Outfitter: Matt Graham, Hunt Australia
Dates: June 6-13, 2013
Main Species hunted: Water Buffalo
PH: Grant Robinson
Rifle: Ruger African, .375 Ruger,
Scope: 3-9 Trijicon
Bullets: 300gr North Fork ss
Camp: Gan Gan

Its a long trip from Alberta to the Northern Territory in Australia, 41hours 44 min from home to camp to be exact. The trip went from Calgary - Vancouver - Sydney - Cairnes - Gove and then about a 2.5 hour drive from Gove to Camp. The trip would have been 2 hours faster except for a plane delay in Cairns(Cawns as the Aussies pronounce it). We pulled into camp around 1:30 AM, a long trip but more than worth the effort.

Matt's Gan Gan camp is a very comfortable tented camp on well groomed grounds that sits on the edge a creek fed Billabong. I never caught any in the pond but others were catching Barramundi and Saratoga in it. A few crocs called the billabong home, one large one that I never saw but witnesses said was big. Camp has a heated outdoor shower that was great after a day in the field and a screened in mess tent.







Morning fog across the billabong

The first morning I explained to Matt and Grant I had only seen pictures of wild water buffalo and I wanted to kind of ease into the hunt, look a few over and get a feel for what I'm looking at before pulling the trigger. My plan went out the door 2 hours into the first day.

I had looked over a total of two buffalo bulls before we spotted my bull. The other hunter, Aaron Neilson, who Matt was guiding, hadn't arrived in camp yet so Matt came out with Grant and I the first day. After a good look at the bull Matt looked over his glasses at me and explained very clearly that I need to take this bull, first day or not. Not knowing a good bull from a great bull I deferred to the advise of my guides. It was good advice, because he was the biggest bull of the hunt I had a crack at.

With the wind in our faces it wasn't difficult to close the distance to the bedded bull to about 25 yards where Grant gave a calf call to get the bull to stand. Before the bull had got his legs under him I put a 300gr North Fork soft on the point of his shoulder as he was quartering on. Stunned, the bull slowly turned and when he put his head down far enough that I wouldn't hit his horns I put a second one straight on in the top of his neck. Two more broadside heart/lung shots as he departed quickly put the him down and he only made it about 25 yards.

Matt acted as cameraman and did a fine job videoing the stalk and shots.

Matt and I with my first morning buffalo.


Happy with a great bull that would have been foolish to turn down, first day or not, I had 6 1/2 days left to hunt another bull and do some fishing.

Matt has strategically placed landcruisers on different lakes that can only be accessed by boat which gave us a huge hunting area.




Most days we would hunt areas by cruising slowly through the forest Grant driving with me in the back spotting. We also did considerable walking each day into swamps and flood plains that held buffalo. There isn't a shortage buffalo in Matt's area and we never had much time in between sightings.



Group of cows moving from a swamp into the forest


Nice bull out on the flood plain.


Being early in the season I had expected a bit of difficulty getting around in wet conditions. Maybe it was a dryer than average year but even with a hard shower or two everyday it seemed to do little more than settle the dust and keep the grass green. Access was good everywhere and we never got stuck. I can see how it may be easier to spot buffalo after the grass has been burnt off but the better stalking afforded by the grass was a good trade off I thought. The grass really isn't that thick or tall and I never felt it impeded anything. I have never seen the area after its been burnt so it may look much different.

The birdlife in the Northern Territory is spectacular. I love seeing and listening to all the different species but I admit thats where it stops for me. Other than "Oh look a Cockatoo" I really don't know what I'm looking at. I need to get some bird books and start putting labels on the different birds because there are some amazing looking species that I wish I knew more about.




Other species we saw were hogs, dingos and wallabies.

After a morning hike we were on our way back to the truck during the heat of the day and we spotted a group of hogs wallowing in a creek. I dropped to a knee and anchored a sow that was standing broadside.



Looking over a couple cows out on the flood plain.


One of the lakes we crossed to access a truck had great fishing which I took advantage of every time we crossed. A few times we got distracted with the excellent fishing and let it eat into our hunting time.

