Just returned from vacation to NZ, Aus, and Kauai. Managed to get in a hunt at Carmor Plains next to Kakadu with Matt Kelman. Besides buffalo, we were able to trap a large cattle-catching croc out of a small billabong on Mount Keppler station. Matt has depredation permits for several crocs, but he must do the shooting after the croc is trapped.
The first afternoon at Carmor, we went barramundi fishing on Sampan Creek. Didn't catch any fish, but must have seen more than 100 large crocs in a mile and a half. One big croc had killed a grown buffalo and was guarding the carcass.
With Matt's help, I got a nice buffalo, probably score about 98 points, but drowned my camera during the chase and couldn't get pictures. Did get pictures of other buffalo.
The croc we trapped was 4.47 meters (14 ft 8 inches) but had a very wide head.
On the way home, we stopped for a few days in Kauai. On a 4 hour trip out of Nawiliwili harbor, we caught two Marlin, both about 150 lbs, and one of which was foul-hooked thru the eye socket, so the captain boated it for eating.

Croc in Sampan Creek


Big Cattle-killer. I'm 6'5" in shoes.






Sampan croc with buff


Big Croc


Nice bull buff


Marlin

What a great trip

Can you tell us more about your buffalo?? what did you shoot it with??

TP, I borrowed Matt's 375 H&H Brno, he used a 458 win. Unfortunately, our ammunition choice was slim (no real premium softs, no solids), which led to a wild chase after a wounded buff thru a big swamp. When we finally got the buff, we were 600 yard out into the swamp, with only one round of ammo remaining, and I had drowned my camera. We didn't encounter any crocs wading in or out, thank goodness.

WOW, talk about your mixed bag! Great report! Congrats on your hunt!

Steve, welcome home...Very nice trophies...Lots of memories...

Mike

Excellent pictures!

Nice sized croc. Looks like lots of fun.

Congrats Steve,
You have seen and done many things the vast majority of Australians will never realise we have in own own backyard.

Well done Steve sounds like an interesting trip.

I think I would have enjoyed this particular agenda very much, indeed. Good for you!

Congrats Steve! Nice croc.

BTW, I gave Dean and Delil the knives you sent me for delivery. They liked them very much. Dean didn't remember what your Leopard skull measured however.

Dennis, Thank you. I enjoyed your TZ hunting trip report.

A few more picts--

GREAT trip Steve! Thanks for sharing with us!

John

Those things sure have a weird wanger. Looks like something that poped out of a chest in a sci-fi movie.

Are there outfitters in Australia offering saltwater croc hunts?

Hunter, croc hunting is not yet legal in Australia. There are depredation permits available for certain areas to residents only, with many restrictions. The croc must be trapped before it is shot, and only the permit holder may then do the killing. Their government is horribly bureocratic and apparently very anti-gun. Big crocs are extremely numerous and present in surprisingly small holes of water. The rules will have to change within a year or two IMO. If you help trap the croc, Matt can sell you the hide and/or skull. It is my understanding that he is the only person who has legally and successfully exported these products to the US.

Thanks Steve. Maybe in a couple of years it will be legal and I'll be able to travel Downunder and hunt crocs. I would really enjoy that.

4 Nov, Matt sent picts of buffalo skull retreival. It took about 4 weeks for the water to go down enough to get the 4-wheeler into the carcass. The horns had good mass and I am told were 47 inches wide.

quote:

Originally posted by SGraves155:
It took about 4 weeks for the water to go down enough to get the 4-wheeler into the carcass.

Why didn't you just take off the head and carry it back while you were there?

John H.--Good Question.
This buff crossed the trail in front of the Landrover about 500yds after we had given up on a long morning's tracking. He saw the vehicle and took off; we stopped, grabbed the rifles and gave chase--without Matt's kit-bag with our knives in it.
Once we had the buff down ( a couple of miles later), I think Matt thought we could get one of the 4-wheelers in to the swamp to get it, but we decided on the way out that the water was too deep for the 4-wheelers. He usually has an airboat, but it was somewhere else.
I did have a leatherman tool on my belt, but am glad we didn't try to use it for the job-- the "duck-lice"--"swimmer's itch" cercariae that had already drilled into our legs made for more itching and scratching than I usually enjoy over the next 2 weeks.

I saw your buff pict in Nickudu's photo gallery--looks like your's was in a similiar situation. Was that a recent hunt? In NT?

My buffalo was shot maybe a couple hundred metres out into the wetlands, but we were only twenty metres or less away in the paperbacks when we shot him.

Matt Graham caped out the shoulders and head which Steve and I carried back to shore, before doing this we removed the head itself. Matt G managed to carry this out most of the way, but then Steve and I came back to carry it between us the rest of the way.

Steve's buffalo was many hundreds of metres out when shot.

Caping out the head of the head skin lightens the load, and we found removing a shoulder helps turn the animal in the water to get at the other side. We were doing shoulder mounts however.

Last few Picts

14 foot Sampan Croc


Lots of Sampan Crocs



Checking entrance Wound



Close-Up of buffalo Killer


?Albinos?

Wow, neat hunt report and nice trophy bull even if recovered a few months later! Those saltwater crocs are HUGE. Couldn't imagine the tussle between the buff and the croc that killed him. Must have been epic.

Great bunch of pictures, thanks for sharing with us. Glad you had a great trip.
With that many of those big lizards it's hard to believe they don't have a legal system for NR's
to hunt or shoot 'em.

George

George - that post is from 12 years ago mate

Still NEW to me, as I just saw it the first time.
Thanks for the info though.
Still big lizards!

George

I enjoyed seeing this! I’m glad it resurfaced for me to see.