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Flying Lawyer 19th Dec 2003 23:23

'Pig and pussy hunt' - take your helicopter
 
Telegraph report

Australian animal lovers condemn cat and wild boar cull
Sydney 19/12/2003


Australian animal lovers are outraged at an Outback town's plan to hold a Christmas "pig and pussy hunt", in which wild boar and feral cats will be trapped, shot, knifed, dynamited or run over.

Up to 100 hunters from all over Australia are converging on the gold mining town of Pine Creek, in the Northern Territory, to take part in the hunt, which starts at dawn on Boxing Day.

Organisers say the aim is to wipe out as many wild pigs and cats as possible. Both species are blamed for killing millions of Australian native animals a year, including endangered mammals, lizards, snakes and birds.

"We don't care how they kill them as long as we get rid of them," said organiser Rod Haines, a hunter who runs Pine Creek's Lazy Lizard caravan park.

"You can shoot them from a helicopter, run them over on the road, get them with a bow and arrow or chuck a stick of dynamite at them."

He said the last option was not recommended, after hunters strapped a stick of dynamite to a wild pig a few years ago and lit the fuse. The creature promptly bolted under their car and blew itself, and the vehicle, to pieces.

There are an estimated 2.5 million pigs in the Northern Territory, with the larger males renowned for their ferocity and razor-sharp tusks.

Most hunters will go after them at night with packs of "pig dogs", normally bull mastiffs or pit bull terriers equipped with rubber body armour.

"Anything that steps off the veranda is fair game," Mr Haines said. "You can knock off a neighbour's cat if it's not been locked up at night, as it should be. I'm not a cruel man but these animals are wiping out our native wildlife. We are just giving Mother Nature a helping hand."
Full report

ABC News Online

Shooters gather for Pig and Pussy hunt.


The organiser of an annual feral animal hunt in the Northern Territory says it is attracting interest nationwide.

Rod Haines from Pine Creek, 200 kilometres south of Darwin, says this year's Pig and Pussy hunt has a $700 prize for the biggest boar.
He says the hunt starts on Boxing Day with the weigh-in on New Year's Day.

Mr Haines says the event is becoming very popular. "We've created a lot of interest from the east coast mainly," he said. "There's a lot of north Queensland hunters coming over this year. A few people left from Melbourne two days ago to head up for it that were up here for the August hunt. I hear there's a few coming from WA. So we're pretty well getting it Australia-wide now."
(BTW, interesting how two news organs report the same story with a very different spin.)

pigboat 20th Dec 2003 00:10

Damn, I'd better keep me bloody boat away from Oz on the 26th.

RDRickster 20th Dec 2003 00:32

That's hilarious!
 
I see that the "hick-a-saurus-rex" is not an extinct animal after all! :D Still, I know plenty of folks that have an usual amount of animosity against felines. If I were in the area at the time, I'm sure the red kneck inside me would beg to be released (if for only one day). I think it's absolutely hilarious, and it's probably a great deal of fun (in a seriously disturbed and twisted way).

John Eacott 20th Dec 2003 02:29

As the reports mention, it's an annual event, and every now & then the animal libbers get a tad het up about it all. The Territory being what it is, they don't get very far with their whinges and whines ;)

Nationally we have major problems with feral cats, they run rampant through areas "locked up" to many forms of human access (dreaded 4WD's, etc) and are responsible, along with the fox, for the near extinction of a number of native species. A lot of local shire councils now require domestic cats to be registered & be locked up at night.

Just outside Melbourne, areas which were alive with Lyrebirds are now bereft of the species. They have been wiped out locally by foxes, which live in the gorse & brambles that are everywhere since Parks Victoria banned 4WD and recreational access some 10-12 years ago.

Having said all that, I wonder who will be out there pig shooting from a Robbo in the Top End :ok:

diethelm 20th Dec 2003 05:19

I met my first wife at a pig and pussy hunt........

rjsquirrel 20th Dec 2003 05:59

What a coincidence, diethelm, so do I!

SASless 20th Dec 2003 12:41

Ere Now? I's been lied to by the American NRA....they said all the guns have been confiscated in OZ! Said only pellet guns were legal....and then only so long as you did not have the gun in the same square mile as the pellets occupied. What gives?

:confused:

John Eacott 20th Dec 2003 14:56

That was Oz. We're talking about the Territory, where they don't have speed limits, either :ok:

OFBSLF 21st Dec 2003 02:14


Ere Now? I's been lied to by the American NRA....they said all the guns have been confiscated in OZ! Said only pellet guns were legal....and then only so long as you did not have the gun in the same square mile as the pellets occupied. What gives?
NRA never said that. They did say that the OZ government spent several hundred million $Aus buying back semi-auto handguns and rifles. There are still lots of other guns left in OZ. Some of them even legal ;)

Thomas coupling 21st Dec 2003 02:38

Sounds like someones sex life:uhoh:

Check 6 21st Dec 2003 02:44

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.

