SAMBAR'S ROAR EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH - Amazon AWS
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
SAMBAR’S ROAR
EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH
Print Post Pub No. 32580900020
HUNTER’S PLEDGE
The hunter should conserve wildlife resources and AUSTRALIAN DEER
not exploit them, and the hunter’s behaviour ASSOCIATION INC.
should be guided by respect :
Conservation is a state of
For the deer and all wildlife
For the land, forests and crops
harmony between men and land.
For the landholder and his property :--Aldo Leopold
For everyone who enjoys the bush
OCTOBER 2020 NEWSLETTER
Former branch president Chris Cooper with a cracker of a stag
he took recently in some burnt country.
BRANCH DIRECTORY 2019/20
PRESIDENT Peter Atkinson 0419 339 665 patkinson@dahlsens.com.au
SECRETARY Bruce Bowden 0408 521 197 eastgippsland.sec@austdeer.asn.au
TREASURER Michelle Young 0400 168 173 Mmyoung20@bigpond.com
COMMITTEE Doug Harvey 0407 306 211 nictimwindows@wideband.net.au
COMMITTEE Ken Slee 0484 941 735 austdeermag@netspace.net.au
COMMITTEE Chris Eaton 0428 214 884 beaglepoint@bigpond.com
COMMITTEE John Barry 5156 8780 The hollow log.com
COMMITTEE Jason Farley 0457 158 998 laurafarley@live.com.au
COMMITTEE David Stevens 0429 147 962 australiandeerhunting@gmail.com
NEWSLETTER Ken Slee and 0484 941 735 austdeermag@netspace.net.au
Peter Atkinson 0419 339 665 patkinson@dahlsens.com.au
ALL BRANCH CORRESPONDENCE TO:
PO Box 140, BAIRNSDALE, VIC. 3875 or
Email: eastgippsland.sec@austdeer.asn.au
GENERAL MEETINGS are held bimonthly on the second Thursday of the month
Commencing at 7:30pm at Howitt Park Hall, Princes Highway
Bairnsdale unless otherwise advised.
MEETING DATES FOR 2020
Thursday 13th August 2020 Cancelled
Thursday 8th October2020 to be confirmed
Thursday 10th December2020 to be confirmed
President’s Report Hi guys, to say there is a bit going on in the deer world would be an understatement and much of this is of concern, particularly the deer culling program that has been undertaken by Parks Victoria in the Alpine National Park and other areas. This program has been funded under the guise of bushfire recovery. Many of these areas are not open to recreational deer hunting although a number of popular hunting areas inside and outside the park are. From what I understand there was little to no consultation or communication with user groups that frequent these areas to camp and hunt. Whether this was intentional or bumbling I guess we will never know. The cull was timed to commence at the beginning of the September school holidays. Their intention to helicopter shoot the Dargo High Plain was only made known days before it was to begin. This area is very popular with deer hunters and has been for the past twenty odd years. It’s a spectacular and productive place to hunt and gets plenty of hunting pressure, inside and outside the park which has helped keep the lid on deer numbers in this section of the park. A spin off of closing this part of the park is the effect it has on businesses in Dargo and other places that benefit from recreational deer hunting. These poor buggers lost most of the summer to bush fire and the rest of the year to Covid19 including the Easter break. I’m sure they were looking forward to hunters being allowed back in the spring to provide some recovery only to have the park closed on a moment’s notice. Shame Parks Vic! So much for communicating with one of your biggest user groups! On a more positive note. Plenty of guys and gals have got out among the deer in the last few weeks since the easing of the Covid 19 lock down. Most have had some success, either bagging a deer or having plenty of encounters. A few lucky hunters have been able to bag a trophy stag or two. With the recent warm weather there have been plenty of snakes about to spice things up. Recently I had the misfortune to almost step on a black snake when checking a deer control area with a property manager. I was busy looking at deer sign on a dam bank and not keeping a proper eye out. And what a snake it was, not much change out of six feet, thick as my arm and shiny black. Embarrassingly I might have given a little girl squeal! So if you are out in the warmer months keep an eye out for our legless friends. Anyhow, the weather has warmed up, and although we could still do with more rain it is time to dust off the fishing rods and to look forward to 2021 when hopefully we get back to normal. Keep your powder dry and Good Luck
