By Ken Slee
Would-be Australian deerhunters today are spoilt for choice when it comes to both the enormous number of hunting aids and the brands and variations within that range – a very different situation from forty or even twenty years ago. Advice too on the requirements needed to get into sambar hunting is also everywhere now – in gun shops, from magazines, from mates, from the Victorian Game Management Authority and on the web.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
How best to sort through the mass of equipment and the often conflicting advice to get the essentials to become a successful hunter at minimal starting-out cost can be quite an issue. As a tough-minded father confronted by demanding and carping children would perhaps put it ‘ What you want, what you need, and what you get are three different things’. So just what are the essentials that you ‘need’ for a foray into deer hunting? In essence, not what you would want or necessarily need for every eventuality, but the absolute basics – good serviceable gear at realistic prices!
I called in to H&S Firearms in Sale and Moroka30 at Carrum Downs to discuss with their experienced staff their opinions on what constituted ‘the basics’. Hopefully a discussion of these essentials will give any aspiring hunters reading this a few pointers that might save a few dollars, prevent foolish purchases and yet see them enjoying the bush and finding hunting success.
A Rifle
Anyone thinking of getting into deer hunting will make their first purchase a suitable rifle for the job. For the stalker there is no debate as to the action to choose, it really ought to be a bolt action as the first shot is always the one that has to count, with fast second and third shots rarely required and seldom successful. Entry level rifles, either new or second-hand, such as those from Winchester, Remington, Tikka, Howa, Browning, Ruger, Zastava and Savage admirably fill the bill and are these days really highly refined, accurate and reliable. Decisions such as whether to go with a timber or synthetic stock, a blued or stainless barrel are really pretty academic as the serviceability of whatever you choose is pretty much guaranteed and the choice really comes down to personal preference. Weight and barrel length should be considered as a lighter rifle will be less tiring to carry and a very long barrel (over 24 inches) is a pain when pushing through heavy scrub or blackberries.
Choosing a suitable calibre is the next essential and again there really is little need for agonising. Despite long debates around campfires or on the web, the only consideration is that the calibre should be adequate for sambar (which will mean it will be adequate for all of the other Australian deer species), it should be high velocity (perhaps greater than 2,500 feet per second with 150 grain projectiles) to give a flat trajectory and ammunition should be readily available. Magnum calibres have little to offer and probably should never be the first choice of a tyro hunter. All deer species in Australia (and around the world for that matter), including sambar, can be reliably taken with calibres such as the .308 Winchester and .30’06 Springfield with a careful shot and in my opinion it would be hard to go past either of these for an all-round deer calibre.
Any rifle should be fitted with a sling for carrying, as an aid in off-hand shooting and to free your hands when negotiating obstacles.
Set aside something like $700 to $1,100 for a moderately priced rifle and discount these prices considerably if buying second-hand.
The Scope
These days a telescopic sight is probably considered essential on any serious hunting rifle – they are reliable, aid in precise bullet placement out to longer ranges and allow shots to be taken at dawn and dusk when open sights are struggling. Variable power scopes are almost a given and a scope in the 2x-7x or 3x-10x range will cover all practical hunting scenarios from sambar in dense bush out to 300 metres. It is common to hear the comment ‘spend twice as much on your scope as you do on your rifle’ on the basis that this will give you an extra few minutes of ‘shooting light’ each day. Whether an outlay of an additional $1,000 or more is justified to give maybe a couple of percentage points more hunting opportunity, and whether that is legal or wise, is debateable. Brands such as Bushnell, Leupold and Nikon fill the lower price bracket admirably and will give many year’s reliable service. Thirty millimetre tubes, enormous magnification, illuminated reticles and so-called ‘ballistic’ turrets have little to offer the average sambar hunter.
Expect to pay in the order of $250 to $400 for an entry level scope.
Binoculars
Until recently most sambar hunters would have considered binoculars to be a luxury and unnecessary given the range that most sambar are seen and shot at. Times change though and many hunters routinely carry them now. If you are new to sambar hunting binoculars are something that you can probably do without – at least until you get a feel for the bush and the deer and get a few hunting kilometres and animals under your belt. If you choose to buy binoculars buy a shoulder harness as well to keep them handy when moving through the bush but available to scan any likely areas. Magnification in the range of 7x to 10x covers stalking quite adequately and will be relatively light to carry. Binocular brands include Leupold, Burris, Bushnell and Redfield and are likely to set you back between $250 and $500. A binocular harness by Leupold will set you back around 50 bucks.
Knife
Once a sambar is on the ground a good knife is required to accomplish the next job – butchering, something that just about every inexperienced sambar hunter will find to be extremely daunting. Most experienced hunters will routinely carry a good quality folding, sheath or butcher’s knife for this work.