;)

Red Wine 21st Dec 2003 11:34

Boring Facts
 
The Territory with no highway speed limit....result, 2.5 times the national road deaths / 1000 vehicles.

You can still register handguns, some limited automatic rifles and shotguns in the territory and the deaths by firearms in the Territory has remained static, whereas the rest of the country has declined after the buyback scheme commenced.

Suicide [by firearms...total] is down, so is domestic violence, child deaths by accidental discharge and homicide.

Bet the NRA did'nt tell you that.....or they twisted it!!!

But I would, shoot, drown and run over as many felines as I possibly could....good on them.

B Sousa 21st Dec 2003 11:46

Im not going to split atoms anytime soon, but a "Pig and Pussy Hunt"?? Hell, I was a Marine once and that was called Weekend Liberty......
Remember Boys and Girls. a 2 at 10, is a 10 at 2 or at least drink her up to a 4, have some pride.

WLM 21st Dec 2003 12:28

Red Wine
The major cause of fatal road accidents in the NT, relates to International visitors, unable to handle the extra speed and road conditions. As a result, most of our major tourist spot access are speed limited. This is not really fair as your typical local NT driver is not a hoon, and can drive. I have seen worse frustrated driving behaviour in other parts of OZ, and I rather stay with the NT rules.
You should see Asia........:oh:
As to firearms, we did not have much of a problem compared to other states. And yes, we can still have handguns, if we belong to a club, or as employment purposes. Our NT lunatic population is almost non existant...:cool:
Feral pigs: you should see the damage done to National Parks and Stations. Nobody wants to pay the costs of eradication, so if people are willing to participate in this event at their cost, the more the better.:ok:

Red Wine 21st Dec 2003 13:35

WLM
 
Sorry Mate, thats not totally correct.

Single vehicle roll overs are the biggest killer....caused by speed.

I'm a lot closer to the action than you think, and my facts are facts!!!!

The statistics that I have [Official Government] don't seem to single out any national or international grouping....but from the Casualty Department of both YPAS and YPDN Hospitals, it would seem the Black fella, then local White Fella and then a sprinkling of others rate in that order.

You hit the rough at 180 kph mate and your history....no matter where you come from.

Steve76 21st Dec 2003 14:21

Those who have lived in the NT like WLM and myself, know only too well the massive ecological impact these introduced species have on the native wildlife and fauna. Both of us have trudged around with the scientists and seen first had the erosion from the buffallo, pig and the destruction caused by the cat.

Shooting ferals is a service to the continent. Blow the lot of them away as far as I am concerned and do the same to the rabbits and opposums.....eh Timo!! Roll on those lazy sunday avos again.... :)

It is not cruel or vicious- but instead an environmental service. Every 22 slug I have buried in the head of a rabbit, possum and cat has been an investment for the future enjoyment of national parks and wildlife for my children. If I could've caught them and used a club to save ammo that would've been even better.

If you are a European or North American, you will probably never understand completely. The odd Canadian knows the issues as they deal with the Moose in eastern canada.

As for the driving......well what do you expect when you put northern hemisphere drivers on the wrong side of the road? :hmm:

WLM 21st Dec 2003 21:51

Well said Steve76...We're not going to win points with the RSPCA are we.......:D
Red Wine, no offence intended and I take your point about some members of our society... I think driving under the influence might be a participating culprit as well. However, I still prefer the NT rules to the rest of OZ.. :}

RDRickster 21st Dec 2003 22:27

Unrelated to helicopters used to hunt "Pig & Pussy"...
 
If there is so much destruction by a large population of varmints, why won't your government invest in some kind of eradication or population control? Seems to me that birth control for the species (capture & release or other method) would help reduce numbers. We've done it in the U.S. with certain species with pretty good results (they basically breed themselves out of existance because they are shooting blanks).

Oh, suggestion is NOT intended to get rid of the annual festivities. I just wish I knew about this earlier... I could have planned a vacation around it! :D

SASless 21st Dec 2003 23:07

Rickster....some governments are not as apt to intervene in people's lives like the US Federal Government. The major problem in Oz as I understand it....besides the women wanting to stand at the bar nowadays...is all the "imported" species that have no natural predators. Guam has almost lost all of the birds due to snakes showing up in freight shipments....New Zealand has its problems as well...as does Hawaii. Even the USA is beginning to have problems....Fire Ants, Killer Bees, mussels, aquatic plants, Kudzu.....the list goes on.

