Game Australia, and the NSW NPWS out of its Griffith office.
While clubs can organise a tester to come to them, it is rare that NSW hunters have convenient access to WITs.
However, this is expected to change during 2014, when the Game Council finishes developing a new system for WITs as it takes on full responsibility for game bird management.
All hunters must have an R-licence endorsed for game bird hunting, issued by the Game Council.
Birds that may be hunted are:
“The utilisation of any game birds harvested will also be actively promoted,” NSW Game Council chairman John Mumford said.
He described the new system as “a planned, evidence-based, best practice management program”.
“It’s just a more sensible way of doing things,” he said.
The Game Council is taking on more responsibility for game bird management in NSW, which was previously handled by the National Parks and Wildlife Service under the state’s duck mitigation program.
Traditional duck hunting was effectively banned under the Carr Government, but the passage of the Game and Feral Animal Control Further Amendment Act 2012 will re-introduce duck hunting under a system that puts limits on where, when and how many ducks can be hunted, but not in the usual form of open seasons.
Instead, in areas where the new Native Game Bird Management Committee considers populations need to be managed, licensed hunters will be allowed to shoot them.
“The application process has been streamlined through Game Council, which frees up resources to better help our farmers,” Mr Mumford said.
At least one ongoing hurdle remains for NSW hunters: opportunities to sit the compulsory waterfowl identification test (WIT) are currently limited. They are conducted by the Victorian government, the Victorian-based Field & Game Australia, and the NSW NPWS out of its Griffith office.
While clubs can organise a tester to come to them, it is rare that NSW hunters have convenient access to WITs.
However, this is expected to change during 2014, when the Game Council finishes developing a new system for WITs as it takes on full responsibility for game bird management.
All hunters must have an R-licence endorsed for game bird hunting, issued by the Game Council.
Birds that may be hunted are:
- Australian Shelduck or Mountain Duck (Tadorna tadornoides)
- Australian Wood Duck or Maned Duck (Chenonetta jubata)
- Black Duck or Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)
- Blue-winged Shoveler or Australasian Shoveler (Anas rhynchotis)
- Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea)
- Grass Whistling Duck or Plumed Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna eytoni)
- Grey Teal (Anas gibberifrons)
- Hardhead Duck or White-eyed Duck (Aythya australis)
- Pink-eared Duck (Malacorhynchus membranaceus)
- Water Whistling Duck (Dendrocygna arcuata).
NZ hunters on the payroll
THE Victorian National Parks Association has defended the $42,000 Parks Victoria payment to New Zealand hunters to kill 23 goats.
And said more professional hunters should be used for pest control work, particularly when they have an opportunity to eradicate a population.
Yet no Australian shooters were given the chance to tender for the Parks Victoria work, documents obtained under Freedom of Information by The Weekly Times have revealed.
The revelation has infuriated local residents, who claim other feral animals pose a bigger problem in the Snowy River area and that the money was misspent.
The $1826-a-head cull was done by New Zealand company Backcountry Contracting in May last year to eradicate feral goats near McKillops Bridge, which adjoins the Alpine and Snowy River National Parks.
Parks Victoria hired the professional hunters on the recommendation of invasive animal expert John Parkes, also from New Zealand, who wrote a report for the government on the goat problem.
The project involved four hunters with four dogs, who shot 23 goats and 15 wild pigs over about 10 days.
Parks Victoria wanted to eradicate the entire estimated population of 60 goats.
VNPA spokesperson Phil Ingamels said hiring professional hunting company Backcountry Consulting to eradicate the goat population in the Snowy River National Park region was a sensible idea.
“Feral animal control is best done by highly professional hunters, and most effective when small populations are completely eradicated before they spread,” Mr Ingamels said.
“This saves a great deal of money in the long term."
The New South Wales branch of the Association recently called on their state government to hire professional hunters to cull feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
The FOI documents also revealed Parks Victoria judged local accredited Sporting Shooters Association members did not to have the capability to assist with the cull program.
“It is possible to use accredited, professional standard amateur hunters, but only if they are part of a strategic pest control program planned and supervised by the land manager,” Mr Ingamels said.
“Parks Victoria needs a considerable increase in pest control funding, so carefully targeted pest control programs can be expanded across the state.
