Australia, hunting, game variety

[CBH Australia]

Now I consider we are “The Lucky Country” and I’m a proud Aussie. But, I think we were overlooked in the game department..
Like , all of our natives are protected. Fair enough.
Our huntable game are all introduced Cats!, Foxes, Pigs, Goats, Buffalo, Banteng, Scrub bull, Deer , limited Antelope in a game ranch situation and Rabbits.
So the only big game we have are introduced, we missed out on getting anything wild to hunt.
“Nature can be cruel”

 

[BRICKBURN]

When your chunk of dirt cracked off and floated away the critters must have all run north.
Just poor luck.

 

[Sitting Bull_Chris]

Very true that our game is all introduced however, the deer are from wild stock and have been challenging me a lot! We do have the only free-range Sambar and Hog deer hunting in the world which anyone can hunt without a guide, so that's pretty good. I think the real bit of poor luck is that they didn't introduce any African species (the exception being farmed Eland on an agriculture program in the Northern Territory). They would have done extremely well here especially without natural predators. Gemsbuck and Springbuck especially in our desert and semi-desert areas.

 

[mark-hunter]

What are the native species in Australia?
OK - I know about crocodiles, various species of kangaroo, and koala.

Is there anything else?
Oh, isnt that that some kangaroo species are huntable?

 

[CBH Australia]

Kangaroo are commercially harvested for pet food, human consumption Roos are taken in the field with more rules and regulations.
Emu, similar to Ostrich as for body shape I guess.
Crocs, yes Freshwater in rivers and Saltwater can go in river mouths and the sea. The Saltwater are the more aggressive and dangerous to humans. Both Protected. Only found across the Northern parts of Australia.
Koala Bears, may as well be. Teddy bear. Well they are not as cuddly as they look but just a small tree dwelling animal found in certain areas that have suitable trees as they are fussy eaters
Our Coat of Arms or National emblem is the Kangaroo and Emu. Our only big animals
Possums, native mice, small variety Kangaroos known as Wallaby. Same shape different thing related , so is a Euro
There are 3 species of Kangaroo harvested commercially.
Platypus, something unique, duck bill flat tail lives in creeks in certain areas

 

[Opposite Pole]

Some states allow Kangaroo hunting. Wild dogs are hunted in many areas as well and there are feral camels and donkeys too.

As for native animals, there are 357 indigenous mammals in Oz. Some are Possum, Wombat, Wallabie, Tasmanian Devil, two egg laying mammals Platypus and Echidna, plenty of smaller rodents such as Quoll or Bilbie. Birds such as Emu. Loads of reptiles: tens of species of turtles, number of lizards such as 2.5m long Perentie Montior or Australian water dragons and a host of “wriggly sticks” such as Inland Taipans (considered to produce most potent venom of any land snake in the world), Eastern Brown (second most potent venom in the world), Eastern Taipan (third most potent), Mulga aka King Brown (largest-recorded venom output of any in the world – delivering 150mg in one bite). Fresh, saltwater and plastic crocs ;-)

For reasons I don’t fully understand no Pachyderms were introduced :-(

 

[CBH Australia]

Fresh, saltwater and plastic crocs ;-)

For reasons I don’t fully understand no Pachyderms were introduced :-(

An excellent, informative and extensive answer. But, how do you know I have Crocs?

I suspect They won’t release Pachyderm any time soon looking at your pic and Arsenal. Just saying. Or it was just the logistics of importing them for sport in the 1800.s.
Would they have adapted and flourished like other introduced species.

 

[mark-hunter]

Ok, above could be just a joke, about pachyderms in Australia.

But there have been some studies at least on theoretical level of introducing rhinos to Australia, as a conservation effort.

 

[JPbowhunter]

I dunno about us being the lucky country. Not being able to hunt any native mammals in most states, most stated not providing public land opportunities and only half the introduced game being available on that public land.

NZ has it bloody good but USA really has a great system with an amazing variety of game.

If I wasn't married there's no way I would have spent my life here.

Mind you we had great game here prior to aboriginal settlement. Diprotodon was a wombat the size of a rhino, marsupial lion was a large carnivore, several land crocodiles, 8ft tall short faced kangaroo, relatives of the goanna that make a perentie look like a blue tongue. We just live 40,000 years too late!

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Native game species or not it's still the greatest country on the planet

I've been gradually working to complete I consider the full list of Aussie rifle-hunted species, there's 19 in all. I've got hog deer and banteng to go. Yes, the hardest two to access and the most expensive as a result...

 

[Sitting Bull_Chris]

Native game species or not it's still the greatest country on the planet

I've been gradually working to complete I consider the full list of Aussie rifle-hunted species, there's 19 in all. I've got hog deer and banteng to go. Yes, the hardest two to access and the most expensive as a result...

Good luck with your quest. It will certainly be an amazing achievement when completed!

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Cheers Chris. It wasn't really something I set out to do or achieve...just kinda happened along the way as I'm always looking for something new or different to hunt and new country to see. One day I might just have to spend a whole African safari worth of $AUD on a late season Banteng to round it off!

