Northern Territory Trip

Returned last week from my NT hunt. This year was spent on the adjoining cattle station, all 810,000 acres of it. Same type of country and just as exciting. I managed to blast away at my hearts content. A shit load more animals to shoot on this Cattle Station.

I took two rifles with me, used the 300 win mag mostly until I ran out of ammo then hauled out the 375 H & H. Next year I'll only take the 375, the four legged friends don't like that one.

Numbers shot were:
Day 1 - 14 Donkeys & 3 pigs
Day 2 - 8 Horses, 16 Donkeys & 1 Pig
Day 3 - 1 Donkey & 2 Pigs
Day 4 - 2 Horses & 7 Donkeys
Day 5 - 11 Donkeys

My 2nd biggest tally in the 7 years of going to the NT.

Saw heaps of Buffalo but since I got my trophy bull last year I'm not really keen on getting another one, no bloody room at home for the head.

Most of the pigs that I drilled were big buggers, I brought back a nice jaw which is getting zapped by Maf, will pick it up next week.

Didn't see any Dogs on this trip which was quite surprising, they are always tricky little fcukers to shoot.

Lots of other stuff besides shooting went on, there was never a dull moment but after 10 days away it was good to be home.

Cheers,
300winmag

Any photos?

Sounds like a productive trip!

Most of the pics are of animals shot to pieces and left to Rot:D

Here's a few sample pics.

Shot this pig before breakfast having a snooze beside a track on 1st day
Attachment 55015

We had driven a 100kms and come across a mob of donkeys, they tend not to get away from you so it ends up like a turkey shoot
Attachment 55016

Stopped here for lunch, really wanted to go for a dip but there were some big arse crocs down there, ended up throwing stones at them.
Attachment 55018

I flattened a mob of donkeys out there somewhere, but it cost me my buck knife.
Attachment 55019

We parked up near a creek and small waterholes, good pig country, the good thing being you don't actually know what's going to happen. Anyway about 100yds from the Landcruiser I drop this lone donkey and continue walking beside the creek ever mind full of crocs when I spy what I think is a pig or burnt tree stump about 20 yds away, using the scope as binos I crank down the magnification and have a good look for a few seconds, see an ear flicker so send some lead his way and he drops like a sack of spuds. Mid afternoon in the heat they just rest up by creek banks but blend in real well with the burnt tree stumps etc.
Attachment 55020

This is just a sample of the first days action, on the way back to our camp we stopped by the homestead, one of the guys wanted to see the cocky, I just sat in the wagon rehydrating when the stations cook walked past me carrying 2 sacks of spuds to the kitchen, what a stunner of a cook. She would have been in her early 20's and would have won any model contest hands down, wearing cowboy boots, jeans and a red dusty tee shirt. Had a yarn with her and turns out she cooks for the 6 farm workers, I asked her what's on the menu tonight, she said a roast, every night it's roast for the boys.

Anyway it was back to our camp, over an hour away from the homestead for a few well earned beers and a feed.

is this type of hunt a private invite only one or is it a safari outfit? sounds like a lot of fun.

Roast pork?

Or just pork her? :)

On serious note, did you eat anything that you shot?

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Originally Posted by ANOTHERHUNTER

is this type of hunt a private invite only one or is it a safari outfit? sounds like a lot of fun.

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It's a safari outfitter, this year was done with a new one on a new property. My usual outfitter shut up shop just before I was due to go over and he transfered his bookings to another operation on a property next door. I thought this year would be my last but will be going back next year for sure.
It's the only place I can go to and completely relax and forget about work.

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Originally Posted by Beaker

Roast pork?

Or just pork her? :)

On serious note, did you eat anything that you shot?

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Only the Barramundi one of the other guys caught, a massive fish.
I have on previous trips but but the camp food is to good.

Cheers for that 300

What's with the Donkeys 300, are they considered a pest?

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Originally Posted by jakewire

What's with the Donkeys 300, are they considered a pest?

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Yes and the horse's and there are 10's of thousands of them. All eating the cattle tucker.

Sitting down with the cocky one night having a few beers, he flew by chopper into our camp and ended up staying the night.

The maths are:
810,000 acres
20,000 head of cattle
Truck away 5,000 cattle to Darwin for live export every year
Average beast weighs in at 350kg - 400kg
$3.60 kg live weight
Cattle lose 30kg on road trip
Cocky has a transit farm near Darwin where his walking dollars put the 30kgs back on over a month or so before heading to the port where they are weighed and loaded
One road train holds 170 cattle.