Barramundi


Matts area is on the ocean and one afternoon Grant and I took a side trip to check out the beach. Except for the crocs, sharks and box jelly fish it would be a great place to play in the water. I elected to only go up to my knees. We walked along the beach for a little while and found the remains of a sea turtle that the aborigines had killed. Grant told me they use a boat to come along side the swimming turtle then kill them with a spear. In the picture you can see a hole in part of the shell. Looks more like a bullet hole to me.



In the evenings after dark in camp cane toads would come out on the lawn. These guys were brought in years ago to control the cane beetle but quickly became a nuisance because they multiplied so fast and were eating the native frog species. They were fast and you needed a quick hand to catch them. I bright flashlight in there eyes kept them still I found out and made it easy to catch them. They make good practice if your a golfer I'm told.



Australia was a great experience and I plan on going back with my wife and boys for a holiday/hunt in the next couple years. Its a great hunt for young kids to experience a hunt for a big animal. Cairns has beautiful beaches, dining, hotels and non-hunting activities that would be a great addition before or after the hunt.

People in Australia were all overly friendly and polite. Customs agents were more than helpful and courteous with all the gun paper work. I never got the feeling like I was being interrogated like I do in Canada and the U.S. when I travel with guns. Matt runs a great operation in some beautiful and very wild country. I highly recommend him to anyone thinking about doing a water buffalo hunt.

The only negative about the whole trip was Matt's coffee.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.

G'day,

Dave

Click on the below link for the video clip.

http://s1209.photobucket.com/u...ntAustralia.mp4.html

Congrats on a great hunt Dave! It was a pleasure meeting you in camp as well.

Thanks Aaron, it was a good time hanging out with you and Jerry. And congrats to you too.

Thanks for the report. Me and a group of guys are going to hunt with Matt next June, and your report gives a great idea of what to expect. We are staying 2 extra days to just fish, so I want to know where that lake is!

Tim, June was great, I'd do those dates again next year in a heart beat but Matt said he was booked. The extra time for fishing you booked will be well worth it, you will have plenty of action.

quote:

Matt looked over his glasses at me and explained very clearly that I need to take this bull, first day or not. Not knowing a good bull from a great bull I deferred to the advise of my guides. It was good advice because it was the biggest bull of the hunt I had a crack at.

Lucky you did.

That is a ripper head, superb.

Well done.

I think we are roughly there from June 17-25...sounds like it will be good. I wanted it to be green for beauty and closer stalking...

Thanks 505g.

Tim, should still be green and beautiful.

d unger

What did it go SCI Score in the end.


Secondly, they had bugger all "rain" this year
in the wet, up until April and then one huge
dump of rain across the top end of Aus. Not sure
what Matt's area got but most other areas in the
NT got a lot in that dump.

It varies from year to year so a lot of places
will stay green / wetter longer this year because of the late rain.

Matt runs a good operation, that is for sure.

.

505, sorry we never put a tape on him.

The way your describing the rains is the same thing Matt described. Not sure what a normal year looks like but there wasn't too much water laying around except in some creeks and the flood plain. There was a lot of plant growth in the ponds and lakes, which seemed to be at normal water levels, but Grant said in a normal year it all would have been washed out by high water.

Matt sure does run a good operation, his coffee is lousy though.

quote:

Originally posted by d.unger:
his coffee is lousy though.

LOL

Do you really think we give you the good coffee ???

I think they have a Starbucks planned for the future !

Re your head, I reckon it must have gone over 100.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by 505G:

Do you really think we give you the good coffee ???

Hey, I would have actually been grateful for lousy coffee, I had to put up with instant "coffee" for a week. Man, by day 3 I was going through major caffeine withdrawal!

A couple of things I always take with me
when travelling.

1. Coffee, if necessary even instant in a small plastic bag but more often than not some of
the packet coffees.
2. Sugar, normally little servings in plastic
that we get from Army Ration packs.
3. Condensed milk in a tube !

I work on the philosphy of you can always
gets hot water somewhere even if you boil
it yourself, that way you can always have
a coffee.

Nice bull and great report. Thanks for posting!

