What to bow hunt in Australia?

[Kilboars]

I may need to travel to Australia in July for a couple of days of work in which my wife and I would make a 2-3 week vacation out of. But I love to bow hunt if possible when I travel and just wondering what’s great to bow hunt there?

I’m out of room for mounts in my home so anything I kill would end up as a Euro Mount.

Advise or experience hunting there greatly appreciated.


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[Blockcaver]

Water buffalo in the Northern Territory!

 

[Kilboars]

Water buffalo in the Northern Territory!

Yeah. That’s what I’m thinking and maybe some hogs.


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[ozyclint]

Deer- Fallow, Red, Sambar, Axis, Rusa, Hog.

Goats, pigs, foxes, cats, rabbits, hares, camels, donkeys, buffalo, banteng, scrub bulls, dingo,

 

[sneaky]

Those scrub bulls are pretty gnarly

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[wildwilderness]

I would love to hunt water buffalo, and throw in scrub bulls, hogs but that usually takes an extra flight and a different place.

Where will you be in Australia?

 

[Wilderlife]

A lot will come down to where you will be, where and what you want to hunt, and how this will all happen. Australia is a very big place and if you're going to be somewhere down south, the effort required to get up north to chase a buffalo (for example) will be significant. It will also be next to impossible to line up a buffalo hunt without paying an outfitter - unless someone on here has some private access and they'd be willing to do a swap hunt. Also, July is very early in the season for a buff hunt so it might be tough hunting, and any outfitters may be booked out already. Just something to consider in that space.

The easiest option would be to look at chasing sambar deer on public land in Victoria. It's a simple license to acquire and then you just have a look on a map and start hunting. The amount of public land access is enormous. There is a lot of opportunity on sambar but they are a very difficult animal to hunt at the best of times, and doing it with a bow will be even tougher. At that time of year it'll be very cold (for Australian standards) and a lot of the road access to higher elevations is blocked because of snow, so lots of people either hunt the river flat areas where sambar have been pushed down to find feed, or backpack in past the closed gates on the roads in case they know of some spots where sambar will be feeding. I stress again, it doesn't get cold like it does in the upper parts of USA or Canada, but some of that Alpine National Park country can be unpredictable with storms. Most people who backpack into those spots at that time of year (be it river flats or higher areas) will always have good rain gear, some decent insulation, and appropriate emergency stuff for starting a fire - particularly in spots where everything may be wet for extended periods.

I usually head down that wya to chase sambar every July and this year should be no exception but it depends on a few things in my personal life. If the dates line up I'd be happy to have you tag along with me and a mate or two. We aren't sambar experts by any means but it'd make it easier than having to figure out where to go yourself. I don't think my spots are any better or worse than anyone else's. Chance of seeing sign is very high, chance of seeing a deer is high, chance of getting one on the ground with a bow is fairly slim.

Here are some pictures I took last July while backpacked in chasing sambar.






Regarding the bow itself, Victoria has legal minimum requirements to chase sambar deer. A bow of at least 50 pound draw weight (longbow, recurve, or compound) with an arrow having a total weight of 400gns, with the broadhead having minimum of two cutting blades. It's pretty straight forward. If you chase some of the lighter deer species in Victoria you need even less weight. I've attached links below for you to read.

Deer hunting methods

www.gma.vic.gov.au

Deer

www.gma.vic.gov.au

Honestly, for anything besides bufallo or scrub bulls, just bring a bow setup that would be capable of taking an elk and you'll be fine. Sambar are fairly big/tough deer but they aren't as big as an elk. The issue with sambar is finding them after they've been hit as a lot of them live in some very thick country.

If for whatever reason you find yourself being able to chase other game like goats, pigs, fallow deer, etc, an elk archery setup would still be fine but you can get away with a little less if need be. A mature boar is certainly tougher than any of those critters and getting through a thick fighting pad that's covered in mud might be a challenge but that's more of an 'up north' situation than what you'll find in most parts of NSW. Most people shoot a compound between 60 and 70 pounds, with an arrow somewhere between 450 and 550 grains. You see a few people here running expandable heads but they aren't very popular as the recovery rate with them still being OK to keep hunting with is nowhere near as high, and it's common for a lot of Aussie bowhunters to use the same broadhead to kill many animals over the course of a year or two. We're lucky that we can hunt limitlessly over here so some of us kill quite a few animals every year.

We have lots of public land hunting in NSW as well but you'd need to get yourself an R license. It's more involved than the Victorian license but still something worth considering. There is a greater variety of game in NSW state forests but some of them can be difficult to hunt and I would say chasing sambar in Vic is a higher chance of success than chasing most other things in NSW state forests, but some people are extremely successful every year in both settings.

Here are some links to read about NSW state forest hunting. If you get a visitor license you will need to be accompanied by an R license holder if you hunt any state forests in NSW. Not hard to find an R license holder (I'm one, for example) but finding someone with good/productive spots who want to take out a stranger from overseas will require some communication.

