I left at the end of May for a business trip to Australia. I flew to Sydney to link up with Steve Sayers from SJS Trading Co., our distributor there. The trip had been in the works for some time. We had nine days to meet with dealers in Sydney, Melbourne and Darwin, and we were hoping to squeeze in a couple days of hunting.
I arrived on May 28th at 8:30 AM local time. We were at the first dealer by 10 that morning. We spent the next two days visiting dealers in Sydney during the day and trying to catch a few sights at night.
We stayed on “The Rocks” downtown and saw the beautiful harbor sights. The next day we flew to Melbourne. Straight from the airport to lunch, and then an afternoon tour of SJS’s facility. Then on to the last dealer meeting of the day.
We stayed in Yarraville, a suburb of Melbourne. For the next couple days, we visited more dealers and took in the sights of Melbourne. I did also get to see a “footy” AFL match. We dropped in on a game between Collingwood and Fremantle at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. Then it was off to Darwin for our final dealer meetings.
We arrived in Darwin to be greeted by the worst cold snap in 15 years. It’s usually 90F every day. While we were there, it was in the high 70s to low 80s. This was going to make hunting difficult. The usual hunting methods are to watch the billabongs. Catch them coming to water. The colder temperatures meant that they needed less to drink.
We arrived at our location to hunt Water Buffalo. We were very lucky. We spotted the big bull quickly, got into place and made the shot. Done in an hour. This is unheard of, especially with the weather. Back to camp for dinner and celebration.
Pig hunting was scheduled for the next day. We did happen to run across a few pigs. I managed to get a boar with the help of some wonderful hunting dogs. We never saw another pig after a dy and a half of hunting. We were told that they usually see 150 pigs a day.
A special thanks to Steve and his staff. They made me feel at home. Darryl Yesberg at Coolalinga Guns was a gracious host as well. He hosted the hunt and is a great guide and hunter. He was briefly lost, but with a little radio work he found his way home.