Hunting in NSW Forest

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Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Robin » 12 Mar 2022, 10:54 pm

Hey all

I'm looking at booking a spot in one of the NSW forest and I have a few questions.

When I go to book, one of them says 33 , I'm assuming thats 33 people allowed to hunt at the same time, with that many people at the same time, does the booking give them there own hunting area, or am I likely to run into a few people.

What would be one of the better forest near the QLD boarder to hunt in, I'm not after your secret location.

For hunting gear, do I need $200 gaiters or will the much cheaper versions do the same job.

Thats all I can think about at the moment.

Thanks
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Bilko » 13 Mar 2022, 8:44 am

Robin, as I understand it, you are correct with the numbers. They indicate the number of places left at that State Forest. They work on 1 hunter per 400 hectares. No particular area is allocated to each hunter, so you may, or may not, see anyone else.

I was in Severn this time last year, and there was 1 other hunter in there (4 is the max as it is only a small area). We “met” on the State Forest Hunting NSW Facebook page and while we did not meet in person we kept in contact through messenger. Shared some pics and had a good idea of where each other were going to be moving etc.

My only experience is with Severn, it is an hour South of Texas, so only a 4 hour drive for me. Check the harvest reports, but goats are the main target. I believe someone recently took a pig there, which makes sense as there are some low boggy spots. I heard dogs last time, but they seemed to be outside the boundary on the Northern side. I stayed up higher in the boulders and saw goats, just couldn’t get a clean shot.

I didn’t bother with gaiters only because the ones I have are too small. Looking to get some one day, and I don’t think I will go for the expensive “snake bite proof” ones. I think keeping prickles out of your Sox and boots is their biggest benefit. Just keep your eyes peeled when stepping over logs etc.

From what I have gleaned the other border forests closer to the Coast are very dense bush and undergrowth, making them hard to hunt, and they don’t have much to show in the harvest reports.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Robin » 13 Mar 2022, 8:55 am

Bilko wrote:Robin, as I understand it, you are correct with the numbers. They indicate the number of places left at that State Forest. They work on 1 hunter per 400 hectares. No particular area is allocated to each hunter, so you may, or may not, see anyone else.

I was in Severn this time last year, and there was 1 other hunter in there (4 is the max as it is only a small area). We “met” on the State Forest Hunting NSW Facebook page and while we did not meet in person we kept in contact through messenger. Shared some pics and had a good idea of where each other were going to be moving etc.

My only experience is with Severn, it is an hour South of Texas, so only a 4 hour drive for me. Check the harvest reports, but goats are the main target. I believe someone recently took a pig there, which makes sense as there are some low boggy spots. I heard dogs last time, but they seemed to be outside the boundary on the Northern side. I stayed up higher in the boulders and saw goats, just couldn’t get a clean shot.

I didn’t bother with gaiters only because the ones I have are too small. Looking to get some one day, and I don’t think I will go for the expensive “snake bite proof” ones. I think keeping prickles out of your Sox and boots is their biggest benefit. Just keep your eyes peeled when stepping over logs etc.

From what I have gleaned the other border forests closer to the Coast are very dense bush and undergrowth, making them hard to hunt, and they don’t have much to show in the harvest reports.


Thanks for that, i'll have a look into Severn
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by DaveZ » 14 Mar 2022, 7:37 am

How does one go about hunting NSW SF on a Qld license? The R license looks easy enough to get but does that entitle us to use firearms in NSW on a Qld license? Ordinarily I thought you had to possess the license for the state you were in?