“Unstrategic sport shooting, as currently happens with feral deer, has not been successful in reducing the size or range of populations. It generally has the opposite effect.”
Weekly Times Now reported earlier today, that the FOI documents reveal the only other company considered for the work was from the US.
One document said "no equivalent contractor can be sourced within Australia that we are aware of".
It also outlined how Parks Victoria evaded the standard competitive tendering process.
"A competitive process has not been completed as Backcountry Contractors (sic) are specialised contractors that cannot be sourced within Australia."
This has been disputed by Daniel Lewer, director of NSW pest management company Hunter Land Management.
Mr Lewer said there were many companies in Australia, such as his, that should have been given the opportunity to tender for the work.
"There is no reason an Australian company couldn't have done it," he said.
"There is no reason an Australian company couldn't have done it," he said.
An email from Parks Victoria outlined how it decided not to use local qualified volunteer Sporting Shooters Association members as they did not have the capacity to perform the cull.
This was despite about 60 East Gippsland SSAA members being accredited for crown land, pest-control work.
It is understood SSAA Victoria, which assists Parks Victoria with pest control under a memorandum of understanding, was not consulted about this project.
SSAA Victoria spokesman Colin Wood would not confirm this but said some elements of the project could have been handled better by Parks Victoria.
The American company approached by Parks Victoria, Native Range, recommended Backcountry Consulting, and continued to act as an intermediary in the deal.
One Native Range employee, identified as "Norm" in the FOI emails, and believed to be company president Norm McDonald, enthusiastically endorsed Backcountry Consulting.
"It's not rocket science but ... (the) Kiwis have been doing it for a long time," he wrote in one email.
In another email "Norm" expressed his dislike of Australian wildlife, asking if there were any kangaroos or wallabies in the goat-cull area.
Brush-tailed rock wallabies in East Gippsland's Snowy River region are critically endangered and compete with goats for food and shelter.
The FOI documents include an email from Parks Victoria East Gippsland project manager Matt Holland in August 2011 to "Norm", in which he discussed how to fast-track the Kiwi company into being a preferred supplier to the government.
"Normally contractors need to be on this panel for us to be able to use them," Mr Holland wrote.
"Luckily this panel is up for review ... if it appears everyone is happy, you will need to get on this panel, obviously this may open up more work in the future."
Deddick Valley livestock producer Robyn Fry, who shares a boundary with the national park, said feral pigs were a bigger issue than goats.
She said pigs were destructive and a threat to lambs and she had filed complaints to state government agencies to no avail.
"I cant understand why there is so much fuss about the goats. They are the least of our worries,'' she said.
Bonang sheep and beef producer Robert Belcher said he was overrun with wild dogs, pigs and deer and described the goat cull as a "total waste of time, total waste of money".
Parks Victoria spokesman Ron Waters defended the use of the New Zealand shooters and said they wanted a guaranteed outcome.
"Backcountry had strong expertise in this type of project, and a clearly-established strategy to ensure the desired result," Mr Waters said.
"The goat project was implemented because they believed they could eradicate the population.
"Backcountry Contracting was successful in eradicating the local goat population, this has been confirmed through the use of radio tracking techniques.''
Goat cull misses the mark
Weekly Times Editorial May 29, 2013
EAST Gippsland locals were surprised when they heard Parks Victoria had brought in NZ hunters to cull goats near McKillops Bridge.
And the fact Australian companies were not even given a chance to tender for the work is a disgrace.
A simple Google search will bring up several local companies who specialise in pest control and - more importantly - they have experience in Australian conditions.
It appears as if Parks Victoria was in such a rush to spend this money that they bypassed their own rules on competitive tendering.
And they dismissed the use of local volunteer Sporting Shooter Association members, some of whom had helped track the goats by installing cameras with Parks Victoria staff.
These local SSAA members are accredited and many are familiar with the environment in East Gippsland, yet they were not even consulted about the cull.
No one is denying feral goats can be a problem, but there are also other pests in the Snowy River and Alpine National Parks that seem to be ignored.
Wild pigs, wild dogs and Samba deer are all over this region yet Parks Victoria threw all its cash at the goat problem.
