I faced a week of enforced bachelorhood anyway (as Della is craftily away) so I decided to take the pups for a week’s walk…Four hour’s driving later including a couple on bumpy 4WD tracks we gazed up a river somewhere, wondering… Who knows what wonders lie around the river’s bend? Delightfully there are a number of […]
The best hunting strategy is to be about where the deer are in the dawn and dusk. The easiest way to achieve this is to hammock camp so that you stop hunting when it gets dark, sling your hammock and tarp between two trees and start again at first light. If you have to knock
I have hunted sambar deer for over 50 years in the Gippsland mountains (and elsewhere other deer). Mostly I did it because it was fun and an excuse for a day out in the bush which I love. I still prefer lamb, and having been a sheep farmer for just as long, I always had
As a deer hunter I have failed to follow my own advice on this one more than once to my regret as you can read in my account of my recent Dusky walk below. Trust your nose, Somewhere upwind possibly just in sight is something important you need to pay attention to. More about New
This is a truly wonderful section of the river. One of Australia’s greatest treasures and one of our last wild rivers! It took us fourteen hours (paddling and portaging) to make it from Meyers Flat (15 minutes below Waterford by canoe – but easier to put in) to the first take-out point at Angusvale. The
52 grams which keeps you in touch with other members of your party by texting with your phone, eg if they become separated. Works up to 6 kilometres even when there is no phone service. I think this is a good option for Della and me when hiking just in case. We carry whistles, but
If you want to move around in the bush with confidence without getting lost (and without artificial aids, except for noting the general northerly direction from the sun or its shadow – eg on your thumbnail: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/finding-your-way/) You should always take note of the ‘fall’ of the country. The fall is the slope of the
Today is using a 1 oz (30 gram – including a selection of flies and leaders) hand line made from a 100 ml plastic ‘spice’ bottle which easily and accurately casts 30 – 40 metres – as you can see! A pill bottle of roughly the same size though slightly heavier, would work just as
I really appreciate feedback such as this – and what a stunning photograph; a photo like this is worth more than all the ‘trophies’ hanging on the walls: ‘I recently read your sambar stalking articles and really appreciated your old school view point. I have been a hunter/bushy for most of my life, but what
A canoe (or better yet, a pack raft) can get you to many spots which would be almost impossible with a 4WD or just on foot (even just across a swollen river, or much further along a lake), and it can get you (and your quarry) out again with a minimum of effort. See: http://www.theultralighthiker.com/sambar-stalking-101/
