Back down south again helping out the farmers, patrolling the paddocks and protecting the lambs.
It's the beginning of winter and lambing is now in full swing across all of the properties I contract to down here.
Our prelambing shooting program has already accounted for 115 foxes which will certainly increase the survival rates of the lambs now hitting the ground.
Running solo this trip, so with several farms to visit, it's going to be a very busy few nights.
Base camp is a small cottage kindly provided by one of the property owners, kitchen, toilet, hot shower and a comfortable bed. Very spoilt.
The plan for night 1 was to visit 2 properties side by side about a 30 minute drive from base camp. 12 foxes culled for the night which was a good result considering the amount we'd shot there over the prelambing visits.
Night 2 was on a different property a couple of kilometres from where I shot on night 1.
Half way into the 30 minute drive I had car issues, fun and games for sure. Grrrr
Diagnosed as a faulty fuel gauge showing 1/3 of a tank when I was actually out of fuel. Rookie error and quite embarrassing having to call the farmer for help.
In true country fashion, the farmer came to the rescue with a jerry can of diesel and got me back on the road.
Another 15 foxes on the deck after night 2 certainly made all the effort worthwhile.
Night 3 was on the property at base camp. 6000 acres of pristine cropping country dissected by beautiful laneways making it easy to cover ground in the Hilux. Running the ThermTec Wild 650L mounted on the roof and wifi'd to a huge samsung tablet on the dash helping me cover every nook and cranny of the joint.
14 more foxes hit the deck tonight which should hold them in good stead with lambing due to commence on this place in a few weeks time.
Overall, another productive trip in the bag.
Huge thanks to the farmers for their generous hospitality. Always a pleasure to come down and help you guys out. None of this would be possible without you.
For those interested, here is a list of the gear I ran on this contract shoot.
ThermTec Wild 650L on top of the SpyDabot Venom remote control roof mount
HikMicro Panther PQ50L V2.0 thermal rifle scope
HikMicro Habrok 640 thermal binoculars and HikMicro Condor CQ50L monocular.
Sako 85 Stainless Hunter chambered in .223
Southern Cross Small Arms Q2 Moderator
Bexin ST424C Carbon fibre tripod with Sirui K30X ball head to arca swiss mount
ZVision RW6 Red / White Light bar
T2 fox whistle
If your'e interested in purchasing any gear or just after some expert advice, contact the Team at "Hunt The Night" via the link below.
https://www.huntthenight.com.au/
Thanks again for watching and I look forward to seeing you back here soon.
RJM