Kangaroos are at a all time high this year with the population estimated at 60 million.

This is despite a severe drought affecting many parts of Australia. Kangaroos are well suited to the Australian environment and can survive in country where sheep and cattle suffer. Where numbers are affected by drought their physiology allows a rapid re-building of numbers.

So when you see the Australian game meat on the supermarket shelves in Europe (USA - less common), know that you are not only going to enjoy a delicious low fat meat, but also help a industry that co-exists with the wildlife of the Australian continent.

And the more the Government allows sporting hunting of kangaroos the better. A "Big Red" rug on the floor. What an excellent trophy.

John,

If I had not been a shooter, instead of 60 million there would 61 million

Mike

Great Sport

Yes, there's heaps of roos --- and their steaks are good!

But let's be honest ----- roos are NOT "Big game". They are very lightly built ---- a Hornet is ample (with a good shot) and a .223 with 69-grainers is almost "overkill". Placement is important --- but that's the same with shooting any animal.

Bruce

Bruce,

I often reckon a big male red roo hit low in the chest takes more bringing down than a pig hit in the centre of the chest. I think a male red is probably bigger than the average pig.

Mike

BIWOZ

Agreed. But not small game. I would classify them as Medium game. I wouldn't classify most deer as big game also but many would. Perhaps moose and elk, and maybe even sambar deer. But lets not argue about semantics.

They are great to hunt, for meat, for fun. for shooting practice. I find them relatively easy with a high powered rifle, but damned hard with a bow. Very alert.

Would the Oz government let me in carrying a .222 and 5000 rounds of ammo?

500 grains,

I am not sure but I think the 5000 rounds of ammo would only be an airline problem.

An American coming to Australia to shoot and where he had the opportunity to go away with Australians on shooting trips, would be better off developing loads for his rifle from components which are available in Australia. Basically that is the same as you have except for powder. However your Hodgdon Extreme powders are of course made in Australia so you have that powder to work with. Also Winchester powders.

Mike

[ 08-27-2002, 18:33: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

500 grains

A .222 is OK but can be marginal sometimes on bigger ones. Of course if you go for brain shots..... (I use a .222 by the way)

The best two rounds would be the .22/250 (and 220 Swift) and the .243 Winchester with 75 gr HPs. The .22/250 is ideal for a combination of minimal skin damage and longer distance shooting.

There are also of course various species of roos, the Reds (the largest), two species of greys (Western and Eastern) plus various species of Euros (smaller than a roo) and wallabies (smaller game and some are very small).

You can hunt wallaby with a shotgun in season in Tasmania. Queensland allows sporting permits to be sold. Other states? Otherwise you need to beg, cheat, steal, lie or pester a landowner with permits and/or tags to let you shoot your 5,000.

For information legally culled roo numbers are at least 3.5 million (from memory). Is this still correct? Any buddy knows?

How much do the various types weigh? Is Fosters a suitable accompaniment for kangaroo consumption?

Don't know about roo consumption, but Fosters is quite fitting with mule deer sausage and sharp cheddar cheese.

Fraser River,

I have never weighed them but 200 pounds is the size usually given for a male Red Kangaroo. The Eastern Grey is a bit smaller.

I have heard people at different times say a full grown Red is much bigger but I think this is a bit of an illusion. They are a very awkward animal to pick up and there is no doubt that a big male Red standing up, especially in the spotlight is a very impressive animal for first time lookers.

Mike

[ 08-28-2002, 13:38: Message edited by: Mike375 ]

When spotlighting I think the .22 hornet in the brain box is excellent efficient medicine. I have good results with the 22/250 loaded with win supreme 50 gr ballistic silvertips as well.

Fraser River

I will look up some refs for the body weights (never bothered to weigh one! - they aren't that heavy - though most I have shot have been greys) when I am home again.

Fosters. Blah! Pour it on the ground. Horrible stuff we sell to foreignors who know no better. Instead open a nice Australian (preferably Barossa) Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon. Or if beer a nice James Boag, Coopers Sparking Ale or similar.