It's no wonder people on the land have a pretty dim view of government agencies in charge of managing large parts of our bush and parks.
No doubt they will be shocked at how much this venture cost, which resulted in Kiwi company Backcountry Consulting killing just 23 goats.
Parks Victoria forked out $42,000 - or $1826 a head - on the feral goats.
All that money went offshore. Not a cent of it went into our tax system through GST.And the fact Australian companies were not even given a chance to tender for the work is a disgrace.
A simple Google search will bring up several local companies who specialise in pest control and - more importantly - they have experience in Australian conditions.
It appears as if Parks Victoria was in such a rush to spend this money that they bypassed their own rules on competitive tendering.
And they dismissed the use of local volunteer Sporting Shooter Association members, some of whom had helped track the goats by installing cameras with Parks Victoria staff.
These local SSAA members are accredited and many are familiar with the environment in East Gippsland, yet they were not even consulted about the cull.
No one is denying feral goats can be a problem, but there are also other pests in the Snowy River and Alpine National Parks that seem to be ignored.
Wild pigs, wild dogs and Samba deer are all over this region yet Parks Victoria threw all its cash at the goat problem.
It's no wonder people on the land have a pretty dim view of government agencies in charge of managing large parts of our bush and parks.
Hunting for a better education
A local community in New Zealand is hosting a family-friendly hunting competition to raise money for its school … and no one is raging against it!
As you’ll read in Snap Shots this week, the Lake Tekapo community’s four-day festival will give away $9000 worth of prizes in a competition that costs up to $50 to enter and targets more than a dozen species, from eel and duck to wallaby and red stag. They’re even giving away a rifle.
And it’s all for the good of the kiddies.
Hunting for a better education – I like the sound of that and all its potential interpretations. Charity organisers, feel free to use it as a slogan if you plan a similar fundraiser.
"We are hoping that the event will attract a lot of families especially with the wide range of classes and prizes and being open to all ages," Lake Tekapo event organiser Tim Rayward told the South Canterbury Herald.
"We are hoping the younger hunters will have a go at getting the heaviest rabbit or hare. It gives them a good chance at getting a prize."
And you know what? No one appears to be railing against it, screaminging about turning children into mass murderers or creating US gun cultures or shooting innocent picnickers.
Contrast that with the frenzied end-of-the-world viciousness of the rabble trying to shut down Narooma’s HuntFest, an event that’s primarily an exhibition of hunting photography, videos and game food on the NSW South Coast. There'll be no firearms, let alone shooting.
I’m sure you’re all aware of it: elected representatives telling the most outrageous lies about hunters and hunting, linking US street-gang gun violence with law-abiding hunters here; individual hunters being targeting in their own homes by anonymous bullies, and their children being vilified. (See the related stories listed on the right if you're not up to speed on this one.)
New Zealand’s gun laws prove what a farce ours are, and its communities demonstrate what an insanely twisted mindset has been allowed to develop in parts of our society.
The NZ media reports on the Lake Tekapo hunt in a positive way, while ours regurgitates the unfounded paranoia of gun-hating animal rights loonies.
It makes you sick. But I hear the clear air of New Zealand is very good for your health and wellbeing.
As you’ll read in Snap Shots this week, the Lake Tekapo community’s four-day festival will give away $9000 worth of prizes in a competition that costs up to $50 to enter and targets more than a dozen species, from eel and duck to wallaby and red stag. They’re even giving away a rifle.
And it’s all for the good of the kiddies.
Hunting for a better education – I like the sound of that and all its potential interpretations. Charity organisers, feel free to use it as a slogan if you plan a similar fundraiser.
"We are hoping that the event will attract a lot of families especially with the wide range of classes and prizes and being open to all ages," Lake Tekapo event organiser Tim Rayward told the South Canterbury Herald.
"We are hoping the younger hunters will have a go at getting the heaviest rabbit or hare. It gives them a good chance at getting a prize."
And you know what? No one appears to be railing against it, screaminging about turning children into mass murderers or creating US gun cultures or shooting innocent picnickers.
Contrast that with the frenzied end-of-the-world viciousness of the rabble trying to shut down Narooma’s HuntFest, an event that’s primarily an exhibition of hunting photography, videos and game food on the NSW South Coast. There'll be no firearms, let alone shooting.