Lake Tyers / Wairewa Deer Control Program There have been some developments recently with the Lake Tyers/Wairewa Deer Control program. Parks Victoria is running a cull using contractors in the Lake Tyers and Cape Conran section of the Coastal Park. I understand this program is being funded by the Bushfire Recovery Program. The logic/excuse behind this decision is to prevent damage to the recovering vegetation effected by wildfire and by deer. Go figure, I don’t think any of the Lake Tyers Coastal Park was burnt in the recent fires. Deer numbers in this park are very high and need to be controlled. A walk through any of the gullies running down to the lake reveals how heavily impacted the area is by deer going back several years. This Parks Vic cull will undoubtedly knock the numbers down in the short term. To be seriously effective this program will have to be on-going. Will funds will be available in future to continue this program? Who knows, maybe recreational hunters could and should be part of the solution. There I go talking common sense and dreaming again. Back to the bit we are actively involved in. We have been approached by the coordinator of the DELWP/Parks deer control program to help with deer on private property in the project area east of Lakes Entrance. This initiative is in its early stages, but some of our members who are accredited to do control work have been to inspect some of these properties. Not all of the properties inspected had found to be suitable, due to either safety concerns or the owners of the neighbouring properties not being agreeable. A handful of deer have been taken so far, some by sitting and waiting on evening and others using a light. We are hoping to expand to more properties in the future. The rule for those involved are strict and include the mandatory written permission of the land holder, accreditation of marksmanship and an ability to remove whole all animals taken. Access to properties in the program is strictly controlled by a single point of contact. We are hoping to hold an accreditation day either later this year or early in 2021 at the SSAA Buchan range. This will give members who are interested in being involved a chance to get the appropriate accreditation. There will be updates about this on our Facebook page and the Sambars Roar. If you are interested in being involved please contact. Pedro - 0419 339 665
Ingenuity Chris Eaton found this gem of an idea on the internet. I could have used it recently, in light of hurting my back when lumping a first head whole stag (guts in) into a trailer. I’m definatly keeping this one in the memory bank. Recent experience suggests that, at least for large sambar stags, loading ramps are essential and a very solid attachment point is required – it takes quite a bit of force to snig a big stag into a trailer without a ramp and a “carroty” pine post is really not up to the job as an anchor point either. Your President can provide details. The smashed pine fence post has been replaced!
ALPINE NATIONAL PARK CULL
Parks Victoria commenced a very poorly publicised helicopter
cull of sambar in the Hotham/Dargo High Plains area during
the week starting September 21. Keen to see how it was being
managed I drove to a spot that gave a panoramic view over the
headwaters of the Dargo River. However, the weather was
probably unsuitable for flying that day with misty rain, low
cloud and strong winds. Needless to say, there was no
evidence of a cull being underway in the general area.
After spending a couple of hours hunting, I checked the King
Spur gate to find plenty of vehicle tracks around it and the
adjacent fence destroyed once again. Surely a bit of
enforcement could put the lid on such ongoing behaviour!
Heading back towards Dargo I found the boom gate at
Treasures closed but fortunately not locked. Small signs indicated that the national park was
closed to access – pretty belated notice given that the cull was already scheduled to be
underway. It also makes you wonder why closing the area is necessary – surely public safety
would not be an issue so it seems that keeping the public ignorant of the realities of the cull
was the main motive of Parks Victoria.
What if anything has been achieved by the cull hasn’t been made public but it seems clear
that no-matter how many deer were shot, the take of animals by recreational hunters will be
many times greater at no cost to the Victorian community and with much more significant
environmental, social and economic outcomes.