 

[JPbowhunter]

Native game species or not it's still the greatest country on the planet

I've been gradually working to complete I consider the full list of Aussie rifle-hunted species, there's 19 in all. I've got hog deer and banteng to go. Yes, the hardest two to access and the most expensive as a result...

Plenty of public land for hoggies, i know a few fellas that have shot them on it. Just get your tags and go after them!

I'd say buff, banteng, chital and rusa are the tough ones that don't really have any opportunity for Joe blow without an in on private or money for guides.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Plenty of public land for hoggies, i know a few fellas that have shot them on it. Just get your tags and go after them!

I'd say buff, banteng, chital and rusa are the tough ones that don't really have any opportunity for Joe blow without an in on private or money for guides.

You can get public land Rusa in NSW. They range from Central Coast, thriving in Illawarra all the way to Victoria along the coast.

 

[Shootist43]

Do you have Thar in OZ? Or is Thar considered a goat of sorts?

 

[Opposite Pole]

Do you have Thar in OZ? Or is Thar considered a goat of sorts?

No Tahr in Oz as far as I know. Just plain jane feral goats.

 

[JPbowhunter]

You can get public land Rusa in NSW. They range from Central Coast, thriving in Illawarra all the way to Victoria along the coast.

I dunno about vic, maybe those sambar rusa hybrids but nothing pure. If there's public land near illawarra I'll travel up there to finish off the six. I spoke to the DPI/game department once asking about just that and they told me there was nothing. Only an 11 hour drive so I can wear that.

 

[Opposite Pole]

If you can bow hunt there is Rusa in SF in Illawarra but the state forests there are bow only. It’s hard getting private land access in the area. Being so close to Sydney they are fairly overrun with trigger happy fellas but Rusa are a major pain there, particularly around Mount Keira. I think Royal National Park is where they were first introduced but you can’t hunt national parks in NSW. There are unmanaged herds on properties between Goulburn and Pennsylvania and Vulcan SF but personally I’ve only seen them on private land there. I’ve shot a couple of Fallow in Pennsylvania but not Rusa. State forests on south coast have Rusa. Might be worth having a go between Timbillica and Bondi SF. Granted you might get Fallow, Red, Sambar or Rusa/Sambar hybrid instead (or just get tired), but there are confirmed Rusa herds there. If you can find private access there’s Rusa around Jindabyne also. On central-north coast I’ve heard of blokes getting them on properties around Bulahdelah. I tried hunting SF there a couple of times but it is hard going due to very dense vegetation in many areas and also the place is rather popular with Brown Snakes.

 

[PaulT]

Wow, there's plenty of half empty glasses around here amongst the Aussie crowd.

On the contrary my glass is half full.

I have unlimited access to the best and biggest herd of legally hunted Sambar deer in the World. No expensive tags, no season and few limitations.

In my past I have been blessed to have hunted Banteng, Buffalo, wild Ox, boar, goat, six species of deer, feral horses and donkeys, rabbits, cats dogs, quail, geese and ducks, and for less than the cost of a moose tag I can hop on a plane to N.Z and roam the mountains for Chamois and Tahr at minimal cost.
Not a bad deal if you ask me.

If you think they have it better in the U.S then inform yourself about the realities that marginalises non-residents of any State, requires the purchase of expensive tags IF and WHEN you are successful in the "draw" and limits you to a set season which in some cases lasts but a few weeks with a limit to a specific area and tag description (Doe or buck) accorded to your lucky draw.
Learn about the reality of how long it can take to draw a specific tag in certain States before you are allowed to hunt.
I'm certainly not denigrated the U.S system of game and hunting regulations, simply pointing out that we as Aussies have opportunities that for those that are dedicated and motivated are very liberal.

It is only limited to your effort and how hard you want to achieve.

The best hunters I know spend countless hours visiting areas, knocking on doors, scouting public access areas and then hunt hard and kill their game.

I know Sambar hunters who put in incredible amounts of time back-packing into extremely remote and harsh country living like dogs off meagre rations in freezing and dangerous conditions to scout and locate potential animals (I am one of those suckers).
I don't hear many of them complaining about hunting opportunities in Aus.

Our "game" may not in fact be native, but that may be one of our greatest advantages.

 

[Tim Blackwell]

Plenty of public land for hoggies, i know a few fellas that have shot them on it. Just get your tags and go after them!

I'd say buff, banteng, chital and rusa are the tough ones that don't really have any opportunity for Joe blow without an in on private or money for guides.

Yeah unfortunately I simply don't have the time available to pursue public land hoggies. Given the hours of travel and scouting required....I find it hard enough to find time for a sambar hunt every two years. I'll just keep donating to the ballot and hoping for a start...one day I might buy a guided opportunity.

Chital and Rusa I've no problem paying for quality guided hunts (and have done so) as I can't exactly scout for private access at the other end of the country. In fact in a fortnight I fly back to QLD for the rusa rut. There are both species local to me but are only really escapee targets of opportunity.

I agree with Paul, I think we have it pretty good here really, and I've been fortunate to have done most of the list self guided