Hunting licences

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

General Visitor's licence

www.dpi.nsw.gov.au

I also have pigs, deer and goats at some of my private spots here in NSW. Not sure where you would be or how easy it would be to organise meeting up. I could guarantee seeing a few critters but I couldn't guarantee multiple shot opportunities like a guiding outfit may be able to organise. There are plenty of guided opportunities in various places but as I said before, the stuff up north involving scrubbers, buff and pigs usually won't state until August. I know that Kayuga Adventures (one of the best bowhunting outfits in far north QLD) don't start their guiding season for pigs until August, for example.

 

[Rokbar]

What about kangaroo's?

 

[Wilderlife]

We don't really have much in the way of hunters or sportsmen being able to target them. In some cases they do, but they are mostly protected and harvesting is on larger scales and on a commercial basis. I think in Tasmania you can hunt wallabies like you would hunt anything else, but in parts of NSW where I live the farmers may be able to allocate people to shoot 'roos, or buy tags to put on the dead 'roos. Most people who have issues with 'roos have professional shooters they can call on to come and cull them in the spotlight and sell their carcasses for human consumption.

Here are some pictures I took of a night when I was out helping my friend who is a commercial 'roo shooter. We were shooting both deer and 'roos on this occasion.




One thing I do know for certain is that there is strictly NO bowhunting of kangaroos of any kind in Australia. In Tasmania where kangaroo harvest is common, bowhunting of any kind is illegal.

I always find it interesting how people want to come from overseas to hunt a kangaroo. They're an interesting and beautiful animal for sure but the hunting opportunities here for a lot of our introduced species seem to be well under the radar of most North Americans.

 

[Kilboars]

I would love to hunt water buffalo, and throw in scrub bulls, hogs but that usually takes an extra flight and a different place.

Where will you be in Australia?

My work is in Sydney.


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[Kilboars]

Wilderlife, thank you so much for you all of that information and insight. Greatly appreciated.
I’d be with my wife but hunting by myself so I would use an outfittter.

Being that I can’t take the meat home I was only really considering water buffs and hogs but it’s sounding like it may not work out. I really can’t leave my wife for a week to get to where it sounds like I’d need to be. But thank you for your time in explaining so much to me and the offer of joining you in on hunt. Sounds very cool and please keep us posted on your hunts.

PS, no interest in shooting kangaroos


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[Beendare]

Wilder, isn’t there a proposal floating around in your area to stop bowhunting.

I’ve bowhunted the Northern territories…and its a once in a lifetime experience I would like to do again.


Its worth mentioning….Sydney is a long ways from Darwin in the NT- something like a 7 hr plane flight…( not sure its been awhile) but Its a long ways.
That doesn’t account for the long drives to get anywhere either. We were 6-8hours from Darwin on dirt roads. Some of that is a huge flood plain in the wrong season- Impassible.

That long drive made it touch and go for our assistant guide that was badly mangled by a wounded buff one of our group shot with a recurve. That guide was lucky to be alive. Multiple broken bones. The bull plowed him into resilient brush and then spun a 360 30’ from my buddy and me….then he came for us.…which probably saved the guides life.

The guide was lucky that 2,000# bull didn’t stomp him on dry ground or he would have been a bag of broken bones. I can only imagine the painful 6 hr bumpy ride to the hospital.

 

[Scoot]

Wilder, isn’t there a proposal floating around in your area to stop bowhunting.

I’ve bowhunted the Northern territories…and its a once in a lifetime experience I would like to do again.
View attachment 523398

Its worth mentioning….Sydney is a long ways from Darwin in the NT- something like a 7 hr plane flight…( not sure its been awhile) but Its a long ways.
That doesn’t account for the long drives to get anywhere either. We were 6-8hours from Darwin on dirt roads. Some of that is a huge flood plain in the wrong season- Impassible.

That long drive made it touch and go for our assistant guide that was badly mangled by a wounded buff one of our group shot with a recurve. That guide was lucky to be alive. Multiple broken bones. The bull plowed him into resilient brush and then spun a 360 30’ from my buddy and me….then he came for us.…which probably saved the guides life.

The guide was lucky that 2,000# bull didn’t stomp him on dry ground or he would have been a bag of broken bones. I can only imagine the painful 6 hr bumpy ride to the hospital.

Wow- crazy!

 

[Wilderlife]

Wilderlife, thank you so much for you all of that information and insight. Greatly appreciated.
I’d be with my wife but hunting by myself so I would use an outfittter.

Being that I can’t take the meat home I was only really considering water buffs and hogs but it’s sounding like it may not work out. I really can’t leave my wife for a week to get to where it sounds like I’d need to be. But thank you for your time in explaining so much to me and the offer of joining you in on hunt. Sounds very cool and please keep us posted on your hunts.