Cheers,
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Blr243 » 14 Mar 2022, 7:47 am

Hunting with a cat b rifle in nsw on private land is fine if u hold A cat b licence in Qld I don’t know if state forests is the same ... the dept that issues state forest permits will know the answer. If my 7600 rifle has a folding g stock In Qld I def can’t take it to nsw. Same applies to anything g else that might be illegal i. Nsw eg firearms banned because of appearances .. I do cross the border into nsw so I gotta keep up with the laws. I tend not to have rifles that look tac anyway
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Blr243 » 14 Mar 2022, 7:51 am

My info just posted comes not from the net or second hand or from trying to interpret the written legislation... I actually phoned nsw weapons licencing ... so I got it straight fro. The horses mouth ... if we could not use our gear in another state then we could not travel interstate for Sambar hunting Safaris or north to hunt buff
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by bladeracer » 14 Mar 2022, 10:53 am

DaveZ wrote:How does one go about hunting NSW SF on a Qld license? The R license looks easy enough to get but does that entitle us to use firearms in NSW on a Qld license? Ordinarily I thought you had to possess the license for the state you were in?

Cheers,
Dave.


You can hunt in any state that recognises your licence. Even WA recognises your licence, they do not recognise your firearm registrations. If you go to WA to hunt or shoot you require temporary permits for your firearms.

Your firearms _must_ be legal in any state you enter, even if just passing through.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by DaveZ » 14 Mar 2022, 12:57 pm

Blr243 wrote:My info just posted comes not from the net or second hand or from trying to interpret the written legislation... I actually phoned nsw weapons licencing ... so I got it straight fro. The horses mouth ... if we could not use our gear in another state then we could not travel interstate for Sambar hunting Safaris or north to hunt buff


Thank you. Like everything to do with firearms, anything you can find in writing is so vague as to give you no real answer at all. I came across a fact sheet issued by NSW firearms registry and it states:

"Equivalent Category A or Category B licence
An interstate resident who holds the equivalent to a category A or B licence issued in their State or Territory of
residence, is authorised to possess or use a firearm for any purpose established by the licensee as being the
genuine reason for possessing or using the firearm."

My genuine reason is pest control on private property and sporting shooting at the local range, so taken word for word it would appear as though I would be excluded from public land hunting as it's not my genuine reason, but that can't be correct as nobody in Qld would have that listed as a genuine reason. I'm guessing they may just be referring to the R and S codes on our licenses, so you probably couldn't go hunt if you only had the S codes for sporting shooting.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by bladeracer » 14 Mar 2022, 1:13 pm

DaveZ wrote:
Blr243 wrote:My info just posted comes not from the net or second hand or from trying to interpret the written legislation... I actually phoned nsw weapons licencing ... so I got it straight fro. The horses mouth ... if we could not use our gear in another state then we could not travel interstate for Sambar hunting Safaris or north to hunt buff


Thank you. Like everything to do with firearms, anything you can find in writing is so vague as to give you no real answer at all. I came across a fact sheet issued by NSW firearms registry and it states:

"Equivalent Category A or Category B licence
An interstate resident who holds the equivalent to a category A or B licence issued in their State or Territory of
residence, is authorised to possess or use a firearm for any purpose established by the licensee as being the
genuine reason for possessing or using the firearm."

My genuine reason is pest control on private property and sporting shooting at the local range, so taken word for word it would appear as though I would be excluded from public land hunting as it's not my genuine reason, but that can't be correct as nobody in Qld would have that listed as a genuine reason. I'm guessing they may just be referring to the R and S codes on our licenses, so you probably couldn't go hunt if you only had the S codes for sporting shooting.


Hmmm...that is odd that Qld doesn't have hunting as a genuine reason.
That would be worth an email to NSW Registry for clarification I think.

What genuine reason do you need in Qld to hunt on private property, not under "pest control"?
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by DaveZ » 14 Mar 2022, 1:20 pm

@bladeracer you can have hunting, but not public land hunting as this is not a thing here. I imagine private land hunting would be fine as a genuine reason.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by bladeracer » 14 Mar 2022, 1:31 pm

DaveZ wrote:My genuine reason is pest control on private property and sporting shooting at the local range, so taken word for word it would appear as though I would be excluded from public land hunting as it's not my genuine reason, but that can't be correct as nobody in Qld would have that listed as a genuine reason. I'm guessing they may just be referring to the R and S codes on our licenses, so you probably couldn't go hunt if you only had the S codes for sporting shooting.