The best place to carry any knife is in your daypack, not swinging off your belt or in a pocket – if you shoot a deer, you will have plenty of time to take a deep breath, reflect for a few minutes on your success and then retrieve your knife from your pack for the big job ahead.
As with most hunting gear, knife brands are legion, but Buck and Outdoor Edge are a couple of brands worth checking out. Moroka 30 also carry a range of knives including their multi-blade folder, the X3 Trophy, which is designed specifically for breaking down carcases and for trophy preparation. Expect to pay somewhere from $70 to $160 for a serviceable knife.
Clothing
Years ago jeans or tracksuit pants, a flannelette shirt and a drab woollen pullover cut the sambar hunting mustard and if you were really fancy and had been to New Zealand a Swanndri in green or bold check was worn over the top. These days a camouflage outfit made specifically for hunting, including a blaze cap, is hard to go past if you want to be ‘part of the scene’. In reality though, camouflage is not all that important so long as any clothing worn is drab, gives free movement, and doesn’t stand out in the bush (jean grab around the knees and when faded are very conspicuous so are a poor hunting choice these days). Deer are much better at picking up movement than they are at distinguishing colours and patterns, hence the reason why hunters can wear blaze orange without alarming animals. As the ability to detect movement and contrasting colours are key deer defences, shading your white face with a cap and hiding hand movement with gloves can help in getting the drop on deer.
When planning a day in the bush it is important to be prepared for whatever the day will bring. Layered clothing is the best way to go, so that you can add or subtract as the day warms up, if it starts to rain or snow or if you choose to sit and wait for a deer. Most sambar hunters will find that moving through the bush will keep them warm even on a near-zero temperature day, but rain, a biting wind or sitting and glassing, particularly at dawn or dusk, demand warm and water or windproof clothes.
If you are just getting into sambar hunting your wardrobe may already contain suitable tracky pants, pullover and coat but if you really want to ‘look the part’ a boxed set of camouflage gear from the likes of Ridgeline, Hunters Element or Huntech will set you back $100 to $120.
If you decide to hunt in what your wardrobe already contains, do yourself a favour and at least invest in a blaze orange cap for safety and to keep the sun out of your eyes – a bargain at around $30.
Footwear
Whether a sambar hunter chooses to buy light ‘sports’ runners or heavy boots is a personal choice as both ends of the spectrum have advantages and disadvantages. Whichever way you choose to go, footwear must have good grippy soles and square-cut heels to aid in crossing steep or slippery ground.
Keeping your feet dry is often difficult in sambar country so waterproofing may not be a priority but leather is certainly better than synthetics in this regard. Sambar hunting can be very hard on expensive leather boots that are always wet, are often neglected and particularly if you dry them out regularly in front of a camp fire.
Whatever footwear you choose to hunt in make sure that it is well worn-in before you take to the hills, including getting them wet a couple of times so that they mould to fit your feet.
Light runners are widely available and inexpensive so have a snoop to see what you can find. If you go with boots Ridgeline, Hunters Element and Moroka 30 currently have serviceable models in the $170 to $200 range.
Daypack
In my opinion a daypack is an essential part of any sambar hunter’s kit – it is a ‘must have’ item. What you carry on a hunt can vary from the absolute minimum of a couple of spare bullets and a knife to whatever your heart desires while keeping in mind that extra weight can be wearying after a long day.
Terry Allen pioneered this field in Australia with his canvas-lined woollen packs but times have moved on and the field is now dominated by camouflage synthetics.
If success comes leaving good venison in the bush is to be avoided and thus some provision for carrying it out and keeping it clean should be made – whether just a couple of plastic garbage bags, pillow slips or something like the specifically designed Moroka 30 Quartermaster meat bag and calico meat bags that will also fit in your daypack.
Backpacks from the likes of Ridgeline and Stony Creek come with a price tag in the range of $120 to $150 while the Moroka 30 Quartermaster meat bag will set you back about $95.
Camera
It seems that every young hunter these days has a mobile phone that can be used as a camera. However, anything that a phone can do can be done much better with a modern digital camera – they are truly an amazing bit of kit with their light weight, compactness, excellent lenses, optical zoom and ability to take excellent photos in poor light. Digital cameras have made photographing the ever-elusive sambar so much easier that I would never be without one in the bush – in my opinion a camera should be part of every sambar hunter’s kit, but probably something that can be put on hold until you decide whether the pursuit is for you or not.
--------------------------------
The author would like to thank H&S Firearms in Sale and Moroka 30 in Carrum Downs for their assistance in putting this article together. Why not call into their modern facilities and check out the wide range of gear that they have in stock. Being keen sambar hunters themselves you can depend on Geoff and David at H&S Firearms and Rob at Moroka 30 for solid advice.
Good luck and good sambar hunting!