Nice bull.

A bunch of us here on AR did a group double rifle buff hunt there in the NT last June. It was a really good time and I am looking forward to returning to the NT for another hunt soon.

Thanks Scottyboy. I was kicking myself for not taking a double, next time. Your group hunt with doubles does sound like a good time.

D

it's a few pages down in this forum section.. Check it out. We went last June.

Any luck getting a rough score on your bull? Looks LONG. I'm gonna throw a guesstimate of 107-108..

quote:

Originally posted by Scottyboy:
D

it's a few pages down in this forum section.. Check it out. We went last June.

Any luck getting a rough score on your bull? Looks LONG. I'm gonna throw a guesstimate of 107-108..

Scottyboy, You guys looked to have had a great hunt in a super area. Really enjoyed your report and pictures.

We never put a tape my bull. He was old, he had good wear on his teeth and was missing a bunch up front. They were guessing he was around that 16 year old range.

Great report ,beautifull enviroment ,definetively i have to hunt with MATT GRAHAM .

Hey Dave

Thanks for the top report and it is a pleasure to have such keen hunters like yourself in camp. Good times!

Just got back to Gove from another great 7 day hunt.. another AR member who may report.

Bloody coffee... Australians drink beer for breakfast anyhow.

Back to the bush I go.

Oh I think your bull was about 108SCI. We killed another 108 this week and we also killed the other big bull that Aaron and I saw on the floodplain (after foiling us once) - he didnt have heavy horns at all but he still went 105 or thereabouts (below). Killed some other beauties too!!

A friend gave me the 'heads-up' about this thread.
I was fortunate enough to guide Dave on this hunt and it was certainly a pleasure. We hunted hard and long, and it was great to hunt with a good hunter that enjoyed doing a few miles on foot at times. We had some fun getting in close to photograph buffalo.
Dave, those North Forks certainly worked a treat. The few we dug out do buffalo had all had mushroomed almost perfectly, and appeared to have retained the vast % of there weight.
Grant.

The Nescafe wasnt that bad was it Grant??

Nice bull!. Great pics and a good hunt report.

Matt, congrats on getting that bull! Super looking head. You run a great operation. Plenty of good times that hunt.

Don't give me this beer for breakfast stuff. I think weak tea with a little milk and sugar and a digestive cookie on the side is more like it. Canadians like quarts and quarts of strong black coffee with a bit of whiskey before hitting the trail. I don't think nescafe even has coffee listed as one of the ingredients, dreadful stuff.

Grant, glad to see you on here mate! Absolute pleasure hunting with you. Hope to bring my boys and wife to do it again. Haven't weighed those North Forks but I'll email you and let you know.

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:
The Nescafe wasnt that bad was it Grant??

Hhhhmmmmnnnn........
Lets just say I would have preferred a Tim Hortons or Starbucks coffee

Good hunt report.

You got a top notch bull.

There are much better beaches than that in cairns.

Let me know if you need any advice.

Regards Mark

Checked out the video at the bottom.... Yes I did jump at your first shot.... Bloody terrible!!! You should have fired me on the spot!!!

Matt, with no hearing protection on you done great, and in full resolution it looks excellent. It would have been far to difficult to find a replacement for you anyway. Besides, beggars can't be choosers.

Great video and shooting.

Hey Matt, Not sure what that Canoe is for?? Wouldn't want to be in it when one of those monsters come up from the deep...

Serious Buffalo. What a safari and some first class fishing to boot.

quote:

Originally posted by ozhunter:
Hey Matt, Not sure what that Canoe is for?? Wouldn't want to be in it when one of those monsters come up from the deep...

You dont strike me as the fearful type Adam!! In any case that canoe is fully six inches longer than the biggest croc in that waterhole.... he wont mess with it!!

quote:

Originally posted by Matt Graham:

You dont strike me as the fearful type Adam!! In any case that canoe is fully six inches longer than the biggest croc in that waterhole.... he wont mess with it!!

[/QUOTE]

The idea of becoming a Crock turd does not fill me with joy .

Adam - are you telling me you havent waded across rivers with crocs in them, in Africa??