Looking at the list of Genuine Reasons:
QLD genuine reason hunting rural.jpg
QLD genuine reason hunting rural.jpg (111.25 KiB) Viewed 5556 times


It seems to imply you need a lease agreement to hunt on private property, which makes no sense.

But all of the other Reasons are either occupational or target shooting related.

There is a note that if you apply online you have a secondary form to fill out, the Form 1.
This Form 1 applies to give permission to a person to shoot on your property, without being considered a pest controller.
I can only assume this is what people need to be able to hunt recreationally in Qld? You might have to explain this to NSW Registry though.

Based on the above I would _assume_ having a property permission to hunt in Qld would likely qualify you to hunt in other states - but confirm it first.
If you don't have a property permision I don't know where you would stand, but I would expect you would still be fine as the NSW government is giving you written permission (NSW requires written permission to hunt on public land) to hunt on their (our) property.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by bladeracer » 14 Mar 2022, 1:34 pm

DaveZ wrote:@bladeracer you can have hunting, but not public land hunting as this is not a thing here. I imagine private land hunting would be fine as a genuine reason.


I didn't see hunting listed in the genuine reasons at all though. The Form 1 letter is as close as I can get. This appears to only be for genuine reason though in a licence application. Are you allowed to hunt on private property without having this letter for that specific property?
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by DaveZ » 14 Mar 2022, 3:01 pm

bladeracer wrote:
DaveZ wrote:@bladeracer you can have hunting, but not public land hunting as this is not a thing here. I imagine private land hunting would be fine as a genuine reason.


I didn't see hunting listed in the genuine reasons at all though. The Form 1 letter is as close as I can get. This appears to only be for genuine reason though in a licence application. Are you allowed to hunt on private property without having this letter for that specific property?


Well there you go. I have the form 1 letter as one of my genuine reasons so I have the R1 R2 codes (I think this is the ones), I assume that's all I would need to be able to go hunt NSW SF, but would have to make a call to confirm I guess. I'm not sure if a separate letter would be required for other properties, I always assumed that so long as you had permission from the property owner, you were good to go.
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Re: Hunting in NSW ForestaS not

Post by Blr243 » 14 Mar 2022, 8:50 pm

Once when I tried to renew my Qld shooters licence an officer from Qld weapons told me my permission to hunt letter was not a genuine reason to hold a licence because it related to a property in nsw. I hunt nsw all the time. I was not happy. He told me my letter from a property must be in Qld. I suspect BS. I suspect that some people in weapons licencing don’t actually know the laws properly... I was not looking for a fight so I just went and signed up with ssaa Brisbane..... that’s now my genuine reason ... so hopefully nobody gives me a hard time about hunting interstate
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Re: Hunting in NSW ForestaS not

Post by DaveZ » 15 Mar 2022, 7:58 am

Blr243 wrote:Once when I tried to renew my Qld shooters licence an officer from Qld weapons told me my permission to hunt letter was not a genuine reason to hold a licence because it related to a property in nsw. I hunt nsw all the time. I was not happy. He told me my letter from a property must be in Qld. I suspect BS. I suspect that some people in weapons licencing don’t actually know the laws properly... I was not looking for a fight so I just went and signed up with ssaa Brisbane..... that’s now my genuine reason ... so hopefully nobody gives me a hard time about hunting interstate


Do you still have the recreational codes on your license or just the sporting codes now?
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Blr243 » 15 Mar 2022, 6:39 pm

I just checked my licence. Next to conditions it says RE1 sc1sc2. I don’t know what that means
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Blr243 » 15 Mar 2022, 6:46 pm

I just checked my licence. Next to conditions it says RE1 sc1sc2. I don’t know what that means
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by DaveZ » 16 Mar 2022, 10:20 am

Blr243 wrote:I just checked my licence. Next to conditions it says RE1 sc1sc2. I don’t know what that means


RE1 - RECREATIONAL SHOOTING A&B - This licence authorises the licensee to have
possession of and use registered category A & B weapons for the purpose of recreational
shooting on rural land, only with the express consent of the owner. All weapons are to
remain in secure storage unless otherwise authorised, justified or excused by law.

