Got the email from my Pers manager, I am off to Sale. I've spent the last couple of years putting together equipment for hunting up here in QLD weather etc. Medium day pack, light weight coolish clothing and such. Now what should I be looking at for hunting in Vic? Bigger pack? warmer clothing? What are you Victorian guys using? I suppose the same gear that the Kiwi's use would be suitable?

I was surprised how freaken cold it gets! Merino base layers and ploarfleece will be your friends.
There seems to be a much bigger temperature gradient, at least in the months I was there and that days could be quite warm as well, but bloody icy at night and early mornings, so Like here in the mountains, layers would be the key.

quote:

layers would be the key.

Yes that covers that well and depending on what time of year you head bush it can range from tee`s to overcoats! Yesterday was 20C and last night a fair frost. FLEECE is the most noiseless of all materials for our bush btw,dont fall into the trap of getting some of the big name brands that use unsuitable material that has a sheen.
Something you will learn to deal with are blackberry canes.....*****

Dont know what its like for you guys over there Gryph, but talking base layers and standard polar fleece, The cheap stuff from tramping stores and the warehouse, does just as good a job nowadays, as the expensive branded stuff from hunting shops.

I agree,I bought two swazi tops and what a let down they were,ordinary thin fleece and worst of all not ONE pocket,nothing. As you say the same fleece can be bought without a name on it for a 1/4 of the price.

Swazi stuff isnt a patch on what it used to be , Virtually all made in Asia now .
Plus Mr Swazi was very quick to throw firearms owners under the bus when our arsehole government were scapegoating us all for something we had no hand in .
I refuse to buy his gear new , for that reason alone. Ridgeline is as good as any for day to day use , and you can buy it in box packs at very good prices.

I have a few Ridgeline bits. I also like Hunters Element.

I wont buy his gear because its not good enough for the price tags on it.

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
I have a few Ridgeline bits. I also like Hunters Element.

Fabric wise the hunters element is really good, and it tends to fit my lean frame better than most. The only thing that lets it down in my experience is the zips fail. I wear their thermals everyday on farm and they are tough wearing and do a good job!

I have some HE,tops and bottoms and concur re the zips,especially in the pants. The stitching in the pants crotch needs upgrading also imo and experience but its bloody good fleece.

Maybe thats how D Hughes stuff started out.

quote:

Originally posted by muzza:
Swazi stuff isnt a patch on what it used to be , Virtually all made in Asia now .
Plus Mr Swazi was very quick to throw firearms owners under the bus when our arsehole government were scapegoating us all for something we had no hand in .
I refuse to buy his gear new , for that reason alone. Ridgeline is as good as any for day to day use , and you can buy it in box packs at very good prices.

Yep. Those farmers packs were good value.

Bakes,
While i cant help you with brands down there. Ive hunted in the artic circle, rocky mtns and Himalayas. Plus many frigid deer hunts.
The same system of layers have served me well all over.

For glassing and stalking:
Silk weight base layers
Fleece pants and shirt
lite weight fleece jacket
quality gortex rain wear.

Below a certain temp i add a merino base layer.

For stand hunting i just use thicker layers on top

quote:

Originally posted by Thunder Head:
Bakes,
While i cant help you with brands down there. Ive hunted in the artic circle, rocky mtns and Himalayas. Plus many frigid deer hunts.
The same system of layers have served me well all over.

For glassing and stalking:
Silk weight base layers
Fleece pants and shirt
lite weight fleece jacket
quality gortex rain wear.

Below a certain temp i add a merino base layer.

For stand hunting i just use thicker layers on top

Thanks mate. Won't be doing much stand hunting. I don't have the patience.

Hard case aye. I find it really hard to sit in a stand type situation. yet I can sit on a boat trying to catch a fish for hours.

shanks where you and G saw that stag above yuz one evening I sat at "the log" for 31-or 33 evenings straight till dark in the hope of taking a stag that the Dane and I saw a ZERO!
I dont mind sitting and watching deer for hours but sitting with nothing showing is very ordinary.

I think as long as you have things to watch around you, its ok.

I spent one very long cold night mid winter, sitting on a hill above a dead cow waiting for a massive boar to come in. Sat in the dark from 6pm until 6am next morning. No sleep, no light.

It never came but i found its prints about 100 meters away next morning. Must have got my scent.

