I may be fortunate to spend some time in Aus this year. Destinations include Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. What types of hunting/animals are found in each location (or surrounding area - I'm obviously not expecting anything in the city!!!)
Many thanks

JCHB

There are deer of differing types within an hour or so of those cities.

Cheers,
Mark.

Once you know what month you will be there , and where , it will become easier to plan something. Theres lots to do in the Eastern States of Oz.

The red deer roar is around April ish around Brisbane. There are a few guides that work the Brisbane and Mary valleys.

Depends on what you mean by "hunt"

Do you want ranch or free range?

Do you want paid hunting,swap hunting or go it alone.

GIA is possible in Vic..IF you can bring a firearm of yours.

Thanks for the response and my questions have been answered :"there are deer within an hour". My visit down under is basically a "look see" to determine if I can see myself and family living in Aus, hence the wide geographic spread.(yup, another bloody Saffer on his way!)
Earning a living is the primary concern but doing it in an area with good hunting and fishing would be a bonus.
Many thanks

JCHB

What do you do for a living in SA?

I`m surprised Hendrik hasn't chimed in,he is an ex saffer living in NZ,the next best option downunder and before muzza gets his nuts jangling I LOVE THE PLACE ..almost on par ha ha!

Now if you choose ANY OF THE ABOVE cities not that i`m into cities but Melbourne is a good choice for hunting as deer are to be found in just about every direction.

Gryphon, what are the most commonly hunted species?
JCHB

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
Gryphon, what are the most commonly hunted species?
JCHB

Look, Boet there's more free hunting here than in RSA.

The main ones are

Victoria - Sambar
NSW - Fallow
Qld - Sika, Red

And the others are all in the mix as well.

And then there are the OTHER ferals .....

No Sika in QLD mate. Rusa yes.

NSW has all the deer species.

NSW arguably has the best mix of species - but realistically the best hunting is often 5-6 hours drive from Sydney, which makes it hard. Victoria on the other hand has great public land hunting within 2 hours drive of their capital.

For furred game. Australia-wide - the most hunted species are small game - rabbits, foxes. Followed by pigs and then feral goats and the various deer species. Victoria may be an anomoly there with - as mentioned great sambar and fallow deer hunting within spitting distance of Melbourne - so - lots of deer hunters!

I hunt Boar, Deer, foxes, goats, rabbits and Hare four hours out of Sydney

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
I hunt Boar, Deer, foxes, goats, rabbits and Hare four hours out of Sydney

You do - but it is hard to get good quality private land access, or even paid access, within that 4 hour radius.

JCHB - you seriously should check out New Zealand as a future residence. Theres lots of saffas here already , and the hunting is just as good , with more species on offer here.

Plus NZ has a better rugby team so what more could you want?

haha muzz,I can answer..a better cricket team..even the saffer knows that..

I seem to remember they had one, until last week. I may be wrong and don't really care but that McCullum did all right, at least at the end.

quote:

Originally posted by Bakes:
No Sika in QLD mate. Rusa yes.

Sorry - it was past my bedtime and I remembered it had four letters and ended in an "A".

There are sika in Australia.

I have seen and photographed them.

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
There are sika in Australia.

I have seen and photographed them.

Not in QLD.

My entire church in Canberra was springboks.

Honestly people make fun of Canberra, but the rifle culture in both gun clubs, good gunsmiths, decent shops, decent housing, not a big city, and the hunting is closer than Sydney.

Every trip I made to Melbourne and Sydney never made me wish that I lived there.

Not sure what your profession or trade is, if I was moving back to Australia today this would be my pick in no particular order:

Cairns; fishing and hunting abound

Darwin; same as Cairns

Canberra; good for everything and not a big city that you'll grow tired of.

Wagga Wagga; cheaper housing, big enough, hot as two mice fornicating in a sock though. Good gunshops and hunting.

Or any bush town of any size in NSW, Vic or Queensland.

As an Aussie hunter unless you live in the top deer area, you primary hunting will be for feral pigs, feral cats, fox and wild dogs.

We would move back to Aussie in a heartbeat if we didn't live in America. Not that America is better or worse than OZ, we just don't have enough of an incentive to talk away from the lives we have built here.

Our two oldest daughters were born in Australia, and when they graduate school if they want to they can join the Australian military. If they end up doing that we'll follow them back to Oz. The wife can teach school and I'll be a zoologist/wildlife manager.

That`s basically what people used to say about them prev.."not in Aus,not in Vic"
Where there is a dotted deer there`s dough!

