Australian Camel Hunting/Culling

If you are looking for a seriously wild adventure – our Western Australia camel hunting and culling is something you should consider. Australia’s camel population is set to reach 1 million animals in the next few years and we at Hunt Australia have secured exclusive access to a massive tract of remote aboriginal land, with huge numbers of camels. While the camel numbers must be reduced, the local people (Traditional Owners) still regard them as a resource, so we have negotiated low cull rates per animal for our hunters.

The hunting is mainly spot and stalk in the wild desert environment. You will be hunting with indigenous guides and local staff and accommodation is in comfortable cabins.
The dromedary camel is a massive animal with mature bulls reaching over 6ft high at the shoulder and weighing 1800lb and more. Where possible the younger camels will be utilised for meat by the local community.

Hunt Price and Conditions

- US$7,500 per hunter... including
- 5-full days hunting – 6 nights in camp
- 10 mature cull camels
- Additional cull camels @ $250 each
- Bull Camels @ $1000
- Transfers to and from telfer
Does not include – airfares, additional transfer costs to Port Headland (if necessary ). Licences and permits ($165), rifle hire ($110), etc.
Season April-October. Some dates still available for 2010.
Logistics – from Perth WA fly to Port Hedland or Telfer.
- Road transfer to hunting area.
- Rifle Hunt only – can import your own firearms and ammunition.
- Recommend 308 or larger with premium projectiles.
For enquiries best to email - office@huntaust.com.au

Hunt Australia
www.HuntAust.com.au
PO Box 1380 Armidale
NSW 2350 Australia
Ph +61 2 6771 3529
Fax +61 2 6771 3187

quote:

Does not include – airfares, additional transfer costs to Port Headland (if necessary). Licences and permits, rifle hire, etc.

Matt,

Please include all the prices of licenses and permits, as well as gun hire charges.

Matt,

Is the per-hunter pricing based on 1x1 guiding? How many people are grouped together in a camp? What is the expected shot distance (are scopes necessary)? Lastly, no truck shooting (assuming the hunter does not wish to), or is some to be expected as part of the "culling" aspect?

Thanks! Bill

looks like a very inusual and interesting hunt. What a shame that Australia is so far...

Sounds like fun and something I am interested in but allot of money for only 5 days/10 animals.

If it were 50 I would be in.

Just my 2 cents...don't take it as an insult

quote:

Originally posted by Bill C:
Matt,

Is the per-hunter pricing based on 1x1 guiding? How many people are grouped together in a camp? What is the expected shot distance (are scopes necessary)? Lastly, no truck shooting (assuming the hunter does not wish to), or is some to be expected as part of the "culling" aspect?

Thanks! Bill

Yessir 1x1. Expect to be the only party in camp but potentially one other person or party of two.

Yes absolutely, you can stalk and shoot from the ground. I would recommend a scoped rifle for shots out to 200 and potentially beyond. Expect average shots at 100ys. That doesnt preclude close stalking with an open sighted rifle, just more difficult.

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:
Sounds like fun and something I am interested in but allot of money for only 5 days/10 animals.

If it were 50 I would be in.

Just my 2 cents...don't take it as an insult

Not insulted... we have been working very hard with the Traditional Owners of this land to get this program running properly (ie. sales) with the most limiting factors being the cost and logistics of getting clients into the area. This IS one of the most remote places in the world... the costs are high and the expectation of the locals (in dollar terms) is high too.

You can shoot 50 animals, if you want - but you will need to book extra days and pay $250 per animal!!

For the interest of AR readers I will give the co-ords of the base village (22deg02'40S 123deg07'17"E) so you can have a look at the hunt area (east, west, north) on Google Earth. Normally I wouldnt dare post co-ords for a hunt area for fear of poachers but in this case ... it is very remote - good luck to the poachers!! Check out the salt lakes and sand dunes!!

Oh the part about $7,500 per person.... Even though it is the same price (per hunter) for 2x1 - we would look at adding a couple of extra days to make it work.

quote:

22deg02'40S 123deg07'17"E

Your coordinates puts you in the Antartic Ocean.

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

22deg02'40S 123deg07'17"E

Your coordinates puts you in the Antartic Ocean.