His workshop is like a Steptoe & sons scrap yard spread over a few acres with quite a few toys parked up, a couple of choppers, D7H Cat, 2 graders, a heap of trucks and shit loads of Landcruisers. If you were a young guy mechanically minded and could weld you wouldn't find it hard getting a job over there. Be in pigs heaven hunting wise. The place is 3 - 4 hours away from the nearest asphalt road.

Hi there , what's a trip like that cost in rough terms? I'd love to give it a Crack.

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Originally Posted by 300winmag

Yes and the horse's and there are 10's of thousands of them. All eating the cattle tucker.

Sitting down with the cocky one night having a few beers, he flew by chopper into our camp and ended up staying the night.

The maths are:
810,000 acres
20,000 head of cattle
Truck away 5,000 cattle to Darwin for live export every year
Average beast weighs in at 350kg - 400kg
$3.60 kg live weight
Cattle lose 30kg on road trip
Cocky has a transit farm near Darwin where his walking dollars put the 30kgs back on over a month or so before heading to the port where they are weighed and loaded
One road train holds 170 cattle.

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That's a fairly decent yearly income for him.

Any camels out there @300winmag

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Originally Posted by LOC

Any camels out there @300winmag

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Unfortunately not that far North

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Originally Posted by outdoorlad

That's a fairly decent yearly income for him.

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6.3mil gross income minus operating costs, tax, motrgage repayments, natural disasters, fluctuating prices etc could = Broke as a broke thing at he end of the day when all the dust has settled.

I'd love to Hunt there myself one day ........ If nothing else but to experience the sheer vastness and isolation.

Cheers
Pete

Here's a pic or two of the Sheer vastness Pete.

On one day we drove for about 2.5hrs through the bush following an old four wheel drive track that hadn't been driven on for a year or so. Snotted a few donkey's along the way.
Came up to this huge valley (2nd Pic). Just 2 of us, no one knew where we were going as you tend to just invent the days outing as you drive thru the bush.

Stinking hot with just a hint of a breeze, we sat on the edge of the cliff face eating lunch and glassing the valley floor below, it was a site for sore eyes, mobs of donkeys and heaps of pigs taking a nap under trees. I spied some big pigs at 950 yards. We tried to find a 4 wheel drive track that headed down there but couldn't. My offsider wanted to walk down to the bottom via a game trail but I was a little hesitant because of the heat and would have to carry my day pack full of water etc. Anyway he talked me into it, walked down a game trail which only to about 20 mins and straight away game across a bunch of donkeys, I didn't want to shoot them because I really wanted to nail the pigs.

Attachment 55262

Attachment 55263

We spotted the pigs from around 250 yds so just crept up to about the 200 yd mark bouncing from tree to tree, it was quite open country down there. The big bugger was onto us straight away and started to take off, I drilled him from 190 yds and he dropped like a sack of spuds, the others took off in all directions, drilled another one then went looking for the donkeys but they were long gone.

Attachment 55264

We spent a couple of hours down there wandering around just sussing out the valley, bugger me if we came across an old 4 wheel drive track that we followed back up to where we had parked the cruiser. We took the cruiser down there 2 days later but that's another story.

Can i ask what station were you on ?

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Originally Posted by Chris p

Can i ask what station were you on ?

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Wombungi

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Originally Posted by Tussock

Yeah nah. It will snow there before I have any sympathy for the Australian station owner. They won't starve any time soon. Their cattle do frequently as they rarely if ever take much interest between musters. Not the hardest job in the world though listening to them you will be assured it is.

Let 20,000 cattle go and forget about them. Send the boys on a very long drive round the boundary fence. Muster. Have the boys fix everything they broke mustering. Pocket your 2 million and head to your gold coast apartment.

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Well fuck me if he's pocketed a cool 2mil I could think of a hundred better places to spend it than the bloody GC. ;)

Now how do I get hold of an outback station lease? :)

Cheers
Pete

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Originally Posted by P38

Well fuck me if he's pocketed a cool 2mil I could think of a hundred better places to spend it than the bloody GC. ;)

Now how do I get hold of an outback station lease? :)

Cheers
Pete

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0800 Darwin Stations:D

Live cattle export is high risk, the asian markets are dodgey payers and have sketchy welfare that nearly brought the whole industry down. Still might.
Love the Territory lived there 5 years hunted Arnhemland with the locals (aboriginal), it really is larger than life. Spent some years at university in NZ but the Territory educated me.