HUNTING & CONSERVATION NEWS

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1 Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Hutig ad Coservatio Divisio Preservig Australia s Heritage SSAA (Qld) Ic Hutig & Coservatio Divisio Office: Queeslad Idoor Rage Postal Address: Office: 266 Brisbae Street, West Ipswich, Qld 4305 Phoe: (07) hadc@ssaaqld.org.au HUNTING & CONSERVATION NEWS March 2010 Editio Queeslad State Co-ordiator s Note Hello everyoe I hope that you all have had a good break over Christmas. I would like to thak David Gottschalk for all his help as Souther Coordiator. David has had to step dow due to work commitmets. I wish Owe McItyre every success as he takes over as Souther Coordiator. Coli Pefold, our Souther Traiig Coordiator has also bee take away with his work. Both David ad Coli have devoted a huge amout of their time ito gettig H&C to where it is ow ad we as a orgaisatio wish them all the best. Hopefully, whe their workloads become more maageable we will see them back agai. I would like to welcome Gary Cox as our ewsletter editor. This does ot mea that he will be writig it as it is YOUR ewsletter. It is up to you to create the cotet! Gary will be puttig together the stories ad articles you sed him - from oe or two lie tips to full stories about your trips away. So come o, put your pe or keyboard to work ad sed Gary your stories ad ideas. Over the ext 12 moths you will see some chages, both i the ewsletter, ad i our committee ad workig groups. Our people are all voluteers so for us to operate efficietly ad professioally as we grow i size ad workload thigs have to chage. Some chages will be gradual, some will take place ow. A lot of the chages you will see are aimed at reducig the work load o our existig committee. Each project will have a idividual Project Coordiator who will pick a Team Leader for each trip. Our aim is to give more of you a little to do rather tha a few of us doig the whole lot. If you ca help i ay way please have a talk with either me or your area coordiator. Do t be surprised if you get a call from oe of the committee for a had o oe thig or other over the ext few moths. The first of our ew project leaders are Brad Hughes - Avocet, Rod Costi - Digo Cat ad Dog, Greg De Koig - Gladstoe ad Calliope Pig Projects, Owe McItyre - Stewartdale. They will be resposible for coordiatio of their projects, with the help of their area coordiator. To atted ay of these projects please cotact these people. Fially, Queeslad Gu Exchage has kidly ivited us to be part of their Gu Expo agai o 27 ad 28 March. Your help to ma our stad o the Saturday ad Suday of the show for just a hour or two would be appreciated. If you have some time free please call me o Please remember, you will oly get out of H&C what you put ito it. We will ot chase you to atted projects, you eed to call or the project leaders if you wat to participate. Happy Hutig, shoot straight! Mark Woods - State Coordiator Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 1

2 Gladstoe Project Trip Report (Oct 09) A ru of dry weather prior to our week o the Gladstoe project created ideal coditios ad produced our best result so far. As a bous the legedary mosquito plagues had also headed south with the dry weather which was a big relief. The Gladstoe project is based o a high coservatio value stretch of coastal lad. Our role is to help maage the impact of feral pigs that cause major damage to the fragile coastal plais ad surroudig areas. Photo - Night time set up After the 7 hour drive orth for those of us from Brisbae, we assembled at the property maager s Gladstoe base. Five H&C project members sorted gear ad vehicles i readiess for the trip out the followig morig. The jourey to the property was fairly rough i parts ad icluded sad ad bulldust stretches. Sealed storage boxes are a great idea as fie dust got ito aythig ot sealed. The campsite s worth the drive as it s located just above the beach with sea views ad breezes. Camp icludes a old shack with a gas stove, BBQ ad hot water shower. Overall the trip yielded 50 pigs shot ad 49 pigs trapped. Oe iterestig fact is that most pigs shot i this eviromet are big cuig boars, whereas the sows ad suckers are the oes geerally caught i the traps. The boars were all i very good coditio as it appears that these aimals have a moopoly o the lad adjacet to the beach. It is assumed that the boars domiate the area for its rich sources of food. Our mai strategy to eradicate the pigs (apart from trappig) was to focus o the large ope grassy areas. Each ight oe group would set up a vehicle ad camp out o oe of the ope areas ear well used aimal tracks. Night visio gear was the used to locate ad eradicate the pigs that move oto these ope areas causig massive damage by rootig up water chestuts ad other tasty foods. Every morig before daybreak teams would also head out oto the plai i vehicles to cut off ay pigs headig back to cover. O the first ight ad morig some 11 pigs were take. I these ope areas all the boars were over 80 kg ad geerally ruig flat out. Larger calibres icludig.270wsm, 308 Wi & 300 Wi Mag were used for humae cullig. Photo - Scaig the plais Each day oe team member would assist the maager i his work icludig checkig, clearig, rebaitig ad resettig 20 pig traps set aroud the property. Photo - 50 pigs were shot Durig the day, team members were free to either catch up o sleep or stake out oe of the 5 permaet sprigs o the easter side of the property. This also tured out to be a productive approach ad ot too streuous as there are some large shady trees aroud the sprigs where you ca hag a mii hammock ad watch the visitig wildlife. Photo - Stakeout by a sprig Like all of the H&C trips you have some great laughs, see some magic sceery ad sights whilst usig your skills to help remove feral pests. I ve already egotiated with my wife so that I ca head orth agai this year. Cheers Damie Ferguso Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 2