Copy and paste the following into Google Earth:

22 02'40 S, 123 07'17 E

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:

quote:

22deg02'40S 123deg07'17"E

Your coordinates puts you in the Antartic Ocean.

Dammit Frank - no wonder the hunt is so expensive!!!

Matt,
Spoken like a true gentelman!! I know that I would enjoy hunting with a guy like you.

I do understand the logistics of such a hunt, but $7,500 buys a pretty decent 10 day plainsgame hunt in Africa...hopefully the landowners there will realize this and either drop the price or double the 10 Camel allowance.

Good Luck!!

quote:

Originally posted by Leopardtrack:


I do understand the logistics of such a hunt, but $7,500 buys a pretty decent 10 day plainsgame hunt in Africa...hopefully the landowners there will realize this and either drop the price or double the 10 Camel allowance.

Good Luck!!

Hey we are always competing with cheap South African packages - they are a dime a dozen it seems!!

People also kind of expect Australia (as a whole) to be a third-world country as such and dont realise that the costs involved here (labour especially) is high, higher wages for example than the USA even. Minimum wage here nets you more than $500 per week after all taxes.

value is always subjective, but it seems a bit high ($$$) to come that far to help some people out by culling animals that they would otherwise have to hire somebody to deal with.

Wonder what a head and shoulder mount would look like...?

Rich
DRSS

Never thought a camel culling exercise could be classified as a hunt and quite honestly a butchering fandango has no business being on this site!

Camels, to the best of my knowledge do not even fall within a huntable species - similarly so for the wild horses in America? Has anyone offered to cull those and if need be, I'm sure the relevant authorities would do the needful.

Just waiting for a Kangaroo or Rabbit cull to materialize

quote:

Matt,

Please include all the prices of licenses and permits, as well as gun hire charges.

are you going to answer saeeds question??

quote:

Originally posted by butchloc:

quote:

Matt,

Please include all the prices of licenses and permits, as well as gun hire charges.

are you going to answer saeeds question??

Yes I edited the post mate!!

quote:

Originally posted by kibokolambogo:
Never thought a camel culling exercise could be classified as a hunt and quite honestly a butchering fandango has no business being on this site!

Camels, to the best of my knowledge do not even fall within a huntable species - similarly so for the wild horses in America? Has anyone offered to cull those and if need be, I'm sure the relevant authorities would do the needful.

Just waiting for a Kangaroo or Rabbit cull to materialize

Ding, ding - Ethics Check - Checkout Five!!

Why doesnt it belong on this site?? Did you complain about the guys advertising the trapline hunts or the high-volume dove shoots or the cull hunts in south africa, or the fishing trips, or the....

Did the nasty words upset you?

Horses and donkeys - yes we do horse and donkey culling here too and it is our most popular HUNT. People pay good money to come and do it and these hunts are over-suscibed by 100% most of the times.. that is we have twice as many potential hunters as we positions. Is it for everyone?? No... Is it popular...yes!!

And if we were allowed to do extensive kangaroo culling with international clients - well we could sell an aweful lot of them too!! It's all good harmless fun for the clients and helping out the property owners and the environment - everyone is a winner!!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by kibokolambogo:
"Never thought a camel culling exercise could be classified as a hunt and quite honestly a butchering fandango has no business being on this site!"
I re-read the original ad. Seems you still need to stalk/hunt the camels before shooting them!!!
"The hunting is mainly spot and stalk in the wild desert environment" The end use of the animal whether left to rot,eaten or skinned for a trophy does not determine whether it was hunted or not.
JCHB

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
value is always subjective, but it seems a bit high ($$$) to come that far to help some people out by culling animals that they would otherwise have to hire somebody to deal with.

Wonder what a head and shoulder mount would look like...?

Rich
DRSS

There is so much more to it than Rich. I cant really go into it all here as it is very sensitive and complicated but I will try.

With the camel population, the largest density is over vast areas of aboriginal lands, lands that are mostly unused (at the moment) for anything but the aboriginal inhabitants. The aboriginal people have an affinity with the camels - that stems from their recent interaction with them (3 generations or more) and stories instilled in them by the missionaries who helped raise many of these people... Christian stories, of which the camel is a historical part. So too the donkey. They are also an important food source for some locals - in some areas it is really their only source of bush protein.