In my opinion the time has come for the hunting organisations to cease all cooperation with
Parks Victoria until a coherent deer management strategy is developed that recognises the
key role that recreational hunting must of necessity play in future years. Blowing tens of
thousands of dollars of bushfire recovery money on a once-off sambar cull hardly seems to
be a wise use of public resources.
Vehicle tracks around the King Spur gate A concrete fence post next to the gate had
been smashed off at ground level.
Blond Bay/Snake Island
Entries in the 2021 Blond Bay hog deer ballot are now open. The easiest way
to enter is via the Game Management Authority web site.
.
WHERE TO WITH BLOND BAY?
Almost forty years ago ADA’s East Gippsland Branch embarked on what was then a unique
program to re-introduce hog deer to the Blond Bay State Game Reserve in the hope that it
would provide future hunting opportunity.
The project generated a great deal of enthusiasm amongst ADA members and lots of East
Gippy members contributed a heap of time and effort to see the deer established and balloted
hunting successfully implemented. Not only the hunters and their organisations were
enthusiastic about the project but the local community, departmental staff (especially Roger
Bilney and Paul Kelly) and government all saw the work in a positive light.
However, in recent years, it has become obvious that deer numbers are in serious decline in
Blond Bay and that ballot hunters now find it difficult to take any sort of deer, let alone a
trophy animal.
What has gone wrong and what can be done to turn this situation around?
Several factors have produced the decline in deer numbers but the top four are probably:
1. Formerly farmed grassland and wetland areas in the reserve reverting to dense scrub
with virtually no feed for grazing wildlife. This has reduced the carrying capacity of
the whole area for deer and has forced all grazing animals that live in the reserve
(roos, wallabies, wombats, hog deer and more recently sambar) out onto private
property to get a feed. Nothing seems likely to change under management by the dead
hand of Parks Victoria and maybe it is time for the GMA to be given management of
game reserves!
2. The vilification of deer in recent years has seen our rare and vulnerable hog deer
lumped in with over-abundant sambar and fallow deer and out-of-control kangaroos.
Unsympathetic DELWP officers are now issuing cull-to-waste permits for hog deer,
while hunters are willing to pay thousands of dollars for the opportunity to hunt the
species. Ivory tower staff in DELWP need to realise that a few hog deer feeding on
private property amongst dozens or hundreds of roos are not the problem! There is an
educational role here for the GMA but the perception seems to be that it is “all too
hard”!
3. Time marches on and the number of licensed deer hunters has boomed over the past
twenty or more years. The majority are law abiding but a small percentage is not, and
this small group is much stronger numerically than in the past. In recent years Blond
Bay has been hammered by illegal hunters prior to the balloted hunts with no or
minimal effort by the GMA to address the problem. It isn’t good enough to have
officers sitting in a distant office waiting on reports of poaching from community
members – they need to be out there maintaining a presence and putting pressure on
illegal activities as even a few poached hog deer is too many.
4. Increasing use and abuse of the reserve placing pressure on the environment and all
wildlife. Four-wheel-drivers and trail bike riders deliberately churning up tracks and
making new tracks through the reserve; people free-ranging dogs; long-term campers;
rubbish dumpers; firewood bandits and the list goes on and on. This sort of behaviour
would not be tolerated in national parks and again, Parks Victoria, as the managers,
are failing in their management responsibilities at Blond Bay.
A hog deer hind and young calf that indicates that the A young hog deer stag at Blond Bay –
population continues to breed in the reserve but at a Animals older than this are now a rarity in the
low and declining rate. reserve because of poaching.
Upcoming Branch 40th Anniversary
Celebration
WHERE WERE YOU ON NOVEMBER 7 1980?
Due to the ongoing uncertainty of the times
this event looks like being held over until
November 2021. So get those old hunting
albums out and dusted off to share those
great memories with the rest of us.
If you can help or want to be involved give
Ken Slee a call.
Beware when traveling the Paynesville Road
It’s no secret that there is the odd sambar is living in the
MacLeod Morass adjacent to the Paynesville Road. This
young stag was hit by a car just on daylight in September.