3 North Queeslad Report Christmas ad the New Year are behid us ad I hope that everyoe had as good a time as I did, visitig family ad frieds ad maagig to fit i a H&C project ad traiig sessio at Ripley. Visits to the Hughede ad Collisville projects have bee programmed for the rest of the year. If you caot make it to the project o the programmed days, but ca make it a day or two before or after, let me kow ad I should be able to vary the program to suit. There has bee a lot of rai over the whole of North Queeslad ad the early trips may have to be cacelled because of the coditios. This will give me a chace to do some more traiig. There is still strog iterest from prospective members, ot oly i Towsville, but i Mackay ad the Norther Tablelads. I have just completed a accreditatio course for 6 people i Mareeba icludig two juiors ad a husbad ad wife team. The last field trips have prove successful, reducig the umbers of pigs, rabbits ad cats i the area, while buildig up our kowledge of how to get cautious aimals withi rage. This icludes the use of whistles ad, believe it or ot, a ipod telephoe with a recordig of a cat meowig. Our members are always lookig for ways to improve safety ad a iovative ight time visibility item was discovered. It is simple, light, cheap ad easy to put o ad ca be see from may directios. Get a legth of reflective tape ad sew it ito a loop log eough to go behid your back, i frot of your shoulders ad back over your head. Photo ew member Chala Irvi usig NQ H&C s Iovative Night Reflective gear Util ext time, keep those ferals uder cotrol Geoff Sloma - NQ Coordiator Cetral Queeslad Report With the Digo Cat ad Dog project comig up i March we are hopig to see some members from other areas if they ca make it. Reports from this project suggest that Nailtail Wallaby umbers could be icreasig which is a good sig. We may have to employ some differet tactics here, as oce agai, spot lightig has ot bee producig good bag umbers. Joh has also metioed they have had a real issue with ticks. Ticks ca be a problem that we huters are faced with at differet times. It pays to keep vigilat ad take measures to guard agaist ticks as they ca cause serious illess. We humas are creatures of habit, but it seems as though aimals may be a lot quicker to chage theirs. Avocet is a classic example. I would't kow how may hours we have spet spot lightig, with little success. Compare this to whe we as huters have chaged our habits (walkig, dam ad trail sittig, readig the sigs) ad bigo our feral tally has climbed dramatically. A old fried of mie oce said to me, If you keep doig the same thig ad expect a differet result you must be half silly, if othig chages, othig chages. So if you are out i the paddock ad you kow the little critters are there but you are ot gettig the results you wat, try somethig differet. You might surprise yourself. Cheers from the cetral zoe Rod Costi & Brad Hughes. Cat ad Dog Project - Digo A ote from our project parters: Just a quick ote to let you kow that we have bee seeig Nailtails at the house ad barracks o site recetly. It has bee quite a few years sice I have see this. Ayway this may mea othig but was excited eough to let you kow. Avocet Not much has bee goig o up this ed of the world because of all the good steady rai that we have bee gettig. We have bee able to do a couple of trips i betwee storms i Jauary ad February. First trip, we walked from oe ed of Avocet to the other checkig all the usual hauts o the way but were uable to see a lot of sigs because of all the surface water ad log grass. However, Blake ad Ro (oe of our ewer members) hit the trifecta o their last overighter - pigs, a dog ad a cat. Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 3