The locals know that the camel needs to be managed but they dont REALLY want to see them culled in a widespread fashion - they like the camels and want to utilise them for food and/or profit, so they are utilised and not 'wasted'. Then there is the Australian state and Fed governments - they do not really want to see any such tourism development around safari hunting or culling. At the moment their goal is to drastically reduce the camel numbers by widespread shooting from helicopters, with or without the full permission of the traditional owners. No one else really wants that - so a program like this is trying to STOP the govt. from doing this and to send a clear message - "back-off" - these animals are valuable to the local people and the hunters..

We can only do that by giving them a per head value that is equal to or greater than their value for other uses (meat, export live, etc) and that is about $250. None of those other uses is viable but the landowners will try to hold back until it is viable. Sport hunting IS viable but we have to prove it. I cant prove it myself - I need willing acomplices who want to come and pay to hunt the camels with the local people!!

I trust this explains it a little better...

Oh and a shoulder mount looks like a little less than half a camel hanging out of a wall!!! Actually some people do that but not very many. The best 'trophy' from a camel is its skull - it is a NEAT thing to have in your trophy list. Now I just have to get it on the SCI list

We do a 'donkey grand slam' too - you have to collect the four colour phases - on the one day!!

BTW: most Australian hunters who engage in camel hunting enjoy the meat as well... it IS very good...

quote:

Originally posted by JCHB:
I re-read the original ad. Seems you still need to stalk/hunt the camels before shooting them!!!
"The hunting is mainly spot and stalk in the wild desert environment" The end use of the animal whether left to rot,eaten or skinned for a trophy does not determine whether it was hunted or not.
JCHB

Oh absolutely - always best to stalk them on foot. A bull camel is quite a dangerous animal too, towers over a human!! Not that they are naturally agressive - but they certainly can turn it on, when they want to...

Crikey - Check out the fangs on this little beauty!!!

Bring Big Gun - how would you like to have your arm stuck in that??

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

quote:

Originally posted by kibokolambogo:
Never thought a camel culling exercise could be classified as a hunt and quite honestly a butchering fandango has no business being on this site!

Camels, to the best of my knowledge do not even fall within a huntable species - similarly so for the wild horses in America? Has anyone offered to cull those and if need be, I'm sure the relevant authorities would do the needful.

Just waiting for a Kangaroo or Rabbit cull to materialize

Ding, ding - Ethics Check - Checkout Five!!

Why doesnt it belong on this site?? Did you complain about the guys advertising the trapline hunts or the high-volume dove shoots or the cull hunts in south africa, or the fishing trips, or the....

Did the nasty words upset you?

Horses and donkeys - yes we do horse and donkey culling here too and it is our most popular HUNT. People pay good money to come and do it and these hunts are over-suscibed by 100% most of the times.. that is we have twice as many potential hunters as we positions. Is it for everyone?? No... Is it popular...yes!!

And if we were allowed to do extensive kangaroo culling with international clients - well we could sell an aweful lot of them too!! It's all good harmless fun for the clients and helping out the property owners and the environment - everyone is a winner!!

"trapline hunts or the high-volume dove shoots or the cull hunts in south africa, or the fishing trips, or the...."

Trapping is a traditional method of capture with varying degrees of cruelty but the animals are invariably considered as indigenously wild animals or vermin - trapping can hardly be viewed as a humane way of hunting (in most people's books) but in some parts of the globe it is still accepted
even though most of the hunting fraternity will regard it from a negative point of view. Some of those trapline pics are damned good
advertising material which one day will screw it up for all of us. I dare say that some of our own hunting pics could be more carefully selected.


Doves are wild game birds and where shot by volume are considered as pests as their populations far exceed acceptable proportions; very similar
to the Quelea Quelea which in Africa are decimated by the millions by various methods commonly regarded as pest control (the antis don't seem
to object though).

Culling in S.A is offered at a cost on private game farms/ranches - well we know what that is all about and that topic has had its fair share of flak.

However, if you are of the opinion that shooting a camel is considered as sport or "harmless fun" - bully for you, at least we know what rings your bell!

Ah! Yes!....Ethics check - Staunch SCI supporter, of course you know what ethics is all about.....ding,ding, $$$$

there just seems to be a dichotomy here about the cull.
I read that the locals want them around, but not too many. That they eat them, but no mention of butchering on the spot to salvage the meat.