I’m sure you’re all aware of it: elected representatives telling the most outrageous lies about hunters and hunting, linking US street-gang gun violence with law-abiding hunters here; individual hunters being targeting in their own homes by anonymous bullies, and their children being vilified. (See the related stories listed on the right if you're not up to speed on this one.)
New Zealand’s gun laws prove what a farce ours are, and its communities demonstrate what an insanely twisted mindset has been allowed to develop in parts of our society.
The NZ media reports on the Lake Tekapo hunt in a positive way, while ours regurgitates the unfounded paranoia of gun-hating animal rights loonies.
It makes you sick. But I hear the clear air of New Zealand is very good for your health and wellbeing.
CONSULTATION - Bowfishing carp. Submission due July 31
Proposal: Permit bow fishing for carp in certain, specified inland waters.
The NSW Game Council and the Australian Bowhunters Association has proposed that some opportunities be made for bow fishing for carp in a controlled manner and in specific waterways. The Game Council proposes that only persons with a current NSW R-Licence authorised with category ‘Bowfishing’ and a NSW Fishing Fee Receipt (licence) would be able to undertake the activity.
Bow fishing for carp is an activity which involves the removal of carp from waters using the method of archery. A bow and arrow (incorporated within the definition of a spear gun) cannot currently be used to take fish in inland waters.
Carp are an introduced freshwater species that have been declared noxious in NSW. They can have a significant impact on freshwater ecosystems through their detrimental impacts on vegetation, native fish and water quality. It is not illegal for recreational fishers to immediately return carp to the water where they are captured, however DPI encourages fishers to retain and utilise any carp caught or dispose of humanely as they are a pest species. There is a concerted effort by all state governments and territories to control the spread of carp.
A NSW Carp Control Plan outlines actions to stop further spread of the pest species, control the size of populations and increase the involvement of the community in the removal of carp from our waterways. Certain, specified inland waters would be identified as open to bow fishing specifically for carp only. An associated risk assessment would need to be undertaken to guide the development of specific operational and spatial rules and regulations for this option, as proposed by the NSW Game Council and Australian Bowhunters Association.
Making a submission
Public comment is now invited on the options in this discussion paper.
Submit the Review of NSW recreational saltwater and freshwater fishing rules submission form:
Online www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/reviews/fishingrules
Post NSW Fishing Rules Review NSW Department of Primary Industries PO Box 7526 SILVERWATER NSW 1811
Email fish.review@dpi.nsw.gov.au (as a scanned attachment)
Fax (02) 9741 4893See more
The NSW Game Council and the Australian Bowhunters Association has proposed that some opportunities be made for bow fishing for carp in a controlled manner and in specific waterways. The Game Council proposes that only persons with a current NSW R-Licence authorised with category ‘Bowfishing’ and a NSW Fishing Fee Receipt (licence) would be able to undertake the activity.
Bow fishing for carp is an activity which involves the removal of carp from waters using the method of archery. A bow and arrow (incorporated within the definition of a spear gun) cannot currently be used to take fish in inland waters.
Carp are an introduced freshwater species that have been declared noxious in NSW. They can have a significant impact on freshwater ecosystems through their detrimental impacts on vegetation, native fish and water quality. It is not illegal for recreational fishers to immediately return carp to the water where they are captured, however DPI encourages fishers to retain and utilise any carp caught or dispose of humanely as they are a pest species. There is a concerted effort by all state governments and territories to control the spread of carp.
A NSW Carp Control Plan outlines actions to stop further spread of the pest species, control the size of populations and increase the involvement of the community in the removal of carp from our waterways. Certain, specified inland waters would be identified as open to bow fishing specifically for carp only. An associated risk assessment would need to be undertaken to guide the development of specific operational and spatial rules and regulations for this option, as proposed by the NSW Game Council and Australian Bowhunters Association.
Making a submission
Public comment is now invited on the options in this discussion paper.
