The weekend of April 29 to May 1 saw 60 keen deer hunters and would-be deer hunters, and 20 ADA stalwarts, attend this flagship event on the Victorian deer calendar.
Forest Edge at Neerim East in the Gippsland mountains was the venue for the Victorian 2022 Hunter education Course, and once again proved to be an excellent location with friendly staff, great accommodation, top food and presentation facilities, along with easy access to sambar country via the swing bridge over the adjoining La Trobe River.
Luckily, the deluge of rain forecast for the weekend was over and done with early on the Saturday morning, to be replaced with cool and sunny weather that was ideal for the scheduled taxidermy and carcase preparation demonstrations, and the bushwalks to view sambar sign and to discuss the nitty gritty of successful hunting.
ADA’s Neil De Coite was once again chief organiser with magnificent support from CEO Barry Howlett and an army of member volunteers who all willingly parted with their knowledge and expertise on deer, demonstrating that the “sambar secret society” of many years-gone-by is now long dead.
Topics covered during lectures were Introduction to the Deer (Barry Howlett), Animal Welfare in Hunting (Tim Koschade), Sambar Stalking 1 (Rob Fickling), Deer Sign (Paul Boag), Gutting, Field Breakdown, Caping and Trophy Care (Paul Boag and Gavin Counsell), Backpack Hunting (Emma Sears), Hunting Safety (Eamon Leahy), Sambar Stalking 2 (Peter Burke), Hunting with Hounds (Chris Eaton), Hunting with Gundogs (Peter Atkinson), Meat Care (Paul Boag and Peter Christian, Deer Management (Barry Howlett) and The Future of Hunting (Sean Kilkenny).
The field trips to view and discuss sambar sign were co-ordinated by Jamie Stovold, James Johnson, Joe Ellul, Walter Albert, Sean Winters, Paul Gray, Jamie Stevens, Eamon Leahy and Penny Cumming with presentations made on Hunting Optics (Marty Phillips), Blood Tracking (Tim Koschade and Barry Howlett), Rubs (Emma Sears), Scent (Neil De Coite), Browse (Ken Slee), Wallows (Rob Fickling), Glassing (Steve Robinson) and Preaching Trees (Peter Mayall).
As can be seen from the roll call of names, those volunteering their time to this course are among the cream of the deer-hunting fraternity in Victoria.
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