Australia may have a high standard of living, but this hunt is priced with a higher daily rate than Cape Buffalo or Elephant (but not as many days) hunt.

The world economy is still in the tank, and this is slotted in at the top of Africa pricing.
I did a two week Plains Game hunt in eastern Limpopo Province for a bit less in April.

I do not mean to be cross with you, but consensus is that it is a lot of money just to go shoot some camels.

A hunt in Africa is a great three part adventure.

1. planning it and the details
2. being on the hunt and harvesting some great horned trophies
3. getting back and posting pictures here and showing them to friends and family.
3b. having the taxidermy done and hanging the mounts in your special room in the house.

This deal just does not really feature any of these things.
I think this is what posters here are trying to explain to you. There's no "Show & Tell" factor involved.

regards,

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Where possible the younger camels will be utilised for meat by the local community.

it says this in the original post. I wrote 'younger' only - because I dont want to put pressure on the locals to use all the meat, as there just arent that many people out there. Like I say there are many complicated factors out there and this IS an unusal hunt that few people will be up for. I just thought it might be of interest to some on here??

Prices in Australia - our (australias) premium wilderness Asiatic buffalo hunts run around $1300 a day, so the camel deal is not that far out of touch, quite a bit less considering the location. It's a pretty typical rate for a wilderness hunt I would say. sure some places in Africa are cheaper but remember you are talking about 3rd world countries here..

I do go comparing South Pacific hunts to hunts anywhere else in the world... how can you? It is a different place and either you feel motivated to do it or not, that is the hunters choice.

quote:

Originally posted by kibokolambogo:


Ah! Yes!....Ethics check - Staunch SCI supporter, of course you know what ethics is all about.....ding,ding, $$$$

you dont know anything about me. You dont seem like much of a gentleman thats for sure.


Geez - I didnt think I'd get my balls broken over some dead camels!!!!!!!! I didnt even post any pictures to offend any fragile sensibilites.

Matt, there are a lot of very 'brave' and obviously not very nice folks who sit behind computer screens and judge the world.

Personally I am always looking for a new experience some place far away. I did the buffalo hunting in Arnhemland a few years ago and that was a great experience being so far away from anywhere ... A camel hunt in the Outback in that harsh environment .. I will do that some day .. and will even bring my lady who has nothing against camels but loves the adventure of the remote areas ... Cheers !

quote:

Originally posted by scruffy:
Matt, there are a lot of very 'brave' and obviously not very nice folks who sit behind computer screens and judge the world.

Actually sounds like a lot of fun, can we film it next year????

Don't want to get involved in some of the pros/cons being discussed but just thought I'd share my experience since Matt says he has feral donkeys (I believe he has pigs as well). I have never met Matt.

I hunted feral donkeys (and water buffalo) w/ Matt's predecessor over a couple of years in the Northern Territories. Horses and camels were available but my wife is a horse nut, so they were out (as are Zebra's in Africa). She was pretty distressed when I shot a wild dog (dog lover).

The experience of the Australian Outback is totally different than Africa (where I lived for a number of years). Life just has too many choices and I'm glad I had the opportunity to spend time in both places.

A couple of years after my last donkey hunt, the Govt came in and shot them out from helicopters leaving many wounded to die in agony. Matt's predecessor insisted that any donkey shot by me had to be to be verified dead, i.e. approach every downed animal and if not dead, finish it with a handgun (for which he had a permit).

To give an idea of ammo consumed, we filled gallon ice cream buckets with ammo in the a.m. and they were pretty much empty by the time we got back at night.

Lots of instruction on rapid fire and running shots to take out small herds of 6-10 donkeys. I was told if I didn't think I could get the whole herd, don't shoot. Work up gradually. In time, I was able to accomplish the task. How you approach a donkey herd is key.

Lots of long range shooting as well. The Horus Vision scopes were prototyped in this particular area.

While I won't be a camel hunter, better that hunters cull the animals than have the govt helicopter shooters maim a lot of them. I'm really down on helicopter culling.

BTW, donkey backstrap is delicious.

One can quibble over the number of animals Matt has listed as available, but given the remoteness of the territory, the price seems fair. I'd rather be lost in N. Mozambique than where this hunt is occurring. Almost seems worthwhile to go along just as an observer, if true "nothingness" is up your alley.