Submit the Review of NSW recreational saltwater and freshwater fishing rules submission form:
Online www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/reviews/fishingrules
Post NSW Fishing Rules Review NSW Department of Primary Industries PO Box 7526 SILVERWATER NSW 1811
Email fish.review@dpi.nsw.gov.au (as a scanned attachment)
Fax (02) 9741 4893See more
20,000 hunters licensed and 178 forests re-declared for hunting
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
Media release: Game Council NSW
There’s never been a better time to hunt in NSW – and the 20,000 NSW hunters who hold current game hunting licences issued by Game Council NSW couldn’t agree more.
The 20,000 licences milestone, reached at the beginning of May, reflects the commitment of the hunting community to... support the tightest public land hunting regulations in the country.
“Our licensing system was introduced in 2002 and the uptake of licences hasn’t stopped growing since,” Chairman John Mumford said earlier today.
Game Council has been at the forefront of an important cultural change in the hunting community. Hunters want to be responsible, legal and insured and are demonstrating a level of professionalism that has not been seen in the community before.
“For me this all about hunter education,” Mr Mumford said. “This milestone means that 20,000 hunters have received important training focused on firearms safety, legislative compliance, animal welfare and hunter ethics. They have committed themselves to ongoing education and to uphold a comprehensive Code of Practice.”
The record licence peak has coincided with the recent re-declaration of 178 State forests for a further 10 years.
“These re-declarations demonstrate the Government’s continued support for licensed hunters and reflect the impeccable safety record of public land hunting in NSW - in over 80,000 hunting days there have been no serious injuries or fatalities involving hunters, workers or the public.”
Game Council licensed hunters have removed over 91,000 game and feral animals from public land in NSW, with numbers expected to exceed 100,000 in a few months. They also cover all their own costs and are estimated to contribute over $1.3 million annually to the NSW economy.
-ends-
Field & Game Australia welcomes new Game Management Authority
Tuesday, May 7th, 2013
Media release: Field & Game Australia
Field and Game Australia (FGA) welcomes the Coalition Government’s decision to bring world-class game management practise to Victoria through the establishment of a statutory game management authority.
In the 2013-14 budget announced today, the Victorian Government has alloc...ated $8.2 million over four years (commencing July 1, 2014) to establish and operate a new independent authority to improve the effectiveness of game management and promote responsible game hunting.
“Due to the increasing popularity of hunting, a stand-alone authority is now necessary to properly focus on scientific research, management of game habitats and hunter education and opportunity,” FGA Chief Executive Rod Drew said.
“This approach to game management is consistent with established best-practise models implemented in New Zealand and New South Wales that have demonstrated positive public benefit outcomes.”
This decision by the Coalition Government recognises the positive role Victorian hunters have played in the management of game and pest species, on both public and private land, as well as their “hands-on” conservation projects over many decades.
“FGA is particularly proud of its 50-plus years of wetland conservation works, and looks forward to working with the new authority to further enhance the environmental values of game habitats, particularly on State Game Reserves,” Mr Drew said.
Victorian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Peter Walsh today said the establishment of the game management authority will better co-ordinate game management efforts and improve opportunities for game hunting across Victoria, with the funding allocation in this year’s Budget meaning a total of $17.6 million will be spent on game management in Victoria over the next four years.
Mr Drew concluded by saying that the sustainable use of game in Victoria by hunters is totally consistent with directions from the international conservation community: UN World Commission on Environment and Development, the IUCN, CITES, the “Wise-Use” principles of the Ramsar Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
-ends-
Americans are hunting and eating wild pigs
The Economist
ON THE downside, America’s 6m or so feral pigs are dangerous pests armed with sharp tusks, short tempers and large appetites.
A single herd, or “sounder”, can wreck a corn crop or leave a meadow looking like a moonscape. They like to wallow in cool water and have fouled fishing rivers and swimming holes in dozens of states since an explosion in their numbers over the past 20 years.
The hogs, descendants of colonial-era livestock and, more recently, European wild boars introduced for sport, spread diseases such as brucellosis, can breed twice a year and, when hungry enough, will eat lambs. On the upside, being clever and lean, they make for good hunting and–when cooked with skill–they are tasty.
That dual nature, as pests with some value, makes crafting hog-control policies hard. In Michigan and Pennsylvania moves to ban the private rearing of feral pigs have seen fierce rows between wildlife officials and game-ranch owners, who dispute claims that soaring hog numbers are linked to escapes from shooting reserves. Missouri authorities allow pigs to be shot when they are stumbled on, but warn those sportsmen looking for dedicated hog-hunts to “do so in another state”.
