Australian Hunter

John Dunn heads to the Northern Territory to fulfil his search for a ‘bucket list’ banteng bull, while Dick Eussen visits Queensland’s Gulf Country to cull feral pigs, scrub bulls and brumbies. Brad Allen hunts South Africa’s Highveld and Grant McKenzie pursues mountain-traversing tahr in New Zealand. John Hill discusses ‘first shot syndrome’, the frustrating situation where a rifle will ‘throw’ its first shot, and Robert Dewey examines knife steels and what makes a quality knife. We review the Savage Model 11 Scout rifle, FAIR SLX 692 Gold shotgun, Garmin Montana 650t GPS, Hennessy Hammock and Exo Mountain Gear 5500 backpack, and our bush chefs share some tasty recipes for wallaby, rabbit and even venison offal. Perry Magowan continues the ‘nose-to-tail hunting’ theme with some of the tanned hides, antler-handled knives and furniture he has crafted following his hunting expeditions.

Australian Hunter 56 is available for mobile, tablet and desktop devices through Zinio. Order in digital for whatever device suits you best so you can enjoy your favourite hunting magazine wherever you go!

Rob Murton discusses rutting deer behaviour and attempts to call them in by rattling antlers to mimic the sound of duelling stags. Luke Trickett heads to tropical Cape York for bowhunting pigs, Andrew Balcombe travels to the Netherlands for pigeon and Canada geese, and Michael Parola searches New Zealand for a trophy red stag. Thomas Tabor shares 10 tips for better field shooting, while John McDougall offers training techniques for hunting with gundogs. Con Kapralos reviews the Tikka T3 Super Lite Stainless .308 Winchester rifle and Don Caswell tests the Leupold RX-1200i TBR rangefinder. We also look at the LED Lenser XEO 19R headlamp, Nikon 1 AWI action camera, Billyboil thermal cooker, and four books on the environmental effects of wild dogs. Mick Chapman rounds things off with some philosophy about the benefits of recreational hunting.

Australian Hunter 55 is available for mobile, tablet and desktop devices through Zinio. Order in digital for whatever device suits you best so you can enjoy your favourite hunting magazine wherever you go!

After five years of hunting the same property, Mark van den Boogaart finally brings home the bacon. Phil Johns heads to Central Australia in search of camels, while Greg Kent and his son stalk stags and boars in Romania, and David Hughes and his son-in-law hunt tahr in New Zealand. Lynn Bain secures a chital stag and shares a recipe for grilled marinated flat roast venison. Don Caswell debates hunting rifle accuracy, and Benjamen Unten assesses signal mirrors for safety and survival in the bush. Peter Bindon reviews Walther’s Hunter three-piece knife set, Corry Glanville tests Kizlyar’s River Series Kallima knife and Robert Dewey examines serrated and plain-edges blades. We also review the Browning Maral straight-pull rifle, Yildiz A3T side-by-side shotgun, CFMoto U550 LE and X550 offroad vehicles and Hema HN7 GPS.

Don Caswell ventures to the Northern Territory in search of scrub bulls and buffaloes. A few sturdy beasts are downed, but along the way, there is a tense battle of wits with a huge crocodile. American international firearms writer LP Brezny jets in to look for red and fallow deer in Queensland, while Byron Pace experiences a driven boar hunt amid the snows of a German winter. Keith Spencer examines ‘trek-tech’ Aitor bushmate knives, John McDougall runs the rule over the ATA 686S Camo shotgun and John Pond finds how the AirForce Talon PCP air rifle shapes up. Benjamen Unten custom-fits a recoil pad as part of his Remington 7600 rifle project. Dr Annie Woodhouse recounts the history of camels in Australia and offers some relevant recipes.

It’s ‘mango madness’ as Dick Eussen journeys to a remote region north of Cooktown with the wet season approaching, in search of hungry hogs. Brad Allen enjoys the exotic allure of tracking wildebeest and kudus in Africa with his son, while Steven Simpson goes on the trail of England’s unwelcome and invasive muntjac deer species. Lynn Bain serves up a venison recipe with a spicy twist in the form of chital meatball wraps, which she dubs ‘naanwiches’, and Courtney Schuur puts homemade smoked paprika and chilli kangaroo sausages on the menu. Senior correspondent John Dunn checks out the Sabatti Tactical Synthetic .223-calibre rifle and Bruce Wellington goes the distance with The Truth laser rangefinder produced by Bushnell.

The intricacies of setting out of the trail of goats are outlined by Don Caswell, who says they are a challenging but rewarding target animal. Bob Salisbury details his passion for pheasant shoots with friends in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, while Mark Benns swaps his Western Australia domicile for a trek to New Zealand, which sees him bag some rabbits and goats in between finding time for a fishing outing to reel in succulent Kiwi snapper. Hunting etiquette is analysed by John Hodson, who stresses the importance of basic standards within The Country Code that can ensure a safe and enjoyable trip into the rural expanses. Up for review are the Sako A7 Roughtech Pro .270 rifle, the Silma M90 Ergal Hunter 12-gauge shotgun and Norma hunting ammunition.

Matthew Crowther takes a trip to the ‘Dark Continent’ of Africa and samples the sapping heat of a hunting excursion into Namibia. Closer to home, Mary Conway embarks on a journey to the Red Centre in search of some outback camels, while John McDougall bags a healthy haul of partridges just an hour and a half’s drive from Melbourne on the Cobaw Sporting reserve. North American correspondent Thomas Tabor offers his thoughts about the 12 best-ever hunting rifle cartridges, and Lynn Bain describes how to make semi-dried smoked game jerky that can be used as a staple in a hunter’s food rations. Plentiful reviews include gloves and gaiters from Max-Hunter, Ridgeline’s Apache boots, Savage’s Axis II Scope Package rifle, FAIR’s Iside EM shotgun and the lightweight Boreas Sapa Trek Farallon backpack.

Paul Barker goes back to basics to bag a hefty haul of rabbits in a bunny bonanza, then promptly adjourns to the kitchen to share a finger-licking good recipe for fried rabbit. Elsewhere, there are tales of pursuing wild pigs in Queensland’s Channel Country, tracking fallow deer in the Snowy Mountains, chasing buffaloes in the Northern Territory, seeking sika on New Zealand’s North Island, and beaming in on bighorn sheep in western Montana. From a practical perspective, we off advice for choosing and using paracord, while Con Kapralos gets to grips with putting together a game-stalking backpack. Our reviewers test out the Savage M42 combination gun, Sellier & Bellot hunting ammunition, Fabarm Elos Black Diamond shotgun and the Zeiss Victory PRF rangefinder.