4 The coutry has chaged a lot over the last few moths. We have goe from dry, o grass, low dams, to havig grass head high ad above ad the dams full ad creeks ruig. The hard yards are back. Looks like it will be a while before we hit the groud agai with the rai still fallig. Hope to have more ews ext time...i thik that Blake ad Ro have the right idea... fid a shady tree, a comfortable chair a good book ad sit ad wait. Brad Hughes. SE Qld Report Welcome to SE Qld for The prospects for this year are lookig very good. We are plaig two ew projects which are much closer to our SE Qld members. These projects are i the fial stages of processig. We ited to sed out descriptios of them whe they are available ad call for iterest from members. Our o-goig feral cotrol program is ruig at Stewartdale. This ivolves Saturday ight spot light rus. Some ew iitiatives are beig trialled i this work ivolvig the use of trail cameras for moitorig of ferals. The usual schedule of traiig weekeds at Stewartdale are set for March, Jue, September ad November ad we would ecourage all members who ca to atted. I thik everyoe i H&C would like to thak David Gottschalk for his dedicated work ad great cotributio durig his time as Stewartdale the South East Co-ordiator. Owe McItyre - South East Co-ordiator Are you vacciated for Q fever? Q fever is a bacterial disease of wild ad domestic aimals that is spread to humas (hece cosidered a zooosis) via direct cotact or through the air. Will you be safe if you keep away from aimals? Well, ot quite. Very small ad resistat forms of the bacteria survive for log periods i the eviromet ad ifectio ca happe by ihalig the dust cotaiig them. Q fever was first idetified i workers at a meat processor i Brisbae. Iitially the ukow disease was called Query Fever, this was later abbreviated to Q fever. The bacterial aget called Coxiella buretii is ow kow worldwide, except some coutries like New Zealad. It is little kow by the geeral public (it hardly gets ay media coverage) yet it has bee regarded as a very costly ad severe ifectious disease here. About 600 cases are reported i Australia each year. This does t soud like ot much, but about half of these come from Queeslad. The symptoms of Q fever ca be flu-like ad last oly a few days; but it ca also result i more severe resposes icludig excessive sweatig, vomitig, diarrhoea ad sigificat weight loss with prologed recovery periods. Orgas ca also be directly affected leadig to hospitalisatios. I some cases acute Q fever ca result i heart disease, or prologed debility ad icapacitatig fatigue. It is a very severe disease for the elderly ad those with compromised health. Q fever is preset i populatios of wild ative aimal (eg kagaroos ad badicoots) ad itroduced aimals (eg rabbits ad rodets) aimals. From these the bacteria trasferred by ticks to the mai carriers from which humas are ifected. These are primarily domestic aimals, particularly cattle, sheep ad goats; but they also iclude our target feral species - maily wild pigs ad goats. The ifectious bacteria are shed i milk, faeces, ad i great umbers i the various birth products. Huma ifectio ca happe by direct cotact with these or by the ihalatio of airbore particles. These particles are very resistat ad ca survive for log periods; hece cotamiated dust ca be ifectious if ihaled. Drikig upasteurised cotamiated milk ca cause mild versios of the disease. Q fever is oly rarely trasmitted to humas by ticks. A case has bee reported i which the ifectio of several people i a tow was traced to a cattle truck that drove through it with ifected aimals leavig a airbore plume of ifectious particles. There is ot much that ca be doe to reduce the presece of the disease i the eviromet. Ad while wearig gloves glasses ad masks is always recommeded if hadlig aimal carcasses, there is a adequate way of protectio i the form of a vaccie that was developed i Australia. Vacciatio provides effective protectio agaist Q fever. Professioals i direct cotact with aimals ad aimal products are routiely vacciated ad so should we, if we ited to cull feral aimals Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 4