In that case we will open our arms and issue a 'welcome back'
That was a fair enough synopsys too.

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
That`s basically what people used to say about them prev.."not in Aus,not in Vic"
Where there is a dotted deer there`s dough!

Have you photographed one in the wild?

I am surprised no one has mentioned Chital deer! Also hog deer.

Going to be awhile for me. Major infection in this belly surgery now. ER wanted to keep me 36 hours for IV meds today. I just couldn't do it, had a dog locked in the house and no one to take care of her until after Saturday now. I'm screwed if this gets worse. Put me on big pills 3x's a day. Hope it'll stay calm til I can get a dog sitter. Have a half inch hole in my belly scar that came about last Wed. Big pus abcess under the lower Left ribs now.

Shit mate hope things go well. Keep fighting.

George, I hope you feel better. Prayers coming your way.

Victoria has red deer, fallow deer, sambar, rusa and hog deer.

NSW has very few chital, and the other five.

South Australia has all six. Mostly escapees from water valley.

Northern Territory has sambar and maybe some of the other five have gotten lose from paddocks.

Queensland has chital, rusa, reds, sambar and fallow.

This is sporadic, and based on what people have let go or sporadically lost from their places.

Hog deer are probably the rarest, Sambar are the most common in Victoria and Southern NSW.

Rusa keep popping up as I understand it in places they didn't exist before.

Sambar are expanding the most.

Tasmania has only Fallow.

Sorry George I meant to hit reply with quote and hit edit instead. I wiped out your questions. Please repost when you can and get better soon mate.

Guys are most hunts on private land like here in RSA or on public land as in the USA?
JCHB

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
Guys are most hunts on private land like here in RSA or on public land as in the USA?
JCHB

It is a mixture... All states havee private land hunting.

Tasmania - some public land
Victoria - lots of public land
NSW - lots of public land
NT - very limited public land but this is changing.
SA, WA, QLD - no public land.

Victoria..lots..18,000,000 acres yep million of sambar hunting land at your leisure (hard leisure btw) for under $50 a year..NO BAG LIMIT!

NSW has an R licence system where one has to be licenced to hunt deer...even on private property.

Here is a wild one,I took his pic last year.
The 'tide' mark is the wallow level he had been in only a short time before and the drying mud on his face is shown as grey.



[/URL]

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
Victoria..lots..18,000,000 acres yep million of sambar hunting land at your leisure (hard leisure btw) for under $50 a year..NO BAG LIMIT!

NSW has an R licence system where one has to be licenced to hunt deer...even on private property.

For NSW private property deer hunting you do not require an R-licence, just a simple G-licence - a game licence, just the same as you need/have in Victoria for hunting deer (not just on public land).

http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/hunt...ing-licences/general

I stand corrected after reading as below.
However it seems rather onerous to have to have a licence to hunt on private land with already having owner permission.

The General licence (G-licence) allows you to hunt deer and other game animals on private property in NSW.

You must have the permission of the private landowner in addition to a G-licence.

The G-licence does not allow you to hunt on declared public hunting land. To hunt on public land in NSW you need a Restricted licence (R-licence).

You don't need a licence if you are hunting feral animals on private land, you just need the permission of the landowner.

If you are paying by credit card, use the links above to apply or renew online. If you are paying by cheque or money order, use the application forms below.

NSW General Game Hunting Licence - application/renewal form (PDF, 91.2 KB)

NSW Game Hunting Licence - licence replacement form (PDF, 104.4 KB)

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
I stand corrected after reading as below.
However it seems rather onerous to have to have a licence to hunt on private land with already having owner permission.

The requirements to hunt deer on private land are essentially the same in either state - you need a game licence from that state to do it.

when there's 18 million acres of free range deer country,not counting the millions more of private in Victoria its a good place to start.

Victoria sounds like it offers fantastic opportunities. What about Perth? Is there much going on in WA?

JCHB

At risk of offending the denizens of WA..forget it.
The firearm laws there make it bloody terrible,I know I lived in WA for quite a few years.

Agree with Gryphon1 - WA is really tough. Coming to ACT was like going to paradise.

Yep one reason I never want to get posted to WA.

quote:

Originally posted by gryphon1:
when there's 18 million acres of free range deer country,not counting the millions more of private in Victoria its a good place to start.

True and permitting is much easier for visiting (O/S) hunters. NSW is a PITA in that respect and unlikely to change any time soon.