Texas, home to America’s largest feral-pig population, at around 2m, has a distinctive approach that takes account of a deep-seated hunting culture and the fact that around 95% of land is privately owned, making it hard for government to impose solutions. That is a challenge and an advantage, says John Davis of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Nobody cares more deeply about land than a private owner, he notes. And there are two types of Texan landowner: those who have feral hogs already, and those who will.
Texas urges landowners to control hogs with a range of measures, including trapping, culling from helicopters (legal since 2011 under what is known as the “pork chopper” law), and shooting with rifles, handguns and bows and arrows. Hunting hogs with dogs can be “very exciting”, wildlife authorities advise, while the department’s official YouTube channel carries a video on making “feral hog tacos”.
Technology is also being brought to bear. In Lockhart State Park, a country park south of Austin (and close to a new 85mph toll road that recently saw a spectacular hog-caused car crash), the superintendent, James Hess, shows off a large solar-powered corral trap. Anything moving in it is photographed, with images zipped to Mr Hess’s mobile telephone, which can close the trap with a keystroke. To date he has been mostly woken at night by infrared snaps of raccoons, but the device will work, he thinks: simpler traps have already caught many pigs. The trick will be to catch whole sounders, because hogs are clever and learn from their mistakes. People too. The fight is on.
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
No time to relax
This a story I wrote for boardogs.com in about 2000. That's me and Sailor (a Doug Mummery dog) in the pix...It all happened about 1980 so I'm about 20 and wearing a Tulare (California) Union High School t shirt from my one day in school in the US, but that's another story.
The Blackberry Boar.
ONE of the advantages of hunting pigs in the New England area of New South Wales is the blackberries. The bushes themselves are a pain in the neck but in late summer these tangles of vine and thorn produce kilos of sweet fruit for those prepared to make the effort. They can also produce a few kilos of pork as well...
Quincy Adams and I decided to take advantage of the longer afternoons to head for a spot about 30 minutes from town in the hope of spooking a pig or two. It was typical western New England country. Hills, a mix of timber and cleared country, big granite outcrops...and blackberry bushes. As a weed the blackberry is a problem but from a porcine point of view the plant represents a safe haven, a cool protected spot to push into and set up camp. To us the bushes represented the potential for pigs.
We'd stopped the truck at the head of a gully that stretched away to the south and carried blackberries of varying sizes along its entire length. The property manager had seen a decent sized boar working in the area but it had always managed to slip away into this gully before he could get a bead on it. Bad news for him but good news for us.
We set off down the slope with Sailor (a foxhound x mastiff/bully bred by the late Doug Mummery) and Bob a hard little bully type (out of Sandy by Souphound). Sailor could find them, no problem, and Bob had a ton of guts so we felt fairly confident that if there was a hog in the area, we'd all meet up for a chat.
From bush to bush and out into the long Darby's oats Sailor quartered back and forth. Nose to the ground, nose in the air it made no difference. Nothing stirred. Mobs of roos watched us pass before hopping away into the timber. Bloody roos. Why couldn't they be pigs. Dry runs are a part of pig chasing but they are never much fun.
We reached a branch of the gully and turned in. It was a spot I hadn't been before and I thought I'd walked almost all the 50,000 acres to which I had access. More promising bushes and more disappointment. We had to face it. It had been a pleasant stroll but not much of a pig hunt. Oh well, at least the dogs had had a bit of exercise and we'd been able to spend the afternoon in the bush. And, of course, there were the blackberries.
The bushes groaned under the weight of ripe, sweet fruit so Quincy and I decided to cut our losses and have a feed. Dodging the thorns as best we could we were quickly purple from the juice and filling up on vitamin C.
Bob was lying down under a tree and Sailor was at my feet as Quincy and I tried to outdo one another in the glutton stakes. Sailor was relaxed. Like a big Labrador he lolled around soaking up the late afternoon sun.
And then things changed. They changed really fast.
