By Ken Slee
There is no doubt that more hunters target Victoria’s sambar than any other Australian deer species. Many more Australians would undoubtedly like to get into sambar hunting but perhaps don’t know where to start or are daunted by the ‘difficulties’ presented by this dominant but most challenging of our six deer species.
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This article and another that will follow are an attempt to ‘de-mystify’ sambar stalking and to give newer hunters an introduction to the scene that should allow them to achieve success.
First Steps
The essential first steps for any would-be sambar hunter is to learn as much as they can about their intended quarry, the country that they inhabit and their legal responsibilities. These days information is so readily available that any aspirant needs to be selective.
The Victorian Game Management Authority (GMA) is the independent statutory authority responsible for the regulation of game hunting (including sambar) in Victoria. There is a great deal of information relevant to hunting on their website at www.gma.vic.gov.au including maps of where you can and cannot hunt.
The wider web can also be useful but beware the keyboard warrior who sounds credible but possibly knows less than you do or whose ethics may leave much to be desired. Magazines are probably a better source of information and books are better again, if for no other reason than they require a lot of hard work and expense to produce and are invariably written by more experienced and credible hunters. Books by Ken Pearce, Bill Barry, Lu Cervi, Peter Burke and Errol Mason are recommended.
Joining a hunting club or association is another great way to gain an entry into the sambar scene – these days most experienced hunters at meetings will be quite happy to give you a few tips to get you started, although they may not take you to one of the favoured spots right off. Others at meetings will be just like you – starting out on the sambar challenge - and if you need a mate or mates to go hunting with there is scope for learning the ropes together.
‘Hunter Education’ opportunities abound these days – part of the boom in the sambar hunting scene that has occurred over the past 40 years and the industry that has grown up to support it in country Victoria. Whether it is the Australian Deer Association’s well known course held each year at Neerim in Gippsland, a weekend with Peter Burke of Sambar Hunter’s Edge, a day out with Paul Boag of Paul Boag’s Outdoors or a weekend with Errol Mason and his Hunt Smart program each of these introductions will help you get into sambar hunting.
Where to Hunt
Victoria’s sambar range is now enormous and takes in most of the forested country in eastern Victoria from the coast to the mountain peaks although some of it (mostly National Park) is out of bounds, and private property can only be hunted with the owner’s or manager’s permission. To be absolutely clear about areas of public land that can be hunted visit the GMA website or talk to staff at a local Parks Victoria or Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning office.
Google Earth and maps of 1:25,000 or 1:50,000 are your friend too. Before going on any exploratory trip it is well worth buying the relevant map sheets or spending some time on the computer or both. When you get home a review of where you have been will undoubtedly make more sense if you spend some time on Google Earth. A diary describing the areas that you looked at and whether they had potential will help jog your memory down the track – keep it simple though; good spots for the future, OK spots and spots to be avoided at all cost.
Many inexperienced sambar hunters assume that the best place to find a deer is where no-one else goes. This often leads them to exploring marginal country where they struggle to achieve success. The reality is that the ‘popular’ and well-known spots are popular because they have been and remain highly productive! Don’t assume that places like the Wonnangatta Valley or the Wonnangatta/Moroka Junction are places to be avoided because just about everyone knows them – they are well known because they are areas of excellent habitat that remain top producers of deer, including the occasional big stag.
It is also common for inexperienced hunters to assume that sambar-success is most likely to be achieved by getting into isolated country where few other hunters disturb the deer. The reality is that there is very little of Victoria’s sambar country that is more than a few kilometres from the nearest road or track, although much of this extensive track network requires a 4WD, and additional sections are closed by snow or government gates during the winter and spring months. Excellent sambar hunting can be accessed by hunters off the many thousands of kilometres of sealed and unsealed 2WD roads – in reality there are probably just as many deer to be found within a few hundred metres of such roads than deep in a wilderness area (an unfortunate fact known to spotlighting game thieves).
Certainly a 4WD (and a winch or wheel chains for safety) will give your average hunter more options, but one is certainly not a necessity and in the hands of inexperienced operators can easily land you in major difficulties. Steep country, snow and deep river crossings really should be the preserve of the experienced hunter!
