I'm back at it again after quite a break

[Die Judicii]

After having major surgery (just after Xmas) I am now back to hunting again at long last.
I received a phone call on Friday 6th from a woman that had some of her goats ripped open by a dog/s.
I drove out to her property to have a look around so as to determine where the best place was to set up and snipe from.

Having done the meet and greet thing I set to and worked out what I figured was the ideal position.

After a good days sleep on Saturday I headed out to the property and arrived an hour before sundown.
First up, I placed some of my sensors in strategic positions throughout the area I was concentrating on.
Then I drove to my pre determined sniping spot and began setting up for the night just on dark, (5-45pm)
But,, before I even got partially set up one of the sensors indicated the presence of dogs.

Quickly grabbing the binocs I focussed on a pair of dogs that were trotting away just on 450 meters distant.
By the time I got the rifle etc ready, they were of course no where to be seen.
So I finished doing a couple other things and was ready.

At 8pm, another sensor told me there was something coming.
This time it was the dog on its own.
When it got to 180 meters the 308 HP spoke, and turned his lights out.

Half an hour later I heard the bitch (approx 400 meters out in the timber calling out to her dead partner.
I decided not to try and fool her by calling back,, and instead just wait and see if she came right in.
She called every 15-20 minutes, and judging by sound and direction she was traversing back and forth, but each time heading outwards instead of inwards.
She kept doing so throughout the rest of the night, and getting more and more frantic as time passed.

Several hours before dawn she was calling as frequently as every 30 seconds or so, and was approximately a kilometer out.
The last time I heard her call out was half an hour before the sun started popping up.

I went back out again on Sunday night in the hopes of seeing her or calling her in,, but it was a dead night with nothing really on the move at all,
and certainly not the bitch.
Nothing all night,, not even a single howl from many kilometers out.

Chances are she's packed her bags and cleared out of the district.
At least my initial place of setup was spot on the money.

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[deye243]

Tell me more about these sensors and good job on the yellow dog

[Wapiti]

Good job mate. And well written story.
Your hard work and dedication pays off again. This how it's done people, a professional who gets the call for help, does the initial scope-out work, prepares and gives it a hard go. Sleeps all day and stays out all night when the job demands it. This is why a bloke like you will be invited in to get the job done.
That dog has killed that lady's goats no more, and if you didn't do it, it wouldn't have ever been done and those animals would have continued to be violently killed.

Your great description of how the bitch was calling desperately for her mate, yet knew if she came in, she knew she would be killed. When her mate did not return, she knew he was dead and it showed in her behaviour her distress at that. So she howled frantically and eventually, in her desperation she left. Perhaps to go back to their puppies and leave her mate for life and care for them. Or maybe just save herself.

It actually makes me feel sad. These animals are so incredibly intelligent, and almost always fool the average part-time hunter. They can't help the way they are made, that they come in to kill whilst hunting, they don't just take one animal, they wind themselves in into a killing frenzy and kill others for nothing. It is this behaviour that is their downfall. So when they need to be killed, just like any other animal, it is best done instantly by a bullet fired by someone who makes it clean and painless.

The other thing it brings to mind is naivety. People get into rearing stock with no idea on security for their animals. Small holders and weekenders like their farm animals around for the kids or to try for a small income, maybe as a hobby too and there's nothing wrong with that. And usually the security in fencing is barely adequate to keep their cuddly animals in, not be fenced correctly to keep the killers out. And their animals suffer terribly and just encourages the killers to come in more. As we know out here a bit further west of her, our exclusion fencing keeps unwanteds out, but at a cost.
But that's where you come in, mate.

[Die Judicii]

Tell me more about these sensors and good job on the yellow dog

Thanks Mate,,

I can tell you more about the sensors,,,,, they are the fruit of an innovative mind,, can be used in all sorts of terrain and weather,, and help me tremendously.
The rest, is as they say,,,,,,,,,, A trade secret.

[Die Judicii]

Thank you Wapiti,

Keep punching the educational bag for the benefit of those who don't live and earn a crust from the land.
Eventually (ya never know) some of em may actually learn something.

It was interesting to see you mentioned the fencing aspect.
This last job,, The landowner was a fencing contractor, and the fencing is exemplary.
But even so,, some of these Dingo (Warrigal) origin dogs find a way to get in and out when they need.