This is one of four sambar deer that has been hit on this
section of road in the past few years. At least one of the
cars involved in these accidents was written off. Luckily
no one was hurt despite the stag coming through the
windscreen.
This section of road is often subject to fog. It’s time Parks
Vic did something to remove the deer from the reserve or
fenced it off before someone is seriously injured or killed.
Branch Hoodies Polo Shirts & Caps, Check’em Out
See our Facebook page for prices.
The popular branch hoodies are available again.
At the time of writing, only two sizes remain in the Green - Large and Extra Large. All sizes
are available in the Charcoal.
$70 a pop. If you would like one, contact Michelle Young on 0400 168 173 or via our
Facebook page.
Stocks are limited so be quick. If there is enough interest we will be doing another run.
Blaze & cammo caps. Charcoal & green hoodies. Charcoal & blue polo
tops.
BRANCH ACCREDITED TROPHY SCORERS
Doug Read 03 5156 7610 Reini Strecker 03 5157 9499
Neil Mahomed 03 5152 3101 Mark Young 03 5156 8173
Hunting About
It must be the year that the old blokes bag big stags as there have been several taken recently
by branch stalwarts. Robert Strecker knocked over a big one. Pedro the Pres took a nice one
a month or two back and more recently Doug Harvey and Ken Slee have bagged mature
stags.
Phil Maher and his pointer Pip have been at it again, racking up another stag. After
spending a couple of hours sitting over a likely looking wallow, itchy feet got the better of
Phil and he decided to go for an explore. Pip the deer finding machine started to wind scent
above a gully head. Phil took note of his dog and managed to spot this bloke wandering
through the trees. A well-placed shot and another stag fell to this dynamic duo.Phil Maher with another handy stag off his hound Pip. Former branch president and fellow “old bloke” Chris Cooper has taken a ripper, his best in thirty odd years of sambar hunting. Similar to the previously mentioned “old” branch members Chris had not taken a trophy stag in a few years. The catalyst for the change in luck was the purchase of a new Browning rifle in 300WSM fitted with powerful scope. Chris had been thinking about having a crack at the long-range caper and this combination just might do the job. As is common with the purchase of a new rifle he was keen get out see how it performed on sambar. To this end he has been out and about in the gullies close to home in an effort to get used to the rifle and bag one or two. Chris tells me he had positioned himself at the head of a basin with a good view of a likely looking area below. He had seen deer in this area before and considered himself a good chance to see one or two. However, things didn’t go to plan as it often does as after a couple of hours he had seen nothing apart from a few roos and wallabies. He decided it was time to head back to the ute and try another day As Chris began making his way back down the system, he noticed a deer’s arse sticking out from behind a tree. On closer inspection he identified it as a spiky. After watching it for a minute or two it got onto him, honked and began moving away and Chris decided to let it go as the day was getting on and was still a fair distance from the ute. Whether us old blokes like it or not, lumping legs and straps is not much fun on old bones. The spiky could wait for another day when it was closer to the vehicle. As Chris watched the spiker move off, he noticed another deer moving through the light scrub on the other side of the gully. Close inspection revealed it to be a stag and a good one. Chris waited for it to move into a suitable window for a shot. At about hundred and fifty metres Chris’s chance arrived and he took it. The shot felt good, but you’ve never got em until your hands are on them. As commonly happens with big deer, the stag took off, hunched and tail up. The rumbling of hooves and breaking sticks was quickly replaced by silence as the animal was quickly swallowed by the scrub.
Chris made his way across the gully and toward where he had last seen the stag. As he got
closer to the spot, he could see a deer standing behind a large tree. Thinking it was the stag
he had fired at he took aim and waited for it to step out. The deer, possibly the spikey he had
seen earlier, honked and took off. I’m sure Chris’s nerves were tingling by now. He
eventually found the running marks of the big stag, followed them and found him piled up
against a tree about a hundred metres from where he had shot him.