5 ad process their carcasses. A severe reactio ca occur if a perso that has bee exposed to Q fever receives the vaccie. To avoid this ad as ifectio ca be easily mistake by flu, tests are udertake prior to receivig the vaccie. A iitial ski test cosists of a very small dose of the vaccie ijected i the arm to detect ay reactio after seve days. This is later followed by a blood test. Oly if both tests are egative you ca receive the vaccie. Not all doctors admiister the vaccie, a list of Q fever vaccie providers ca be foud at: Refereces _11469.htm hid/ifectiosadparasites/bact erialifectios/qfever_fs.asp Article by Fracisco Bravo Get Fit Like Our Huter Acestors A review of the book Youger Next Year by Dr Hery Lodge ad Chris Cowley May of the articles we read i hutig magazies provide all sorts of equipmet reviews ad articles o how to use, set up ad maitai that equipmet. However, the most basic piece of hutig equipmet we ow are our ow bodies. Our ability to get out ito the field for hours o ed, especially doig exteded walkig ad stalkig sessios depeds o a reasoable level of physical fitess. While this book is pitched at 50+ year olds the beefits of icreased fitess apply to us all. The authors argue that we humas lived as huters ad gatherers for hudreds of thousads of years. Our bodies evolved to perfectly match the lifestyle of the hut, that is, walkig for log periods with itervals of ruig ad spritig. Eve the few huter - gatherers that exist today, such as the bushme of the Kalahari walk for 8 to 10 miles per day. That exercise - the physical work of hutig ad gatherig - automatically makes the brai sed powerful chemical sigals to the body to grow, repair itself, lose weight ad icrease alertess, eergy ad optimism. These are atures desig specificatios to keep you strog, aerobically fit, lea ad geared toward workig well i groups. The problem for us moder humas is that our bodies, purpose built for hutig, remai uchaged. The authors argue that the moder lifestyle of ulimited calories ad low levels of exercise is really a disease that our bodies do t kow how to hadle. Our bodies caot read the absece of hutig everyday ad the always pletiful food supply. The body s reactio to iactivity is as if it were i the famie of a log froze witer. I this situatio the body produces chemicals that slows its metabolism, builds fat stores, looses muscle ad goes ito a type of hiberatio or low level depressio. Ufortuately for us the moder sedetary lifestyle, over a log period, also icreases heart disease, stroke etc You ca probably guess where this book leads to. Gettig active will tell your body to tur o the healthy growth chemicals. Too little exercise ad too much sittig i frot of the TV with a beer will tell it to shut dow ad decay. The author s formula for a log ad healthy life would require a big chage for most of us. They iclude the followig priciples for exercise ad geeral livig: Exercise 6 days a week for the rest of your life. Do serious aerobic exercise 4 days a week for the rest of your life. Do serious stregth traiig, with weights, 2 days a week for the rest of your life. Sped less tha you make. Quit eatig crap! Care. Coect ad commit. The good thig about the book is that it covices you that regular exercise is a iro clad demad of our evolutio as huters ad gatherers ad ot just the whiig of the fitess idustry. If you are up for it ad especially if you are ear retiremet age, it could chage your life. Review by Gary Cox Hutig Tip Camp Light Beaco Tip Fidig your camp site after ight time activities ca be made a bit easier by leavig a solar powered garde light o top of tet pole. This ca also be a safety aide while shootig as the locatio of the camp ca ofte be pi-poited from a distace Geoff Sloma Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 5

6 H&C Cotacts H&C QLD Office Office: 266 Brisbae Street, West Ipswich, Qld Mark Woods State Coordiator Phoe: or Owe McItyre Souther QLD Activity Coordiator ad Stewartdale Project Officer Phoe: Brett Marais Souther QLD Traiig Phoe: Chris Garrard (to be fialised) Souther QLD Accreditatio Officer Phoe: Gary Cox Newsletter Editor Phoe: Coservatio Officer To be appoited Bill Sadema Cetral Co-ordiator ad Traiig Officer Phoe: or Rod Costi Digo Project Officer Phoe: Brad Hughes Avocet Project Officer Phoe: Greg De Koig Gladstoe-Calliope Project Officer Phoe: Geoff Sloma Norther Co-ordiator ad Towsville Traiig Officer Phoe: (07) Joe Pezzotti North QLD Traiig Officer Phoe: (07) Lidsay Rogers Cairs Traiig Officer Phoe: (07) Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 6