[Wapiti]

I'll try and put the different perspective on things from a primary producer shooter side of things mate, because I know some people get something out of it. Those that don't are the noisy ones but who give a f**k about them. In my world, they'd melt and die pretty fast. I put forward the other sides perspective, some may learn from it, others won't.

Interesting on the exclusion fencing.
There are a few different designs for dogs. Some suit some country, some don't. Some designs and heights vary as well.

Around us, we have all different ideas but most have gone to a lot of trouble to do dog fencing.
We were told, "wild dogs/dingoes don't jump", so 1150 standard dog high fence was enough. But that's not true, they jump. I've watched them do it, chasing stock on the other side.
The inbreeding of dingos with domestic stock, usually lost dogs that leap into their owners utes then get lost, teach their wild pups to jump.
Then, there's the simple digging under the fence, they can do it in a few minutes if they are in soft country.
Then there's the latest fad from Gallagher, "Weston Fence", where the fence consists of alternating plain power and earth wires about 150mm apart, through insulated droppers, pretty much poly plastic box-section with holes for the wire, attached to star pickets every 10m or so. It must be powered by the largest energisers out there to be effective, but I've seem pigs, roos and even a dog push through between the droppers, knowing if they're quick they'll only get hit with one pulse, or maybe none at all.
They just stretch the plain wires and pop through.
I watched a dog simply jump this fence opposite me at a road creek crossing, I told the neighbour because he has sheep, and he refuses to accept that this fence is not dog proof. He hates my fence.
Then when it rains or there's dew, the high voltage arcs out, zap, zap, zap, rendering the fence ineffective for any ferals to pass through.
Not so the echidnas and snakes, even endangered bandicoots. The echidnas try and get under, and are hit with a pulse from the energiser. Their quills pop up, and they get hit again and again, stuck there till they die. Terrible death.
I bet if I walk their fence now, I'll find the remains of a few.

So we went with Waratah 100x150 square tuffknot mesh, 1800 high fence with a 300mm apron. The vertical wires are high tensile and the apron is sprung down super hard on the ground, not hinged like some aprons. It's impossible to lift, and on our Traprock country, nothing can dig under it.
And, I have to keep my deer in. I was concerned at first about my Wapiti, but they seem very quiet. Our Droughtmaster stud cattle are super quiet.
To me, it's a true exclusion fence because roos can't jump in (or out, so have to be strictly managed), neither can pigs or dogs get in or out. But unfortunately with earthmoving to cut the hills for level tracks each side in the higher country, it's costing around 18K/km.
You get what you pay for, and the taxman must hate me.

Proof are the pigs breeding in my fenced paddocks, say 600 acres each. They were fenced in, and now they can't get out and so at the moment they are helping me by eating all the things I need to "manage" out. They'll keep.

Holy sh*t, I didn't realise this was so long. Damn lunch breaks.

[Die Judicii]

Hey there Wapiti,,,, Do you put hot wire standoffs either side on your fences to stop the persistent and learned “climbers” ?

[Peter988]

I saw a documentary once that showed how foxes have their own patch that they pretty much stay in. Might be a square half kilometre or so but that’s their routine every night. Are dogs like that at all. Wil that bitch eventually work her way back ?

[Die Judicii]

Hey there Wapiti,,,, Do you put hot wire standoffs either side on your fences to stop the persistent and learned “climbers” ?

[deye243]

Tell me more about these sensors and good job on the yellow dog

[Wapiti]

Hey there Wapiti,,,, Do you put hot wire standoffs either side on your fences to stop the persistent and learned “climbers” ?

Much to the Mrs dismay, I bought a sh*tload of Gallagher double sided standoffs to concentrate on the pressure spots, they seem to be in corners and flat areas where I see footprints after rain. But as yet I haven't had any climbers, so they're on the shelf in the shed. I have a couple of S200 solar energisers, and will rig something up should I need to. I have cameras everywhere and my main breeding animals are encouraged to behave by having lick blocks in dedicated feeding areas, like some campsites I have along a creek.
A bloke won't stray if he gets everything he wants at home.

Hey if any of you blokes want some really great cameras, with 24mp photos and 1440 video, check these ebay ones out. They come with SD cards and really prove that you are really being ripped off by having brand names like Bushnell printed on gunshop sold stuff.
They were recommended to me by a prominent politician here (yes I know) but he uses them and has busted a few poachers using them and they are tiny. They only use 4 AA's instead of 8 too. I have 8 of them and they have been faultless for a year almost now.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/40492812566 ... 4964316013

If these were sh*t, I wouldn't mention them. In fact they outperform cameras from gunshops that are $300 each.