My 2 cents.

Matt, Bob is staying with me next week on his way to Weatherby Foundation.

Matt, I have a mate here who has a camel shoulder mount and it is quie impressive. His trophy room is full of thar, reds, fallow and african species but the camel gets the most attention a lot of the time. Best of luck with your hunts by the way.

Christ theres some negative people about eh!

Hi Interested...

Bob Penfold wrote our (Hunt Australia's) rulebook on how to do things, not just culling but trophy hunting as well. We keep that rulebook and follow it almost to the letter. As you may be aware Bob is arguably the most successful hunter in the South Pacific (especially in relation to North American game) and to question the ethics of our company and what we do here in Australia; is to question the personal hunting ethics of this great man..... simply ludicrous.

Just yesterday my young brother (continuing the tradition) had a bit of an argument with some clients who wanted to save ammo on wounded animals... it was gratifying that he was following the same successful rulebook too.

Yes - I call donkey the 'prince of meats'... Donkey snitzel is a Hunt Australia institution.... as is vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Give my regards to Bobby - I know he is on the big plane at the moment.

Thanks for your comments. Few will understand until the see and experience it for themselves.
Matt

Aaron - of course you can film it!! I just dont know where you would be allowed to show it.. camels might be OK?? depends how it is presented on TV.

Interesting...I guess

quote:

Originally posted by scruffy:
Personally I am always looking for a new experience some place far away. I did the buffalo hunting in Arnhemland a few years ago and that was a great experience being so far away from anywhere ... A camel hunt in the Outback in that harsh environment .. I will do that some day .. and will even bring my lady who has nothing against camels but loves the adventure of the remote areas ... Cheers !

Scruffy I think you've got the ghist of what is on offer here. A unique expedition (not just an adventure) to experience and shoot in one of the last truely remote and challenging areas of the world. Zimbabwe and South Africa are a crowded metropolis compared to where this hunt is located.

The cost of logistics out there is incredible. You can compare this to a hunt in Africa if you want but the outback and camels don't exist in Southern Africa.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
People also kind of expect Australia (as a whole) to be a third-world country as such and dont realise that the costs involved here (labour especially) is high, higher wages for example than the USA even. Minimum wage here nets you more than $500 per week after all taxes.

Oh we're headed in that direction, if our illustrious leader gets his way. No job creation, but for the union mob bosses, saweeet!

Anyway, thank you for posting an interesting hunt and trying to explain an extremely unique situation to the "anyone who doesn't hunt exactly like I do is unethical" crowd.

I doubt I'd ever get to do this, but it sounds like a heck of an adventure. Don't think the cost is that out of line, its pretty hard to compare hunt costs across the spread of different countries, not everthing is the same. I for one would like to see some pictures from one of these successfull hunts, even if the pics are in a pm, can't be any worse than all the pics we see here so often off success on African hunts, and dearly love to see all those, regardless of how bloody, gruesome or politically correct they are portrayed.
Matt, thanks for posting the info and opportunity for those who can do it.
Willi

If you don't like the price or the hunt, don't go.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

Aaron - of course you can film it!! I just dont know where you would be allowed to show it.. camels might be OK?? depends how it is presented on TV.

I don't think TV would be the appropriate place, but for my own entertainment might be nice!

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
If you don't like the price or the hunt, don't go.

Frank, that is much too logical, can't possibly work.

Camels in Australia are wild. About the only place on Earth where they are wild. Almost everywhere else on Earth they are stock animals and domesticated.

Classified as "feral" as they were escapees or releases from "Afghan" hawkers and camel trains during exploration and development in Central Australia. Used once to supply outback locations and also for supplies when the railway was built.

"Cull", because we have too many of them.

Have no idea why a hunt going out into the middle of the desert would not be classified as hunting.

A friend of mine does it, a lot of the work is just getting into the region where he hunts them as it involves dune driving and the cruiser is filled with jerry cans of fuel not luxuries.

Not to be compared with hunting animals bought at auction and hunted behind wire. Wide open deserts.

A type of hunt that needs to be experienced at least once.

Hey Matt,
I could see the value in killing one bull camel so you could get a mount done,but not slaying 10, could this be something that could be arranged with a Buff hunt?