SC1 - SHOOTING CLUB: CAT A & B - This licence authorises the licensee to have possession
of and use registered Category A & B weapons for the purpose of sports or target shooting
at an approved range. All weapons are to remain in secure storage unless otherwise
authorised, justified or excused by law.

SC2 - SHOOTING CLUB: FINANCIAL MEMBER - The licensee is to remain a financial
member of an approved Shooting Club.
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Blr243 » 16 Mar 2022, 4:41 pm

Thank u Dave
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by Robin » 06 Apr 2022, 5:31 pm

So we have Booked for Severn in a few weeks, I have been looking and havn't found anything that I'm after, Are we able to camp in this forrest, are we able to have a small fire, are there toilets there (I can bring my own if there are none).

First time hunter and I am going with a mate and its his first time hunting in the forrest.
I'm a keen camper and have everything under the sun, however I plan on going lite.

For the hunting side, whats the ideal gear to take, at the moment I have a backpack , first aid kit with snake bite bandages, head light.
Food, do you recommend getting he 24hour rat packs from the Army disposals.

Can I where Jeans or should I be getting proper hunting pants like the below
https://hunterswarehouse.com.au/product ... ants-camo/
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Re: Hunting in NSW Forest

Post by bladeracer » 06 Apr 2022, 7:33 pm

Robin wrote:So we have Booked for Severn in a few weeks, I have been looking and haven't found anything that I'm after, Are we able to camp in this forrest, are we able to have a small fire, are there toilets there (I can bring my own if there are none).

First time hunter and I am going with a mate and its his first time hunting in the forest.
I'm a keen camper and have everything under the sun, however I plan on going lite.

For the hunting side, whats the ideal gear to take, at the moment I have a backpack , first aid kit with snake bite bandages, head light.
Food, do you recommend getting he 24hour rat packs from the Army disposals.

Can I where Jeans or should I be getting proper hunting pants like the below
https://hunterswarehouse.com.au/product ... ants-camo/


How long are you staying out?
I avoid camp grounds and prefer to sleep in the bush, dig a hole if you need a poo.

When I was in Cadets I found the 24hr packs ridiculously over-size, but if you're a soldier humping 50kg of gear over a long period you need all that every day to stay effective, I don't mind feeling a little hungry for a few days. For food I take boiled butterscotch lollies for snacking, muesli bars for filling the hole, and some cans of fish for emergencies in case I get stuck longer than I expected.
I don't drink tea or coffee so I don't need fires. I have a three-litre bladder in my harness and four one-litre bottles on my belt - fill yourself to the brim when you get dropped off to save carrying more water. I have managed to fit a second two-litre bladder into my harness pouch as well, but I prefer the bottles on my belt. The wide-mouth Platatac one-litre bottles are handy as they can be used for dry storage of food and equipment as well - I generally have water bottle on my belt every day anyway.

I prefer a load-bearing harness, it's always on me, and everything is readily accessible, but I also carry an empty 40-litre day pack for carrying stuff out.
A rain poncho is sufficient to stay dry, and carry a hootchie and paracord for rain protection in case of a major storm.

Anything you unpack when you put your head down you then need to pack up before you can head off, which is damned annoying in the dark. I wear track pants under my trousers and carry a really good hooded jacket that I can zip up to become my "sleeping bag" (rolled up and strapped across the back of my harness above my water bottles). If the ground is wet lay the hootchie down to lie on. Cinch your sleeves around your gloves, your trousers around your boots, then a balaclava and/or some scrim nets close everything off against mozzies (leeches will still find a way in but shouldn't do too much harm). I sleep with a cap on and the scrim over it, the cap brim keeps the net away from my face. My jacket zips up to eye level.

Don't forget the solar power bank for charging your phone, GPS, torches etc.

Set your phone camera to add GPS coordinates and take pics of anything interesting. Use video to take verbal notes about any interesting spot, saves digging out a notebook.

Spend money on your boots, socks and jacket.

A roll of the 48mm PVC black tape from Bunnings is extremely useful, as is a dozen 450mm cable-ties, and paracord.
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