Sailor was an excellent finder but even the good dogs have strange moments and this was one of them. It was as though something dawned on him and he rolled upright and looked into the blackberry bush over which I was trying to reach. Weird, I thought. He hasn't reacted all afternoon and now he's staring into an empty bush. Is it empty? I got onto the balls of me feet and shifted my weight away from the bush and then the place erupted. A big black and white boar charged straight out of the bush hitting Sailor in the mid-section, in turn, driving him into my legs. I moved backwards so fast I must have looked like a spider on speed.
The big bastard drove harder into Sailor who slipped off the pig's face and grabbed an ear as Quincy screamed for Bob. Of course, Bob was already on the way and hit the hog hard on the nose. Quincy and I flew in almost knocking one another over to get to the thing's back legs. And with that we had a knife in him and he'd had it.
He was a beauty. The fact that Sailor is dead now, killed on the Cape York Peninsula via snake bite and I have hair in the photo dates this little adventure fairly badly but it remains one of my most interesting memories of chasing hogs and one of only two times that I have been properly charged in 24 years in the game.It was a sobering experience but did nothing to curb my love of getting after the pigs with a handy dog or two. And, boy, do I still love eating those blackberries.
Using bulls to catch boars
First published on the Boar Catchers site
A TRIP north after boars introduced me to an entirely new way of hunting, using bulls to catch boars.
I'd caught pigs off carcases before but it was a hit and miss type of thing. Always worth checking a body in the bush because it might hold pigs...But this was different. It was a specific tactic to attract big toothy boars out of their hiding spots into a GPSed area.
Brett had developed the method on this particular block because dead cattle had proven his best producer of good boars. So after years of leg work he had started specifically hunting scrub bulls (to help reduce the feral cattle population for the landholder and...) to draw out the best boars.
My son Paul and I were lucky enough to see the system in practice, first hand.
It all starts immediately after the basic camp is set up. Straight out on the track to look for likely bull areas. The idea is to get the bulls on the ground as quickly as possible to give them time to 'ripen'. That took about five days in the climate we were in.
After the bulls are shot, near water, near a track somewhere reasonably accessible on foot, it is checked every day for tracks and it's state of decomposition. In this spot the pigs seems to have had little to do with people and scent does not seem an issue. Each day the bull changes and so do the tracks. After they've blown up and started to deflate, a dingo would usually open them up properly. The hide seems too thick for boars to open on their own.
Once the bull is open, the boars drag out pieces of meat and toss them up before appearing to swallow them like an oyster. (We know this because we also had a trail cam set up on different baits every few days.)
Just before the big gorge begins, you could expect one boar and sometimes two, to move in to claim the feast.
We'd arrive at night and check the baits, fresh tracks might tells us one was close by. Sometimes there was no sign at all but often they dogs would drop their nose to the ground or stick it up in the air and run straight onto a tusky pig.
The drill was always the same; load up the selected dogs and plate them up (put on their protective breastplates). Check our tracking gear had plenty of battery strength, same with torches and cameras. Throw plenty of food, water, go fast drinks such as V or Mother and first aid gear on board.
Drive to within a km of the bait (sometimes a lot closer if the bait had been well placed), unload the dogs and walk in. We'd have two definite luggers and two trainees. We also had one veteran finder out of the two luggers as well. The objective was to leave enough opening for a younger dog to step up in performance but not so much of a gap that we risked losing a good boar.
If we made it to the bull without the dogs hitting a boar we'd look at the body, check for signs of boar activity and wait while the dogs continued to scout about. While the bull was approaching the prime rotting time the boars seemed to be closer in but after the feeding had begun the average distance from the body increased.
Mostly, if it was on, it was on from the word go. The dogs would head to the bait more agitated than normal. They'd either pounce immediately on a boar within metres of the bait or start zig zagging through the grass or running in big circles. The zig zags would turn into a big arcing run straight to the pig. And the circles either sent a dog off at a straight line tangent to land on the pig or the circles got tighter and tighter and ended up with a boar in the bullseye. It was wild, knowing it was all about to happen but not surte just where, maybe right at your feet...
It was always at night time and it was always quiet, just the dogs getting through the scrub. Really straining your ears to hear the first sound of the dogs hitting a camped boar, full of anticipation. Then the sound and you're full of adrenalin, running through long grass and scrub to get to the fight. You can see the tusks on these pigs from a good way out in the light of the headlamps. You can see them banging into the dogs' breastplates and, sometimes, the dogs.