[Beno]

Hey there Wapiti,,,, Do you put hot wire standoffs either side on your fences to stop the persistent and learned “climbers” ?

Much to the Mrs dismay, I bought a sh*tload of Gallagher double sided standoffs to concentrate on the pressure spots, they seem to be in corners and flat areas where I see footprints after rain. But as yet I haven't had any climbers, so they're on the shelf in the shed. I have a couple of S200 solar energisers, and will rig something up should I need to. I have cameras everywhere and my main breeding animals are encouraged to behave by having lick blocks in dedicated feeding areas, like some campsites I have along a creek.
A bloke won't stray if he gets everything he wants at home.

Hey if any of you blokes want some really great cameras, with 24mp photos and 1440 video, check these ebay ones out. They come with SD cards and really prove that you are really being ripped off by having brand names like Bushnell printed on gunshop sold stuff.
They were recommended to me by a prominent politician here (yes I know) but he uses them and has busted a few poachers using them and they are tiny. They only use 4 AA's instead of 8 too. I have 8 of them and they have been faultless for a year almost now.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/40492812566 ... 4964316013

If these were sh*t, I wouldn't mention them. In fact they outperform cameras from gunshops that are $300 each.

thank you. i need some more cameras. i think that expensive cameras are a scam. If you think bushnell are a rip off then those reconnyx will blow your mind. They charge as much as one of your cams just for the mounting systems.

[Wapiti]

Hey there Wapiti,,,, Do you put hot wire standoffs either side on your fences to stop the persistent and learned “climbers” ?

Much to the Mrs dismay, I bought a sh*tload of Gallagher double sided standoffs to concentrate on the pressure spots, they seem to be in corners and flat areas where I see footprints after rain. But as yet I haven't had any climbers, so they're on the shelf in the shed. I have a couple of S200 solar energisers, and will rig something up should I need to. I have cameras everywhere and my main breeding animals are encouraged to behave by having lick blocks in dedicated feeding areas, like some campsites I have along a creek.
A bloke won't stray if he gets everything he wants at home.

Hey if any of you blokes want some really great cameras, with 24mp photos and 1440 video, check these ebay ones out. They come with SD cards and really prove that you are really being ripped off by having brand names like Bushnell printed on gunshop sold stuff.
They were recommended to me by a prominent politician here (yes I know) but he uses them and has busted a few poachers using them and they are tiny. They only use 4 AA's instead of 8 too. I have 8 of them and they have been faultless for a year almost now.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/40492812566 ... 4964316013

If these were sh*t, I wouldn't mention them. In fact they outperform cameras from gunshops that are $300 each.

thank you. i need some more cameras. i think that expensive cameras are a scam. If you think bushnell are a rip off then those reconnyx will blow your mind. They charge as much as one of your cams just for the mounting systems.

No idea what reconnyx are mate, but I'm not making a Netflix series. I just want clear, reliable pics, a real quick trigger time and some info on what's getting around when nobody's looking.
And I'd rather keep my money to buy a better optic to shoot the things with than get ripped off on Chinese trail cameras that should be $50, not $300.

[Wapiti]

7th June #1.jpg

7th June #2.jpg

Hey mate that "dog" looks disturbingly like a dingo. You're pushing your luck.
Thank goodness your client is in Qld and not Sicktoria, or her goats would be done for and you'd have been watching TV instead.
And you're lucky you haven't been reminded of these stupid laws again either, just in case you move back there.

[Die Judicii]

I saw a documentary once that showed how foxes have their own patch that they pretty much stay in. Might be a square half kilometre or so but that’s their routine every night. Are dogs like that at all. Wil that bitch eventually work her way back ?

Yeah Mate, Foxes are waaaaaaay easier to hunt in general than the dogs.
And,, they are largely very predictable.
Some of them so much so that you could set your clock by them.

As a teenager I saw a large dog fox walking along the edge of the scrub that was behind my parents property late one afternoon.
And several days later I saw the same fox at almost identical time, walking the exact same pathway in the same direction.
So, the next afternoon I headed down a half hour earlier and sat waiting.
And yep,,,, at the same time (within about 10 minutes) old Brer Fox came meandering along.
I shot that fox with my very first semi auto 22lr,,,,,, complete with a Gold Spot Silencer. Not a Moderator.