7 Our Supporters The busiesses listed below support us i differet ways, whether it is through direct discouts to members, doatios to the Christmas Shoot, or items loaed for field use. Whe purchasig items from these busiesses please be sure to metio you are a Hutig & Coservatio member for discouts where applicable. Rebel Gu Works Ph: Fax: Queeslad Gu Exchage Ph: Fax: sales@qldguexchage.com.au Ro Gooley s*** Radiators Mechaical Electroic Tuig Fuel ijectio Brake & Clutch Servicig Air Coditioig Auto electrics Alterators Starter motors Log Book Queeslad Shooters Supplies Ph: Fax: s: sales@qss.org.au Or for the idoor rage: sales@qir.org.au Ph: Mercury Marie Go to the Dealer Locator for your earest dealer. Creek Marie Ph: Fax: Barclay Trasport Ph: Fax: (07) s: btraspt@bigpod.et.au ***Ro Gooley s specialise i high output alterators ad electroic fitouts. Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 7

8 Upcomig Activity Dates Be sure to mark the dates below i your diary ad pla to come alog. You ever kow you might just be free o that date. We have kept this page separate so you ca put it up o the fridge too! Hutig Activities Attedace at activities must be arraged with the Team Leader (Cotact) as most activities will have a safe operatig limit. Date Activity Regio Cotact March 5 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 6 th -13 th Gladstoe Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 13 th -20 th Digo Cat & Dog Project Cetral Rod Costi 20 th -21 st Souther Traiig weeked Souther Brett Marais 27 th -28 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes April 2 d -5 th Hughede Norther Geoff Sloma 2 d -10 th Avocet : Emerald Week Log Cetral Brad Hughes 10 th 17 th Calliope Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 17 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 30 th 3 rd Collisville Norther Geoff Sloma May 15 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 22 d -23 rd Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes Jue 4 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 11 th 14 th Hughede Norther Geoff Sloma 12 th -19 th Digo Cat & Dog Project Cetral Rod Costi 19 th -26 th Gladstoe Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 19 th -20 th Souther Traiig weeked Souther Brett Marais 26 th -27 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes July 2 d 5 th Collisville Norther Geoff Sloma 17th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 17 th 24 th Calliope Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 23 rd 26 th Hughede Norther Geoff Sloma 24 th -25 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes August 14 th 21 st Gladstoe Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 20 th 23 rd Collisville Norther Geoff Sloma 21st Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 21 st 28 th Digo Cat & Dog Project Cetral Rod Costi 28 th -29 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes September Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 8

9 3 rd Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 18 th -19 th Souther Traiig weeked Souther Brett Marais 25 th - 2 d Avocet: Emerald Week Log Cetral Brad Hughes 29 th 2 d Hughede Norther Geoff Sloma October 15 th 18 th Collisville Norther Geoff Sloma 16 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 16 th 23 rd Gladstoe Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 23 rd -24 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes 23 rd 30 th Calliope Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig November 5 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre 12 th 15 th Hughede Norther Geoff Sloma 20 th -21 st Souther Traiig weeked Souther Brett Marais 27 th -28 th Avocet: Emerald Cetral Brad Hughes December 3 rd 5 th Collisville Norther Geoff Sloma 4 th 11 th Digo Cat & Dog Project Cetral Rod Costi 11 th 18 th Gladstoe Pig Project Cetral Greg Dekoig 18 th Stewartdale - Ripley Souther Owe McItyre Project Target Species Avocet Primary - Foxes, Cats, Dogs. Secodary Rabbits, Pigs Collisville - Primary Pigs, scrub cattle Stewartdale - Primary - Hares, foxes, cats, dogs. Secodary Pigs Sportig Shooters Associatio of Australia (Qld) Ic. Page 9