Laurie Colgrave
AH member
After lots of planning & some interference from covid we were on our way to the NT to complete some donkey culling at a brand new location. After two very long days which included border protection passes & tyre/wheel dramas we finally reached our destination. We were immediately assaulted next day with 36 degree heat after leaving August maximums in Central QLD of 20 degrees!
The first few days were just getting to know our way around this big place. Aerial culling before we arrived impacted on the numbers a bit but there were plenty of donkeys just a bit more bush between them.... The property manager gave us some free rein with the numerous scrub bulls on the place stating that if they have horns & aren't brahman we could shoot them with due care & attention. These old warriors were a great challenge & certainly spiced up the hunting plenty.
I used two rifles on this trip a Sako AV .338W & my custom FN 9.3x62. My hunting mate was using a custom .308 Norma mag with a long tube. We decided to carry the bigger calibres for several reasons, the likelyhood of scrub bulls, practice for a future African adventure & more efficency culling mobs of donkeys. As the trip progressed the competition over rifle/cartridge combinations eased somewhat with some key learnings along the way. The .308 Norma (a .300 Mag) is very sudden on donkeys using 180 grain Speers/Woodleighs. On the heavier bulls with 220 grain Woodleighs this cartridge was noticeably gentler in terms of hitting power, most bulls requiring several good shots to anchor them. The .338W was also deadly on the donkeys with 225 grain pills but much more authoritive on the big bulls using the Woodleigh 250 grain Woodleigh round nose. I had plenty of the 250 grain protected points loaded but the RN was so effective I stuck with it! The 9.3x62 using 250 grain PP Woodleighs already proven previously was the most dynamic donkey bang flopper on this trip. The lone scrub bull shot with the 9.3 was the also the quickest of all to yield with a chest shot, I used a 320 grain Woodleigh PP.
We spent fourteen days total on the property most of these slogging through hundreds of kilometeres daily going between watering points. We had a day on horseback assisting the station moving weaners over 20 km (1700 head) my bones reminding me savagely of my 59 years. We socialised & toured around but all too quickly it was time to head back home. More border protection passes & the dreaded unpacking.... I was a fantastic trip, I hope the few photos do some justice the fine animals!
The first few days were just getting to know our way around this big place. Aerial culling before we arrived impacted on the numbers a bit but there were plenty of donkeys just a bit more bush between them.... The property manager gave us some free rein with the numerous scrub bulls on the place stating that if they have horns & aren't brahman we could shoot them with due care & attention. These old warriors were a great challenge & certainly spiced up the hunting plenty.
