Lorgar wrote:Wheredothebulletsgo? wrote:Hunting in Victorian forests is always hard work especially those closer to the metro area.
That's about the sum of it.
I used to go out 1-2 hours north or north/east of Melb but quickly discovered it's a waste of time.
The further you can get out the better, places like Mount Beauty are where it's at.
Only downside is you can't really get out for a shoot and back in a day. Need the time to camp out for a weekend when you get out that far to make the most of it.
Thats the goods right there ^^
I've been out to the 'local' forests. I find they are most heavily used by 4wdrivers and dirt bike riders...I wouldn't say they are hunted out, but they are very thin on the wildlife, or they are very skittish, used to human contact and have a great ability to hide/escape. I have seen rabbits, hares, and deer in the 'hunted out' forests.
We've got a pretty amazing country with some awesome forest/bushland. I'm always in awe when I go out, and don't really care as much if I bag a deer or not. Just love being out there....but they're right, you need to get a bit further out.
I find that heading out friday after work, setup camp and sleep, and then hunt all day saturday, come home saturday evening seems to work and is not too demanding on the body (depending on how hard you hunt) and the mrs is generally ok with it!
You also need to be-careful, as you sound like you're hunting with a smaller calibre rifle, getting caught in the popular deer hunting areas with a underpowered rifle could see that you have some explaining to do.
Spoke to a park ranger recently who told me they had the police confiscate a 22 and 223 off some guys hunting in the forest, apparently for deer, which is a stupid stupid thing to do.
Not sure how you prove you're hunting foxes or dogs and not deer, and not having a game licence either, well..that one is beyond me.
Anyway, if you want some advice, or whatever, pm me.
Cheers
Sam