Australian Hunter

The years pass too fast and the clock can’t be stopped. However, age can deliver experience that teaches essential lessons about hunting. For me, it also allowed the acquisition of valuable qualities such as patience and divergent thinking. These qua

It’s a cool but sunny Sunday morning when Fiona and I meet Shauna and Adrian Pickin at a property in one of the semi-rural outer suburbs of Hobart. This is an estate well known to the Pickins and one of many that they regularly visit on their ferreti

Over the years I have had many missed opportunities for a shot at targets when hunting in scattered forest or grasslands. Without any trees or other terrain to rest my rifle on, I have been unwilling to take risky, unsupported long shots. With deer,

Over the course of 40 years, initially as a keen fisherman and later as a hunter, knives have been a tool that I have relied on in both hobbies. From cutting up bait, scaling and gutting fish, filleting and the butchery of game animals for the table,

An unexpected invite came from a good mate of mine John after I mentioned to him that I was planning to door-knock for more hunting access on private properties. John invited me to come down for a weekend of hunting once I’d finished my own personal

A cool autumn morning greeted me as I headed out to spend the day wandering in the bush. I fitted five reduced loads in the internal magazine of the Sako and had 15 in my backpack. I also had 10 full power loads. The reduced loads were intended for s

It was time to check out another hunting spot that I had ventured into a few times previously without any success. Early one morning in the fog I had moved to within 50 yards of five does, before they had become fidgety and slowly moved off. They wer

With such a smorgasbord of game available to us, whether as trophy, meat, pest control or all three, we should be making the most of this natural resource, taking enough for our needs and leaving the rest for another time. In that way we also maintai

For a cartridge that began life more than 100 years ago, the 7x57 still refuses to fade away. Granted there has been the revived interest in older ‘classic’ cartridges that also include the 6.5x55, but there is something about the old 7mm that makes

For the avid hunter wanting affordable but quality laser range-finding binoculars the choice used to be pretty sparse, to say the least. While laser range-finding monoculars are highly popular and extremely affordable these days, their binocular equi

More often than not the billabongs that abound in our area are bone dry, havens for vermin such as rabbits and foxes. Numerous drives are conducted through the heavy ground cover that seems to flourish in these spots. Foxes are usually the main targe

Cats evolved for the specific task of killing live prey. While having a soft spot for the domestic feline, I also shoot every feral cat I see, even if it means spoiling the hunt for game I’m really after. To hunt cats successfully, the more we know a

The information contained in this article is up-to-date at the time of writing but is general in nature and should not be considered legal advice. The SSAA is continuously working to improve legislation for our members so be sure to review any possib

The bright Dog Star Sirius was above the mountains in the west. The moon had not yet risen and the Milky Way was stretched out overhead with the Southern Cross slightly to the south-east. I switched the headlamp onto the soft red light-emitting diode

There are few more stirring sights in the wild than the image of a mature red stag bellowing his challenge for all to hear in defence of his harem. I recall fondly that this was one of the first outdoors experiences I shared with my son, as we sat qu

The Buck Model 110 Folding Hunter is a knife I cherish more than I should. I purchased my first one from a gun store in Townsville in 1994 with money I had earned from my after-school job. It was nothing special, just a stock standard model with bras

If, like me, you have occasionally pondered a trip to New Zealand, then a couple of episodes of The Hunters Club will probably have you reaching for the phone and booking your flights. I first heard about the television show from filmmaker Nick Reyga

Some years ago, while preparing for a hunting trip to Canada, I began evaluating various calibres suitable to hunt North American game. To date I had been using a .270 Winchester to great effect but the barrel needed replacing or I required a new rif