The hunt as described must be a giggle....stalking the dangerous wild pussy...doing in the cornered Opossum...participating in the Barbied Boar.....hunting the wily enviromentalist!:ok:

sycamore 22nd Dec 2003 01:31

We should have one around Dover- Hunt the oppressed Asylum -Seeker!:eek:

B Sousa 22nd Dec 2003 03:01

On a more serious note, if Pigs are such a problem, I cant imagine why folks down there do not offer "Guided Hunts" Its big money in the States. I would love to come down and get a couple. Just bought a brand new .17wmr Ruger with Scope and would love to see how it works at a couple hundred yards.
Nothing better than a Pig on the Barbie......(Im sure someone will cap on that last line)

Av8r 22nd Dec 2003 03:44

I know we are digressing, but:

The worst environmental problem the Northern territory faces is the slow march of the introduced Cane Toad into Kakadu National Park.
Cane toads themselves were a biological control introduced into Queensland in 1935 against beetle grubs that were affecting sugar cane crops. The toads did not control the grubs, but have since flourished and extended their range throughout much of Queensland and the Northern Territory. The fauna think they are a local frog, eat them and die from the poison. (Each cane toad can easily kill a croc.)
The Australian government have effectively done nothing about it. :mad:
If our overseas PPrune friends want to see the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park as featured on Croc Dundee, I suggest you start packing. It won’t be around much longer.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s262763.htm

RDRickster 22nd Dec 2003 08:15

A different perspective...
 
Hank,

You probably don't get outside the USA much. If you were surrounded by a plague of <whatever>, then you'd be happy to see the pests removed by any means. This festival seems to make an event out of it. Why are fishing tournaments any different or considered more "humane?" To each his own... personally, I find it hilarious (I'm one sick mutha).

Actually, you don't have to go outside the U.S. to see similar activities. There is a town in Ohio that does the annual "turkey drop." Yes, sports fans, that's right... they fly a large living turkey up to about a 1000' inside a Cessna and then they toss it out the door! Tukey's don't have the kind of wings that will allow them to glide, and when they are on the ground they only fly about 20-50' anyway.

What do you think happens to their wings when launched out the door at 100 knots? Since you aren't a tree-hugg'in vegetarian, I wonder if you ever seen how cows are slaughtered? Now that is a site! I guess the packaging makes you a gentleman and puts you above the rest of us Neanderthals.

R2

wish2bflying 22nd Dec 2003 08:34

Guided hunts, helicopter shoots
 
Guided hunts, helicopter shoots - we have both, quite an industry in it. Pick up any shooting magazine in Australia and you'll find pig, deer, cat, goat, water buffalo shooting trip stories. One a year or so ago told the tale of some shooters invited to a farm to help with a "bit of a cat problem", and ended up running out of ammo before they were finished, and not because they missed too often!

Farmers regularly invite shooters to their properties and offer a bounty for pigs or whatever they are having a problem with.

This is a very good thing for the aviation industry in Australia as well, because we have such a large landmass that the best way to get to the more remote places is often by air.

Perhaps this or next year the "pig and pussy hunt" could be combined with a fly-in and cover both communities!

Happy Landing ! 22nd Dec 2003 15:17

Our wonderful:( British Government ought to take a leaf out of the OZ book regarding hunting. The B-Lair croneys take notice of the tree hugging - animal rights groups, who incidently gave them a large donation last year (funny that :confused: ) in order to facilitate a ban on hunting foxes with hounds in the UK.

Just look what will happen a few years down the line if it went ahead!

Vfrpilotpb 22nd Dec 2003 17:08

B Sousa,

Isn't that calibre just a might small for pigs or boars?

Peter R-B

OZBUSDRIVER 22nd Dec 2003 19:30

Donkeys were the best. Just line up on the cross and..AH whats the use trying to explain it. U all reckon its just a substitute for having small d**ks:E

Hank Bobinson The biggest problem with western community in general is that it is so far removed and sanitised from the food chain that it realy hasn't got any idea what is involved in keeping us alive. Mind you the UK have done a bang up job feeding cows and sheep some choice offal over the years and now U get to reap the rewards.

Aussie Mate 22nd Dec 2003 21:24

Hank the Yank.
 
Gee Mate...Stone the Bloody Crows.

Last count we musta shot 100 Grand of them Buffs, and another 55 K of them grunters, and they still are as thick as the Greenies down south.

They are both as bad for the country as each udder up here, but just arn't smart enough to understand that.

Get rid of all the stuff that those dills from the Uk and Afganistan brought with em.
But not to quickly as its great for my bank, keeps the kids happy and the woman from nagging me to much.

Selective breeding is the way to go....and I know just where to start.

B Sousa 22nd Dec 2003 22:18

VFRPilotPB Writes:"B Sousa,

Isn't that calibre just a might small for pigs or boars?