The romance of ‘backpacking’ and the allure of big stags in isolated country also seem to attract many less-experienced sambar hunters. Again, backpacking ought to be something to aspire to rather than being seen as the way to get into sambar hunting. Spending megabucks on the latest backpacking gear and then walking into the depths of an isolated river system presents a couple obvious problems, firstly when you ‘arrive’ there may be few deer present but it is now too late to go elsewhere, and secondly the steep and challenging country may make the experience a soul destroying and ‘never again’ experience. Backpacking, unless it is done to get just a little way of the beaten track, really is for experienced sambar hunters who know what they are about and who have the gear and the fitness to deal with whatever the environment throws up.
Stalking Country
There are very few secret spots left these day and generally experienced sambar hunters will be quite happy to part with a few tips on country that is worth a look. They probably won’t tell you which gully to go to and they certainly won’t tell you where to stand to shoot your deer (don’t laugh, I have had that request on one occasion) but you will hopefully be given a starting point and then it is up to you to prove that you are a hunter rather than a sightseer.
But one of the joys of hunting (for me at least) is exploring new country. The aspiring sambar hunter could do worse than take a few days off, put some camping gear, food, a rifle and a camera in their vehicle and head off to do some old-fashioned exploring. Pick Victoria’s North-East or the Gippsland side for your expedition, it really doesn’t matter! Just go and look for hunting country and assess it based on its potential to produce the goods – is it ‘stalking’ country, can I find deer tracks, what about rub trees, wallows and scrapes, are the local landowners likely to give access? Don’t try to walk kilometres off the road, rather dive into multiple spots and do a quick reconnoitre and then move to the next prospect – the idea is to calibrate your expectations and find likely spots to hunt in future.
So what does sambar ‘stalking’ country look like (apart of course from the obvious need for deer to be present)? It’s simple really – if you can’t see 40 metres (at least in places) you are wasting your time. Never mind talk of short barrelled ‘scrub’ guns - if the bush is too thick to see a sambar before it identifies you as danger, you are wasting your time and a short-barrelled rifle won’t help. So sambar stalking country needs to be relatively open with good visibility (hound hunting country by comparison can be very densely vegetated). More open bush tends to be associated with drier valleys or with alpine areas, worth keeping in mind when exploring.
Sambar stalking country also needs feed, shelter and water all within a reasonable area – but it would be rare for any of these to be deficient in the great majority of eastern Victoria.
Across gully hunting can allow you to look into steep faces that are otherwise too thick to stalk but such places are often few and far between and difficult to locate. Hunters who are patient may find sitting and waiting over a feeding area, travelling route or wallow to be productive so long as the breeze is favourable – this technique is gaining in popularity given the recent increase in deer density that has resulted from the major fires.
Learning to Like the Bush
One of the major obstacles to becoming a successful sambar hunter is learning to like the bush and becoming comfortable in it. A heavily forested mountain slope or a cold, fast-flowing river can look very daunting from the road, sufficient to make an inexperienced hunter hold back and really not come to grips with the job at hand. In reality, the Australian bush is very benign and poses no really significant risks to the hunter so long as common sense is used. Most sambar country is mountainous and a ridgeline 500 metres above may look totally unachievable, but it is amazing how the presence of a bit of deer sign and persistence on the hunter’s part can conquer such terrain.
If the bush looks too thick to hunt, push through the vegetation next to the road or the river and see what is behind. Often the trees and scrub are at their densest next to a road or river because of greater moisture availability and because of the additional sunlight from the break in the forest canopy.
River crossings should be approached with care and an easy spot chosen for the crossing. Never take your shoes or boots off if the river bed is rocky – it is too easy to cripple yourself by stepping on a sharp stone or stubbing a toe. Accept wet feet and get on with the task at hand – to find sign or an animal.
There is great satisfaction to be gained from a day spent in the bush which goes a long way towards success in hunting. You may think that you are only there to shoot a deer but the real sense of accomplishment comes from the incidentals; what you learn about yourself and your abilities and those of your mates, the animals and birds that inhabit the forest and the trees and plants that you notice. Do your best to identify just what the deer are doing in your chosen patches – experienced hunters have learnt to ‘read the bush and the deer’.
Conclusions
Sambar hunting is as much about the journey as it is about hunting success. Along the way you will learn about the environment and the deer and improve your bushmanship and fitness level. Success will come with time and commitment whether success is measured by venison for the table, some great photos or stories to share with mates, or a trophy to hang on the wall.
The second part of this series will focus on the basic equipment needed to become a successful sambar hunter. Good luck and get out there hunting!