Arnhemland ... good for the soul

[Ragman]

Fantastic pics...looks like a paradise to visit. Someday!

 

[kathy]

Thanks for sharing, looks like a good place to hunt & fish. Forrest

 

[Ridgewalker]

You're one lucky guy to have this as a playground! Beautiful!

 

[Spooksar]

Absolutely gorgeous thanks for sharing

 

[eugeneb]

Thanks for all the replies ... glad you enjoyed ... I will respond over the weekend to questions I did not cover.

Perhaps a bit more background ... on this trip I took 3 friends to Arnhemland during July 2017 for camping, hunting & fishing ... we normally only do bowhunting ... the rifle you see in the pics is pretty much for backup & I took the rifle for one buddy who does not bowhunt. The pictures are a mixture/combination from all of us ... so I claim no credit as a great photographer lol

To put things into perspective Arnhemland covers 97,000 square km ... largely untouched wilderness, with no fences , where animals roam free, lots of freedom for many km's on end and belongs to the traditional people of the land ... it is in the Northern Territory (state) of Aus ... NT is a tad bigger than South Africa with a total population of think 260K ... so there is plenty of space. Darwin is the capital and it is a 9 hour drive to camp ... I hunt in central Arnhemland, which is all freshwater which means no saltwater crocs ... only harmless and very shy fresh-water crocs which in general grows to around 1.5 meter ... they do not eat humans, hence you see us swimming in some pics.

All the best
Eugene

 

[eugeneb]

 

[eugeneb]

 

[eugeneb]

 

[eugeneb]

 

[stug]

Fantastic pics, my Aunt and Uncle lived in Darwin for a wile, but I never got to go over to see them before they moved. One of my regrets.

 

[cpr0312]

All these pics makes me want to get there sooner rather than later!

 

[Dr Ray]

I have hunted this place +20 times over a number of years and am still amazed by it's beauty ...

I agree it's a beautiful place.

 

[Dr Ray]

All these pics makes me want to get there sooner rather than later!

I'll be there at the end of September

 

[Dr Ray]

I agree it's a beautiful place.

I'm sure visitors to Oz would be absolutely overwhelmed with the raw beauty of the Northern Territory.
Hunting buff - great but like Cape buff, are a challenge and mistakes can be fatal. That's hunting for you - adrenaline pumping!

 

[eugeneb]

Beautiful country. I always thought of Arnhemland as densely forested jungle, like African or South American jungles. Thanks for correcting my assumption. Do they have Indian river buffalo to hunt here, or is it all carabao/water buffalo?

Only water buff as per the pics. The area I hunt is tropical and only has a dry - and wet season. The area is not accessible during the wet season due to constant monsoonal rains every day. The dry season "offically" start 1 May ... however depending on how big the wet season was, the area is typically still inaccessible during early dry month(s) and I typically only start hunting from July onwards. It does not rain during the dry season (May-Sept/mid Oct) ... November is typically "build-up" with tremendous humidity, clouds, thunder and very hot ... with no rain into December.

During the wet season it will be like a jungle ... I have hunted this place early dry (May) and it is too thick i.e. you can be less than 10m from buff ... your can hear and smell them but cannot see them so thick and tall is the grass and brush ... the later the dry season (due to no rain) the thinner the bush becomes as it dies off ... bush fires also occurs. The pics you see here was taken during 5-19 July 2017 ... so it is still relatively green and the buff are in good condition still ... the later it becomes in the dry season = bush fires = grass dies due to no rain = buffalo loose condition (especially the older bulls/cows becomes very skinny) = certain water areas dries (there is always some of the creeks & billabongs that has water) = buff are more concentrated around water holes = not as much water in veld. When the wet season start the buff gain back their condition i.e. towards end of wet & early dry season the mature buff bulls in their prime are built like tanks ... their condition tapers off the further it gets into the dry.

Cheers,
Eugene

 

[eugeneb]

You are an excellent photographer.
Love to know more about your trips to this beautiful area.........................FWB

Thanks for the kind words ... as mentioned in another post I collated the hunting group's pics and posted the ones I thought was good.

I have described the hunting area in another post.

My trips ... I immigrated from South Africa approx 9 years ago and ended up living in Darwin for 6 years. (I now live in Brisbane) I was a mad keen bowhunter and always wanted to bow-hunt Cape buff while in South Africa. So when in Darwin I ended up making contact with Aboriginal traditional owners (you need gov permit or TO permission to enter Arnhemland) and we became very good friends (to this very day we talk once a month) and they gave me permission to camp, fish and hunt. So now I had my opportunity to hunt water buff (instead of cape buff lol) The area is extremely remote so it takes a bit of planning e.g. we take reliable 4x4's vehicles, recovery gear, heaps of water, generator, fridges, satelite comms, tents, medical kit, etc.

While in Darwin I (incl 2 hunting buddies went 5-6 times per year) hunting buff ... we bow-hunted many buff during the period ... been in Brisbane for 3 years now and this has been my 1st trip back ... I plan to do this more regularly i.e. 1-2 (maybe 3 .... who knows) hunts per year from now on

All the best
Eugene

 

[eugeneb]

Beautiful land, nice buffs, but what...no alcohol ?

 

[Ragman]

Amazing!

 

[jeff]

Awesome !! thanks for sharing the photos!

 

[rinehart0050]

Thank you for sharing this wonderful region. Great photos.