That was a long long boring sit.

"
Hard case aye. I find it really hard to sit in a stand type situation. yet I can sit on a boat trying to catch a fish for hours"

Same shanks, funny that hey

Hey Gryph, what would be the range of an average shot in that area for Sambar?

Average is a hard ask lets say that 50- 100 yards and then some depending on the vegetation..definitely a variable scope is my choice.

Jim Corbett tells us how he spent many nights sitting in wait for man eaters,that could climb trees!
Nerves of steel that man even though he reckons he got a bit toey at times.

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
Jim Corbett tells us how he spent many nights sitting in wait for man eaters,that could climb trees!
Nerves of steel that man even though he reckons he got a bit toey at times.

Good books those.

I have hunted only in Northern Victoria multiple times in the same area.

April-August.

Never been cold enough to warrant normal Rocky Mountain/NZ type clothes.

Most people I knew wore normal backpacking type boots or regular hikers. I did the same.

Ask Canberra gunsmith Russ Le Maitre about brown snakes in Northern Victoria in the highlands. They are there in the fall and spring. He had a dry bite by one a few years ago, had a video of it. Spent 4 nervous hours getting to the hospital.

I slept in a tent, all my Aussie mates slept in their swags. I was never cold and I don't think they were either. But like you said good gear.

Is the terminal job or do you have another 5 years to go.

quote:

Is the terminal job or do you have another 5 years to go.

I CAN get out (Retire from full time and transfer to the Reserves) at 55 which this posting will nearly take me too, but I really need to talk to a financial advisor to see if we can afford it. Got to tell you BWW, I've just about had enough At this stage it looks like I'll get acting rank for Flight Sergeant so thats a bonus.

I am so over anything to do with defense it isn't even funny.

20 active, and 8 in DOD as a civil servant. I need to find a new jam for sure.

I'm hearing you mate. Next Feb will be 28 years in the RAAF. The young kids coming through have me scratching my head and worrying about the future

Interesting that you say that Bakes. I just read an article about the UK's shift back to the SLR, and one of the final comments was a worry that the modern soldier might not handle the recoil.

Yep we have a generation of soft cocks, not all kids but shit there's a lot.

Give them a dressing down and you end up having a complaint put in against you. I just had a four hour interview because a troop didn't like the feed back I gave him on his dog work (He went away and cried). Fark me!

Gryph what other animals would you find in the Forrest's of Vic?

Just saw this and answered Hog Deer around Sale.
The usual foxes/wild dogs are always on the list too plenty of them.

There is a hog deer ballot/lottery somewhere in Victoria, and I think there is something similar for Rusa. Not sure where.

I'd join the local ADA, maybe you can source some good information.

Reds, Sambar and Fallow in NSW across the border to the North.

Used to be a lot of deer near Wagga, but they had been shot out by the time I got there.

There is an exotic game ranch in Goulburn that has Red and Rusa.

One of the taxidermist has another exotic ranch north of Sydney.

Bit of a haul.

A well dressed Kiwi at a likely place.



Most of us hunters see them like this bakesy.

That was one of those mornings where I was surprised and how effing cold Vic could be.

But the deer break the ice with no problems ha ha

As to scopes, I would suggest a good 2.5x is enough, though I have used small variables for decades. The trouble with modern scopes, however, is that almost all the guts are suspended on an articulated erector tube and the greater the complication, the more guts there'll be. Also, in variables the metal bits should be brass for its lubricating qualities, to save adding stuff that might smudge lenses. Any added mass increases the damage recoil can do.

Townsend Whelen reckoned 2.5x was plenty for big game out to 350 yards and gave more-useful field of view than bigger scopes.

Small scopes are also less likely to be bumped out of zero.

Another problem I've noticed with variables is hunters shooting too slowly. I've seen deer go away while the hunter fiddled with the power ring, instead of getting the shot off.

With my old reticle-movement variables the reticle ring is the only bit normally able to move under recoil and then only vertically, not around a hinged arc recipricol with the rising rifle. The power is usually set on two or three magnifications and only ever shifted at the range or when I expect a long shot beforehand or need a higher twilight factor. In the latter case I still don't go much above where there's an 8mm exit pupil, between 3x and 4.5x in the smaller variables.

I would have thought that Queensland would be warmer since it's closer to the equator.