The 300WSM had taken the stag cleanly through the chest and had done its job well. A hell
of a way to blood a new rifle! For those that are interested, this handsome beast has antlers
well over thirty inches long and I expect will score over 200 Douglas Points.
Well done. Chris!
A very happy Chris Cooper with his burnt country stag.
Mark young has also been among the deer and reports:
After coming out of our second round of Covid 19 lock down it was time to get back up the
bush and after a deer again. I had organised a weekend away with a few hunting buddies,
but a couple of the fellas couldn’t make it due to the weather looking pretty bad. It’s not
my fault if they’re too bloody soft to cop a bit of damp weather.
Plans changed; it was decided that a day hunt would have to do. After checking the
weather again, I picked the better of the next few forecast days.
After an early start, I picked up Jason at 4.30am. We travelled the 1 ¼ hour drive to spot X,
arriving just on day break. I wished Jason good luck and he took off up a handy looking side
creek. I decided on hunting up river. I crossed over at the mouth of the creek Jason was
going to hunt and headed upstream to the next major gully system. There was deer signeverywhere. Conditions couldn’t have been more perfect, hardly a breath of wind, the
ground soft and quiet after the overnight rain.
I had not long started into the gully when I noticed straight across the gully from me an
open patch. And bugger me, right middle and out in the open was a small stag, watching
me. This one was too close to the truck to knock back.
A quick shoulder shot from the 338 RCM and he took off and was out of sight in an instant.
I made my way around and found a good blood trail and then a big blood splat on a tree he
must have crashed into and there he was, dead under a log only 50 metres from where he
had been standing.
After a call on the radio and Jason was on his way over to help with all the necessary
chores. The best part was it was only 20 minutes from the truck.
The stag was all cut up and packed out to the ute and ready to head home by 8.30am, the
338 RCM having done the job once again!
Mark Young with his gimme sambar stag.Ken Slee took a shot at a large sambar stag during a culling operation on private property but
despite searching, couldn’t find the animal. A follow up next morning with the President’s
pointer Roxy quickly found the animal dead in dense manuka only metres from where the
shot was taken. A mature animal with 28 inch antlers.
Ken Slee contemplates the hard work that dealing
with a large stag entails.
True stories by David PettmanOctober General Meeting and Annual General Meeting
Agenda
Cancelled!
If you want your recreation, deer hunting to be defended from those that
would have it banned.
It’s time for you good keen young hunters to step
up.
See Pedro if interested
Please Support the Advertisers Who
Support our Branch!
MINUTES OF THE LAST COMMITTEE MEETING
Held at the Bairnsdale Rowing Club rooms, Thursday 17/09/2020
Present: Peter Atkinson, Doug Harvey, John Barry, Michelle and Mark Young, Chris Eaton
Apologies Bruce Bowden, Dave Stephens, Jason Farley, Ken Slee.
Treasurers report: Working acct $4172.05 Petty cash $140
General business:
Deer control
Dargo High Plains discussion re operations. This is being funded from bushfire recovery money. The
weather hadn’t been real kind and there was some doubt as to whether the proposed operation had taken
place. One local observer had gotten locked into the control area as there was no sweep of the area before
the gates were locked Once again poor timing as planned for school holidays. Ground hunting was
happening along with helicopter shooting.
Lakes Entrance eastward.