Cheers

6.5x55 with 85gn hollowpoints works a treat. I also use my .222 a bit, might try my new hornet in the near future.

I love roo shooting, especially the reds and the blue flyers. Magnificent skins.

Hunter,

I use my 6.5 a bit to and I am using the 129 gr hollowpoints that the shooters warehouse sell for $25AUS per 100. They perform great.

If you try your hornet, I load the 45 gr sierra in front of 11 grains of Win 296, rem 7 1/2 primer, rem case OAL 1.71" and it gives me under the 1MOA at 100 yards with a leupold 3-9x50mm in my cz. The hornet is finnicky with loads but once you work one out it's efficient and accurate.

PC,

The absolute killer on then is the 130 grain Speer 308 Hollow Point. Even low chest shots are like a head shot with a 223.

A 220 Hornady flat nose from the 375 is not real bad either

Mike

How about I show up with my trusty 30.06 and shoot 150s


got a good buddy in Cairns- any roos up that way- in the NE territory?

Mike ,

I am using 165 gr ballistic tips in my 30/06 loaded to 2850 fps do you reckon the speer 130 gr HP perfroms better than the Nosler BT on skippy's?? Because they do a bloody good job

PC,

The 130 grain Speer has been the most consistent bullet I have used over more years than I care to remember. Actually, I think ADI made (or still make) a copy of that bullet in 308 and as you know I am copying it in 416.

Mike

Gentlemen's

Does this mean that it's OK to go to Austraila and join the forces in preserving nature

What are the rules for gringos to hunt in Aussie land, Same as NZ?

/ JOHAN

I will have to try them Mike.

No Semi-autos if you want to come Down Under... If you were just coming down for pigs / roos /goats and fallow deer, team up with an Aussie down here and borrow a rifle. Much easier I'd reckon. I think to import a rifle in for hunting purposes you need a letter from a PH.

I'm a fan of the hollowpoints on Skip. I shoot some 120gn BT's in my 6.5 driven very fast but wasn't that happy with the results for the price. I think HP's give that more resounding "pop".

Will try the hornet, I do love the .222 for head shots.
I now have a .300 win mag which I'm going to load for long range skippy shooting can't wait to see the results.

Nitroexpress – Interesting that you think we have roo meat in the supermarkets here. I am sure if I spent all morning on the phone I might be able to order some! In fact there is very little game meat of any kind sold in supermarkets. The game meat industry has no got its act together in this respect. Most of our deer gets exported to German. Most or our Beef is either from the UK or Europe. A lot of the Pork comes from Denmark and most of the lamb comes from New Zealand.
I try to buy meat only from my local butcher who gets the meat in from local farms. Supermarket meat, regardless of the source seems to be lacking in flavour after having tried the local killed stuff.

I’d like to try some roo though. What does it cook like?

PC,

99% of the shots I have fired with the 130 Speer have been out of Sako 308s with 52 grains 748 which does about 2950 plus. These rifles all had 1 in 12 twists.

About 1990 I had a Sako 30/06 loaded with them to just under 3300 f/s and that rifle was a 1 in 10 twist. We shot that rifle side by side with the Sako 308 and using bullets from the same box. The 30/06 was not as effective with the 130 Speers as was the 308. Was it the extra speed, faster twist, I don't know.

Mike

Mike might be the same theory as the 500 gr @ 2400 fps thing in Africa. More velocity does not mean better performance. I have great results with the 165 gr nosler bt's, I drive them at 2800 fps thereabouts with 49gr of AR2208. I can drive them faster but will I acheive better results ??

Mike

130 grainers in a 30 calibre are pretty light. I imagine the 200 or 300 hundred less fps of the 308 compared to the 30-06 meant they held together better on impact.

What were you shooting? Light game such as goats, roos and average sized pigs? Then the penetration wouldn't be a big issue, it would still kill, but maybe a little lesser.

Not much difference between the two though. You would have to shoot a lot of bullets to see a consistent difference, don't you think.