Peter R-B"

Its a new thing thats come onto the market. Yes .17wmr is very small and Pigs are not to be made angry for sure. The bullet is small and the case is similar to a 22 Magnum. The dam thing comes out at 2550 fps. Sweet little gun.... I have done Wild Pigs with 223 Military and good shots work OK. Im sure a backup would be required, but its similar to fishing for Sharks on light tackle. Challenging, with a good prize for the dinner table.
One would think this thread is on a hunting forum.......

diethelm 22nd Dec 2003 22:20

Now if it is sport you want, it is too bad we cannot arm the animals and let Darwin sort out the winner..........

B Sousa 22nd Dec 2003 22:30

Diethelm brings up a good Point. I have heard mention that many folks are alive today as its illegal to kill them.....
Im sure many folks have a long laundry list should their personal Physicians give them some bad news.

Lu Zuckerman 23rd Dec 2003 00:11

Jube dogs
 
In Iran the shepherds bring their sheep to market in the larger towns and cities. The sheep are herded by a group of “sheep dogs.” When the shepherds return to their farms they have no more use for the dogs so they cull out those that they don’t want and they cut the pads on their paws so they cant walk. These dogs eventually breed and soon there are hundreds of them in large packs. They are not vicious and they usually forage in the Jubes (open sewers). Many of the Americans would adopt one or more of these dogs and feed them. The dogs would park themselves outside of the apartment buildings where their benefactors lived.

The Iranians being Moslem feel that dogs are unclean and periodically the police would come around and shoot the dogs.


:E :E :{

OFBSLF 23rd Dec 2003 00:27


hunting the wily enviromentalist
Reminds me of my favorite vegetarian recipe. First, catch a vegetarian...

John Eacott 23rd Dec 2003 05:04

Mr S,

Great link, I don't think I'll get too much serious work done this morning...................

:ok: :ok:

ShyTorque 23rd Dec 2003 07:48

My father and his colleagues were subjected to the incessant noise caused by such a desert dog pup that had been adopted by an Officer in Aden in WWII. The officer initially had kept it in his own block but was told to get rid of it because it howled all night long. He then tied in in the stairwell of the airmens' accommodation.

Unfortunately it suffered a tragic accident. A fire extinguisher fell on it from the top floor in the middle of the night. :suspect:

Hughesy 23rd Dec 2003 08:43

Mr Selfish, excellent! :}
All this talk about hunting has made me decide to go bush for a few days and hunt some Sika deer after xmas.

Aussie Mate 23rd Dec 2003 12:11

Oh Hank .
 
You white fella’s are all the same.

Dem Rabbits and Camels and Buff’s didn’t come from here mate….you musta brought em?
And Birth Control?...great idea mate….in your case mate I would make it retrospective.

Travelling Toolbox 23rd Dec 2003 13:28

Hank Bobinson

Hey Hank buddy,

How do you make a feral cat bark?

Poor a gallon of benzine on it and light and it goes WOOF!:E

I'm gone! 23rd Dec 2003 16:43

Gday all,

If you miss the great "pig and pussy hunt' the West side of Cape York has an absolute abundance of big porkers all year round.

Fly to Cairns then Shrike or TurboCommander your way to Inkerman Station or there abouts and blast away!

Nothing smaller than 308 or 30-06 should be carried in my opinion, it is normally an all close range, shoot like sh!t affair. Lever actions are great for when they come running out of the grass straigt at you!

Cheers,
Merry Xmas,
I'm gone!

the wizard of auz 24th Dec 2003 08:51

I find that my .222 with a well placed shot will do the job on most occasions, but when the range streches a bit I pull out the .300WM and if it gets hit it stays hit.
all the wingers want to get out of the city and have a real look at what some of the introduced species are getting up to. (they should be made to watch a moggy toy with a small animal for an hour or so before it kills it). I was out the nullabour the other day and whilst cleaning out a holding paddock that I had put sheep into the day before, noticed a lot of dead ones lying around. after closer inspection it became apparant tha a pack of wild dogs had been into the mob and killed about thirty odd and left another thirty with a range of wounds that required the sheep to be put down. thingd like lips torn off, muscles in the hip and back area being torn out completely, large gapping stomach wounds with intestines hanging out, Ect. not one single sheep had been eaten. this is mainly a result of bleeding heart city folk dumping dogs that the dont want instead of shooting them. (its seen very regularly out in the areas I work in. us bush folk will destroy an animal rather than dumping it)
I shot Camels, Donkeys, Kangaroos, horses, wild cattle, buffs for a living for quite a number of years, (and actually paid for my pilots licence by doing it)and shot Cats, Foxes, Wild dogs (not Dingoes) and all other forms on nasties, just coz they were there.
And I will continue to do so even though I dont shoot for a living any longer.
I go on a pig and pussy hunt most friday nights at the local. always looking for one and ending up with the other.
:}


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