I used that silencer for many years until I had to hand it in because of the new legalities.
But,,,,,,,, contrary to politicians beliefs,,,,,, that silencer never turned me into a criminal.

And to answer your other questions,,, dogs (especially Dingo types) are not like foxes with their routines.
The only thing predictable about dogs is that they are unpredictable.
They keep changing their time table and an awful lot of other things.

The only time I have found them to be fairly predictable (especially regarding time) is if you are sitting and waiting for the dog or bitch,,,,,, and you happen to be within about 100 meters from the den, and it's time to bed down after a nights hunting.
But even then,,, they rarely approach from the same direction each time, or follow a common pathway.

The bitch,,, if she ever does return (sometimes they never will) will probably be in a month or two time.
She is more likely to move far enough away and maybe get accepted to another pack and find a new mate.
Being a bitch she has a fair chance of succeeding in that,, whereas if it were a dog,, the members of a different pack would most likely kill it.

If you pardon the pun,,, some may "howl" me down over what I've said above,,,, but that is what I've learnt and observed through my own actual experiences.
And not by reading a book or the likes.

Cheers,,

[bigrich]

After having major surgery (just after Xmas) I am now back to hunting again at long last.
I received a phone call on Friday 6th from a woman that had some of her goats ripped open by a dog/s.
I drove out to her property to have a look around so as to determine where the best place was to set up and snipe from.

Having done the meet and greet thing I set to and worked out what I figured was the ideal position.

After a good days sleep on Saturday I headed out to the property and arrived an hour before sundown.
First up, I placed some of my sensors in strategic positions throughout the area I was concentrating on.
Then I drove to my pre determined sniping spot and began setting up for the night just on dark, (5-45pm)
But,, before I even got partially set up one of the sensors indicated the presence of dogs.

Quickly grabbing the binocs I focussed on a pair of dogs that were trotting away just on 450 meters distant.
By the time I got the rifle etc ready, they were of course no where to be seen.
So I finished doing a couple other things and was ready.

At 8pm, another sensor told me there was something coming.
This time it was the dog on its own.
When it got to 180 meters the 308 HP spoke, and turned his lights out.

Half an hour later I heard the bitch (approx 400 meters out in the timber calling out to her dead partner.
I decided not to try and fool her by calling back,, and instead just wait and see if she came right in.
She called every 15-20 minutes, and judging by sound and direction she was traversing back and forth, but each time heading outwards instead of inwards.
She kept doing so throughout the rest of the night, and getting more and more frantic as time passed.

Several hours before dawn she was calling as frequently as every 30 seconds or so, and was approximately a kilometer out.
The last time I heard her call out was half an hour before the sun started popping up.

I went back out again on Sunday night in the hopes of seeing her or calling her in,, but it was a dead night with nothing really on the move at all,
and certainly not the bitch.
Nothing all night,, not even a single howl from many kilometers out.

Chances are she's packed her bags and cleared out of the district.
At least my initial place of setup was spot on the money.

7th June #1.jpg

7th June #2.jpg

glad to hear that your surgery went well and you've recovered back to health mate . i've had some experiences encountering dogs out bush , but so far no real hunting experience with them . thanks to you and others for posting . some very informative posts and information from personal experiences

[Wapiti]

Thanks DJ, for taking the time to post that info for us all.
Much appreciated and will give the keen hunters here some great insights.

[Blr243]

Good to hear you are back in the saddle. And well done with the dog. When I get a sec I’ll give u a ph call re some of your tech equipment. Sounds interesting.. I got a couple of dogs myself a few nights back. It was very exciting. Previously I have howled them up but not shot successfully because it hid behind a big steel post . The other night I heard them howling real close to me as I was on a dam waiting for them to come for a drink. All of a sudden I heard dogs goin off as if they were in a tight group. There was a bit of commotion goin on as if they were somehow haven’ a minor altercation between themselves .. they were so close I thought they had discovered where I had parked my motorcycle and it sounded like they were arguing over who was goin to ride it first. I could not call them in my original location because there was a steep mound of earth between us and there was a serious possibility if they came in suddenly over the top of the mound they would identify me b4 I had a chance to shoot so I hastily moved to a better location approximately 40 yards away where I had approximately 40 yards of semi open ground between us . In the dark Shaking with anxiety and excitement I hastily prepped my gear and caller scanned the area in front of me I was too excited to remember if I called once or more but while scanning with the thermal Binos I saw the dog walking in and propping .with his excellent hearing he very accurately pinpointed my calling location and he came in EXACTLY where I wanted him too . I swapped my Binos for my rifle and put the reticle on his chest … down he went. Approximately 3/4 of an hour earlier I shot a bitch on the dam during daylight. It was a top arvo / evening. I rode my bike back to camp in the dark and sat around the campfire with my mates and a couple of beers swapping yarns about our day’s activities

