First of all let me say, I love hanging around here on Tradgang. Great bunch of people, knowledgeable, extremely helpful, and there’s some wonderful storytellers and characters amongst you. I’ve really enjoyed the "Bowhunters of Tradgang" DVD too, thanks again Terry.
I must admit though, sometimes I get really envious of you over there in the USA, because you are allowed to legally hunt with your recurves and longbows. Heck, as I understand it, in some States you even have bow hunting only seasons.
I think I might have a bit of the "Need to go Bush Blues". My health not being the best at the moment, and the jobs mounting up on the "Honey-do" list at home are all no doubt contributing factors.
Not being able to work or shoot my bow due to shoulder surgery to repair a torn rotor cuff probably has a whole lot to do with it too. It has now been six weeks since I’ve picked up my bow, and it could be another five or six weeks of physio before my Physiotherapist gives me the OK to start out with a light bow.
Sigh....Too much time and not able to do anything fun, it’s driving me nuts.
Now I really enjoy shooting my bow, and I absolutely love to bowhunt, but here in the State where I live, we are not allowed to hunt with any sort of bow and arrow.
We are allowed to take a small amount of "vermin" species with a bow, but that is only rabbits, hares and feral cats. The actual on the ground numbers of these types of "vermin" is unfortunately quite low, but that’s pretty much our only bowhunting opportunities. Even then, bowhunting these “vermin” species is not without opposition from the anti’s.
The hunting regulations concerning this are a bit blurry, and getting any clarification seems a bit like pulling teeth. Seems either no-one in the halls of power actually knows the laws, or they are simply not interested in them, or you.
Simple fact is, anything in this State that requires a licence or tags to hunt it with a rifle, is totally off limits if you want to hunt it with a bow. To say this is FRUSTRATING would be a major understatement.
A little local information.......
During the deer season in years past, if fortunate enough the licensed rifle hunter could have taken a buck and a doe, or two does only if they so chose. Last two seasons (2016 & 2017), because the deer numbers across the State are so high, take limits were raised. One could have legally harvested a buck and two does, or three does only. We are expecting similar tag numbers next season.
On some larger properties, where the deer populations are very high, cull permits from Parks & Wildlife (like your Game Department) are regularly issued to the property owners, allowing large numbers of deer to be shot at night with the aide of spotlights. Too often many of these spotlighted deer are wasted, simply left where they fall, or maybe tossed into a log heap.
In our year-round Wallaby season, there are absolutely no bag limits. If you wanted to and were in the position to do so, you could, and some people regularly do, shoot 200 or more a day. Either shooting over dogs by day with shotguns, or spotlighting with a rifle at night. The numbers of Wallaby around at the moment is phenomenal.
Here on our small 20 acre farm, I have had to get a Parks & Wildlife issued "Spotlight Permit" to try to reduce our numbers of wallabies. One night I counted over 350 on a 4 acre corner paddock. No, that’s not a typo, over 350 wallabies on 4 acres. We are surrounded by eucalyptus plantation and because of the wallaby numbers, we often struggle to grow enough grass to feed our few head of cattle. I can regularly go out at night and shoot 20 or 30 wallabies in 15 minutes.
We are slowly getting wallaby proof boundary fencing erected, but that only happens as we can afford it.
So I certainly understand the necessity of keeping the numbers under some sort of control, but man I hate the waste. We can use only a fraction of what we shoot. Sometimes I can give some away to family and friends etc, but unfortunately a lot is wasted. Wallaby and Deer meat is good meat, healthy, and when prepared correctly, absolutely delicious, but the paperwork and the hoops one has to jump through to be able to legally pass it on is an absolute nightmare.
To be legally allowed to stalk these brilliant switched on animals, either deer or wallaby, with my longbow would be terrific fun and an extremely worthwhile challenge. It would be an honourable way to hunt them. I’d much rather try to take one or two with a bow in daylight hours than to go out at night and simply slaughter scary numbers with rifle and a spotlight.
After some research, it appears to me, that except for the State of Tasmania, in every other State of this vast country of ours, other than wildfowl, if it’s a legally huntable species it can be legally hunted with a bow. Sometimes there may be some hoops to jump through, like obtaining a special class of licence or permits, minimum bow weight etc, but bowhunting is most certainly legal.
So when I want to bowhunt, I have to travel interstate. I cannot simply slip out, toss my swag and hunting gear in the back of the ute, get a bit of tucker and head off for the weekend. As I live in the Island State, travelling interstate means taking either a passenger ship or an aeroplane to the mainland. Both these forms of travel are expensive. Toting the necessary equipment is also costly, not to mention the added risk (and the stress) of your favourite bow going missing in transit. Yup, that happened to me once. An unpleasant experience I can assure you.
We do have a couple of Game Farms here where it is possible to hunt deer behind a high fence. These places are fairly typical, a largish allotment of bush and pasture. So while taking an animal may be challenging, it is usually expensive and unfortunately my wallet would seldom be able to stretch that far.
At present though, this is the only way to legally bowhunt a deer here. But with the large numbers of wild deer on public and private land, and the fact that they are so often treated as pests and vermin, taking a deer behind a wire just doesn’t really sit right with me at the moment.
Might come a time when I have to re-think that though.
For whatever reasons, many of our State legislators and lawmakers somehow seem to hold to the notion that bows won’t kill quickly. They say bows are inaccurate and are not a humane way to take game. "Horribly cruel" are words often used. There are also the not so silent murmurings that legalizing bowhunting would promote poaching and trespass.
I know these conclusions are misinformed and incorrect. Along with so many of you, I’ve regularly seen what a well placed arrow will do. With my limited interstate hunting experience, I have taken enough buffalo, deer, pigs, goats and rabbits with my longbow to know that a well placed arrow with a sharp broadhead works extremely quickly and very efficiently indeed.
An unfortunate fact around this State is that wherever populations of deer can be found, poaching and trespass can all too often be found there also. Why the un-informed automatically assume the genuine bowhunter is part of that scene is beyond me. Let the courts deal with any apprehended offenders as the law dictates.
However I guess all is not yet lost, as the end chapters of this story have not been written. There have been, and are current and ongoing negotiations with the relevant politicians and officials to try to get these game laws and hunting regulations looked at, and hopefully changed for the better.
My goodness though the wheels of bureaucracy do grind along so painfully slowly. We don’t know what the eventual outcome will be here, but we will certainly keep lobbying for sensible and logical change.
But man-oh-man, it’s like pushing the proverbial excrement uphill. I just really wish I could bowhunt our game animals here.
Then again, to quote Terry Green at the start of the Bowhunters of Tradgang DVD? "If you live in a State where you can’t hunt hogs, move".
Maybe I should just move to a different state that does allow bowhunting?
Rant over.
Lex.
Topic: I'm feeling a bit down.... (Read 567 times)