You know they will whack them into you if you give the pig the chance too.
It is a high risk, high yield way to hunt and it gets results.
I say high risk for a few reasons, one is the country we were in, scrub bulls and crocs for a start, the second is loading the dog's up on boar after boar especially if those boars are meat eaters. The risk of dogs getting cut up and the potential for significant infection was high.
And the risk of treading on some of these boars was just as real. We didn't know where they'd be and they weren't the type of pigs to yield ground. Some were caught within metres of us in the long grass, just standing there...
However, the inherent dangers for dogs and hunters with this type of hunting also creates a testing ground for the younger dogs. You can't make a dog want to grab a nasty boar. They either want to do it or they don't. You find out very quickly with this type of hunting whether or not your young dogs have the heart for the trade.
The green dogs in this hunting team did the job. That was expected of course. It wasn't a random collection of dogs but a team of younger or inexperienced dogs bred for the job. It was a matter of putting the work in front of them to see how they would react. And this was an A grade way to do that.
The whole thing was well planned and well executed and a credit to Brett's research on the pigs that live along Secret Creek.
Pig stats for the trip: 28 pigs in total, only five sows, of the 23 remaining boars 16 were crackers.)
It's not a sport to me...
HUNTING for me is not a sport. It is not something I do in my spare time. It is not a choice I make...
For me hunting is part of a bigger whole, a relationship with the natural world that includes the birds, the bees, the wind and the rain. I never know for sure what the date is but I always know the phase of the moon.
I look at the world in four dimensions. There is everything I see. And overlaying that is everything I already know and everything I have yet to learn about how all of that fits together.
I don't see wild animals as good or bad, as more or less entitled to respect, or as guilty or innocent. I just watch what they do and try to understand.
So why hunt? Why not just watch?
Well I do watch...a lot. I watch every bird I see. I watch insects, the weather, the flowering of trees.
However, I don't feel like just an observer. I feel like I am a part of it all. I feel like a part of the natural jigsaw in which everything relates to everything else.
When I was little I was fascinated by anything to do with catching things. I watched movies and TV shows about Daniel Boone and the mountain men of the American West. I read about animals hunting one another and indigenous people's understanding of their natural environment. The commonality for me wasn't fun, or ethics it was about need. The people and the animals needed to hunt and gather because they lived in the natural world and their capacity for survival was a function of their ability to hunt.
As well as that fascination, I grew up among country types. My father was a farmer, soldier, saddler and my mother, the daughter of a bullock driver and opal miner worked with Dad on the land and later in the saddlery as well as doing the books for Mother's Choice bakery among other things.
Lots of things lived and died around us; pets, horses, working dogs, livestock and pest animals. I had to adjust to death because killing was not something that came naturally to me but it was obvious it was necessary if we were to eat, or protect our food or ourselves.
A dog called Mac that my father loved bit me when I was less than three years old. It was shot without hesitation. Countless snakes met their end as they crossed the yard, tried to make it under the house or made it into the house. And my mother would slither through the kitchen on her stomach with a .22 to poke the barrel through the smallest of gaps in the back door to shoot the crows that stole our little chickens...
There was no thrill in any of this and no judgement of the animals involved. It was all just practical. Some things live for now but everything and everyone dies in the end.
I predominantly hunt pest animals. I am obsessed with hunting wild pigs and in the past few years I have developed an almost all consuming interest in trapping wild dogs and foxes. I use my own family of dogs (known as Makim Dogs to some) to find and grab wild pigs which I kill with a knife. It is potentially dangerous for dogs and hunters but offers a means of getting pigs in thick and/or steep country which might not offer many clear shots (and I don't like shooting near my dogs because of the potential for a misplaced shot). With the wild dogs and foxes, I like the science behind out-thinking an effective predator and trapping it. But both of those passions are subjects for another day.
My point is I hunt pest animals now because I love the challenge of attempting to manage their impact on the natural and agricultural environment. To me it is part of my role in the natural world and something about which I have no choice. It is my part to play in the same way as a bird flies, a 'roo hops and an eagle soars.
I hunt because that's the way I am made.
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