[Oldbloke]

Good to hear you are back in the saddle. And well done with the dog. When I get a sec I’ll give u a ph call re some of your tech equipment. Sounds interesting.. I got a couple of dogs myself a few nights back. It was very exciting. Previously I have howled them up but not shot successfully because it hid behind a big steel post . The other night I heard them howling real close to me as I was on a dam waiting for them to come for a drink. All of a sudden I heard dogs goin off as if they were in a tight group. There was a bit of commotion goin on as if they were somehow haven’ a minor altercation between themselves .. they were so close I thought they had discovered where I had parked my motorcycle and it sounded like they were arguing over who was goin to ride it first. I could not call them in my original location because there was a steep mound of earth between us and there was a serious possibility if they came in suddenly over the top of the mound they would identify me b4 I had a chance to shoot so I hastily moved to a better location approximately 40 yards away where I had approximately 40 yards of semi open ground between us . In the dark Shaking with anxiety and excitement I hastily prepped my gear and caller scanned the area in front of me I was too excited to remember if I called once or more but while scanning with the thermal Binos I saw the dog walking in and propping .with his excellent hearing he very accurately pinpointed my calling location and he came in EXACTLY where I wanted him too . I swapped my Binos for my rifle and put the reticle on his chest … down he went. Approximately 3/4 of an hour earlier I shot a bitch on the dam during daylight. It was a top arvo / evening. I rode my bike back to camp in the dark and sat around the campfire with my mates and a couple of beers swapping yarns about our day’s activities

A RED letter day.

[Die Judicii]

Good to hear you are back in the saddle. And well done with the dog. When I get a sec I’ll give u a ph call re some of your tech equipment. Sounds interesting.. I got a couple of dogs myself a few nights back. It was very exciting. Previously I have howled them up but not shot successfully because it hid behind a big steel post . The other night I heard them howling real close to me as I was on a dam waiting for them to come for a drink. All of a sudden I heard dogs goin off as if they were in a tight group. There was a bit of commotion goin on as if they were somehow haven’ a minor altercation between themselves .. they were so close I thought they had discovered where I had parked my motorcycle and it sounded like they were arguing over who was goin to ride it first. I could not call them in my original location because there was a steep mound of earth between us and there was a serious possibility if they came in suddenly over the top of the mound they would identify me b4 I had a chance to shoot so I hastily moved to a better location approximately 40 yards away where I had approximately 40 yards of semi open ground between us . In the dark Shaking with anxiety and excitement I hastily prepped my gear and caller scanned the area in front of me I was too excited to remember if I called once or more but while scanning with the thermal Binos I saw the dog walking in and propping .with his excellent hearing he very accurately pinpointed my calling location and he came in EXACTLY where I wanted him too . I swapped my Binos for my rifle and put the reticle on his chest … down he went. Approximately 3/4 of an hour earlier I shot a bitch on the dam during daylight. It was a top arvo / evening. I rode my bike back to camp in the dark and sat around the campfire with my mates and a couple of beers swapping yarns about our day’s activities

Thanks for your comment Mate.
And yeah, ring anytime you want,,,, but,,,, Don't ring me when I'm out bush and in the throes of squeezing the trigger like what happened a few years ago.


For those that don't know,, several years ago I was about to squeeze the trigger one night on a big mob of pigs,,,,, and BLR243 rang me.

Congratulations on your dogs Mate.
But no PICS ???
You know them thar rules,,,,,,, No Pics,, didn't happen.

[Blr243]

Chunky boar on the last night we had a carcass pile that was well known to the animals. I was hoping for a dingo instead.

[Blr243]

Bitch in a tree

[Blr243]

Dog I called in

[Die Judicii]

Fantastic Mate.

[Oldbloke]

Bitch in a tree

Well done Blr243.