I've always used 150 grainers + in my 30-06. Didn't see the point in going lighter unless skin damagae was an issue and then go for headshots or use a smaller calibre. The 150's killed pretty convincingly.

John,

Only roos were shot.

Mike

I shot a number of roo's for the cockies dogfood last time in oz. The old males (eastern greys )all had worms, the females not any, that I saw. Why is that?
Another one of those funny cartidge things that comes up ... Me "mate" was a pro-roo shooter, and still shoots who knows how many a year, he claims a 222 killed better then a .223
Go figure?

TSJ

And 218 Improved Bee was better than the 222 and that is a fact.

303/25 and 303/270 were also better than the 243 and 270 Winchester.

The 303/25s were factory loaded with 87 grains at about 2650. 303/270s were about 2800 with 100 grain bullets.

Mike

Here's some roo pics for your enjoyment

A young red kangaroo - your wives would love the wild flowers and "Salvation Jane".



On the hop - hey I've seen that profile on an airline's tail ...



An "old man roo" resting



A couple of greys - a mother and a older joey.




[ 09-02-2002, 14:43: Message edited by: NitroExpress.com ]

Fraser River

Here's some stats for your info

Red Kangaroos
Macropus rufus

Height 1.8 to 2.0 metres measured sitting at their haunches. Weight up to 90 kilograms. Females 35 kgs and 1.25 metres tall.

Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroos
Macropus giganteus and Macropus fuliginosus

Grey males can be 1.6 metres tall and 70 kgs in weight. Females are smaller but similar in size to the "red" females at 1.2 m and 35 kgs.

Euros
Macropus robustus
Also known as Wallaroos.

Euros at 1.6 metres and males at 58 kgs. Females to 1.2 metres and 25 kgs.

Wallabies - Rock Wallabies + various species

A wallaby can be between 45 cms and 1.05 metres tall, 5 to 15 kgs in weight.

More information can be found at the NitroExpress.com web site

NitroExpress.com kangaroo discussion

[ 09-02-2002, 17:01: Message edited by: NitroExpress.com ]

John,

There is no way that a male Red is 1.8 to 2.0 metres measured sitting at their haunches. That is 6 ft to 6ft 6".

When they "stand up" then yes and more.

Mike

Mike

I think that is what the measurement is measuring - ie sitting/standing upright on hind legs.

John,

When they are just standing there or sitting may be the correct the way to say it, I would think maybe 5 ft plus or so.

I would like to know what a real big male Red would weigh. Hard to say as I think they look much bigger than they are, especially in the spotlight.

The male Red seems much bigger than the male Grey than those figures suggest but again it could simply be appearances and they stand out.

Mike

Mike

I've got the weights in the post above.

A big red male is up to 90 kgs and a grey 70 kgs.

There would be lots lighter too though.

[ 09-03-2002, 14:44: Message edited by: NitroExpress.com ]

You know most of Americans have more than likely eaten roo meat already,back in the late 70's when a certin fast food group started selling breakfast biscuts here in the south thery were using roo meat that had been imported and marked beef,took about two years before some one found out and put a stop to it,Oh by the way it was sold in the store as a steak biscut.HA!HA!HA!

Those of us in California are unable to make any use of kangaroo products. Evidently, the state thinks it knows better than Australia when it comes to kangaroo management, and consequently, kangaroo products may not be brought in.

Example? Look at the kangaroo hide boots in any Cabela's catalog, and you'll see the note: "Due to state law, these boots cannot be shipped to California."

Makes me glad I have out-of-state relatives to take delivery of various things for me.

Fat Bastard

Funny alias

Kanagroo skin can make some very nice leather. I have a couple of pairs of leather dress shoes and the leather is SO SOFT. It was like putting on well worn shoes the first time I wore them.

Your state legislators should aks themselves - how many whitetail, mule deer etc are in the USA today? More or less than 61 million? Hardly endangered!

[ 09-08-2002, 07:31: Message edited by: NitroExpress.com ]