The areas are all signposted on the roads and tracks entering the areas. People mentioned signs that are in
place at Lake Tyers House Rd and at Cape Conran.This is an ongoing situation that will need to be kept
track of.East Gippsland ADA deer control activities. The branch was approached to assist with some sambar control on a couple of private blocks in the Lake Tyers catchment. So far there have been six deer taken from two properties with this number likely to increase as we get more organised. They are only small areas and lend themselves to sit and wait hunting. There are few things to be sorted out. The need for more people to become part of the ongoing activities. There needs to be an accreditation session conducted, Peter Atkinson can run this. Stay tuned for more information to come re this. We need to find a way to deal with the venison as deer need to be removed from the properties. Some properties require the complete carcass to be taken away while some are ok with the paunch being left discretely tucked away. Get in touch with Peter if you would like to be part of what’s happening. Roar advertisers accounts are due to be followed up and we felt that we should put this off for the time being due to the situation we have had in East Gippsland this year. 40th anniversary to be put on hold until things settle down and we can commit to a date. It will be an informal get together on a Saturday or Sunday arvo, with a BBQ and lots of tall tales. Look further at the format of future meetings. We have managed to keep the formal side to minimum, but it was felt that we could reduce it even further. Focus more on social, entertainment and education activities. We are still following up members with no email facilities in an effort to get as many as possible online. Due to ADA National running a large raffle, we will run a raffle next year. The annual trophy comp will proceed with the normal categories. There have been a few good heads taken recently so hopefully entries will be good. Hopefully we will be able to run a Christmas get together potentially outdoors and on a weekend. Really bad minutes taken by Chris Eaton.
EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION 2020
* HUNTER & DEER – taken between 1/1/20 and 31/12/20 with manually operated camera.
* LIVE DEER – Of free-roaming deer taken between 1/1/20 and 31/12/120 with manually operated camera.
* GENERAL INTEREST – That relates to deer hunting or the ADA.
* BEST TRAIL CAM – Of free-roaming wild deer taken between 1/1/20 and 31/12/20 with a non-manual camera.
* Your photograph will be retained by the branch and placed in the branch photo album.
SECTION BEING ENTERED (please circle): HUNTER & DEER LIVE DEER Photo LIVE DEER Video
GENERAL INTEREST TRAIL CAM Stag TRAIL CAM Hind
NAME………………………………………………………………………………..ADA Membership No………………..
ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………..Postcode……………………
PHONE……………………………..
SIGNED:…………………………………………………………………………..DATE OF ENTRY: / /2020
BEST OVERSEAS TROPHY 20120
* The animal must have been a free-roaming wild animal and may be of any overseas species.
* The trophy must have been taken between 1/1/2020 and 31/12/2020.
* A brief story on how the animal was taken is to accompany the entry form and photo of the trophy which will be retained by
the branch.
NAME…………………………………………………………………………………..ADA Membership No………………..
ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………..Postcode……………………
PHONE…………………………….. DATE ANIMAL TAKEN………………
SPECIES……………………………………….
SEND ENTRIES TO: ADA EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH
PO BOX 140 BAIRNSDALE, VIC 3875
EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH 2020 TROPHY COMPETITION
NAME…………………………………………………………………………………..ADA Membership No………………..
ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………..Postcode…………………………
….
PHONE…………………………….. DATE ANIMAL TAKEN………………………….
SPECIES BEING ENTERED (please circle): HOG FALLOW…..SAMBAR….RUSA CHITAL.…. RED
I declare that the animal was a free roaming wild deer taken in a legal, ethical and sportsmanlike manner without the aid of an artificial light, bait or lure and
that I was a financial member of the East Gippsland Branch at the time it was taken.
* The trophy MUST have been taken between 1/1/20 and 31/12/20 or during the prescribed season, if applicable.
* A copy of the OFFICIAL score sheet and a photo of the trophy (to be retained by the branch) are to be included with each
entry.
SIGNED:…………………………………………………………………………..DATE OF ENTRY: / /2020
EAST GIPPSLAND BRANCH FIRST DEER AWARD 2020
* This should be the FIRST DEER taken by the hunter and must be taken between 1/1/2020 and 31/12/2020.
* The deer must have been a free-roaming wild deer of any Australian species and of either sex.
* The hunter MUST have been a member of the East Gippsland Branch when the animal was taken.
* A photo of the trophy (to be retained by the branch) to be included with the entry.
NAME…………………………………………………………………………………ADA Membership No………………..
ADDRESS…………………………………………………………………………………..Postcode…………………………
….
PHONE…………………………….. DATE ANIMAL TAKEN………………………….
SIGNED:…………………………………………………………………………..DATE OF ENTRY: / /2020You can also read