Keep me posted on your movements, mate. Sydney is a cool city to visit but it's not real good if you want to sneak a quick hunt in. There are some spots close to Sydney that hold plenty of game but the access is tied up very tight. I live about 5-6 hours drive north of Sydney so that gives you an idea of the time it might take to hang out up here, and there is also the chance I'll be down south (much closer to Melbourne) at that time anyway. Flying from Sydney to Melbourne is easy, but then getting from the airport to a sambar hunting spot would require hiring a car and driving for what could be anything from 3-10 hours. Extensive spots available but some of the roads are closed at that time of year. You can also drive from Sydney to Melbourne in a day and you'd see some nice countryside on the way. The same can be said for if you were to drive from Sydney to my area.

Wilder, isn’t there a proposal floating around in your area to stop bowhunting.

That's in South Australia. Very unnerving at the moment. It doesn't look like any of our hunting or bowhunting bodies are being particularly vocal about it. I think I saw the threat of legal action for not being consulted as a key stakeholder, so we will see what pans out.

Some bowhunting pics in Aus for the sake of giving this thread more interest. The pics with the goats are from country I sadly don't have access to anymore.









No pictures of deer as I'm yet to take one with a compound or a trad bow. Have taken hundreds with rifles.

 

[wildwilderness]

I was lucky enough to meet up with a local hunter in Victoria when my folks were living in Melbourne. I was able to get a Sambar spot and stalk and saw plenty of neat country.

 

[Wilderlife]

Very cool! Sambar hunting is not easy at the best of times.

 

[def90]

I've heard hunting feral cats is a big deal in Australia..

 

[Wilderlife]

It is, but hunting anything 'feral' is a big deal. Hunting cats is very opportunistic and it wouldn't be the sort of thing someone could necessarily plan for when coming overseas. It'd probably be a case of being out hunting other game such as goats/pigs/deer and then seeing a cat and trying to get it.

 

[Beendare]

Wow- crazy!

Yeah, we had no problem with one arrow kills; 80# bow, 800g with a tempered steel 2 blade...but my one buddy with a 65# recurve, 560g arrow just couldn't get the penetration needed. Considering you have to go through 1 1/2" of hide and gristle, then 8" of meat before you reach 1 1/4" thick ribs just to get into the chest cavity it make sense. Big Bastards.

Mine was feeding along a billabong with me 40y inside the jungle. The guide was cool and he stayed back and let me stalk it. The bull decided to take a trail that was coming right to me.....I can still remember hearing the bull crunching in the dry leaves getting closer and closer....and the guides rifle safety clicking off a ways behind me. Thankfully the bull took a Y turn away putting him BS at about 14 paces. He took a couple rushed steps on the shot but really didn't know what happened, stopped and was looking around.

I wanted to shoot again but didn't want him to see me so close. The arrow was sticking straight out the side of him hung up on the vanes. The bull twisted and sniffed at the BH...and trotted another few steps away turning again. I shot again and drilled him Dead center- another slo mo pass thru. The bull took two steps and fell over. The whole thing took about 15 seconds. The guide said it was the fastest he had ever seen one die from any weapon.

 

[Beendare]

My recurve buddy shot his as it was walking past....too far back with 2/3rds on the arrow hanging out.

We all split up and did a grid search. It was critical to find and kill it as the Station owner had small kids that ran around there on scooters and such. I was walking with our Jonathan a 180# stud of a guy, our assistant guide and he started into a tall bush patch- picture it something like Bamboo about 6' tall.

I was a hog hunter for years....no way I walk into that thick brush...so I trotted over to my buddy about 50 y away on a trail. As I got to my buddy we hear this loud scream and commotion and I can see the tops of the brush about 30' away being plowed like a skid steer loader is in there spinning donuts.

The Bull must have heard our, "Holy Shit Jonathan!" and I can see the brush parting like the Red Sea coming right at us. My buddy ran...I took 2 steps and got behind a 10" tree. The bull went by me at 3' on a full tilt run...then out in the open and gone.

My buddy chased the bull with his Curve....and I went in to check Jonathan. He was all twisted up, blue and looked dead. He had a pulse and was coming to mumbling a bunch of nonsense. I could hear guys yelling and chasing the bull and was worried he would come right back to his hide hole with me and J still in there. I was worried he had a broken back...and didn't want to move him...but it was with that or have to face that bull.

I slung him over my shoulder and carried him out to open ground...and then went back and got the Canon G2 and tripod he was carrying. I flagged the guide down...told him what happened....and still remember his, "Well thats not good" comment. He told J we will get him to the hospital but first need to kill that buff.

The other guys saw him go into a 40y circle of thick brush and my buddy and I walked side by side with the guide until we got close and he turned and told us, WTF are you guys doing....stay out here.

Not 3 min later we Hear, Boom, boom boom and heard the bull hit the ground. It sounded like a semi auto he shot so fast and not the long bolt action open sight .375 rifle. We went running in there and the bull had charged him with the last shot at 10'.

J had multiple broken bones...but was lucky the bull was plowing him against the resilient brush instead of stomping him into the ground.

A little bit too exciting....